WAMC and school list advice

[deleted952495]

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Date of submission: Late June 2021
Overall GPA: 3.92
Science GPA: 3.86
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: 4.0
DAT score (include AA and all sections): 18PAT 18QR 20RC 21Bio 17GC 22OC 20TS 20AA

(Retake) DAT score (include AA and all sections): 20PAT 18QR 19RC 24BIO 25GC 20OC 22TS 21AA

State of Residence: Texas

Undergrad Attended: State Flagship (University System has it's own Dental school)
Major: Biology
Minor: Economics
Minority? Yes,URM
Reapplicant? No
Nontrad? No

Shadowing Experience: 100 Hours General Dentistry, 50 hours Orthodontics

Volunteering Experience: 200 hours over 2 years with a blood donation center, As a volunteer and a community advocate. Involved in college with the School's Pre-dental association, First-generation society and a Research Club.

Employment: 30-40 hours per week since 2018 and I also tutor HS students on the weekends.

Research: Microbiology Research for credit; 1 presentation in Fall, 1 Publication currently pending.

Relevant Honors or Awards: Dean's list, Excellence award gave me a full ride at my 4-year, A research stipend was awarded to me for spring 2021.

LOR type and strength: Dentist (Orthodontist-Mentor)/Strong, LOR 2: A&P professor/Ok , LOR 3: Microbiology professor + PI of my research/ Strong

Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags: I am a first generation student. I received an associates at a local CC before transferring to my 4-year school.I plan to retake the DAT, my pre-dental counselor at my undergrad said that a 17 in GC section can raise questions about my Community college coursework. I do believe I can score higher the second time around because when I took the DAT the first time a Winter storm had just passed over Texas and it was all around a stressful situation. Due to working throughout college I understand I lack volunteering hours so I am going to work on getting more hours over the summer.

School list:
UT-Houstan
Texas Tech
Texas A&M
LECOM
NSU
MUSC (My mentor went here)
(I might add more schools later on when I have my New DAT score.)

 

[PerioDont]

When’s your DAT? I would also add that your mentor going somewhere is honestly not a huge deal. It doesn’t give that much preference to you as an applicant unless they are a very famous doctor.

since you have an attached d school I would reach out to and see if they can review your app. You might be able to chat with some of the admissions people. Getting into a TX school would be your best bet by far

 

[deleted952495]

When’s your DAT? I would also add that your mentor going somewhere is honestly not a huge deal. It doesn’t give that much preference to you as an applicant unless they are a very famous doctor.

since you have an attached d school I would reach out to and see if they can review your app. You might be able to chat with some of the admissions people. Getting into a TX school would be your best bet by far

I have my DAT scheduled for 25th of June. MUSC made the most sense to me when I was creating my list and my stats are closer to their matriculation average. Do you think I should replace that school with some other one? I would appreciate any suggestions.

 

[PerioDont]

I have my DAT scheduled for 25th of June. MUSC made the most sense to me when I was creating my list and my stats are closer to their matriculation average. Do you think I should replace that school with some other one? I would appreciate any suggestions.

Considering MUSC cost for OOS I don’t think it’s worth it. Look into other cheaper out-of-state schools. Are you submitting before your new DAT?

 

[deleted952495]

Bumping because I have my new DAT score, I have already applied to the 3 OOS school's mentioned above and will be submitting my TMDSAS application before July 1st. I can add 2-3 more schools, but I am not sure which ones. Any advice would be really appreciated.

 

[macsak]

Bumping because I have my new DAT score, I have already applied to the 3 OOS school's mentioned above and will be submitting my TMDSAS application before July 1st. I can add 2-3 more schools, but I am not sure which ones. Any advice would be really appreciated.

add some public schools that allow in state after one year
great job on the DAT
how did you do it?

 

[deleted952495]

Bumping because I need advice, As of right now in this cycle, I have only received 2 Pre-December interview invites. One of which resulted in a waitlist and the other one was at my top choice (in-state school), which still has the decision pending. I have 3 rejections, one is at an IS school and the other two are OOS (state schools). I honestly do not know what went wrong my personal statement was vetted by my pre-health office and both the schools I interviewed at, the interviewers told me my PS was really great. As for the LOR's I have a committee letter from my undergrad's pre-health office, they make sure that there are no bad LORS in our committee packets. All of my applications were in by July so I wasn't too late when submitting as well. Should I prepare to reapply? the lack of response is taking a toll on me because I guess I had high hopes for myself.

 

[macsak]

Bumping because I need advice, As of right now in this cycle, I have only received 2 Pre-December interview invites. One of which resulted in a waitlist and the other one was at my top choice (in-state school), which still has the decision pending. I have 3 rejections, one is at an IS school and the other two are OOS (state schools). I honestly do not know what went wrong my personal statement was vetted by my pre-health office and both the schools I interviewed at, the interviewers told me my PS was really great. As for the LOR's I have a committee letter from my undergrad's pre-health office, they make sure that there are no bad LORS in our committee packets. All of my applications were in by July so I wasn't too late when submitting as well. Should I prepare to reapply? the lack of response is taking a toll on me because I guess I had high hopes for myself.

did you apply to more than your original list of schools?

 

[deleted952495]

did you apply to more than your original list of schools?

Yes, I applied to Oklahoma, UConn, UNLV, and Colorado.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

The good news is you have zero post-interview rejections and you still could get offers from either of the two schools. It could be other interviewers were a little better, but at least you didn't bomb yours.

Not sure about the other schools. You got a R from an in-state pre interview so I'm not sure what happened there (and it is Texas so that's surprising). Does your pre health advisor give you any indication of areas for improvement?

Finally, how much networking did you do with students and admissions officers at the schools where you applied... before you applied this cycle, especially being a reapplicant and URM?

 

[macsak]

Yes, I applied to Oklahoma, UConn, UNLV, and Colorado.

so 10 schools, however 3 of them are the extremely competitive texas schools
i would have preferred you apply to a few more schools, especially since some/most schools offered online interviews, so you would have to travel less and pay less $$$
not much you can do about that now, you just have to trust the process...

 

[deleted952495]

The good news is you have zero post-interview rejections and you still could get offers from either of the two schools. It could be other interviewers were a little better, but at least you didn't bomb yours.

Not sure about the other schools. You got a R from an in-state pre interview so I'm not sure what happened there (and it is Texas so that's surprising). Does your pre health advisor give you any indication of areas for improvement?

Finally, how much networking did you do with students and admissions officers at the schools where you applied... before you applied this cycle, especially being a reapplicant and URM?

Thank you for all the advice. I felt both my interviews went well. I have attended a lot of mock interview days hosted by my in-state dental schools ASDA organizations. I did try to network as much as I could with the students at the schools by attending pre-dental events they hosted.

I am not a re-applicant, 2021-2022 is the first cycle I have applied to dental schools. My pre-health counselor said I could work on increasing my volunteering hours, So I have been volunteering consistently since July of 2021 to increase my hours further. Would you suggest a letter of intent?