WAMC - COVID got me

[Gnj1999]

Overall GPA: 3.703
Science GPA: 3.73
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: 3.71
DAT score (include AA and all sections): 19AA TS:20 OChem:19 GC:20 BIO:22 RC:18 QR:16 PAT:25
State of Residence: ND (no dental school)

Undergrad Attended: University of North Dakota (5th year senior)
Major: Business
Minor: N/A
Minority? No (White-male-cis)
Reapplicant? No
Nontrad? No

Shadowing Experience: Currently 31 hours (all general, 25 in underserved community) (thankfully I have Drs. lined up and will have 100~110 by April)
Volunteering Experience: 115+ My fraternity has strict volunteering requirements. We've won awards nationally for having the most service hours per member. (Examples: Sandbagging during floods, Judging science fairs, preparing food for homeless shelters, packing non-perishables for distribution centers, and helping the director of a non-profit clinic free to underserved communities)
Employment: (160 home health CNA), (220 Pizza driver), (~850 gas station attendant), (~500 bartender/server), (~200 psych/business research assistant)
Research: ~200 on kindness/ benevolent leadership (not published)
Other Extracurriculars: Fraternity: 9 semester (many leadership positions), Biology club: 3 semesters, Student Gov: 5 semesters (Chief Justice of supreme court)
Relevant Honors or Awards: Deans list, Fraternity scholarship, Published Poem
LOR type and strength: 1 general dentist, 2 science professors, 1 mentor (physician). Strength unknown
Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags: My transcripts are really whacky (Sem GPAs: 4.0/3.8/3.0/4.0/3.0/3.5/3.78/4.0) Covid semesters in Red. I have severe ADHD and online classes killed my mental health and motivation. I also switched to pre-dentistry during Covid so I wasn't able to find shadowing until the beginning of this year. I have several C's, an Unsatisfactory in my second semester English general credit, and I had to retake Ochem 1. My DAT scores are also unlike anyone else I've seen so I don't know if they will hurt me. Also, in ND its very hard to find dental work opportunities, so I have none.
School list:
A.T Still
Loma Linda
Oregon
UCLA
UCSF
Colorado
UNLV
Marquette
Creighton
U Conn
Utah
Minnesota

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[Gnj1999]

**Planning to submit in June 23

 

[Ryxndek]

Lima Linda you need a spiritual advisor to give you a LOR, so unless you have one lined up I’d toss that out. UCLA and UCSF are toss outs (highly favorable for in state students. Very selective for out of state students), your stats are below average and you’d get screened out. Your best bet is Creighton, Marquette or UMN. I would focus on those. UMN especially since I think they have some type of reciprocity with North Dakota residents. I would send them an email to confirm. Is there a particular reason for your school choice? They seem all over the country, have you done some research on schools?

You could retake your dat if interested. 19 is slightly below national average. umn average is a 20-21, retaking and getting better score will help significantly.

Your semesters shouldn’t affect you from covid. They have a prompt on the AADSAS app that lets you explain how COVID affected you. You can explain there.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

You stayed afloat with thy COVID semesters as best s you could. I agree with the other poster to look more in your backyard. Minnesota should be friendly to North Dakota applicants.

Any interest in HPSP or NHSC?

 

[Gnj1999]

Lima Linda you need a spiritual advisor to give you a LOR, so unless you have one lined up I’d toss that out. UCLA and UCSF are toss outs (highly favorable for in state students. Very selective for out of state students), your stats are below average and you’d get screened out. Your best bet is Creighton, Marquette or UMN. I would focus on those. UMN especially since I think they have some type of reciprocity with North Dakota residents. I would send them an email to confirm. Is there a particular reason for your school choice? They seem all over the country, have you done some research on schools?

You could retake your dat if interested. 19 is slightly below national average. umn average is a 20-21, retaking and getting better score will help significantly.

Your semesters shouldn’t affect you from covid. They have a prompt on the AADSAS app that lets you explain how COVID affected you. You can explain there.

Thanks, the schools I listed right now have an agreement with ND so if I was accepted I would pay in state and ND would pay the difference. I just started researching schools so any advice on places to look into would help

 

[Gnj1999]

Lima Linda you need a spiritual advisor to give you a LOR, so unless you have one lined up I’d toss that out. UCLA and UCSF are toss outs (highly favorable for in state students. Very selective for out of state students), your stats are below average and you’d get screened out. Your best bet is Creighton, Marquette or UMN. I would focus on those. UMN especially since I think they have some type of reciprocity with North Dakota residents. I would send them an email to confirm. Is there a particular reason for your school choice? They seem all over the country, have you done some research on schools?

You could retake your dat if interested. 19 is slightly below national average. umn average is a 20-21, retaking and getting better score will help significantly.

Your semesters shouldn’t affect you from covid. They have a prompt on the AADSAS app that lets you explain how COVID affected you. You can explain there.

Also you seem knowledgeable, my fiancé is from Nevada and we plan on moving there after I finish dental school, so UNLV would be fantastic for me. Do you know anything about their admissions/ if I have a chance there?

 

[macsak]

Overall GPA: 3.703
Science GPA: 3.73
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: 3.71
DAT score (include AA and all sections): 19AA TS:20 OChem:19 GC:20 BIO:22 RC:18 QR:16 PAT:25
State of Residence: ND (no dental school)

Undergrad Attended: University of North Dakota (5th year senior)
Major: Business
Minor: N/A
Minority? No (White-male-cis)
Reapplicant? No
Nontrad? No

Shadowing Experience: Currently 31 hours (all general, 25 in underserved community) (thankfully I have Drs. lined up and will have 100~110 by April)
Volunteering Experience: 115+ My fraternity has strict volunteering requirements. We've won awards nationally for having the most service hours per member. (Examples: Sandbagging during floods, Judging science fairs, preparing food for homeless shelters, packing non-perishables for distribution centers, and helping the director of a non-profit clinic free to underserved communities)
Employment: (160 home health CNA), (220 Pizza driver), (~850 gas station attendant), (~500 bartender/server), (~200 psych/business research assistant)
Research: ~200 on kindness/ benevolent leadership (not published)
Other Extracurriculars: Fraternity: 9 semester (many leadership positions), Biology club: 3 semesters, Student Gov: 5 semesters (Chief Justice of supreme court)
Relevant Honors or Awards: Deans list, Fraternity scholarship, Published Poem
LOR type and strength: 1 general dentist, 2 science professors, 1 mentor (physician). Strength unknown
Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags: My transcripts are really whacky (Sem GPAs: 4.0/3.8/3.0/4.0/3.0/3.5/3.78/4.0) Covid semesters in Red. I have severe ADHD and online classes killed my mental health and motivation. I also switched to pre-dentistry during Covid so I wasn't able to find shadowing until the beginning of this year. I have several C's, an Unsatisfactory in my second semester English general credit, and I had to retake Ochem 1. My DAT scores are also unlike anyone else I've seen so I don't know if they will hurt me. Also, in ND its very hard to find dental work opportunities, so I have none.
School list:
A.T Still
Loma Linda
Oregon
UCLA
UCSF
Colorado
UNLV
Marquette
Creighton
U Conn
Utah
Minnesota

your DAT scores are going to hurt you at OOS public schools, especially at UCSF and UCLA...

 

[Ryxndek]

Also you seem knowledgeable, my fiancé is from Nevada and we plan on moving there after I finish dental school, so UNLV would be fantastic for me. Do you know anything about their admissions/ if I have a chance there?

I'm unfamiliar with UNLV as I did not apply there and didn't apply anywhere more west than Creighton. But just looking at the ADEA guide for the class of 2024, they say that UNLV has 1,603 total apps, with 87 being in state and 51 being offered a seat, OOS has 1,448 applied and 67 offered a seat, they don't disclose how many interviews were given. Their average DAT was a 21AA, 21PAT, and 20Sci, so if you are considering UNLV I highly suggest you retake your DAT and shoot for a 21+AA to be competitive enough to have a shot as an OOS applicant. I would still suggest you apply to Creigton, UMN, and Marquette and you could check out Nebraska Lincoln to see if they have ND residents there as well. The Midwest area will probably be your best chance of admission since they know ND doesn't have a school.

But you can check out UNLV's thread HERE and see what types of applicants got interviews and you can PM them to ask for more help. You can also check out past threads (UNLV Class of 2021) from UNLV and see who got interviews and who got acceptances and what their DAT and GPA were.

 

[Gnj1999]

your DAT scores are going to hurt you at OOS public schools, especially at UCSF and UCLA...

Yeah I just put those down because I just started researching schools and they are apart of a tuition program. The only things holding back my DAT are my RC and QR. My Pre-dental advisor said that shouldn't be a problem with my PAT score. Was this bad advice/should I retake?

 

[Ryxndek]

Yeah I just put those down because I just started researching schools and they are apart of a tuition program. The only things holding back my DAT are my RC and QR. My Pre-dental advisor said that shouldn't be a problem with my PAT score. Was this bad advice/should I retake?

Yes, your DAT could hold you back from schools. While you have a great PAT score, schools look at the score holistically and they will set higher standards for OOS applicants. If you don't retake, plan on applying as soon as the application portal opens. Within the first week or two in June. Anything later and your 19AA could possibly hurt your app then help. With rolling admissions, you want to give yourself the best shot.

With your 19AA you'll probably get more looks from private, very very expensive, schools. Schools that have the tuition program will most likely want to hold you to a higher standard since they're getting less money from you by giving you reduced tuition. If you can retake the DAT, and score above a 21AA, you give yourself much more wiggle room for school selection and stand a chance at landing a state school acceptance (that has reciprocity with ND) which will cost you much less. Take UMN for example. My state school. In-state student tuition is around $350k overall for their projected COA for the class of 2026. For OOS students, that cost shoots up to around $520K, and this is before the 7-8% interest charge. Creighton I believe is around 480k total and Marquette for OOS is around 450k. Plus-minus 50k, I haven't looked at the actual numbers recently but I remember they're around 110-120k a year total COA last I checked.

But long story short, a retake/higher DAT score gives you a greater chance of taking out much less debt. Which is an absurd amount for dental school, so the less money you can borrow, the better. If the cost doesn't matter and you'd be happy going to a private school then a retake probably would only benefit you in the possibility of landing a small scholarship from schools to help pay for housing costs.

But I would avoid UCLA and UCSF, they're pretty highly selective for OOS students, and your DAT score puts you at the 5th percentile for applicants accepted... If you have any more questions keep replying or feel free to PM me. I can always forward you my copy of the ADEA guide, it has been invaluable in helping me choose schools based on my scores/application.

 

[macsak]

Yeah I just put those down because I just started researching schools and they are apart of a tuition program. The only things holding back my DAT are my RC and QR. My Pre-dental advisor said that shouldn't be a problem with my PAT score. Was this bad advice/should I retake?

you should retake if you are sure you can get a better score and want to be competitive at oos publics
right now, you only have a chance at privates, and even then you are competing with a huge pool of applicants with similar or better DATs...