WAMC Reapplicant 2025-2026

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toothtrain1418

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Overall GPA: 3.40
Science GPA: 3.20
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: 3.08
DAT score (include AA and all sections): AA - 20 PAT - 23 QR - 20 RC - 19 BIO - 20 GC- 19 OC - 21 TS - 20
State of Residence: Idaho

Major: Biomedical Sciences
Minority? No
Reapplicant? Yes
Nontrad? No

Shadowing Experience: 94 hours and counting ( 80 hours of shadowing with general dentists, while the other 14 have been with specialists)

Volunteering Experience:
Peer Mentor on Campus (56 hours) - Mentored incoming freshmen and helped them adjust to college life.
Youth Basketball Coach (8 hours and counting)
Youth Group Leader (82 hours) - Helped plan and participated in enrichment activites for our youth group to serve their community and help develop life skills.
Server at a Soup Kitchen (84 hours)
LDS Missionary Service (1000+ hours)

Employment:
Registered Behavior Technician (544 hours) - Worked one-on-one with kids with disabilities in the classroom to do their school work and implement behavior plans.
Direct Support Professional (680 hours) - Worked one-on-one with adults with disabilities and helped to assist with daily living tasks.
Campus Wellness Coach (168 hours) - Worked with clients to set and achieve goals in areas related to wellness.
Legislative Coordinator (440) - Worked with elected officials to coordinate meetings with stakeholders and write speeches.

Other Extracurriculars:
Collegiate Mens Basketball Player (216 hours), Intramurals Basketball Player (100 hours)

Have you volunteered/shadowed/attended events at any dental schools?
No

LOR type and strength:
2 from faculty from the unveristy I attended - (decent)
1 from a dentist that I shadowed - (strong)
1 from one of the eleceted officials that I worked with - (very strong)

Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags:
I have two C+'s on my transcript for biochemistry and o-chem 2. That semester when I was taking my classes my wife had some heart complications come up unexpectedly that required us to travel back and forth to her home country for treatment.

I didn't receive any interviews this last cycle except for a Kira from Roseman so I'm wondering how I can improve my application for the upcoming cycle. Should I consider doing a post bac or masters if needed to strengthen my GPA (I do have a strong upward trend)? Are there any other dental programs I should be considering? Any suggestions would help!

School list:
Oregon (OSHU)
Roseman
UNLV
IU (my father went to dental school here)
UW
Midwestern
Loma Linda
Louisville
UofP
NSU (family connection to florida)
 
Last edited:
toothtrain1418 said:
Overall GPA: 3.40
Science GPA: 3.20
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA:
DAT score (include AA and all sections): AA - 20 PA - 23 QR - 20 RC - 19 BIO - 20 GC- 19 OC - 21 TS - 20
State of Residence: put either the state or Canada or International

Undergrad Attended: if you want to include this
Major: If double major, list both here
Minor: If double minor, list both here
Minority? Yes/No- Asians are NOT a minority
Reapplicant? Yes/No
Nontrad? Yes/No- Do not select yes if you took a gap year (or years) OR if you're doing a Masters; nontrads are usually career changers or military

Shadowing Experience: Hours and type
Volunteering Experience: Hours and type
Employment: Hours and type
Research: Hours and type; any publications or presentations? How many?
Other Extracurriculars: Hours and type; includes athletics, military, leadership, etc.
Have you volunteered/shadowed/attended events at any dental schools? networking, volunteering in a D-school clinic, shadow faculty, etc.
Relevant Honors or Awards:
LOR type and strength:
Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags:
School list:
Please include a list of schools you are interested in applying to! It is much easier for users to help you when you have taken the time to construct your own school list first!
Click to expand...
please complete the whole template...
 
macsak said:
what is your "strong upward trend"?
what is your GPA over the last 2 years?
what is your GPA over the last year?
Click to expand...
and when did you decide you wanted to be a dentist?
 
200 hours as a collegiate athlete... that seems really low. Can you tell me more about this? Your clinical hours are also lower than I would expect, though I guess if you didn't shadow your dad's colleagues, that could explain it.

Did you talk with admissions representatives at the schools on your list? Did you talk with Indiana USD? What feedback did you get?

How do you include your wife in this decision? I'm sorry to hear she had medical troubles... have you paid off that debt (travel between home country??)? Are you planning a family? If so, where do you want to live to best support your family? How comfortable are you not only with another 500+K in debt but also the hours you need to dedicate to the craft of dentistry (i.e., hand skills)? What experience best showcases your hand skills?

If you apply to Loma, you need a religious leader's LOR. Not sure the elected leader helps you... what is the relationship with this reference (related through your LDS mission??)?

edit: Your GPA SMP indicates your journey to dentistry would be attainable upon completing with a 3.7+ SMP GPA and strong faculty letters showcasing your growth and collegiality. You need more than "decent" faculty letters... you need champions.
 
Last edited:
Mr.Smile12 said:
200 hours as a collegiate athlete... that seems really low. Can you tell me more about this? Your clinical hours are also lower than I would expect, though I guess if you didn't shadow your dad's colleagues, that could explain it.

Did you talk with admissions representatives at the schools on your list? Did you talk with Indiana USD? What feedback did you get?

How do you include your wife in this decision? I'm sorry to hear she had medical troubles... have you paid off that debt (travel between home country??)? Are you planning a family? If so, where do you want to live to best support your family? How comfortable are you not only with another 500+K in debt but also the hours you need to dedicate to the craft of dentistry (i.e., hand skills)? What experience best showcases your hand skills?

If you apply to Loma, you need a religious leader's LOR. Not sure the elected leader helps you... what is the relationship with this reference (related through your LDS mission??)?

Your SMP indicates your journey to dentistry would be attainable upon completing with a 3.7+ GPA and strong faculty letters showcasing your growth and collegiality. You need more than "decent" faculty letters... you need champions.
Click to expand...
???
OP is doing an SMP?
 
macsak said:
???
OP is doing an SMP?
Click to expand...
I don't see an SMP GPA from the original poster. They said, "Should I consider doing a post bac or masters if needed to strengthen my GPA?" Made corrections. I see the 3.6 GPA steady from sophomore year. But BCP GPA is still 3.08. Are those GPA calculations correct???
 
Mr.Smile12 said:
200 hours as a collegiate athlete... that seems really low. Can you tell me more about this? Your clinical hours are also lower than I would expect, though I guess if you didn't shadow your dad's colleagues, that could explain it.

Did you talk with admissions representatives at the schools on your list? Did you talk with Indiana USD? What feedback did you get?

How do you include your wife in this decision? I'm sorry to hear she had medical troubles... have you paid off that debt (travel between home country??)? Are you planning a family? If so, where do you want to live to best support your family? How comfortable are you not only with another 500+K in debt but also the hours you need to dedicate to the craft of dentistry (i.e., hand skills)? What experience best showcases your hand skills?

If you apply to Loma, you need a religious leader's LOR. Not sure the elected leader helps you... what is the relationship with this reference (related through your LDS mission??)?

edit: Your GPA SMP indicates your journey to dentistry would be attainable upon completing with a 3.7+ SMP GPA and strong faculty letters showcasing your growth and collegiality. You need more than "decent" faculty letters... you need champions.
Click to expand...
I was fighting through some injuries, which eventually ended my basketball season, so that's why the hours are low there.

Yes, my clinical shadowing hours are lower than I would like, and I have slowed down recently because I have been working full time. I have shadowed my father's colleagues, but their clinic is in Canada (where my family lives), so that's not ideal. The majority of the hours that I have acquired are from local dentists that I've made connections with.

I haven't had any meetings with admissions representatives on this cycle's school list. I've called them last cycle and expressed interest in their programs but other than that, that is the extent of it. I have been looking to set up some more meetings with admissions to go over my application. I did have one meeting with UNC (I applied naïvely, I might add), and they did say that they thought my science GPA was low and my DAT could use some work.

I'm not sure what you mean by Indiana USD?

My wife fully supports me in pursuing dentistry, and we would prefer to stay out west for school to make travel for our families to come and see us more realistic, but ultimately we're ok moving wherever I get accepted. We don't have any debt from traveling for my wife's medical expenses. We are comfortable with the large debt we will incur from schooling, and I am no stranger to working hard to put in the hours for a goal that I want to achieve, so I'm ready to put in the hours to gain the hand skills needed for dentistry. As far as hand skills, I cook, fly fish, and like to paint from time to time.

I forgot to mention that I did also have a LOR from a religious leader last cycle when applying to Loma Linda. The LOR from the elected official was from an elected official who I assigned to and worked very closely with in my time working as a Legislative Coordinator. I spent a lot of time with them and volunteered a lot of time with them too outside of work. I thought it would be a good LOR from someone who spent a lot of time with me and could attest to my character.

Sorry, I'm not sure by what you mean by SMP GPA? I agree that my letters of rec from my professors should be stellar. I did ask two science professors that I had great relationships with, but I never actually read their letters so that's why I said they were "decent".
 
macsak said:
thanks
what was your school list last cycle?
Click to expand...
BU
Creighton
LMU
Loma Linda
Meharry ( I didn't realize that Meharry was a HBCU until after I submitted my primaries so I didn't even pay the supplemental fees )
Midwestern
OHSU
NSU
Roseman
UNLV
UNE
UNC
UW
 
macsak said:
and how did you come up with the list last year and this year?
Click to expand...
I came up with my list last cycle mainly through the ADEA dental school explorer, where I compared my stats and thought I could be competitive. Some of the programs that I applied to also presented at my university's predental society meetings, and I found their programs and values/ mission appealing. If I'm being honest, when I applied to UNC it was my dream school so I threw my application their way as a long shot.
 
toothtrain1418 said:
I came up with my list last cycle mainly through the ADEA dental school explorer, where I compared my stats and thought I could be competitive. Some of the programs that I applied to also presented at my university's predental society meetings, and I found their programs and values/ mission appealing. If I'm being honest, when I applied to UNC it was my dream school so I threw my application their way as a long shot.
Click to expand...
you need to have mission fit to get interviews and acceptances
"thought i could be competitive" is not mission fit

your father's practice (and where family is) is in canada?
are you a US resident?

UNC was a long shot, as were UOP and UW, and you realized your error too late for the HBCU
so you essentially applied to 9 schools last cycle
that was not anywhere close to enough...
 
Mr.Smile12 said:
I don't see an SMP GPA from the original poster. They said, "Should I consider doing a post bac or masters if needed to strengthen my GPA?" Made corrections. I see the 3.6 GPA steady from sophomore year. But BCP GPA is still 3.08. Are those GPA calculations correct???
Click to expand...
What is an SMP GPA? Yes, I'm pretty sure those GPA calculations are correct. The majority of the intro bio chem and physics classes I took were during my freshman year and didn't take them super seriously to say the least. I think I averaged a B in most of them? My other sciences GPA was a 3.52.
 
macsak said:
you need to have mission fit to get interviews and acceptances
"thought i could be competitive" is not mission fit

your father's practice (and where family is) is in canada?
are you a US resident?

UNC was a long shot, as were UOP and UW, and you realized your error too late for the HBCU
so you essentially applied to 9 schools last cycle
that was not anywhere close to enough...
Click to expand...
What can I do to ensure that I have a mission fit? Just by doing research on their website and seeing if their values/ mission aligns with mine as a future dentist?

I am a dual citizen of the USA and Canada

How many programs should I be applying to? What other programs would you suggest instead of UOP and UW
 
toothtrain1418 said:
What can I do to ensure that I have a mission fit? Just by doing research on their website and seeing if their values/ mission aligns with mine as a future dentist?

I am a dual citizen of the USA and Canada

How many programs should I be applying to? What other programs would you suggest instead of UOP and UW
Click to expand...
you need to look beyond mission statements, it is easy to write a mission statement that sounds good
that's why they all sound the same after a while
look what they actually do, not just what they say...
 
toothtrain1418 said:
What can I do to ensure that I have a mission fit? Just by doing research on their website and seeing if their values/ mission aligns with mine as a future dentist?

I am a dual citizen of the USA and Canada

How many programs should I be applying to? What other programs would you suggest instead of UOP and UW
Click to expand...
you need to realize that what you see as a "strong upward trend" is not
3.60 is around the average matriculant GPA nowadays (usually around 3.55)
and your DAT score is below the matriculant average (usually around 20.5)
combine that with your low shadowing hours last cycle, and not much increase since, that means you need to consider applying to lots more schools (like well into the teens), most of which will need to be privates (please do your own research before asking for recommendations)
i would consider SMP programs to prove that you can handle a heavy science load (and get a graduate gpa to balance your undergrad GPA) although i'm not sure when the application deadlines are for them...
 
toothtrain1418 said:
What is an SMP GPA? Yes, I'm pretty sure those GPA calculations are correct. The majority of the intro bio chem and physics classes I took were during my freshman year and didn't take them super seriously to say the least. I think I averaged a B in most of them? My other sciences GPA was a 3.52.
Click to expand...
SMP is special masters program. You may want to consider taking one to demonstrate academic readiness for dental school because your BCP GPA is 3.02. Have your prehealth advisors recommended this to you?
 
Mr.Smile12 said:
SMP is special masters program. You may want to consider taking one to demonstrate academic readiness for dental school because your BCP GPA is 3.02. Have your prehealth advisors recommended this to you?
Click to expand...
No, they haven't in the past. I'm scheduling an advising meeting for the near future and I'll see what they have to say
 
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