WAMC + School list

[2thDoc11]

Date of submission: Hopefully by the 19th of June depending on my last LoR submission.
Overall GPA: 3.78
Science GPA: Roughly 3.76
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: 3.55
DAT score (include AA and all sections): AA-20 TS-22 BIO-23 GC-26 OC-20 RC-18 PAT-20 QR-14(although I got As in physics, Algebra and calculus)
State of Residence: North Dakota

Undergrad Attended: University of North Dakota
Major: Kinesiology
Minor:
Minority? No
Reapplicant? No
Nontrad? No

Shadowing Experience: 100 hours with general dentist, 8 hours with ortho, 16 hours with oral surgery
Volunteering Experience: 80 hours with a combination of hospital ER, pediatric therapy, basketball camps, and special olympics.
Employment: 1000 hours as hospital orderly(patient transportation, performed EKGs, could assist if needed in surgery, assisted nurses with duties, responded to Code Blues and BERTS), 1500 hrs of being patient care technician at a dermatology clinic(step above nursing assistant). I was pre-med up until graduation and still working in the clinic. Decided to pursue dentistry around October 2019 which is why I don't have much dental experience.
Research: 2000+ hrs as a research assistant in an exercise physiology lab for a USDA Human Nutrition Research Center.
Other Extracurriculars: College basketball and Track and field freshman year. 1 club a year.
Relevant Honors or Awards:
LOR type and strength: 2 science professors, 1 general dentist, 1 research supervisor
Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere: Had full course loads even during athletics and having a job later on. At one point, I was taking 18 credits while working two jobs(about 16-20 hours each job a week) Couple semesters taking 21 credits. Workout 5-6 days a week. (Trying to show that I can balance school with life)
School list:
Case Western
LECOM
Creighton
Nova
Western University
University of LV-Nevada
Marquette
University of New England
A.T. Still University Missouri
A.T. Still University AZ
University of Colorado
University of Minnesota
University of Iowa
University of Nebraska
University of Louisville
University of Kentucky
University of Missouri- KC

Side note: I am pretty frugal with my money. If any of these programs are stupidly expensive than I probably would rather not apply. I'd rather wait a year and build my resume/retake DAT to save 100k then to start now. I guess we'll see how things go before I make that decision.

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[S_Diamond_DDS]

Here’s the easy to view version of what schools are very expensive (go to the bottom): 2018-2019 dental school costs spreadsheet

The ADEA guide to dental schools has the most accurate and up to date collection of tuition costs however.

Look them up, but off hand I know UNLV, LECOM, and UNE are pricey, and western is less so but still up there. I’d also suspect NOVA is high.

 

[S_Diamond_DDS]

Yea I looked at that spreadsheet before but how accurate is it? University of Minnesota is my top choice and is listed at>$600,000.... I mean that's more expensive then most of the schools on the list? Am I missing something?

Like I said, if you want verified up to date tuition costs you can use the adea guide or look on the dental school’s website, they usually have a financial aid section. But the spreadsheet seems accurate to me (I think it was pulled from the ADEA guide from that year). I don’t think you’re reading the breakdown right. You first find the school and make sure you’re looking at “OOS” if you’re out of state, then simply add up the first two columns (Tuition + cost of living) and multiply by 4 (for four years), at least that’s the quick way to do it. For a school like UNLV, in which you gain residency after the first year you’d add up the first two columns for out of state, then add that to the first two columns for in state multiplied by 3.

so for uminn (OOS), I see 97k for tuition and 17k for cost of living. So added up, it’s 114k * 4 = $456k (a relatively pricey school)

 

[DiscoverWeakly]

Yea I looked at that spreadsheet before but how accurate is it? University of Minnesota is my top choice and is listed at>$600,000.... I mean that's more expensive then most of the schools on the list? Am I missing something?

I would check with UMN if you're considered out of state. If I remembered correctly, I thought there was reciprocity between ND and MN, which brings down the tuition considerably. But if the OOS status is correct, yeah... it'll be spendy.

 

[DiscoverWeakly]

Thanks for the input of about the finances.. Do you think my school list is well aligned with my stats? I know its up to the admissions but I'd still like your input. Should I have high hopes?

GPA is great and DAT (AA and TS) is right there, very solid TS, average AA. You'll probably find luck somewhere. But, as others on SDN will share, that 14 in QR is concerning. You might want to contact a few schools and see if they have a strict cut off. You'll see on school websites that they have minimum cut offs of 17 in each section. So some schools may just toss out your application before looking at it while others may be more lenient.

As for your school list, and focus on price, as Diamond DDS mentioned, the private schools are going to be expensive, and even OOS state schools. I'd check out the WICHE schools and UMN (if considered in state).

 

[2thDoc11]

GPA is great and DAT (AA and TS) is right there, very solid TS, average AA. You'll probably find luck somewhere. But, as others on SDN will share, that 14 in QR is concerning. You might want to contact a few schools and see if they have a strict cut off. You'll see on school websites that they have minimum cut offs of 17 in each section. So some schools may just toss out your application before looking at it while others may be more lenient.

As for your school list, and focus on price, as Diamond DDS mentioned, the private schools are going to be expensive, and even OOS state schools. I'd check out the WICHE schools and UMN (if considered in state).

Thank you! I have emailed each school on the list and all have said that the 14 is low but that they take a holistic view at the application. (How true this is idk..) Nova, Creighton, Nebraska and a couple others said I was still very competitive and urged me to apply which made me feel better. As far as I've looked, these schools are pretty much my best bet.. there may be some others out there but I probably have reasons as to why I am not considering them.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Thank you! I have emailed each school on the list and all have said that the 14 is low but that they take a holistic view at the application. (How true this is idk..) Nova, Creighton, Nebraska and a couple others said I was still very competitive and urged me to apply which made me feel better. As far as I've looked, these schools are pretty much my best bet.. there may be some others out there but I probably have reasons as to why I am not considering them.

QR was not something my committee was concerned about, and it was always generally the lowest scores we see. If I gave the QR section to my committee, I doubt that they could do much better (and I think they would admit it too). Other sections matter more.

 

[2thDoc11]

QR was not something my committee was concerned about, and it was always generally the lowest scores we see. If I gave the QR section to my committee, I doubt that they could do much better (and I think they would admit it too). Other sections matter more.

Submitted applications to 17 programs yesterday...we'll see how things go

 

[2thDoc11]

How did it turn out?
I am in a very similar situation :/

Got accepted to a few schools! Good luck

 

[Dr.dentist.dds]

Got accepted to a few schools! Good luck

messaged you!!

 

[2thDoc11]

If you have the similar stats with the exception of the 14 in QR.. odds are you’ll get even more interviews. Got a feeling a few schools probably didn’t get passed that. especially the state schools

 

[2thDoc11]

If you have the similar stats with the exception of the 14 in QR.. odds are you’ll get even more interviews. Got a feeling a few schools probably didn’t get passed that. especially the state schools

Got 6 interviews, 3 acceptances, 2 waitlists and rejected a couple other interviews that I decided weren’t worth the extra time.