WAMC

[Caperdia]

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Date of submission: September 24th
Overall GPA: 3.74
Science GPA: 3.74
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: 3.67
DAT score (include AA and all sections): AA:20, TS: 19, Chem: 19, Bio: 20, RC: 22, PAT: 22 (cDAT)
State of Residence: Ontario, Dual US/Cad Citizen

Undergrad Attended:
Major:
Minor: N/A
Minority? No
Reapplicant? No
Nontrad? No

Shadowing Experience: 200 Across 3 General Dentists
Volunteering Experience: 320 at a local hospital assisting with patients and front desk work. Lions club member for 8 years. Primarily community service and activity work, ~120 hours not including high school hours.
Employment: Grocery Store customer service, ~3200 hours. (I don't know if this is desirable in any way so don't flame me too much. I just thought customer service might look ok)
Research: None 🙁
Other Extracurriculars: Leadership position helping the LEO portion of the Lions Club. Ski-Club, Pre health Co curricular program at my university.
Have you volunteered/shadowed/attended events at any dental schools? No.
Relevant Honors or Awards: 2 Deans list awards
LOR type and strength: 2 Science profs: Average. General Dentist: Very strong. Lions Club previous club president & Council of Governors Chair: Very strong
Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags: None
School list:
University of Buffalo
UDM
Boston University
VCU
Midwestern Arizona
NOVA
Marquette
Minnesota
UConn

My list is pretty short because I applied late. Should I add more or no? I considered temple and Tufts as well.

Any input is appreciated. I feel I'm just stressing myself out at this point. My DAT and GPA seem average (I think average matriculant DAT is 20.5?) but I'm not sure I have anything that really makes me stick out as an applicant.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I'm also presuming you're applying to Canadian dental schools, yes? You probably know they are more metrics-focused given the smaller market, but they also may be much less expensive than US schools. But I defer on that information since they don't share admissions insights into the ADEA Dental School Explorer.

Your metrics are okay for US programs, but if you haven't done any networking to know what each program offers you, it's tough to say. You seem to pick programs that do select Canadian matriculants, but your metrics should be above the stated averages as an international applicant. I'd say if you think you have a shot, you can try, but you may want to accept the possibility of reapplying because you are submitting late applications.

Was all of your dental shadowing and experience in the US or Canada? I am a little worried about the small number of non-clinical community service/volunteering on your profile. Without knowing much more detail, it's hard to say whether it's enough to pick your application out for a potential interview.

 

[Caperdia]

I'm also presuming you're applying to Canadian dental schools, yes? You probably know they are more metrics-focused given the smaller market, but they also may be much less expensive than US schools. But I defer on that information since they don't share admissions insights into the ADEA Dental School Explorer.

Your metrics are okay for US programs, but if you haven't done any networking to know what each program offers you, it's tough to say. You seem to pick programs that do select Canadian matriculants, but your metrics should be above the stated averages as an international applicant. I'd say if you think you have a shot, you can try, but you may want to accept the possibility of reapplying because you are submitting late applications.

Was all of your dental shadowing and experience in the US or Canada? I am a little worried about the small number of non-clinical community service/volunteering on your profile. Without knowing much more detail, it's hard to say whether it's enough to pick your application out for a potential interview.

Hey, thanks for the reply. Would my volunteering be clinical simply because it was in a hospital setting? I should have placed a higher emphasis on the front desk portion in this post as that was the majority of the volunteering experience at the hospital. While I did assist patients, a majority of it was assisting the public coming into the hospital and helping them get to places for appointments and visiting patients.

All my shadowing experience is in Canada. Does being an American Citizen help my application at all? We also have a residence in Florida but its not registered as my place of residence.

I'm not applying to any Canadian schools, my application is basically a donation to them. Thank you again for the reply, I understand I may need to apply to again which is what I get for applying so late but I think I have a decent shot at at least some of the schools I've applied to. I forgot to mention that I also mentored but I doubt that changes anything.

 

[Ryxndek]

would have probably recommended applying to more schools considering you applied late and dont have an "in state" school you can bank on. But I think your list is fine. Boarder schools close to Canada/East coast would have been better, MW-IL, CWRU, Touro, Creighton, Tufts, Temple,

Your stats are a little on the low end for UB, UConn, and VCU, and ever so slightly for UMN. But i think they were fine schools considering location. I don't see any red flags on your app either. I think had you applied earlier things might be a little different but not much you can do now. Just have to wait and see how the cycle goes and then go from there.

 

[Caperdia]

MW-IL Does not accept CDAT.
Do you think I'll have to retake my DAT? I feel like a 20 is becoming a pretty low score after every cycle which is quite disheartening considering i was 1 point off of a 21. Do you think throwing an app at Touro, Tufts and Temple rn would be an ok idea or nah. I'm in a position where money is not a huge issue.

 

[Ryxndek]

MW-IL Does not accept CDAT.
Do you think I'll have to retake my DAT? I feel like a 20 is becoming a pretty low score after every cycle which is quite disheartening considering i was 1 point off of a 21. Do you think throwing an app at Touro, Tufts and Temple rn would be an ok idea or nah. I'm in a position where money is not a huge issue.

interesting that MWAZ does but MWIL does not considering they're sister schools. 20AA is under the average matriculating students, but still close enough to gain admission to schools. I don't think you need to retake now, if money isn't an issue tossing an application to those three may be worth it

 

[Caperdia]

interesting that MWAZ does but MWIL does not considering they're sister schools. 20AA is under the average matriculating students, but still close enough to gain admission to schools. I don't think you need to retake now, if money isn't an issue tossing an application to those three may be worth it

To tufts and Touro I go. I just couldn't find a way to send Touro my cDAT through the CDA.

 

[Ryxndek]

To tufts and Touro I go. I just couldn't find a way to send Touro my cDAT through the CDA.

you may need to contact them to make sure they accept it

 

[Caperdia]

you may need to contact them to make sure they accept it

Yea I'm going to. I had to do that with every other school too.

 

[macsak]

interesting that MWAZ does but MWIL does not considering they're sister schools. 20AA is under the average matriculating students, but still close enough to gain admission to schools. I don't think you need to retake now, if money isn't an issue tossing an application to those three may be worth it

if money isn't an issue, why didn't you apply to all canadian friendly schools?
or all privates?

 

[Caperdia]

if money isn't an issue, why didn't you apply to all canadian friendly schools?
or all privates?

Thank you for the reply. I should say relatively. Its not like I have an endless fund, but I have enough to add a few more schools to the list this cycle. I've tried to apply to schools within my general area and that I thought I might have a chance to get into as well.

I don't think it would make sense for me to apply to a school like Harvard where I'm completely under all their stats.

 

[macsak]

Thank you for the reply. I should say relatively. Its not like I have an endless fund, but I have enough to add a few more schools to the list this cycle. I've tried to apply to schools within my general area and that I thought I might have a chance to get into as well.

I don't think it would make sense for me to apply to a school like Harvard where I'm completely under all their stats.

ok, i should have said "non-ivy and non-uop privates"...

 

[Caperdia]

ok, i should have said "non-ivy and non-uop privates"...

Haha true. Just gotta hope regardless.

 

[Caperdia]

would have probably recommended applying to more schools considering you applied late and dont have an "in state" school you can bank on. But I think your list is fine. Boarder schools close to Canada/East coast would have been better, MW-IL, CWRU, Touro, Creighton, Tufts, Temple,

Your stats are a little on the low end for UB, UConn, and VCU, and ever so slightly for UMN. But i think they were fine schools considering location. I don't see any red flags on your app either. I think had you applied earlier things might be a little different but not much you can do now. Just have to wait and see how the cycle goes and then go from there.

Update: Got an interview invite from midwestern Arizona just today.

 

[Caperdia]

would have probably recommended applying to more schools considering you applied late and dont have an "in state" school you can bank on. But I think your list is fine. Boarder schools close to Canada/East coast would have been better, MW-IL, CWRU, Touro, Creighton, Tufts, Temple,

Your stats are a little on the low end for UB, UConn, and VCU, and ever so slightly for UMN. But i think they were fine schools considering location. I don't see any red flags on your app either. I think had you applied earlier things might be a little different but not much you can do now. Just have to wait and see how the cycle goes and then go from there.

Hey, I don't know if you'll see this but I'm hoping you do. I've been fortunate enough to receive 4 interview invites and I'm currently waitlisted at 2 (UDM surprised us saying that we were all interviewing for the waitlist lmao).

Given my stats, if I had to reapply next year do you think I should retake the DAT and apply in July, or should I just reapply with my current scores.

I know the cycle isn't over but I've just been busy stressing myself out. I think I have a pretty decent shot at the school I interviewed at recently but I just wanted to know if you would suggest retaking if I have to.

 

[Ryxndek]

Hey, I don't know if you'll see this but I'm hoping you do. I've been fortunate enough to receive 4 interview invites and I'm currently waitlisted at 2 (UDM surprised us saying that we were all interviewing for the waitlist lmao).

Given my stats, if I had to reapply next year do you think I should retake the DAT and apply in July, or should I just reapply with my current scores.

I know the cycle isn't over but I've just been busy stressing myself out. I think I have a pretty decent shot at the school I interviewed at recently but I just wanted to know if you would suggest retaking if I have to.

Retaking the DAT could be a good option. Applying in July would be good as well.

I’d still wait and see how things go, waitlists could still shift and you could hear back. Possibly around March

I don’t think it would be a bad idea to also reach out to schools when rejected to see if they’d provide feedback on what you could improve for your application.

 

[Caperdia]

Retaking the DAT could be a good option. Applying in July would be good as well.

I’d still wait and see how things go, waitlists could still shift and you could hear back. Possibly around March

I don’t think it would be a bad idea to also reach out to schools when rejected to see if they’d provide feedback on what you could improve for your application.

Thanks dawg

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I agree that if you had to reapply, submit everything before the end of June/early July. You did well with 4 interviews, so let's hope something works out.

Follow the other threads on the new scoring system for the American DAT, beginning March 1.

 

[Caperdia]

I agree that if you had to reapply, submit everything before the end of June/early July. You did well with 4 interviews, so let's hope something works out.

Follow the other threads on the new scoring system for the American DAT, beginning March 1.

Sorry for this late response. Do you think the best course of action (assuming i do not get in) would be to apply asap with my current score then rewrite in late june/early july, then update schools with my new score, or should I wait to have an official score to reapply.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Sorry for this late response. Do you think the best course of action (assuming i do not get in) would be to apply asap with my current score then rewrite in late june/early july, then update schools with my new score, or should I wait to have an official score to reapply.

If you strike out at every school that interviewed you, let them tell you to retake your DAT. I think an early application will help you, and you can tell them you're retaking the DAT during the cycle (so don't review my file until then).

 

[Caperdia]

If you strike out at every school that interviewed you, let them tell you to retake your DAT. I think an early application will help you, and you can tell them you're retaking the DAT during the cycle (so don't review my file until then).

Awesome thanks. I assume a july application will be a lot stronger than october right. Do you think its ok to keep the same personal statement?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Awesome thanks. I assume a july application will be a lot stronger than october right. Do you think its ok to keep the same personal statement?

July will be strategically better than October. Read the SDN article on Timing.

Conventional advice would encourage you to rewrite or significantly change your PS.

 

[macsak]

Awesome thanks. I assume a july application will be a lot stronger than october right. Do you think its ok to keep the same personal statement?

no, you should at least put down what you have done to improve since the last cycle...

 

[Caperdia]

no, you should at least put down what you have done to improve since the last cycle...

I personally think my personal statement was the best part of my application but obviously that's subject to bias without you actually reading it... I assume I could just extend on experiences or add new experiences in my personal statement that fit my narrative correct?

Obviously you haven't read my personal statement, but as long as I expand upon certain parts and show I've continuously been engaged in the field it should be ok correct?

 

[Caperdia]

July will be strategically better than October. Read the SDN article on Timing.

Conventional advice would encourage you to rewrite or significantly change your PS.

I personally think rewrite>significantly change. We are purely speaking hypothetical right now, if you see me back in june then you can assume the obvious lol. Thank you to the three of you for all the help 😛

 

[Caperdia]

Update - I've been accepted.