What am I missing? Advise from current dental students or accepted students.

[Nikoniko12]

I'm going to be as open as possible with my grades and how I performed in my undergrad and would like to receive some advice on how I could strengthen my application.

I completed my undergrad at the University of Toronto, taking 4 courses per trimester (5 is a full course load), taking the summer term to finish my undergrad on time. In the third year I was hospitalized b/c of seizures, hence me keeping 4 courses at the time. I put a total of 4 courses on credit/no credit throughout my undergrad. I completed it in April 2018, with a double major in biology and mathematics.

My cumulative GPA: 3.83, Science GPA: 3.71, and Mathematics GPA: 3.98. Canadian DAT test score: 19.6 AA, 20 Bio, 21 Chem, 18 RC, 21 PAT (this was taken in November 2017). I realized that my scores were a bit below average, so I wrote the American DAT in November 2018 (they were official on November 30th, 2018. Schools didn't get to look at them yet?): 22.0AA, 24NS, 19RC, 22 PAT, 20 QR.

Besides my academics, I have just over 100 hours of dental shadowing experience (at 3 separate clinics), 2000+ hours over a 6-year span in my extracurricular activities, and some minimal volunteer work (around 20-30 hours) helping my old high school out and as a notetaker in university.

I received 3 pre-December 3rd interviews, waitlisted on all of them. One post-December 3rd interview, and one upcoming January interview.

What am I doing wrong? What am I missing? This is very frustrating, working so hard to get nothing at the end of the day. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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[coldicecream]

you're getting interviews so i don't think you're doing anything "wrong". Being waitlisted is way better than rejected.
1. When were your pre-dec interviews? You could try emailing them saying that you took the American DAT and wanted to update them incase AADSAS didn't.
2. Practice your interviewing skills at mock interviews.

 

[Nikoniko12]

you're getting interviews so i don't think you're doing anything "wrong". Being waitlisted is way better than rejected.
1. When were your pre-dec interviews? You could try emailing them saying that you took the American DAT and wanted to update them incase AADSAS didn't.
2. Practice your interviewing skills at mock interviews.

I did e-mail each of the universities about my updated DAT test scores. I could try to improve on the interview process though. Thank you for your input

 

[Vicviper]

It may be your interviewing - just try to be natural and yourself. How did you feel you did during the interviews? Also, dental school is super competitive - as I'm sure you know - the fact that you got interviews at all says you're competitive, but at this level of competition, everyone is so closely ranked that it can be something as simple as your interviewer was feeling sick that day, or had to go to the bathroom and wasn't paying as much attention to you as they could have been, and so couldn't represent you as well to the admissions committee. The fact that you got more than one interview says that your stats are good enough, and so I doubt it is a stats thing, don't stress about that. Also, how many programs did you apply to? If you applied to less than 10 schools, I'd say you're looking pretty good on the interviews you got.

 

[Nikoniko12]

It may be your interviewing - just try to be natural and yourself. How did you feel you did during the interviews? Also, dental school is super competitive - as I'm sure you know - the fact that you got interviews at all says you're competitive, but at this level of competition, everyone is so closely ranked that it can be something as simple as your interviewer was feeling sick that day, or had to go to the bathroom and wasn't paying as much attention to you as they could have been, and so couldn't represent you as well to the admissions committee. The fact that you got more than one interview says that your stats are good enough, and so I doubt it is a stats thing, don't stress about that. Also, how many programs did you apply to? If you applied to less than 10 schools, I'd say you're looking pretty good on the interviews you got.

I applied to over 20 programs. Hence the reason why I have a total of 5 interviews. So, you think it's more my interview skills? I do practice before hand, look at the sdn interview questions and come up with answers to them before hand, and try to be as natural as possible :/

 

[knewstance]

20-30 hours of volunteer work is pretty concerning. That's like, "I volunteered, once, this one weekend." Depending on the schools you applied to, that may be holding you back. A lot of state schools, state associated private schools, and even some of the private schools expect you to be a public servant for the rest of your life (exaggerating to an extent here) so they want to see that you already ARE a public servant, not that you will become one in the future.

 

[BluntForceTrauma]

come up with answers to them before hand, and try to be as natural as possible :/

These two are mutually exclusive. Frankly, it was great going into an interview without a preprogrammed answer. That makes you *really* natural instead of forcing yourself to fit the answer you have rehearsed in your mind.

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[Nikoniko12]

20-30 hours of volunteer work is pretty concerning. That's like, "I volunteered, once, this one weekend." Depending on the schools you applied to, that may be holding you back. A lot of state schools, state associated private schools, and even some of the private schools expect you to be a public servant for the rest of your life (exaggerating to an extent here) so they want to see that you already ARE a public servant, not that you will become one in the future.

In your opinion, do you think it's too late for me to start accumulating volunteer hours? And, does it matter where I volunteer? I'm thinking to volunteer at a retirement home.

 

[AppalachianDentalBoy]

Never too late to volunteer my guy. Doesn’t matter where you do it but quality 1 on 1 interaction is always better than other types.

 

[coldicecream]

In your opinion, do you think it's too late for me to start accumulating volunteer hours? And, does it matter where I volunteer? I'm thinking to volunteer at a retirement home.

volunteer where you have a genuine interest in. It can be a food drive, animal shelter, etc.
There should a lot of opportunities since its the holiday season

 

[knewstance]

In your opinion, do you think it's too late for me to start accumulating volunteer hours? And, does it matter where I volunteer? I'm thinking to volunteer at a retirement home.

Retirement home is fine if thats what you want to do. Make it a weekly/bi-weekly thing for 2-3 hours each time and do it for like 3+ months. Show that you are dedicated to service and consistent in doing do.

Side note: It may be just my opinion, but I'm not sure I'd recommend an animal shelter. You'd want to be doing community service directly towards humans.

 

[Nikoniko12]

Retirement home is fine if thats what you want to do. Make it a weekly/bi-weekly thing for 2-3 hours each time and do it for like 3+ months. Show that you are dedicated to service and consistent in doing do.

Side note: It may be just my opinion, but I'm not sure I'd recommend an animal shelter. You'd want to be doing community service directly towards humans.

Will do some volunteering as soon as I'm back home. Thank you for your input!