What are my chances into UOP Pre-Dental Program??

[rladbwjdtl]

Hi all,

I am going to be a senior in high school this fall and wanted to know my chances of getting into UOP Accelerated Pre-Dental 3+3 program. I know there are a TON of threads like this one but I know that admission to this program is a lot harder now... Please help me out.


GPA:
Grades 10-11: 3.82 Unweighted
4.27 Weighted (AP and Honor classes)

SATI: CR 720, Math 770, Writing 750
SATII: Math level 2 780, Korean 800, (im planning to take Chemistry)

AP US History 4
AP English Language 5
AP Calculus AB 5
AP Chemistry 3 (I know,,, this is bad...)

Taking 3 AP/Honors classes out of 6 in Senior year

Summer Internship at a Children's Hopital
Some Volunteering hours from Kaiser Permanente
(Not a lot of hours total though,,, less than 100)

Awards and Extracurriculars in Classical Piano (Finalist in State-wide competition, win a few local competitions, recital at Carnegie Hall...)

I live in the Bay Area, and am a female Korean immigrant (permanent resident).



ALSO,,,,

Going to UOP is my first choice but the cost aspect is making me a little hessitant. Do you recommend another route to becoming a dentist? What do you think of attending a UC (public and a lot cheaper) than applying to dental school?

THANK YOU!

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[khangreen]

Your SAT scores and GPA look good. Honestly, it should be enough to get into 2+3 unless there's a lot of talented competition in that year. I got into 2+3 last year (this is about to be my 2nd year) and these were my stats:

SAT I: Math 800 CR 630 Writing (they don't really look at so w/e)
SAT II: Math II 800 Physics 800 Chemistry 740 (kinna sad since I don't think they look much at these either. There's no minimum requirement at least and they only "strongly recommend" taking math 2 and chem)
ACT 34 (forgot what scores there were but I think I got like 36 math 35 science 33 cr or w/e it was?)

HS valedictorian (of around 550?)
GPA 4.44 (my school didn't have as much APs as other schools in the districts who had top 10s with GPAs like 4.6s and 4.7s. I think the standardized tests will be weighed heavier than GPA, dunno though)

Only took 4 ap tests (didn't wanna waste too much money)

but I took Calc I, II, and III in a community college during high school, and the following AP classes:
Music Theory, Chemistry, Physics, English Language, English Literature, US History, Government, Economics (considered both Macro and Micro)
I might be missing a few, but doesn't really matter. My school didn't have an AP Bio 🙁

Extracurriculars
Piano (school band) for 6 years
several academic clubs
Japan Club

Work Experience
Math Tutor

Community Service
various things at church (e.g. sorting out donations to needy)
math tutor
Teaching assistant
Office Aide (main office and counselor's office)

been set at being a dentist since middle school.

Course, this doesn't say much about who I am really. You're gonna want to make your personal statement show your resolve to be a dentist, your ability to do the work and do well in the classes to be a dentist, why you'd make a good dentist, and why you want to be a dentist.

Hopefully this helps and hope you get in (though by that time, I should already be in dent school 😀)

 

[Munks]

I congratulate you for excellent performance in high school 🙂. Very solid GPA and SAT scores among other pluses.

I feel that you will definitely get into the 3+3 program... And depending on how many more APs you pass this year, I'm pretty sure you have a good shot at getting into the 2+3 program, as they do factor in the amount of units you come in with (like khan's list). I initially entered UoP as a 4+3 due to high school laziness, but I picked up the pace quickly (thanks to harsh but motivating freshman bio professors xP), and am now graduating with a degree a year early to be 3+3.

As for the financial issues, if you make it into 2+3, I'm pretty sure you are a definite candidate for the Regent's Scholarship (do not have to apply for), and the Powell Scholarship (must apply for), either of which takes a pretty good load out of the tuition, and almost evens the tuition out with UC schools.

Good luck with applying! And as a final note, be sure to remember that the accelerated application end date is much earlier than the regular date; I think sometime in November? But try to apply early as always 🙂


*Edit: Just wanted to mention that I remembered that competition is getting quite a bit harder, but I still think you'll be fine 🙂~ my 2c

 

[Charmm]

I think you can finish ur undergrad for free; why would you go to a private school in Cali? Also, You never know ( although UOP is great school) you may end up wanting to go to another dental school. Again, you never know 😉

 

[yappy]

congratz you guys for setting the bar high from a young age.

 

[khangreen]

I don't really know. It's hard to tell why a CA resident would want to go to a private school in CA that cuts undergrad by up to two years, cuts dental school by a year, and guarantees an interview at their dental school.

 

[DQLEUCD]

Hi all,

I am going to be a senior in high school this fall and wanted to know my chances of getting into UOP Accelerated Pre-Dental 3+3 program. I know there are a TON of threads like this one but I know that admission to this program is a lot harder now... Please help me out.


GPA:
Grades 10-11: 3.82 Unweighted
4.27 Weighted (AP and Honor classes)

SATI: CR 720, Math 770, Writing 750
SATII: Math level 2 780, Korean 800, (im planning to take Chemistry)

AP US History 4
AP English Language 5
AP Calculus AB 5
AP Chemistry 3 (I know,,, this is bad...)

Taking 3 AP/Honors classes out of 6 in Senior year

Summer Internship at a Children's Hopital
Some Volunteering hours from Kaiser Permanente
(Not a lot of hours total though,,, less than 100)

Awards and Extracurriculars in Classical Piano (Finalist in State-wide competition, win a few local competitions, recital at Carnegie Hall...)

I live in the Bay Area, and am a female Korean immigrant (permanent resident).



ALSO,,,,

Going to UOP is my first choice but the cost aspect is making me a little hessitant. Do you recommend another route to becoming a dentist? What do you think of attending a UC (public and a lot cheaper) than applying to dental school?

THANK YOU!

Well for one, you will probably have to attend UOP college in Stockton, finish their 3 year program and then you will have a great chance entering UOP dental school. I hear that they accept more UOP students from their undergrad college then any others by about 2-3x more. You will have to just apply there and get in. Contact their admissions office and ask for the details. We probably know as much as you do since we are dental applicants and not college applicants. Your chances though look great to get into UOP college.

 

[khangreen]

Regarding financial issues, UCs according to their site cost about 25 or 27 thousand a year for california residents (for '09-'10 year). I don't know what kind of scholarships there are, so you'd have to ask one of their students or find out somewhere on their website. UoP costs around 45 thousand a year (These are including room and board btw). Cal grants apply to both (UoP doesn't take cal grant as it's a private school, but they pay you what you would have gotten from it if you went to a public school) . Pretty much every student in 2+3 and most in 3+3 if not all get the regents scholarship (10 thousand a year for each year of undergraduate) making it around 35 thousand a year instead. People get grants of varying amounts from the school as well. I got a little less than 10 thousand from the grant and ended up paying 25 thousand instead of 45.

Also, two years is half what four years is and three years is still a year of tuition saved. Comparing w/o financial aid, you'd pay 25 thousand for four years for an undergrad degree at UC meaning 100 thousand. At UoP, assuming a bad scenario at 3+3 it'd be 45 for three years meaning 135 thousand. Most likely with what you have as long as you apply early and have a good personal statement and stuff, it'd be 90 thousand.

Regarding after the undergraduate part, there are students that decide to go to other schools for dental school, and it is possible to do that. If you do decide to do that though, then you're going to want to go 3+3 instead of 2+3 so that you have enough time to get your bachelor's degree since some schools require that. There have definitely been some people to get into other schools than UoP after just 2 years though so that's a possibility too. Though I highly doubt it, if you only get accepted to 4+3, go for a UC.

Oh yeah, a lot of people take summer school for ochem 2+3, so you might have to factor that into the price, but summer school's definitely not required to finish on time unless you have no units coming in or something. They accept every AP that you get a 4 or 5 on for 4 credits (some just for general credits, some cover the GEs).

Make your choice well!

 

[zestypeas]

You should have no problem getting into the program, unless the app pool is significantly more competitive or something.

I had much worse stats than you did (3.6 GPA; I don't remember SAT scores but none of them were 800; my AP's were all 3s) - plus, I only heard about the program much later, so I applied after the deadline. And they still accepted me to the 3+3 program.

My personal statement (for entering college) said nothing about dentistry, so I would just write something that shows off who you are. (Unless someone actually recommends that the OP stresses the fact that she'd like to do dentistry).

 

[beatsdre]

Your chance is fine. Just make sure dentistry is what you want to do.

Once you're in, its incredibly easy to matriculate in. GL!

 

[Munks]

Regarding after the undergraduate part, there are students that decide to go to other schools for dental school, and it is possible to do that. If you do decide to do that though, then you're going to want to go 3+3 instead of 2+3 so that you have enough time to get your bachelor's degree since some schools require that. There have definitely been some people to get into other schools than UoP after just 2 years though so that's a possibility too. Though I highly doubt it, if you only get accepted to 4+3, go for a UC.

I disagree with this part~ I got accepted as a 4+3 (heck I don't even know what program I applied to I was so confused during the application process haha). But like I said, you can simply move down to 3+3 and while getting your degree as well. While you can theoretically do this at any university, remember that you are still guaranteed an interview at UoP dental school, which is becoming increasingly harder as well, so I still say go to UoP if you want to go that route. As for applying to other schools, it is definitely possible as well (even as a 3+3). While probably 90% of graduates do go to the UoP dental school, there are some that apply elsewhere, mainly to UCSF or UCLA.

^I highly doubt this is even relevant to you however, as I'm almost positive you would be accepted into 2+3 (unless the competition is very intense), or at the very least would be accepted as 3+3.

Also note that your mind does not have to be 100% set on dentistry (though it helps especially if you're 2+3 😉, and you probably shouldn't say this on your app), but one of the main reasons I went to UoP was because I wasn't sure between dentistry and pharmacy, and lucky for me UoP excels in both programs. Again, this thought may not pertain to you if you are dead set on dentistry.

Lastly, I don't quite understood what Charmm mentioned about not wanting to go to a private school in Cali. Heck, it's especially a great place to be in this economy lol. The worst thing that's happened to me is I have to live across the bridge instead of in on campus dorms 😛... 90% (there's always those few 😛) of the bio professors are highly motivating, enthusiastic, and care about their students

*Though if I were the OP, I would still apply to UCLA and UCB to see if they match any scholarships or anything. From what it seems like reading others' posts on this forum (sfokn, UCB05, etc), they have great programs as well... Though they would be better to ask about their colleges 😛

 

[rladbwjdtl]

Do you think race will be a substantial factor in admission??

 

[rladbwjdtl]

.

 

[Afterschool88]

Do you think race will be a substantial factor in admission??

In your case...I probably don't think so. There are more asians then any other race on campus. -_- hehe

 

[rladbwjdtl]

Thank you all so much for the comments. I would love to hear from more opinions if possible. I took the chemistry SAT and received a 780 which I am very pleased with. I had a question. Do first semester senior grades count a lot?? I had AP Macroeconomics which I really had a hard time in and received a really bad grade(C).... It's only a semester long course so I should have better grades 2nd semester. What's your opinion??

 

[rladbwjdtl]

Anybody's opinion is appreciated.

 

[rladbwjdtl]

Thanks guys!

I got into all 3 programs with 10,000 scholarship! 🙂