What should I do?

[getmeintodentalschool2020]

Hello!
I applied to dental school during the current cycle (2019-2020) and applied to 13 schools. I am from Texas and am technically a resident, but went to undergrad at UCLA and am now currently working in California as an oral surgery assistant. I applied to TMDSAS as soon as the app opened in May, and applied to ADEA AADSAS in early July. I received a 21 on the DAT using DAT Bootcamp, and have a GPA of 3.60 (around 3.3 for science). I have not been invited for interviews at any of the schools I applied to, and I am worried that I will not receive any interviews this cycle since it is so late in the cycle and I applied early. I have already been denied by 2 of the 13 schools. I don’t think my personal statement is the issue because several people edited it and agreed it was a stronger part of my application. I believe this is largely due to my letters of recommendation, because many of the schools I applied to required letters from 2 science instructors specifically from biology, chemistry, or physics, and I was unable to get letters from these specific sciences. The closest I could get were letters from my psychobiology professors. I am looking for advice on what I should do at this point, and how I should prepare for the next cycle which is my plan B. I cannot get letters from those specific undergraduate professors because I did not form personal relationships and have no way of contacting them, so I am also wondering what I should do about this issue for the next cycle. I received no academic advising during my time at undergrad and need guidance for how I should proceed. I want to know what I can do in the interim to potentially get an interview, and also what I should be doing as a plan B for the next application cycle. Please help and thank you!

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[Vendetta27]

Hello!
I applied to dental school during the current cycle (2019-2020) and applied to 13 schools. I am from Texas and am technically a resident, but went to undergrad at UCLA and am now currently working in California as an oral surgery assistant. I applied to TMDSAS as soon as the app opened in May, and applied to ADEA AADSAS in early July. I received a 21 on the DAT using DAT Bootcamp, and have a GPA of 3.60 (around 3.3 for science). I have not been invited for interviews at any of the schools I applied to, and I am worried that I will not receive any interviews this cycle since it is so late in the cycle and I applied early. I have already been denied by 2 of the 13 schools. I don’t think my personal statement is the issue because several people edited it and agreed it was a stronger part of my application. I believe this is largely due to my letters of recommendation, because many of the schools I applied to required letters from 2 science instructors specifically from biology, chemistry, or physics, and I was unable to get letters from these specific sciences. The closest I could get were letters from my psychobiology professors. I am looking for advice on what I should do at this point, and how I should prepare for the next cycle which is my plan B. I cannot get letters from those specific undergraduate professors because I did not form personal relationships and have no way of contacting them, so I am also wondering what I should do about this issue for the next cycle. I received no academic advising during my time at undergrad and need guidance for how I should proceed. I want to know what I can do in the interim to potentially get an interview, and also what I should be doing as a plan B for the next application cycle. Please help and thank you!

Alright, I'll take the plunge since no one has responded. The first thing you should have done is probably made a thread asking your question and not hijacking a thread about acceptances/interviews/rejections.

Alright, take everything I'm about to say with a grain of salt because I have no idea what I'm talking about. Got it? Good? Great!

Annnyyyyway, your DAT and GPA are good enough to get into a dental school. The science GPA raises an eyebrow since it's .3 points lower than your overall GPA. Are .3 points difference large for a science-heavy degree? I don't know, I assume It isn't a big deal, but you know the courses you took and the rigor better than any of us do since it's YOUR application. You should be fine getting in somewhere assuming its not UoP or Harvard. Anyone who tells your GPA or DAT is too low has spent too much time inhaling laughing gas. A school might suggest post-bacc or graduate courses and you might want to look into that.

Which brings up the rest of your application: Personal Statement, Volunteering/Extracurricular, Research, and Letters of Evaluation.

Personal Statement: You might think that thing is a beauty, but next cycle, you might look back and be like, "what was I on when I wrote this?" There's always room for improvement, especially on the personal statements. Seriously people don't write about what's already in your application. Show some character. I had a lawyer, a professor, and a professional writer help me with my first personal statement....It was dry and boring but my god was it well written and straight to the point. I've written 5-10 personal statements since that first one and submitted the one I was happy with that told MY story.

Volunteering/Extracurricular: At the surface level, it pretty much shows that you will give back to the community and that you're not acutely selfish. Some schools really REALLY value community service and take that into consideration when looking at applications.

Research: We need Dental researchers to come out with the next whitening toothpaste, right? The new one is made of sugar and will make your tongue blue and taste like cotton candy. 5-year-old kids will be getting cavities EVEN FASTER! CHA-CHING! You can hear our student loans slowly getting chipped away. Jokes aside, just like volunteering, some schools weigh research experience heavily. It shows determination, resilience, and, if you are socially awkward (a lot of us are), you might want to get some papers published to help yourself out.

LOE: So recommendation letters from teachers that aren't really science teachers isn't exceptional, but again, you know better than we do. Most schools require two science teachers (some require one chemistry and one biology LOE- looking at you Maryland). So you might want to get to know some of those teachers you took in undergrad (you can't contact them?? Does email not exist on that campus?). Assuming those teachers are healthy and still teaching, you need to make an effort. I'd suggest TAing and/or visiting them often during office hours, so they get to know you. You might even have to take some graduate courses to remedy this and possibly the GPA, who knows. Be proactive.


I don't know why I wrote all that but...here we are. Have you ever writen something and go "I regret all of that. SEND!!!!!!"
Happy Holidays everyone!

TL;DR: I'm making a bunch of assumptions due to the lack of details given. Best advice is to contact the schools after you get rejected and see what you can improve on to be considered in future cycles. If they ask you for something unreasonable (this has happened to me before - then don't apply to that school).

 

[superman0420]

Alright, I'll take the plunge since no one has responded. The first thing you should have done is probably made a thread asking your question and not hijacking a thread about acceptances/interviews/rejections.

Alright, take everything I'm about to say with a grain of salt because I have no idea what I'm talking about. Got it? Good? Great!

Annnyyyyway, you're DAT and GPA are good enough to get into a dental school. The science GPA raises an eyebrow since it's .3 points lower than your overall GPA. Are .3 points difference large for a science-heavy degree? I don't know, I assume It isn't a big deal, but you know the courses you took and the rigor better than any of us do since it's YOUR application. You should be fine getting in somewhere assuming its not UoP or Harvard. Anyone who tells your GPA or DAT is too low has spent too much time inhaling laughing gas. A school might suggest post-bacc or graduate courses and you might want to look into that.

Which brings up the rest of your application: Personal Statement, Volunteering/Extracurricular, Research, and Letters of Evaluation.

Personal Statement: You might think that thing is a beauty, but next cycle, you might look back and be like, "what was I on when I wrote this?" There's always room for improvement, especially on the personal statements. Seriously people don't write about what's already in your application. Show some character. I had a lawyer, a professor, and a professional writer help me with my first personal statement....It was dry and boring but my god was it well written and straight to the point. I've written 5-10 personal statements since that first one and submitted the one I was happy with that told MY story.

Volunteering/Extracurricular: At the surface level, it pretty much shows that you will give back to the community and that you're not acutely selfish. Some schools really REALLY value community service and take that into consideration when looking at applications.

Research: We need Dental researchers to come out with the next whitening toothpaste, right? The new one is made of sugar and will make your tongue blue and taste like cotton candy. 5-year-old kids will be getting cavities EVEN FASTER! CHA-CHING! You can hear our student loans slowly getting chipped away. Jokes aside, just like volunteering, some schools weigh research experience heavily. It shows determination, resilience, and, if you are socially awkward (a lot of us are), you might want to get some papers published to help yourself out.

LOE: So recommendation letters from teachers that aren't really science teachers isn't exceptional, but again, you know better than we do. Most schools require two science teachers (some require one chemistry and one biology LOE- looking at you Maryland). So you might want to get to know some of those teachers you took in undergrad (you can't contact them?? Does email not exist on that campus?). Assuming those teachers are healthy and still teaching, you need to make an effort. I'd suggest TAing and/or visiting them often during office hours, so they get to know you. You might even have to take some graduate courses to remedy this and possibly the GPA, who knows. Be proactive.


I don't know why I wrote all that but...here we are. Have you ever writen something and go "I regret all of that. SEND!!!!!!"
Happy Holidays everyone!

TL;DR: I'm making a bunch of assumptions due to the lack of details given. Best advice is to contact the schools after you get rejected and see what you can improve on to be considered in future cycles. If they ask you for something unreasonable (this has happened to me before - then don't apply to that school).

*sugar toothpaste ...

 

[macsak]

Alright, I'll take the plunge since no one has responded. The first thing you should have done is probably made a thread asking your question and not hijacking a thread about acceptances/interviews/rejections.

Alright, take everything I'm about to say with a grain of salt because I have no idea what I'm talking about. Got it? Good? Great!

Annnyyyyway, you're DAT and GPA are good enough to get into a dental school. The science GPA raises an eyebrow since it's .3 points lower than your overall GPA. Are .3 points difference large for a science-heavy degree? I don't know, I assume It isn't a big deal, but you know the courses you took and the rigor better than any of us do since it's YOUR application. You should be fine getting in somewhere assuming its not UoP or Harvard. Anyone who tells your GPA or DAT is too low has spent too much time inhaling laughing gas. A school might suggest post-bacc or graduate courses and you might want to look into that.

Which brings up the rest of your application: Personal Statement, Volunteering/Extracurricular, Research, and Letters of Evaluation.

Personal Statement: You might think that thing is a beauty, but next cycle, you might look back and be like, "what was I on when I wrote this?" There's always room for improvement, especially on the personal statements. Seriously people don't write about what's already in your application. Show some character. I had a lawyer, a professor, and a professional writer help me with my first personal statement....It was dry and boring but my god was it well written and straight to the point. I've written 5-10 personal statements since that first one and submitted the one I was happy with that told MY story.

Volunteering/Extracurricular: At the surface level, it pretty much shows that you will give back to the community and that you're not acutely selfish. Some schools really REALLY value community service and take that into consideration when looking at applications.

Research: We need Dental researchers to come out with the next whitening toothpaste, right? The new one is made of sugar and will make your tongue blue and taste like cotton candy. 5-year-old kids will be getting cavities EVEN FASTER! CHA-CHING! You can hear our student loans slowly getting chipped away. Jokes aside, just like volunteering, some schools weigh research experience heavily. It shows determination, resilience, and, if you are socially awkward (a lot of us are), you might want to get some papers published to help yourself out.

LOE: So recommendation letters from teachers that aren't really science teachers isn't exceptional, but again, you know better than we do. Most schools require two science teachers (some require one chemistry and one biology LOE- looking at you Maryland). So you might want to get to know some of those teachers you took in undergrad (you can't contact them?? Does email not exist on that campus?). Assuming those teachers are healthy and still teaching, you need to make an effort. I'd suggest TAing and/or visiting them often during office hours, so they get to know you. You might even have to take some graduate courses to remedy this and possibly the GPA, who knows. Be proactive.


I don't know why I wrote all that but...here we are. Have you ever writen something and go "I regret all of that. SEND!!!!!!"
Happy Holidays everyone!

TL;DR: I'm making a bunch of assumptions due to the lack of details given. Best advice is to contact the schools after you get rejected and see what you can improve on to be considered in future cycles. If they ask you for something unreasonable (this has happened to me before - then don't apply to that school).

yeah "21 on the DAT" doesn't tell us much...

 

[Vendetta27]

oh the mods made a thread and moved it HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 

[getmeintodentalschool2020]

Alright, I'll take the plunge since no one has responded. The first thing you should have done is probably made a thread asking your question and not hijacking a thread about acceptances/interviews/rejections.

Alright, take everything I'm about to say with a grain of salt because I have no idea what I'm talking about. Got it? Good? Great!

Annnyyyyway, your DAT and GPA are good enough to get into a dental school. The science GPA raises an eyebrow since it's .3 points lower than your overall GPA. Are .3 points difference large for a science-heavy degree? I don't know, I assume It isn't a big deal, but you know the courses you took and the rigor better than any of us do since it's YOUR application. You should be fine getting in somewhere assuming its not UoP or Harvard. Anyone who tells your GPA or DAT is too low has spent too much time inhaling laughing gas. A school might suggest post-bacc or graduate courses and you might want to look into that.

Which brings up the rest of your application: Personal Statement, Volunteering/Extracurricular, Research, and Letters of Evaluation.

Personal Statement: You might think that thing is a beauty, but next cycle, you might look back and be like, "what was I on when I wrote this?" There's always room for improvement, especially on the personal statements. Seriously people don't write about what's already in your application. Show some character. I had a lawyer, a professor, and a professional writer help me with my first personal statement....It was dry and boring but my god was it well written and straight to the point. I've written 5-10 personal statements since that first one and submitted the one I was happy with that told MY story.

Volunteering/Extracurricular: At the surface level, it pretty much shows that you will give back to the community and that you're not acutely selfish. Some schools really REALLY value community service and take that into consideration when looking at applications.

Research: We need Dental researchers to come out with the next whitening toothpaste, right? The new one is made of sugar and will make your tongue blue and taste like cotton candy. 5-year-old kids will be getting cavities EVEN FASTER! CHA-CHING! You can hear our student loans slowly getting chipped away. Jokes aside, just like volunteering, some schools weigh research experience heavily. It shows determination, resilience, and, if you are socially awkward (a lot of us are), you might want to get some papers published to help yourself out.

LOE: So recommendation letters from teachers that aren't really science teachers isn't exceptional, but again, you know better than we do. Most schools require two science teachers (some require one chemistry and one biology LOE- looking at you Maryland). So you might want to get to know some of those teachers you took in undergrad (you can't contact them?? Does email not exist on that campus?). Assuming those teachers are healthy and still teaching, you need to make an effort. I'd suggest TAing and/or visiting them often during office hours, so they get to know you. You might even have to take some graduate courses to remedy this and possibly the GPA, who knows. Be proactive.


I don't know why I wrote all that but...here we are. Have you ever writen something and go "I regret all of that. SEND!!!!!!"
Happy Holidays everyone!

TL;DR: I'm making a bunch of assumptions due to the lack of details given. Best advice is to contact the schools after you get rejected and see what you can improve on to be considered in future cycles. If they ask you for something unreasonable (this has happened to me before - then don't apply to that school).

Thank you so much for your response!! Helpful info

 

[Vendetta27]

Thank you so much for your response!! Helpful info

Anytime, I hope you get into dental school