What to do...

[Impulse155]

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So I applied for the 2013 cycle, had an interview and am on the waitlist but I feel that I am most likely not getting in.
I have a 3.15 gpa, 2.9 science and a 20AA. I applied pretty late (October)

I am currently signed up for a 1 year SMP at Midwestern.
I was told I should sign up for a 2 year real masters though. Do you think I should?
I am currently in 1 year off

 

[aznboi89x]

So I applied for the 2013 cycle, had an interview and am on the waitlist but I feel that I am most likely not getting in.
I have a 3.15 gpa, 2.9 science and a 20AA. I applied pretty late (October)

I am currently signed up for a 1 year SMP at Midwestern.
I was told I should sign up for a 2 year real masters though. Do you think I should?
I am currently in 1 year off

1 year SMP is good enough

 

[tommyinVA]

1 year SMP is good enough

I would disagree. 2.9sGPA seems really low. Even if you finished with a 4.0 over your past 3 semesters (which I'm pretty sure you didn't), that would mean you averaged BARELY a 2.0 over your first 5 semesters, which I will tell you is pretty horrendous.

I think a 2-year masters with at least a 3.9 would do much better for your chances than even a 4.0 in a 1-year SMP. And really, if you DO decide to go with the SMP and you get 2 or 3 B's, I would wager that you probably end up actually worsening your chances, particularly given your GPA's floating around 3.0

 

[Toofly01]

I personally think you're fine with a 1 yr smp. Call up some schools (esp the one you're waitlisted at) and ask them. That should reduce anxiety as it is straight from the horse's mouth. Best of luck. 🙂

Btw- who suggested you should sign up for the 2 yr masters?

 

[KittySquared]

I definitely think 1 year is good enough. If your stats were good enough to grant you 1 interview, then applying SUPER EARLY will grant you more I bet. Since everything is already in AADSAS and will be kept for this cycle from the previous cycle, you should be able to quickly enter that info and get your letters and transcript in literally within a week or two. Make first batch and this time, even add 3 or 4 more schools to your list. Good luck!

 

[Impulse155]

Hope only one year is enough.

As for more schools, I applied to almost 20 last year. I was actually thinking of just applying to 10 or so this year.

Toofy, I know a dentist who graduated from the dental school I interviewed at so he made a call for me. I was on the wait list for them and the dentist emailed me back saying
I called ____ and spoke to ______ in Admissions and Dean _____. They pulled your application and said your scores were fine and your science gpa was low. They suggested you consider a 2 year masters program in biology to remediate your gpa.

So it was the dentist on behalf of the school.
Where do you think I am at the waitlist on the school. They kept saying how much they liked me too. They even asked me to to come back the next day to hang out in the dental clinic. Im assuming thats not really normal, is it?

 

[tommyinVA]

Where do you think I am at the waitlist on the school. They kept saying how much they liked me too. They even asked me to to come back the next day to hang out in the dental clinic. Im assuming thats not really normal, is it?

You really shouldn't dwell on that kind of stuff and think about it. Even if they invited you back and it isn't really normal, the ADCOM has already made their opinion known: they waitlisted you. I'm not saying that to be mean, but to point out that all that other fluff and crap they tell you (or anyone else, for that matter) to make you feel good about your chances or lead you to believe that you have an inside edge is just a charade. The only way you'll know that an ADCOM likes you is when they give you an offer of admission. If not, then they just didn't like you enough.

I said it before and I'll say it again: I think a 2-year masters program would benefit you much more than a 1-year SMP. The way I see it, a 1-year program (whether it's SMP or post-bacc) is designed to just keep someone in an academic setting while they're biding their time for another cycle. You however, are not in that case. Your science GPA is low (which I'm sure you already knew), and now you've even been relayed that info from an admissions officer. I don't know how your GPA is broken down by semesters, but if you're only a year out of college, then you need to show a considerable improvement in performance and commitment to your education. The way I see it (and the message you seem to be getting relayed to you), a year isn't going to cut it.

You were told to do a 2-year masters, so do it. You're young. Another year isn't going to kill you. Why would you risk doing a 1-year SMP (where a single B will have a much more drastic effect on your GPA and a C will kill your chances outright) just so you can try and hope to squeak in your next cycle? What if you don't get in? You'll probably REALLY wish you had gone the 2-year route. Besides, as far as planning for your future, if for some reason you don't get into D-school, a real masters will be of more use to you than just a 1-year SMP certification.

 

[Impulse155]

You really shouldn't dwell on that kind of stuff and think about it. Even if they invited you back and it isn't really normal, the ADCOM has already made their opinion known: they waitlisted you. I'm not saying that to be mean, but to point out that all that other fluff and crap they tell you (or anyone else, for that matter) to make you feel good about your chances or lead you to believe that you have an inside edge is just a charade. The only way you'll know that an ADCOM likes you is when they give you an offer of admission. If not, then they just didn't like you enough.

I said it before and I'll say it again: I think a 2-year masters program would benefit you much more than a 1-year SMP. The way I see it, a 1-year program (whether it's SMP or post-bacc) is designed to just keep someone in an academic setting while they're biding their time for another cycle. You however, are not in that case. Your science GPA is low (which I'm sure you already knew), and now you've even been relayed that info from an admissions officer. I don't know how your GPA is broken down by semesters, but if you're only a year out of college, then you need to show a considerable improvement in performance and commitment to your education. The way I see it (and the message you seem to be getting relayed to you), a year isn't going to cut it.

You were told to do a 2-year masters, so do it. You're young. Another year isn't going to kill you. Why would you risk doing a 1-year SMP (where a single B will have a much more drastic effect on your GPA and a C will kill your chances outright) just so you can try and hope to squeak in your next cycle? What if you don't get in? You'll probably REALLY wish you had gone the 2-year route. Besides, as far as planning for your future, if for some reason you don't get into D-school, a real masters will be of more use to you than just a 1-year SMP certification.

The problem though is that I was already accepted to MWU 1 year biomedical science program as an SMP.

Do you think its as simple as they can move me into the two year program?
And my gpa per semester is:
3.14
1.96 (received 2 D's, one in gen chem 2 and one in intro cell bio)
2.55
3.1
3.45
3.75
3.9 (2 classes over the summer, one being a retake when I got the 1.96. I received an A-)
3.2
3.7 (1 summer class)
3.45

Why would they call me for the interview, make me fly 2 hours, paid for housing for 3 nights, interview me, tell me how much they like me just to tell me my gpa isnt good enough. It's like they said were going to look past the whole gpa factor since your last two years were good and you have decent DAT's and then tell me you cant be accepted because your GPA wasn't good enough. Kind of unprofessional imo.

 

[tommyinVA]

Why would they call me for the interview, make me fly 2 hours, paid for housing for 3 nights, interview me, tell me how much they like me just to tell me my gpa isnt good enough. It's like they said were going to look past the whole gpa factor since your last two years were good and you have decent DAT's and then tell me you cant be accepted because your GPA wasn't good enough. Kind of unprofessional imo.

Maybe they called you for an interview because they saw "something" that interested them. Maybe they wanted to hear an explanation for why you did so poorly. ADCOM's couldn't care less about how far you fly or how long you stay or how much you spend going to your interviews because they hold the golden key. You'll pay it and do it with a smile because without going to your interviews you have absolutely ZERO chance of getting into D-school.

They tell you how much they like you because they're being polite and honest: if they offered you an interview, that means there's something in your app that they liked. It would be even more unprofessional for them to fly you out there and then tell you straight up that they don't like you (which would never happen). There's nothing deceitful or dishonest or unprofessional about what they did at all. ADCOM's don't make immediate decisions on candidates on interview days, they wait until they compile a large enough list of candidates and then meet as an entire group later on. So what happened? Maybe your personality didn't gel. Maybe they think you need to grow up a little bit. Maybe your DAT scores are mediocre (you didn't post them, so I don't know). Maybe they didn't get enough sense of maturity and commitment from you. Maybe they didn't like your explanation for your poor performance. Who knows? Bottom line: If you got waitlisted or rejected, then that means that you failed to sell yourself well enough to earn an admissions offer. Sounds harsh, but it's the truth.

In my opinion, I think you should consider yourself highly fortunate that they were open enough to tell you why you didn't get in: your GPA. At least now you have something concrete to work on. I wasn't told anything of substance after my first cycle, and I contacted about half the schools I applied to and even met with the dean of admissions of my state school.

And I think you need to get something straight: it's not "like they said were going to look past the whole gpa factor since your last two years were good and you have decent DAT's and then tell me you cant be accepted because your GPA wasn't good enough." No one would say that. If that's what you think then I'm afraid you're misunderstanding things. Yes, perhaps your upward trend is promising. Yes, maybe they were willing to give you consideration because of it. Yes, maybe they invited you for interview to gauge your personality and get an explanation for why you did so poorly at first. BUT A DENTAL ADMISSIONS COMMITTEE WILL NEVER "OVERLOOK" ANYTHING. A proper explanation may be "acceptable," but I can guarantee you they won't just disregard your past performance no matter how well you've done since.

 

[aznboi89x]

Maybe they called you for an interview because they saw "something" that interested them. Maybe they wanted to hear an explanation for why you did so poorly. ADCOM's couldn't care less about how far you fly or how long you stay or how much you spend going to your interviews because they hold the golden key. You'll pay it and do it with a smile because without going to your interviews you have absolutely ZERO chance of getting into D-school.

They tell you how much they like you because they're being polite and honest: if they offered you an interview, that means there's something in your app that they liked. It would be even more unprofessional for them to fly you out there and then tell you straight up that they don't like you (which would never happen). There's nothing deceitful or dishonest or unprofessional about what they did at all. ADCOM's don't make immediate decisions on candidates on interview days, they wait until they compile a large enough list of candidates and then meet as an entire group later on. So what happened? Maybe your personality didn't gel. Maybe they think you need to grow up a little bit. Maybe your DAT scores are mediocre (you didn't post them, so I don't know). Maybe they didn't get enough sense of maturity and commitment from you. Maybe they didn't like your explanation for your poor performance. Who knows? Bottom line: If you got waitlisted or rejected, then that means that you failed to sell yourself well enough to earn an admissions offer. Sounds harsh, but it's the truth.

In my opinion, I think you should consider yourself highly fortunate that they were open enough to tell you why you didn't get in: your GPA. At least now you have something concrete to work on. I wasn't told anything of substance after my first cycle, and I contacted about half the schools I applied to and even met with the dean of admissions of my state school.

And I think you need to get something straight: it's not "like they said were going to look past the whole gpa factor since your last two years were good and you have decent DAT's and then tell me you cant be accepted because your GPA wasn't good enough." No one would say that. If that's what you think then I'm afraid you're misunderstanding things. Yes, perhaps your upward trend is promising. Yes, maybe they were willing to give you consideration because of it. Yes, maybe they invited you for interview to gauge your personality and get an explanation for why you did so poorly at first. BUT A DENTAL ADMISSIONS COMMITTEE WILL NEVER "OVERLOOK" ANYTHING. A proper explanation may be "acceptable," but I can guarantee you they won't just disregard your past performance no matter how well you've done since.

Can be douchey to call ADCOM unprofessional, don't cha say?

They owe us nothing and have thousands of applicants that they compare you to each cycle. Be glad they had the decency to invite you.

dagone!

 

[Hawkteeth]

One year is all you need, I had similar stats, applied 3 times without acceptance. Did a one year masters and now I'll be going to dental school in the fall.

 

[mid]

Do a one year SMP, the two year masters programs are generally either professional in nature (MBA, MA Finance, MEng etc.) or research based (earned on route to a PhD or earned to get into PhD programs) and will require the completion of a thesis, and I really doubt dental schools care about your thesis year.