What's your PASStime?

[Doggie]

I'm still trying to finalize the number of schools to apply for. Those of you who have experiences with PASS, please offer some inputs!

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[River13]

it depends on your stats and what specialty- ortho or oms? really good board and class rank or only so-so? those make a difference...have lots of money or are things tight? that matters too

 

[Doggie]

I'm in the process of applying for OMS.....so far, I have narrowed down my selections based on residents'/mentors' input to 23 schools. Some of my classmates said that 10-15 is adequate with my stats.....

I did very well on the boards. We dont have class ranking. The only thing that is going against me is my college GPA, which is rather mediocre. Also....is it essential to have the director of the OMS in my school to write a recommendation letter for me? I know some of the programs require this, but I havent really interacted with the director.

 

[Yah-E]

If you can share you application experience to OMFS, than that will wonderful! Your Part 1 score is very impressive, unless you apply to big time MD programs, your undergraduate GPA may be overlooked. Also, I know Columbia does not ranking, but I thought you've mentioned that you're somewhere in the top 25-30% of your class?

BTW, do you mind sharing your undergraduate cumulative GPA, if you don't want to share publically, feel free to PM me. I'm interested because since I'm applying to OMFS for the 2006 and I have a very substandard undergrad GPA.

 

[Doggie]

Those of you interested.....

At columbia, there is no public ranking system that the school can disclose. However, we do have an internal ranking system based on GPA (and possibly other factors such as board scores), like most other schools. The purpose of this internal ranking gives the basis for the dean of student affairs to write letters of recommendations:

#1-20 : Highly Recommend
#21-40: Strongly Recommend
#41+: Recommend

I am not sure where I rank exactly (apparently, they dont even tell us), but I'd guess somewhere around 19-21. As far as the college GPA, let's just say that I am also the sub 3.0 club.

Here's an interesting tidbit.... The reason columbia will not disclose class rankings is that during the WWII era, the military only drafted the students with lower class rankings.

 

[Yah-E]

Man, Doggie, you're a lot like me or I'm a lot like you!

Both Under 3.0 (you probably have a higher GPA than me in undergrad)
Both want OMFS
Both Asian?
Both in the teens in the ranking (what's your dental GPA? 3.54?)
Both 90s in Part 1 (your cheesy score squashed mine)

Now how involved are you in other aspect of the application?

Leadership roles in dental school?
Honors & Awards?
Research/Articles/posters?
Externships? (how many, how long each?)

All those extras can make a difference!

 

[River13]

If your stats are good I would suggest 10 to 15 is adequate. It's always better to apply to more places than you even want to interview at because many invariably will interview on the same day and you'll have to choose between them. You'll always hear the stories of the guy who interviewed at 15 places and didn't match even though he was #1, and in truth, it can happen, but not likely.

I interviewed at 12 places even though my stats were pretty good. Many of my classmates thought I was crazy, saying 'interview at just 2, you'll get in for sure.' The thing is not every OMS residency is the same...many cover some areas well but skimp on others. Many give good clinical experience to residents while others make them more like spectators. I interviewed at 12 not so much because I was afraid I wouldn't match, but because I wanted to find the program that would teach everything I wanted to learn.

 

[Doggie]

It's always better to apply to more places than you even want to interview at because many invariably will interview on the same day and you'll have to choose between them.

River: this is actually one of the reasons why I plan to apply to that many programs. Another reason is that I am just plain paranoid......i always tend to over-prepare for things I do. You care to give any insights regarding the various programs that you have interviewed with?

Yah-E, I think i've got all the bases covered. Like I said, the only thing that is going to haunt me is my college GPA.

 

[River13]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=1325472#post1325472

look at my posts there