Why Dec 1st

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I know it's no fun to wait... but why do you care so much?
 
I know it's no fun to wait... but why do you care so much?
Because I would like to know sooner than December 1st if I interviewed in August, September or October so if I get in my top choice, I don't have to waste time and money going to other interviews. But, the cycle doesn't run my way lol
 
Because the ADA as a national governing body for dental students is embarrassingly out-of-touch with the struggles and ramifications of what it means to wait 5 months for an acceptance after getting early interviews. There is absolutely zero reason to restrict dental schools from notifying applicants for acceptance within a reasonable time frame - and it can probably be linked more directly to the ADA wanting more and more money out of you on their application portal, since students naturally have to apply to more schools with more uncertainty on this restriction. If you look at every other health professional occupation, they are flexible with their student applicants, giving them abilities to make an Early Decision commitment on a school they really feel strongly about, and notifying them on decisions within a month or so of their interviews. The ADA is so behind medicine, pharmacy, optometry, and law in terms of not abusing their own.

The reality is it always goes back to money. Dental school tuition, its standardized exam fees and license board fees, and application fees have exponentially increased even against the cost of inflation since 2000, and the ADA does everything in their power to suck every dollar from your wallet even without an acceptance. I hope the penguins at the top of this organization do some some serious soul-searching to fairly represent ASDA in this process, in a way that doesn't suck thousands more dollars than what students can budget for.

Then it goes back to time, where since you don't know until December, you naturally have to assume you're rejected, therefore enrolling in more classes (and shock! more money!) in case you get waitlisted or rejected.

It's a ridiculous process and the ADA deserves massive criticism for the way they exploit their future dental professionals. Of course, it shouldn't surprise you that old dentists as board members of the ADA are out-of-touch: dentists from 30 years ago had far fewer debts to pay back, fewer challenges with a revolving healthcare insurance system for their patients, and easier times starting up as a private dentist taking loans from banks.
 
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^^^ Well said.

I have pre-med friends who interviewed at their top choice, got accepted a week or two later, and then their process was done.

On the other hand, my roommate has had 8 interviews so far, 2 of the first 3 being in-state and his top choices. Those were in August. Unfortunately for him (due to these ridiculous guidelines) he has had to spend 1-2 thousand traveling to his other 5 interviews, simply in an attempt to ensure he has an acceptance somewhere.

This is on top of the ~$500 exam, ~$500 in study materials, and then the ~$2000 from primary and secondary application fees. It really is outrageous, especially for those who don't have access to that kind of money.

If schools kept their same application deadlines but were allowed to notify applicants within a week or two of the interview, I suspect most people would initially apply to fewer schools than they currently do.

** when I applied for finance jobs out of undergrad, I landed one in the first week of October - a day or two before I was going to book travel to nyc for another company. Obviously this was nice as I was able to save the time and money I would've spent had I been forced to wait until December to find out.
 
I read from somewhere that the reason for a universal notification date (Dec. 1st) is to give the applicants with multiple acceptances the opportunity to decide on a school. Otherwise, schools could send out early interviews and acceptances to pressure students to attend their school (even though it may not be the student's first choice).
 
I read from somewhere that the reason for a universal notification date (Dec. 1st) is to give the applicants with multiple acceptances the opportunity to decide on a school. Otherwise, schools could send out early interviews and acceptances to pressure students to attend their school (even though it may not be the student's first choice).

Then implement a more student friendly policy such as forcing schools to give a longer period of time to accept or decline an offer.
 
Because the ADA as a national governing body for dental students is embarrassingly out-of-touch with the struggles and ramifications of what it means to wait 5 months for an acceptance after getting early interviews. There is absolutely zero reason to restrict dental schools from notifying applicants for acceptance within a reasonable time frame - and it can probably be linked more directly to the ADA wanting more and more money out of you on their application portal, since students naturally have to apply to more schools with more uncertainty on this restriction.

It's a ridiculous process and the ADA deserves massive criticism for the way they exploit their future dental professionals. Of course, it shouldn't surprise you that old dentists as board members of the ADA are out-of-touch: dentists from 30 years ago had far fewer debts to pay back, fewer challenges with a revolving healthcare insurance system for their patients, and easier times starting up as a private dentist taking loans from banks.

We'd all do well to not forget this outrage when we're on the other side and in positions of influence.

Also of the professions you listed, ADA is doing better at protecting the field than all but medicine. I'd argue those others are abusing their own far more.
 
I read from somewhere that the reason for a universal notification date (Dec. 1st) is to give the applicants with multiple acceptances the opportunity to decide on a school. Otherwise, schools could send out early interviews and acceptances to pressure students to attend their school (even though it may not be the student's first choice).
I'm pretty sure an admissions director told me this same thing. I can't recall exactly if this is what he said, but I'm pretty sure this is why.

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