Dental Waitlisted. Reapply? AA18. GPA 3.6.

[artist2022]

Background:

GPA: 3.6
DAT: 18AA (range: 17-19)
Shadow Hrs: 120
Awards + Scholarships
State: CA
Non-traditional (career change)
Also completed post-bacc and have a masters degree

I applied late due to late DAT registration (October). I am waitlisted at 1 school. If I don't get off the waitlist, should I reapply early with the same application for the next cycle? I am not confident I can score 20AA+ DAT if I retake.

What schools do I have a chance for interviews if I apply early? I am open to any accredited school in the US.

Thank you!

What were the schools you applied to and where are you waitlisted?
The biggest thing here is your DAT, since it's below average, so I wouldn't recommend applying with the same stats...... The fact that you will be a reapplicant will not help your application much either.

I'd really push for a retake to open more opportunities for yourself.

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[artist2022]

Thank you. I applied broadly but late. Do you think it is possible though, if I were to reapply early (June) with the same 18 AA DAT, to schools that have an average DAT of 19/20AA, like NYU, UoP, Creighton? I studied 4 hours on average (sometimes 8) per day for 5 months and only got 18 AA (studying while going to school + work) using Bootcamp. My concern with a retake is getting the same score (or worse). I have 2.5 months to study and maybe get a 20AA (I am still getting 15-19AA on practice tests on first attempt).

Maybe, but again, what schools did you apply to and where are you currently waitlisted?
An 18AA is not a strong score and it may lead schools to think that you might not be able to handle dental school and that you might fail out, so they might pass on you to accept other people with higher stats.
You should use different resources, like the DAT Destroyer books. The bottom of the first post in this thread has "retake success stories", which might help: Compilation - DAT Breakdown Collection! 2017-Present

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

I am waitlisted at USC. I applied to UCSF, USC, UCLA, NYU, WesternU, and Creighton. I also did a post-bacc and have a masters degree, which I hope boosts my application.

Do you think I have a chance at a private school like USC or NYU with my current stats?

Here are the schools I am considering for the next cycle, based on whether I get accepted at USC this cycle.

(TX 01) Texas A&M University

(NE 01) Creighton University

(CA 03) University of California, Los Angeles

(PA 03) University of Pittsburgh

(CT 01) University of Connecticut

(VA 01) Virginia Commonwealth University

(OK 01) University of Oklahoma

(AL 01) University of Alabama at Birmingham

(IA 01) The University of Iowa

(NJ 01) Rutgers

(OH 01) Case Western Reserve University

(CA 05) Western University

(MD 01) University of Maryland

(CA 02) Loma Linda University

(NE 02) University of Nebraska

(MN 01) University of Minnesota

(MA 03) Tufts University

(CA 05) University of the Pacific

(PA 02) University of Pennsylvania

(CA 01) Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry

(NY 02) New York University

You have seen the cost of tuition for USC, correct?

 

[artist2022]

Yes, I know. The total cost of attendance at USC is only feasible through IBR, HSCP, or other scholarships.

What top 3 to 5 schools do you think I could gain acceptance to if applying early next cycle with the same stats (18AA DAT, BA+MS, 3.6 GPA, CA Residence, non-traditional with 5+ years non-dental work experience)

Thank you

This is not applying "broadly". With your stats, UCLA and UCSF were probably far from worth it because your DAT is not close to their average at all. Also, with your stats, I would've applied to 13-15 schools. If you don't want to retake your DAT, then you likely have a better chance at privates vs. any state schools.
With that list you posted, take off TX, Iowa, UCLA and UPenn - first two rarely ever accept OOS (need amazing stats) and the last two are too competitive. For the rest of the schools on your list, find out if they're OOS friendly and if you are within their range, especially for the state schools like UConn, UAB, Oklahoma, UMN, UMD, Nebraska, etc. I suspect you'll need to take some of them off.

You edited in that you have a masters, what is your masters in? What are your oGPA, sGPA, BCP GPA (all of these are just undergrad coursework only), and your gradGPA?

 

[artist2022]

Thank you for your input. My DAT retake is scheduled for mid-June, but I may cancel if I don't feel confident of scoring a 20+. Honestly, my biggest concern with a retake is scoring the same or lower since I only have about 2 months to reprepare.

Masters is in Psychology (due to non-traditional, career change).

oGPA: 3.6 (undergrad)
sGPA: 3.5 (undergrad)
BCP GPA: 3.5 (undergrad)
gradGPA: 3.5

Here is the updated list of schools with TX, UCLA, and UPenn removed. I'll be removing Iowa too since they accepted only 4% of non-residents OOS. Interestingly, most of their applicant pool was OOS. admissions-class-profile | College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics

I believe the GPA/DAT data below is from 2017 or 2019.

I think this post has the most recent stats: Dental School Statistics
Based on the data you posted though, you seem to be "okay" for most of them (except for like Rutgers, UPitt, UConn, UoP) but your 18AA is low.... Now I would check for how OOS friendly these schools are by looking at how many OOS applicants they had vs. how many they interviewed vs. how many they accepted. If the interview/acceptance numbers are low (like only 20% of applicants get interviewed, or only 50% of those interviewed get accepted), I would remove that school.

In regard to retaking, 2 months is pretty standard and it is an adequate amount of time. The retake success stories that I linked above and am linking again here will help: Compilation - DAT Breakdown Collection! 2017-Present

 

[artist2022]

Thank you for the motivation to retake the DAT. Would you agree that I just need to study more efficiently while devoting 7 hours/day of studying for 2 months. It seems most students devote that much time to get a 23AA+.

I think that should be good, it's probably close to what I did (more hours M-F but rarely anything on the weekends).

For my 1st DAT, I used bootcamp (80%) and destroyer (20%), but for my retake I am using booster (80%), Feralis Notes (10%) and chad's videos (10%).

You should use the DAT Destroyer way more this time, and get through it at least once.

Does the 50% acceptance ratio seem too strict? Based on the 2019 spreadsheet, NYU has 7.75% OOS apps enrolled and that's the highest ratio.

The 50% was arbitrary, I was kinda meaning more for a school to have a high OOS interview rate and then a high OOS acceptance-after- rate too.

Based on anecdotal evidence (i.e., a dentist told me) USC accepts about 30% from the waitlist.

You should not rely on this. While it may be true, you don't know how likely it is for your situation.

My 1st DAT was submitted in Oct and verified in Nov. Granted I started my app in June and submitted an incomplete app by Aug/Sept, it wasn't 100% ready until Oct/Nov. I believe that is what severely impacted by chances based on figures below.

Definitely yes, but even if you had applied earlier, there's no saying you would've gotten in guaranteed because your DAT, again, is a big red flag as it's below average.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

What would you recommend to do to get off a waitlist? I have provided a letter of intent and a status update (new grade for a course). Would it be helpful to shadow a different dentist and provide biweekly updates (1 update every 2 weeks) of the dentist I'm shadowing and the hours? (I can do 12 hours/week of additional shadowing)

Absolutely not. That would be over the top. LOI likely won’t help but may make you feel like you’ve done everything you can.

 

[artist2022]

Letter of intent is all you can really do. USC only wants quarterly updates, so definitely do not bother them every 2 weeks to add shadowing hours. There's nothing you can really do to get off the waitlist, just hope for the best but start preparing to reapply.

I don't think this will help but I was waitlisted with a 25AA/~3.90GPA and accepted a few months after my interview... so yes they move through the waitlist but you need to be realistic about where you might stand on that waitlist.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Thank you for your feedback. I will hold off on sending an update.

I am not sure where in the waitlist rank I am...since there are students with similar stats with a lower DAT that got an acceptance, and students with similar stats and same DAT as me that did not. I think I did fairly well on the 2-part interviews (MMI + PBL). Unless after ranking, acceptances are sent randomly or alphabetically, I don't have any other explanation.

I will just hope for the best while preparing to reapply (updating personal statement, doing more shadowing, studying for a DAT retake).

Keep your head up and be persistent.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Unless you know your interview scores you cannot presume you are ranked solely based on your known metrics. Stop comparing GPA and DAT, especially if you had MMI and PBL activities. You may not have done as well as you thought so be more humble. The Admissions Committee has its process so respect that they have a process, that they aren't just going down alphabetically, and that they have their own reasons why someone is ranked above you or behind you which could include interview, geographic or demographic desirability, or mission fit.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Thank you for your feedback. Do you have general suggestions on improving MMI, PBL, and general interview skills? I am open to feedback for improving my future application.

Can I ask what you did to prepare for MMI, PBL, or other interviews? The quick answer is "practice."

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Practice, practice....


....and practice. I went over the most common interview questions and had bullet points of what I wanted to touch on.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

1. The ADA Principles of Ethics and Code of Conduct
2. roadmapprep.com
3. reviewed and practiced common questions
4. For PBL, I reviewed the process and used common sense (e.g., contributing respectfully and positively collaborating with the group).

Did you actually practice with a live person to give you feedback? Did you try a dedicated program such as those offered at your university career center office and get feedback from the career advisors?