WAMC: 3.7 GPA: 19 AA

[doctordentist444]

Date of submission: 07/01/2023
Overall GPA: 3.7
Science GPA: 3.6
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: 3.5
DAT score (include AA and all sections): 19 AA, 18 TS, 17 OC, 20 GC, 17 BIO, 22 RC, 20 QR, 21 PAT
State of Residence: Pennsylvania

Undergrad Attended: Westminster College
Major: Biochemistry
Minor: N?A
Minority? Yes/No- No
Reapplicant? Yes
Nontrad? No

Shadowing Experience: General Dentistry - 200+ hrs
Volunteering Experience: Over 600+ hours - chemistry club, campus tour guide/ambassador, The Everywhere project (gives out warm meals, clothes, and harm reduction kits to homeless community in Philly), volunteered as a chemical researcher with a local dental office to help design an on-the-go, over-the-counter paste to help fight gun disease, volunteered at the PittCon Analytical chemistry conference as a student aide.
Employment: Worked as a chemistry TA for over 300-400 hours for general chemistry, organic chemistry I and II, biochemistry methods, and advanced lab. Currently working at the University of Pennsylvania as a research technician in a graduate research lab - at least 150+ hours, began in June.
Research: 150-200+ hours of undergrad independent research studying the mechanism of early stage bone mineralization, and 150+ hours at my job researching bone remodeling in the context of osteoarthritis - but bone remodeling is very applicable in the dental field.
Other Extracurriculars: Was in a sorority for 2 years as judicial chairman, participated in dance theatre, attended the PittCon conference as an aid but also presented my own research poster - probably 100 hours.
Have you volunteered/shadowed/attended events at any dental schools? No, not sure how to get involved.
Relevant Honors or Awards: Won the Addison H Gibson Education Grant from my college, won the College Chemistry Award from the American Chemical Society for excellence in chemistry research, deans list for 5 semesters, awarded a travel grant from my universities undergrad research center to go to the conference, graduated with Cum Laude honors, other scholarships.
LOR type and strength: One from my biochemistry professor (very strong), one from my organic chemistry II professor and advisor for TA-ing organic I and II (strong), one from my capstone teacher and research advisor (strong), and one from my general dentist I shadowed (strong).
Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags: Obviously not happy about the 17s in both BIO and OC, but only took one bio class before taking the DAT so spent all my time here to catch up and left OC on the back burner since I TA for I and II as well as got an A in ochem I and B in ochem II, hoped that would help overcome the 17 OC and explain the 17 BIO if the schools really do look at apps holistically. Also, only really a red flag for one school, but got an interview from Temple last cycle literally on June 7th of 2023 and had to decline - already had a job, signed an apartment lease, spent the money and reapplied and set up my life for this next year and couldn't go back on them so Im sure they don't love and appreciate that but hope they can understand why I did what I did. Lastly, I completely redid my personal statement from last cycle as I worried it wasn't personal enough, but not sure if I made it better or worse. Everyone has an opinion on how it should be written and it's making me second guess mine but I can't change it now so trying not to. I wrote it about a hobby I enjoy (making bracelets) and drew parallels to the individuality of the hobby, manual dexterities, and lasting mark they leave to the dental field. (ALSO DIDN'T TAKE ANATOMY AND PHYS AND ALREADY GRADUATED SO CAN'T APPLY TO SCHOOLS LIKE UDM, LOUISVILLE, MWU's, ASDOH THAT ARE FRIENDLY TO MY STATS ://///)
School list:
1. UPenn
2. Pitt
3. Temple
4. UConn
5. VCU
6. Creighton
7. Marquette
8. DCG
9. SIU
10. UIC
11. LECOM
12. Iowa
13. Buffalo
14. Kentucky
15. Maryland (got an email I didn't meet their English requirement?)
16. Colorado
At this point thinking of adding more (Tufts and Touro maybe)

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[Mr.Smile12]

Your school list is a challenge. In-State you are still a good candidate for Temple. Don't worry about last year if they gave you a super late II, but that tells you where you were in the pecking order without improving obvious barriers in your application.

Yes you need to think about a better DAT score. 20s across the board. They are too low for the Ivy Schools, and Pitt is a competitive public where as an in-state student, you are probably not in the group that gets interviews. Unless you have a true journey and mission fit with your experience in rural Pennsylvania, Pitt might be a challenge. You should have been connected with their ASDA or SNDA chapters through social media or on campus recruitment open houses before applying.

Now the other publics where you are OOS are truly challenging. VCU may be the most friendly among your choices (UConn, DCG, SIU, UIC, Iowa, Colorado likely donations without strong mission fit and state residency preference).

Two other privates you could have considered are UDM (yeah they have that A&P requirement) and Case, which are closest to you. Those would be the only ones I would add given what you already chose. Trust the process but prepare a stronger application.

What do your prehealth advisors say?

 

[doctordentist444]

My pre health committee was not good at my school they didn’t help us at all so they had no input on my app. I’m just torn about the DAT as I’ve seen people with my stats get in left and right and I’ve had people tell me not to retake a lot too. I’m worried it’s too late to retake this cycle and make it worth while - i’ll need at least 3 months to study but probably more if i’m being honest it’s been a year since my last/first attempt and i’m working full time as a research tech. so I guess if I don’t get in this next cycle i’ll retake. Also yeah maybe I “should have” gotten in connection with ASDA or SNDA chapters but it’s too late for that now lol. But yeah no schools favor PA residents so I know it makes it hard to have a real chance at most of those schools but I just wanted to apply broadly and hope. Also not reapplying to case because of the horror stories I’ve heard about their program.. Thank you for the input though I appreciate your time.

 

[macsak]

Date of submission: 07/01/2023
Overall GPA: 3.7
Science GPA: 3.6
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: 3.5
DAT score (include AA and all sections): 19 AA, 18 TS, 17 OC, 20 GC, 17 BIO, 22 RC, 20 QR, 21 PAT
State of Residence: Pennsylvania

Undergrad Attended: Westminster College
Major: Biochemistry
Minor: N?A
Minority? Yes/No- No
Reapplicant? Yes
Nontrad? No

Shadowing Experience: General Dentistry - 200+ hrs
Volunteering Experience: Over 600+ hours - chemistry club, campus tour guide/ambassador, The Everywhere project (gives out warm meals, clothes, and harm reduction kits to homeless community in Philly), volunteered as a chemical researcher with a local dental office to help design an on-the-go, over-the-counter paste to help fight gun disease, volunteered at the PittCon Analytical chemistry conference as a student aide.
Employment: Worked as a chemistry TA for over 300-400 hours for general chemistry, organic chemistry I and II, biochemistry methods, and advanced lab. Currently working at the University of Pennsylvania as a research technician in a graduate research lab - at least 150+ hours, began in June.
Research: 150-200+ hours of undergrad independent research studying the mechanism of early stage bone mineralization, and 150+ hours at my job researching bone remodeling in the context of osteoarthritis - but bone remodeling is very applicable in the dental field.
Other Extracurriculars: Was in a sorority for 2 years as judicial chairman, participated in dance theatre, attended the PittCon conference as an aid but also presented my own research poster - probably 100 hours.
Have you volunteered/shadowed/attended events at any dental schools? No, not sure how to get involved.
Relevant Honors or Awards: Won the Addison H Gibson Education Grant from my college, won the College Chemistry Award from the American Chemical Society for excellence in chemistry research, deans list for 5 semesters, awarded a travel grant from my universities undergrad research center to go to the conference, graduated with Cum Laude honors, other scholarships.
LOR type and strength: One from my biochemistry professor (very strong), one from my organic chemistry II professor and advisor for TA-ing organic I and II (strong), one from my capstone teacher and research advisor (strong), and one from my general dentist I shadowed (strong).
Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags: Obviously not happy about the 17s in both BIO and OC, but only took one bio class before taking the DAT so spent all my time here to catch up and left OC on the back burner since I TA for I and II as well as got an A in ochem I and B in ochem II, hoped that would help overcome the 17 OC and explain the 17 BIO if the schools really do look at apps holistically. Also, only really a red flag for one school, but got an interview from Temple last cycle literally on June 7th of 2023 and had to decline - already had a job, signed an apartment lease, spent the money and reapplied and set up my life for this next year and couldn't go back on them so Im sure they don't love and appreciate that but hope they can understand why I did what I did. Lastly, I completely redid my personal statement from last cycle as I worried it wasn't personal enough, but not sure if I made it better or worse. Everyone has an opinion on how it should be written and it's making me second guess mine but I can't change it now so trying not to. I wrote it about a hobby I enjoy (making bracelets) and drew parallels to the individuality of the hobby, manual dexterities, and lasting mark they leave to the dental field. (ALSO DIDN'T TAKE ANATOMY AND PHYS AND ALREADY GRADUATED SO CAN'T APPLY TO SCHOOLS LIKE UDM, LOUISVILLE, MWU's, ASDOH THAT ARE FRIENDLY TO MY STATS ://///)
School list:
1. UPenn
2. Pitt
3. Temple
4. UConn
5. VCU
6. Creighton
7. Marquette
8. DCG
9. SIU
10. UIC
11. LECOM
12. Iowa
13. Buffalo
14. Kentucky
15. Maryland (got an email I didn't meet their English requirement?)
16. Colorado
At this point thinking of adding more (Tufts and Touro maybe)

when did you submit last cycle?
how many schools did you apply to?
any other invites besides temple?
what did you do to improve your application between last cycle and this cycle?
did you speak to any schools after last cycle was complete?

 

[doctordentist444]

I submitted sept 23rd, applied to only 9 schools, no other invites, I took more science classes including microbio, metabolic biochem, bio 2, and finished my research capstone as well as expanded my volunteer hours and redid my PS, and no I didn’t speak to any schools 😅

 

[Mr.Smile12]

My pre health committee was not good at my school they didn’t help us at all so they had no input on my app. I’m just torn about the DAT as I’ve seen people with my stats get in left and right and I’ve had people tell me not to retake a lot too. I’m worried it’s too late to retake this cycle and make it worth while - i’ll need at least 3 months to study but probably more if i’m being honest it’s been a year since my last/first attempt and i’m working full time as a research tech. so I guess if I don’t get in this next cycle i’ll retake. Also yeah maybe I “should have” gotten in connection with ASDA or SNDA chapters but it’s too late for that now lol. But yeah no schools favor PA residents so I know it makes it hard to have a real chance at most of those schools but I just wanted to apply broadly and hope. Also not reapplying to case because of the horror stories I’ve heard about their program.. Thank you for the input though I appreciate your time.

Envy is your enemy. Use the comparisons as inspiration, not competition.

It's never too late to reach out to other students or the admissions team. At some point you'll be surrounded by students that you wish you had talked with before starting school or that first comp exam. Again, your profile isn't terrible, so you might need the DAT retake as long as you can show improvement (20's across the board) to make you more desirable for other schools. But you got an II, so there is still a chance. You must talk with admissions teams as you developing your next application to know where you need to improve. Some schools welcome those conversations and WILL CHECK if you acted on their specific advice on a reapp.

Remember that dental school admissions usually favor local applicants. Use the DSE and your prehealth office's data on past applicants to know which schools took students from your program. Schools within 150 miles of your location are the most likely suitors, provided you fulfill their mission.

 

[doctordentist444]

I will reach out! and you’re definitely correct about comparisons I will do my best to keep that in mind as I go through this cycle. But again, sadly the pre health committee at my school is basically non existent and everyone Ive ever heard of go to dental school from my college was in the case 3+4 program or the early acceptance for LECOM.. But i’ll reach out to those schools and see what they think I could have done better with. Thank you so much

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I'll throw in an interesting suggestion. If you really aren't interested in going to Case, I wonder what advice they will give you. You can say you are just getting feedback. LECOM should be interested because I think they have a lot of seats to fill... don't they need dental students in their Erie clinic?

 

[doctordentist444]

That is a good idea about Case since i’ve already applied just to see what they thought about my last app. And I hope so about LECOM i know most students like to stay in florida but since i’m from PA i’m not opposed to coming back for their Erie clinic. I also really like their PBL learning and general time line for boards and all of that. I’ve just been seeing them give out a lot of interviews to high stats lately so if I do get one it’s probably not until the later half of the cycle would be my guess but Id be very happy regardless.

 

[kashyranz]

Date of submission: 07/01/2023
Overall GPA: 3.7
Science GPA: 3.6
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: 3.5
DAT score (include AA and all sections): 19 AA, 18 TS, 17 OC, 20 GC, 17 BIO, 22 RC, 20 QR, 21 PAT
State of Residence: Pennsylvania

Undergrad Attended: Westminster College
Major: Biochemistry
Minor: N?A
Minority? Yes/No- No
Reapplicant? Yes
Nontrad? No

Shadowing Experience: General Dentistry - 200+ hrs
Volunteering Experience: Over 600+ hours - chemistry club, campus tour guide/ambassador, The Everywhere project (gives out warm meals, clothes, and harm reduction kits to homeless community in Philly), volunteered as a chemical researcher with a local dental office to help design an on-the-go, over-the-counter paste to help fight gun disease, volunteered at the PittCon Analytical chemistry conference as a student aide.
Employment: Worked as a chemistry TA for over 300-400 hours for general chemistry, organic chemistry I and II, biochemistry methods, and advanced lab. Currently working at the University of Pennsylvania as a research technician in a graduate research lab - at least 150+ hours, began in June.
Research: 150-200+ hours of undergrad independent research studying the mechanism of early stage bone mineralization, and 150+ hours at my job researching bone remodeling in the context of osteoarthritis - but bone remodeling is very applicable in the dental field.
Other Extracurriculars: Was in a sorority for 2 years as judicial chairman, participated in dance theatre, attended the PittCon conference as an aid but also presented my own research poster - probably 100 hours.
Have you volunteered/shadowed/attended events at any dental schools? No, not sure how to get involved.
Relevant Honors or Awards: Won the Addison H Gibson Education Grant from my college, won the College Chemistry Award from the American Chemical Society for excellence in chemistry research, deans list for 5 semesters, awarded a travel grant from my universities undergrad research center to go to the conference, graduated with Cum Laude honors, other scholarships.
LOR type and strength: One from my biochemistry professor (very strong), one from my organic chemistry II professor and advisor for TA-ing organic I and II (strong), one from my capstone teacher and research advisor (strong), and one from my general dentist I shadowed (strong).
Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags: Obviously not happy about the 17s in both BIO and OC, but only took one bio class before taking the DAT so spent all my time here to catch up and left OC on the back burner since I TA for I and II as well as got an A in ochem I and B in ochem II, hoped that would help overcome the 17 OC and explain the 17 BIO if the schools really do look at apps holistically. Also, only really a red flag for one school, but got an interview from Temple last cycle literally on June 7th of 2023 and had to decline - already had a job, signed an apartment lease, spent the money and reapplied and set up my life for this next year and couldn't go back on them so Im sure they don't love and appreciate that but hope they can understand why I did what I did. Lastly, I completely redid my personal statement from last cycle as I worried it wasn't personal enough, but not sure if I made it better or worse. Everyone has an opinion on how it should be written and it's making me second guess mine but I can't change it now so trying not to. I wrote it about a hobby I enjoy (making bracelets) and drew parallels to the individuality of the hobby, manual dexterities, and lasting mark they leave to the dental field. (ALSO DIDN'T TAKE ANATOMY AND PHYS AND ALREADY GRADUATED SO CAN'T APPLY TO SCHOOLS LIKE UDM, LOUISVILLE, MWU's, ASDOH THAT ARE FRIENDLY TO MY STATS ://///)
School list:
1. UPenn
2. Pitt
3. Temple
4. UConn
5. VCU
6. Creighton
7. Marquette
8. DCG
9. SIU
10. UIC
11. LECOM
12. Iowa
13. Buffalo
14. Kentucky
15. Maryland (got an email I didn't meet their English requirement?)
16. Colorado
At this point thinking of adding more (Tufts and Touro maybe)

I would retake the DAT to really strengthen your app. it's on the low side. anybody with a high gpa and low DAT has the ability to retake and do really well on it if preparing properly. especially if you want to go to your first choice school like UPENN, you need a 22 to have a chance. but your GPA are in line with UPENN, PITT, UCONN. adding more schools will definitely increase your chances of acceptance as well. Why not apply to USC and NYU? few hundred bucks but if you get in you may be saving a ton of money in opportunity cost if you dont get in anywhere else. best of luck!

 

[doctordentist444]

I would retake the DAT to really strengthen your app. it's on the low side. anybody with a high gpa and low DAT has the ability to retake and do really well on it if preparing properly. especially if you want to go to your first choice school like UPENN, you need a 22 to have a chance. but your GPA are in line with UPENN, PITT, UCONN. adding more schools will definitely increase your chances of acceptance as well. Why not apply to USC and NYU? few hundred bucks but if you get in you may be saving a ton of money in opportunity cost if you dont get in anywhere else. best of luck!

I feel like i’m too late in the cycle to retake the DAT… I would need at least 3 months to prepare, if not longer since i’m working full time and my last attempt was in July of 2022 so that puts me all the way in January at the earliest. At that point I might as well see how the cycle shakes out and retake if I don’t have any luck. Penn would be great but it not really my top choice as I am aware my DAT is too low. I just work at Penn so I figured why not apply. And I didn’t apply to USC because being from PA I know I won’t enjoy the California heat so it was more location than anything as well as cost. I didn’t apply to NYU because of the ridiculous cost and the people i’ve seen time and time again only get in there and regret applying. I’m not sure how I’d save money applying there tbh 😅 It would still be cheaper to have to reapply and retake the DAT. Do schools not compare timelines of taking the DAT with classes i’ve taken? I feel like my 17 in BIO is explained by literally only having one BIO class 3 years before I took the DAT so I had to teach myself everything and I got great grades in OC but didn’t have the time to relearn it all while i was making up for BIO. I’m just confused how I see so many people with stats lower than mine get like 8,9 interviews at the same places I applied to. I’m not sure what my application is missing besides having an average DAT. I’m very, very happy for those people, don’t get me wrong. I want us all to succeed. But it makes me constantly question retaking the DAT as I know it’s possible to get in many places with a 19 AA. Anyways, I have received the supplemental app from Maryland which 9 times out of 10 leads to an interview so I’m hopeful I may get in this cycle. If not, I will definitely be retaking the DAT. Thank you for your input, it means a lot and I will take your advice seriously. I do think I could improve my DAT having taken 2 more bio classes now and metabolic biochem which will be helpful. Truly just praying this is my year.

 

[macsak]

I feel like i’m too late in the cycle to retake the DAT… I would need at least 3 months to prepare, if not longer since i’m working full time and my last attempt was in July of 2022 so that puts me all the way in January at the earliest. At that point I might as well see how the cycle shakes out and retake if I don’t have any luck. Penn would be great but it not really my top choice as I am aware my DAT is too low. I just work at Penn so I figured why not apply. And I didn’t apply to USC because being from PA I know I won’t enjoy the California heat so it was more location than anything as well as cost. I didn’t apply to NYU because of the ridiculous cost and the people i’ve seen time and time again only get in there and regret applying. I’m not sure how I’d save money applying there tbh 😅 It would still be cheaper to have to reapply and retake the DAT. Do schools not compare timelines of taking the DAT with classes i’ve taken? I feel like my 17 in BIO is explained by literally only having one BIO class 3 years before I took the DAT so I had to teach myself everything and I got great grades in OC but didn’t have the time to relearn it all while i was making up for BIO. I’m just confused how I see so many people with stats lower than mine get like 8,9 interviews at the same places I applied to. I’m not sure what my application is missing besides having an average DAT. I’m very, very happy for those people, don’t get me wrong. I want us all to succeed. But it makes me constantly question retaking the DAT as I know it’s possible to get in many places with a 19 AA. Anyways, I have received the supplemental app from Maryland which 9 times out of 10 leads to an interview so I’m hopeful I may get in this cycle. If not, I will definitely be retaking the DAT. Thank you for your input, it means a lot and I will take your advice seriously. I do think I could improve my DAT having taken 2 more bio classes now and metabolic biochem which will be helpful. Truly just praying this is my year.

schools do not look at your app in this much detail...

 

[macsak]

I feel like i’m too late in the cycle to retake the DAT… I would need at least 3 months to prepare, if not longer since i’m working full time and my last attempt was in July of 2022 so that puts me all the way in January at the earliest. At that point I might as well see how the cycle shakes out and retake if I don’t have any luck. Penn would be great but it not really my top choice as I am aware my DAT is too low. I just work at Penn so I figured why not apply. And I didn’t apply to USC because being from PA I know I won’t enjoy the California heat so it was more location than anything as well as cost. I didn’t apply to NYU because of the ridiculous cost and the people i’ve seen time and time again only get in there and regret applying. I’m not sure how I’d save money applying there tbh 😅 It would still be cheaper to have to reapply and retake the DAT. Do schools not compare timelines of taking the DAT with classes i’ve taken? I feel like my 17 in BIO is explained by literally only having one BIO class 3 years before I took the DAT so I had to teach myself everything and I got great grades in OC but didn’t have the time to relearn it all while i was making up for BIO. I’m just confused how I see so many people with stats lower than mine get like 8,9 interviews at the same places I applied to. I’m not sure what my application is missing besides having an average DAT. I’m very, very happy for those people, don’t get me wrong. I want us all to succeed. But it makes me constantly question retaking the DAT as I know it’s possible to get in many places with a 19 AA. Anyways, I have received the supplemental app from Maryland which 9 times out of 10 leads to an interview so I’m hopeful I may get in this cycle. If not, I will definitely be retaking the DAT. Thank you for your input, it means a lot and I will take your advice seriously. I do think I could improve my DAT having taken 2 more bio classes now and metabolic biochem which will be helpful. Truly just praying this is my year.

try and keep these comparison thoughts out of your head...

 

[doctordentist444]

schools do not look at your app in this much detail...

That really, really sucks. So when people say schools look at your app holistically what do they mean then? It’s not as much comparison for me as just knowing people with stats close to mine do get in and that does give me hope but yeah there is a some comparison to an extent. It’s easier said than done, though but I am trying I know it won’t help me to compare myself to others

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Do schools not compare timelines of taking the DAT with classes i’ve taken? I feel like my 17 in BIO is explained by literally only having one BIO class 3 years before I took the DAT so I had to teach myself everything and I got great grades in OC but didn’t have the time to relearn it all while i was making up for BIO.

We look at everything but pay most attention to what you did most recently. Excuses for poor performance on a test like the DAT garner no sympathy.

I’m just confused how I see so many people with stats lower than mine get like 8,9 interviews at the same places I applied to. I’m not sure what my application is missing besides having an average DAT.

What's your mission fit? Comparing is the thief of joy. We don't know because we don't have those applications.

Focus on your Maryland supplemental.

 

[macsak]

That really, really sucks. So when people say schools look at your app holistically what do they mean then? It’s not as much comparison for me as just knowing people with stats close to mine do get in and that does give me hope but yeah there is a some comparison to an extent. It’s easier said than done, though but I am trying I know it won’t help me to compare myself to others

holistically means that they don't only look at your stats...