WAMC Pre-December Interviews?

[woopdewoop]

Hello! I think I'm just really anxious and stressed out about having no interviews so far. I thought my stats were pretty decent, LORs were good, and my essay was well-written. Not sure what to do, and even considering letters of intent.

Date of submission: 7/2
Overall GPA: 3.9
Science GPA: 3.89
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: 3.89
DAT score (include AA and all sections): 21AA, 30PAT, 20TS, 23QR, 23RC, 17Bio, 21GChem, 21Orgo
State of Residence: CA

Undergrad Attended: CA school (First-gen 21F, class of '23, so planning on no gap year)
Major: Biology
Minority? No
Reapplicant? No
Nontrad? No

Shadowing Experience: 100+ (General Dentistry with opportunities to assist hands-on)
Volunteering Experience: 100+ (Majority of volunteering work involved children or tutoring)
Employment: Lab assistant in a dental lab
Research: None
Other Extracurriculars: Leadership roles, volunteering, dental simulation labs, etc
Relevant Honors or Awards: GPA awards, Leadership recognitions
LOR type and strength: UPenn Alum Dentist (strong), 3 Science Profs (good, but not exactly directly related to bio/chem/phys)
Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags: None that I could think of, besides maybe the 17 in Biology?
School list: All California schools (already got auto-rejected from UCSF), NYU, Columbia, Harvard, UPenn, Tufts

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[macsak]

Hello! I think I'm just really anxious and stressed out about having no interviews so far. I thought my stats were pretty decent, LORs were good, and my essay was well-written. Not sure what to do, and even considering letters of intent.

Date of submission: 7/2
Overall GPA: 3.9
Science GPA: 3.89
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: 3.89
DAT score (include AA and all sections): 21AA, 30PAT, 20TS, 23QR, 23RC, 17Bio, 21GChem, 21Orgo
State of Residence: CA

Undergrad Attended: CA school (First-gen 21F, class of '23, so planning on no gap year)
Major: Biology
Minority? No
Reapplicant? No
Nontrad? No

Shadowing Experience: 100+ (General Dentistry with opportunities to assist hands-on)
Volunteering Experience: 100+ (Majority of volunteering work involved children or tutoring)
Employment: Lab assistant in a dental lab
Research: None
Other Extracurriculars: Leadership roles, volunteering, dental simulation labs, etc
Relevant Honors or Awards: GPA awards, Leadership recognitions
LOR type and strength: UPenn Alum Dentist (strong), 3 Science Profs (good, but not exactly directly related to bio/chem/phys)
Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags: None that I could think of, besides maybe the 17 in Biology?
School list: All California schools (already got auto-rejected from UCSF), NYU, Columbia, Harvard, UPenn, Tufts

my guess would be the issue is your school list
UCLA UCSF columbia harvard upenn uop are easily in the top 10 most difficult schools to get into
NYU western LLU USC Tufts you may have gotten yield managed out of...
you are just going to have to trust the process...

 

[Ryxndek]

Agree above, school choice put you at a slight disadvantage possibly, lots of reaches. The 17 bio score may have also hurt you with those schools but can’t be for certain. Just gotta wait and see! Don’t stress, many students get post December interviews and get acceptances!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Quick thoughts:
1) no research probably got you strikes against you for many of the schools on your list.
2) if all your community service was about children and tutoring, I'm not sure you stood out.
3) fine motor skills?
4) you should have done more homework to include schools in the Midwest or other parts of the country where your app could have gotten more than a quick look. Did you do any networking before applying?

 

[woopdewoop]

my guess would be the issue is your school list
UCLA UCSF columbia harvard upenn uop are easily in the top 10 most difficult schools to get into
NYU western LLU USC Tufts you may have gotten yield managed out of...
you are just going to have to trust the process...

Agree above, school choice put you at a slight disadvantage possibly, lots of reaches. The 17 bio score may have also hurt you with those schools but can’t be for certain. Just gotta wait and see! Don’t stress, many students get post December interviews and get acceptances!

Ahh yeah they really are hard reach schools :/ My school counselor was the person who helped me form that list based on my stats and general locations where I'd have access to family more. I'll try to keep trusting the process- thank you! )

 

[woopdewoop]

Quick thoughts:
1) no research probably got you strikes against you for many of the schools on your list.
2) if all your community service was about children and tutoring, I'm not sure you stood out.
3) fine motor skills?
4) you should have done more homework to include schools in the Midwest or other parts of the country where your app could have gotten more than a quick look. Did you do any networking before applying?

Thank you for these pointers! I appreciate it
The counselor I talked to said that research wasn't going to be as looked at, so I thought I'd be fine in that aspect
A lot of my community service were more focused on underserved and low-income communities, which I guess children and tutoring don't stand out as much, but it is something I've always been passionate about, as someone who also grew up low-income and first-generation.
As for fine motor skills, outside of working hands-on in the clinic, I play the piano and do a lot of work with origami. I also play a few sports and do embroidery.
My counselor tried to create a list of schools based on my stats and locations where I'd have access to family members, so Midwest was a bit difficult in that none of my relatives were nearby there Though looking back, I should have still applied to those schools.
Unfortunately, I did not do any networking before applying, besides one PI at UCLA who runs a dental lab at their School of Dentistry.

 

[macsak]

Thank you for these pointers! I appreciate it
The counselor I talked to said that research wasn't going to be as looked at, so I thought I'd be fine in that aspect
A lot of my community service were more focused on underserved and low-income communities, which I guess children and tutoring don't stand out as much, but it is something I've always been passionate about, as someone who also grew up low-income and first-generation.
As for fine motor skills, outside of working hands-on in the clinic, I play the piano and do a lot of work with origami. I also play a few sports and do embroidery.
My counselor tried to create a list of schools based on my stats and locations where I'd have access to family members, so Midwest was a bit difficult in that none of my relatives were nearby there Though looking back, I should have still applied to those schools.
Unfortunately, I did not do any networking before applying, besides one PI at UCLA who runs a dental lab at their School of Dentistry.

you wouldn't have to apply to midwest schools exclusively in addition to your previous list
you just need a range of schools- a few reach schools, the majority in-range schools, and a few safety schools
your list only has reach and safety
there are state schools closer than the midwest that would've been in-range for your stats and research is not as important...

 

[Mr.Smile12]

For your list, research would have helped you for some of those schools which have a lot of applicants who want to do research for residencies.

Again this is conjecture. We don't have your AADSAS application and can't vouch for all committees.

 

[Ryxndek]

I’ll be honest, I never really trusted my advisor. i felt like they didn’t know what they were doing most of the time and just used a general rule instead of what fits me. I actually talked to my dentist for recommendations and just looked at schools that fit my app well. Wishing you best of luck this cycle, Your time will come!

 

[woopdewoop]

Hello!

Just wanted to update in case this helps anyone: I ended up getting 5 interviews and received acceptances from all of them! I'm very surprised and beyond thankful

If anyone reads this post, I'd definitely be sure to make a well-rounded schools list, and just fully trusting the process and yourself! Good luck to everyone!

 

[macsak]

Hello!

Just wanted to update in case this helps anyone: I ended up getting 5 interviews and received acceptances from all of them! I'm very surprised and beyond thankful

If anyone reads this post, I'd definitely be sure to make a well-rounded schools list, and just fully trusting the process and yourself! Good luck to everyone!

congrats!

were your interviews pre-decision day or january/february?
which schools did you interview at?
which one did you choose?

 

[woopdewoop]

congrats!

were your interviews pre-decision day or january/february?
which schools did you interview at?
which one did you choose?

Thanks!

I had three pre-decision day (USC, Tufts, UoP), one Jan (Columbia), one March (UCLA).

I chose UCLA

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Congratulations!
Enjoy your orientation and get to work!

 

[woopdewoop]

Congratulations!
Enjoy your orientation and get to work!

Thank you!!

 

[macsak]

Thanks!

I had three pre-decision day (USC, Tufts, UoP), one Jan (Columbia), one March (UCLA).

I chose UCLA

congrats!!!

what was your choice on decision day?
after columbia acceptance?