Date of submission: Last week of June/First week of July
Application Complete: September due to a LOR missing the letterhead and AADSAS verification error
Overall GPA: 3.53
Science GPA: 3.3
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: don’t know
DAT score (include AA and all sections): 21 AA, 20 PA, 20 QR, 20 RC, 24 Bio, 20 GC, 21 OC, 22 TS
State of Residence: Illinois
Undergrad Attended: University of Minnesota Twin Cities, graduated may 2021
Major: Biology
Minor: none
Minority? Maybe? South Asian and hijabi
Reapplicant? No
Nontrad? No
Shadowing Experience: 200+ Hours of general, cosmetic, endodontist
Volunteering Experience: 50+ Hours for young women of color in stem
Employment: TAing, teaching, and for a nonprofit. Current employment as a dental assistant, and have been for nearly 1.5 years
Research: for 2 years, would guess around 200+ Hours in ecology focusing of hybridization, speciation, and population dynamics. No publications
Other Extracurriculars: none really, was always working multiple jobs on top of school and research
Relevant Honors or Awards: dean’s list a few times, some scholarships
LOR type and strength: 1 from my gen bio and genetics prof, 1 from my TA for ecology (she’s a postdoc in the lab I worked in as well), 1 from my American Sign Language prof, and 1 from a general dentist I shadowed and worked with for a year
note: I recently saw in an fb post that an LOR should never be by a TA, but a prof instead but I had issues getting responses from profs as I had been out of school for a year and my last 2 years of undergrad were all online (kinda hard to have a strong connection and letter from those profs)
Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags: I withdrew from Ochem 1 but got a B+ when I retook, I got a C+ In gen chem 1
School list:
-UIC: had no interview invite so I sent a letter of interest in the first week of February, they responded with a thank you and that it was added to my file
-SIU: interviewed November, have heard nothing back despite sending letter of intent in December. I did call and they said the director was on vacation until March and so there won’t be any acceptances till then, but not sure if that’s something they just say to appease people
-U of Minnesota: interviewed January 9th, have heard nothing back, thinking of sending a letter of intent
- Oklahoma: rejected Dec 15th, no explanation of why
-U Detroit mercy: rejected in January, no explanation of why
-Radio silence from the remaining schools: UPenn, Marquette, Rutgers, U Colorado, U Tennessee, Meharry, Creighton, Pittsburg
Is there something glaringly wrong with my app? Is it my interview skills? Should I be doing something else? Like calling up the schools and inquiring about my status? Or sending a letter of intent to Minnesota?
I did just shadow 3 oral surgeons for a total of 12 hours, should I add those to the experiences section and add them separately or as one as they are under one practice?
What are my chances of getting in this cycle? Any insights and critiques are very welcome
Application Complete: September due to a LOR missing the letterhead and AADSAS verification error
Overall GPA: 3.53
Science GPA: 3.3
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: don’t know
DAT score (include AA and all sections): 21 AA, 20 PA, 20 QR, 20 RC, 24 Bio, 20 GC, 21 OC, 22 TS
State of Residence: Illinois
Undergrad Attended: University of Minnesota Twin Cities, graduated may 2021
Major: Biology
Minor: none
Minority? Maybe? South Asian and hijabi
Reapplicant? No
Nontrad? No
Shadowing Experience: 200+ Hours of general, cosmetic, endodontist
Volunteering Experience: 50+ Hours for young women of color in stem
Employment: TAing, teaching, and for a nonprofit. Current employment as a dental assistant, and have been for nearly 1.5 years
Research: for 2 years, would guess around 200+ Hours in ecology focusing of hybridization, speciation, and population dynamics. No publications
Other Extracurriculars: none really, was always working multiple jobs on top of school and research
Relevant Honors or Awards: dean’s list a few times, some scholarships
LOR type and strength: 1 from my gen bio and genetics prof, 1 from my TA for ecology (she’s a postdoc in the lab I worked in as well), 1 from my American Sign Language prof, and 1 from a general dentist I shadowed and worked with for a year
note: I recently saw in an fb post that an LOR should never be by a TA, but a prof instead but I had issues getting responses from profs as I had been out of school for a year and my last 2 years of undergrad were all online (kinda hard to have a strong connection and letter from those profs)
Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags: I withdrew from Ochem 1 but got a B+ when I retook, I got a C+ In gen chem 1
School list:
-UIC: had no interview invite so I sent a letter of interest in the first week of February, they responded with a thank you and that it was added to my file
-SIU: interviewed November, have heard nothing back despite sending letter of intent in December. I did call and they said the director was on vacation until March and so there won’t be any acceptances till then, but not sure if that’s something they just say to appease people
-U of Minnesota: interviewed January 9th, have heard nothing back, thinking of sending a letter of intent
- Oklahoma: rejected Dec 15th, no explanation of why
-U Detroit mercy: rejected in January, no explanation of why
-Radio silence from the remaining schools: UPenn, Marquette, Rutgers, U Colorado, U Tennessee, Meharry, Creighton, Pittsburg
Is there something glaringly wrong with my app? Is it my interview skills? Should I be doing something else? Like calling up the schools and inquiring about my status? Or sending a letter of intent to Minnesota?
I did just shadow 3 oral surgeons for a total of 12 hours, should I add those to the experiences section and add them separately or as one as they are under one practice?
What are my chances of getting in this cycle? Any insights and critiques are very welcome
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