After You Are Accepted: Things I did NOT Consider Part II

For school, you have to collect human teeth... lots of them... and you keep them in jars of bleach.

Bouncing Back from a Bad GPA

I went back to school and I believe my science GPA was somewhere around a 1.6. I started off taking chemistry I and biology I at a community college. Thinking back, I believe I struggled more with those freshman courses than I did with my current course load (histology, biochem/molecular biology of the gene, and medical bacteriology). The hard part in that first semester back was just figuring out how to study. All the way up to the age of twenty eight I did not know how to study. Once I figured that out, all of my classes were cake (by cake I mean a lot of work but at least I knew what I needed to do). My 1.6 GPA went to a little over 2.9 at the beginning of the application cycle to over 3 just after. I do believe you need a really good DAT score to be competitive if your GPA is lacking. It was a pretty big risk, I had somewhere around $20,000 in debt for school, spent around two thousand applying (not interviewing, just applying), around a thousand flying to the interviews, was living with my parents, no job but, in the end, got a place at my top choice. It is a lot of work, a lot of money, sooo time consuming but completely worth it if you know this is what you want to do.

Not Getting Accepted is NOT the End

There are a lot of things that can happen and being on a waitlist is pretty important. A friend of mine signed a lease, moved all of his stuff to Florida, got his books but then picked and moved back since he was accepted into his top choice a week AFTER classes started. I did not initially get in to my top choice so met with an adviser, drafted a letter of interest and mailed it along. Keep all of the schools you are interested in up to date with all of your activities and hopefully you will get the call like I did.  My very first application cycle I turned my application in a few months after it opened and received zero interview invites. The following year I was lucky enough to get six. Some people try four years until they get their school of choice. It's a long process but I think it is well worth it.

After You Are Accepted: Things I did NOT Consider

Get Your Vaccinations
HepB is the big one since it takes a few months.
Usually big cities will have some place where you can get them free or very cheap. You can also get them through some hospitals by volunteering there.

Your Physical
You can get them done cheaply through your university but if you are even just one day after your graduation your university will no longer offer you any medical services (happened to me, had to pay $250 to my doctor instead of just the $20 at my university).

Finding an Apartment:
If you've ever done this before it should be pretty straight forward but don't expect the place to always look like the website. Also if a place is unusually cheap make sure you check the crime for the area. Reviews are not the best guide. Some places have terrible reviews but end up being pretty nice. Some apartments offer student discounts and others will only take you if you are employed but make under a certain amount of money per year - something they might only tell you after you pay for an application.

The Payoff

Hopefully acceptances will start rolling in but if they don't, it is not the end. I received a few interview offers later in the game. I was not initially accepted in to my top choice, I started making plans to move, signed a lease but then got an amazing phone call a few weeks before I was set to leave. I am going to my top choice and feel incredibly lucky. The whole process can be incredibly frustrating, exhausting, expensive, humbling and incredibly amazing (I know I've said "incredibly" too many times). If being a dentist is truly what you want to do, the work is incredibly more than worth it.

Interviews Part IV:Random Advice Based on my Mistakes

If one school is your top choice and you have the option, interview at one of the schools you are less excited about first. Don't delay the interview too much but feeling the pressure and working out some of the kinks at a lower priority school will really help you out. My best interviews were at the schools I interviewed last.
If someone that stresses you out wants to come along, don't let it happen. A close friend of mine had that happened to her and it ruined her interview. Be selfish and make that day about you.
Pack more than you need. Hair products, extra shirts, antidiarrheal, coats, bug spray, lip balm etc... One of the cities had just swarms and swarms of mosquitoes.
Make sure you look professional, a lot of people argue you shouldn't wear black but I wore black to all my interviews and it was fine. Get your suit tailored if you can and don't wear white socks.
Make travel arrangements early - make sure you have that hotel and flights lined up.
Do not fly Spirit, they have lots of delays and charge if you bring ANY bags.
Line up rental cars with Costco - they are pretty cheap.
Have time to explore the city.
If you are going to the desert (AZ), bring sunscreen.
Do not correct the interviewer.
Don't eat a breakfast or dinner that is too heavy or questionable...
Make friends with the other interviewees, you will be surprised how many people you will run into again at another school and how interesting some of their experiences are.

Interviews Part III: The Actual Interview

The Interview Process
Some places had just one interview, other places I met with four or five professors on separate fifteen minute interviews, some were with just one professor, others had three professors and yet another had a professor and a current dental student.

Group interviews can take some of the pressure off but it is easy to get lost in the background. I also didn't want to seem like a gunner but maybe the school would see you as being someone who takes initiative? I would definitely say that putting someone else down is a bad idea.

With some places, it was kind of obvious the interviewers were playing good cop bad cop. I asked the other interviewees about how the interview was for them and I noticed that the two professors switched out being the good and bad cops. Some places try to rattle you and see how you do under pressure. I really didn't like this since it made me feel as though I was a mouse being put through a maze.

Some schools will be extra friendly and try to make you as comfortable as possible. They usually just want to get to know what kind of person you are and whether or not you are a good fit. Maybe I am a little paranoid but I got the feeling this also makes some people reveal too much about themselves...

Some schools had a series of rooms where you go in and a hired actor is waiting to play out some sort of scenario with you. You have a few minutes to read the scenario that is on the door (you might play a dentist, a dental student etc...) and the actor will act out the situation and rate you based on how you play it out.

Other places will put you in odd situations, with one, a group of interviewees are told to discuss something and the group is observed as you discuss.

Overall I would just say KNOW YOUR APPLICATION BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS. Anything you mention on your application can pop up in the interview. I was very surprised how much they knew about my application, even very small details I forgot I had mentioned. Also KNOW THE SCHOOL BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS. Do as much research as you can on each school: this will help you make decisions about the school and ask questions about the school: which you really should do.

I would say be prepared to say something about any weaknesses on the application. I knew that the F's and GPA I received early in my education would be an issue. I prepped a general response to it, said my peace concisely and moved on. I didn't think it was the greatest idea to dwell on it too much.

Also, I made the mistake of correcting one of the interviewers and looking at the way his face soured I could tell that I might as well write that school off. Some people may respond better to that but that was not the case here.

Interviews Part II: Forming an Opinion on the School

Going to each school was an experience. Midwestern in AZ has a staff that knows all the students names. The dean has an amazing memory, he sat all the interviewees down, told us our names and one interesting thing about each of us - incredibly impressive. Another school had a pretty new building and impressive facilities but everything looked very empty until you turned a corner and were treated to glass cases containing seemingly hundred of clown statues, having their dead eyes staring back you... If that wasn't enough, down another corner was a hallway of many, many porcelain dolls. Very unnerving. With one school, you could really tell the students and professors did not get along. Yet another school, the professors and the administration had obvious tension. Some places you will notice the website and actual process of how the school works does not match up at all. One school had so many students that there is just no way any student could get enough time on the limited resources. During the tour at another school, one of the interviewees got a little sick and vomited on herself and the floor. The professor giving the tour pretended as though it didn't happen and kept describing the school. There was a long moment where we stared at him to do something as he kept describing how you can have unlimited fake teeth to practice on. I and another interviewee in the group were the only ones that decided to help her out. Not the best impression. Another school, one of the interviewees was smacked in the head by the door as he was exiting the bathroom. He was walking around dazed with a little blood trickling down his forehead. The professors there jumped into action, got him an MRI on campus, patched up his cut and helped him along through the interview process. I think you will definitely get a feel for what the school thinks of the students.
The worst has to be when the dean of one the schools was asked a simple question by one of the interviewees and went on an angry rant  for roughly seven minutes. It was incredibly confusing since the question was pretty benign and one that I myself would have asked. I was absolutely certain that was not the school for me. Before shelling out $100,000 to $400,000 and giving up four years of your life, make sure you are where you want to be.

Personally, based on all the qualities of the schools I visited, Baylor Dallas (great atmosphere and student attention) and Midwestern AZ (the dean really sold it for me) were my top choices.

Interviews Part I: Experiences Before the Interview

From La Grande Orange in AZ - near MWU and ASDOH

I flew all over america to go to interviews and I made a point to enjoy each city. Most of the other people I interviewed with stayed in the hotel room but I think exploring the city really helped me relax.
I usually just like to show up to cities without a hotel lined up and just explore the city until I find a place I liked: not the greatest idea. My interview in Florida was at the same time as a big football game so I looked for a place until midnight when I found probably the worst hotel I have every stayed. I was awoken quite a few times by people yelling, the sound of what was seemingly someone being thrown up against the wall and there was a huge gap between the floor and the door. I could look through and make eye contact with someone on the other side of the door. I could fit half my hand under the door to tickle somebody's foot, and I have pretty big hands.

How Many Schools Should I Apply To? And some other application related stuff

How Many Schools Should I Apply To?
A LOT.

Yes it is expensive but the only regrets I had were the schools I didn't apply to.
I applied to schools I really thought I wanted to go to and schools that matched my stats. I say schools I "thought" I wanted to go to because once you visit the school, your opinion may change dramatically. Some schools ended up being so much better than I expected and others were much worse.

To reiterate, yes it is very expensive to apply and interview at many schools but you are getting ready to spend between $100,000 and $400,000 on your education so it is a very good idea to sample a wide range of places. I visited a few schools that people on student doctor blogs said were pretty good but the professors and students ended up being huge tools. I'm not saying what school it was but I will say it was one of the $400,000 schools. The flights and everything will cost a few hundred per school but I believe it is worth it in the end. Also, you don't want to have just applied to just a few schools and deal with only being accepted to the school you hated the most and having to make the tough decision of attending that school or waiting another year to apply.

Picking the Schools
The ADEA's Official Guide to Dental Schools is a pretty good resource
It breaks down the average GPA for each school, the low and high GPAs, DAT scores, score ranges, the range of the age of students, ethnicities of students etc... for each school. I knew that a couple schools would not offer me an interview based on the fact that their average GPA was hovering around 4.0 and their lowest GPA 3.85 (I applied anyway because you never truly know). I would also suggest keeping the cost of attending the school on mind as you choose your school. Being hit with the knowledge that you have over $500,000 in loans as you finish school can be incredibly eye opening.
http://www.adea.org/publications/Pages/OfficialGuide.aspx

If I were to do it again...
I would apply to more schools. I finished the application for nine schools and went to five interviews (six invited me). I wished I had also applied to schools with really good reputations and to schools in cities that I knew I would enjoy. I might also apply to all the schools that have lower tuition costs.

Do Your Research
I couldn't finish my TUFTs application because it requires that the Dentist that wrote your LOR has you with at least 50 hours of shadowing at HIS/HER practice alone. I had just thirty at my dentist's practice, 20 from another, 10 from another etc... and my application was marked incomplete. Know the requirements for each application and stuff like that will NOT be listed under the AADSAS requirements tab. Some of the requirements were only on the official website for the school itself.

Do You Want to Specialize
Some schools are pass/fail and have a BIG emphasis on providing just general care (LECOM and Midwestern in Downer's Grove are among those, I think). LECOM really made it sound as though they would not help you at all if you wanted to specialize, that they are all about general dentistry. They are also pass/fail meaning you have no GPA to apply to a specialty with. This could also be a good a thing if you are sure you do not want to specialize. A lot of students at Midwestern described how they see a wider variety of cases since none of the unique cases are passed along to the students in specialty (since they don't have it).

Other Resources:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/what-schools-should-i-apply-to-what-are-my-chances-read-if-this-is-you.635046/

Studying for the DAT

How many sources to use
Kaplan is generally where everyone starts out. Looking at my copy of Kaplan, there is not one single spot of white space left with all of the notes I took in the margins. I knew the book pretty well towards the end but taking the practice exams made me realize that Kaplan does NOT go anywhere near the depth you need to go in order to do well on the DAT. I believe that Kaplan alone would have gotten me an 18 on DAT which brings me to the first thing I believe about the DAT: a single source is nowhere near enough. Something else that helps you is getting comfortable with variety of questions that are asking the same thing but use very different wordings. When I started taking DAT practice exams I couldn't figure out what certain questions were asking and once I looked it up I realized there were just asking for simple solubility. Getting comfortable with the way questions are asked is pretty important since it helps you to not waste time. Time is extremely important.

The materials I used:
- Examcrackers MCAT Audio Osmosis with Jordan and Jon ($150?)
I really liked this one, I would listen to these lectures when I was in the car or running with my dog. This came out a long time ago so I am not sure if any of the information is dated. The DAT is pretty basic but covers a wide gamut so I think it is still fine.
http://www.amazon.com/Examkrackers-MCAT-Audio-Osmosis-Jordan/dp/1893858235 
- Textbooks (you can usually check these out at your college/university)
my college bio, org chem and chem books for reference
Organic Chemistry - Janice Smith
http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Chemistry-Janice-Gorzynski-Smith/dp/0077354729/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1434407342&sr=8-13&keywords=organic+chemistry
Chemistry - Brown
http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Central-Theodore-E-Brown/dp/0321696727/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1434407385&sr=8-10&keywords=chemistry
Campbell's Biology
http://www.amazon.com/Campbell-Biology-9th-Jane-Reece/dp/0321558235/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1434407411&sr=8-3&keywords=biology

- Kaplan ($50)
http://www.amazon.com/Kaplan-Strategies-Practice-Review-Tests/dp/1609780884/ref=dp_ob_title_bk
- Chad's Videos ($50 or $38 if you can find the coupon)
This one is pretty great for organic chemistry and chemistry
There is usually a 25% off coupon floating around somewhere on their site or facebook page
http://www.coursesaver.com/
- Tutoring Center

I got a job at my college's tutoring center, forcing me to face chemistry, biology and organic chemistry questions ten+ hours a week
- DAT Acheiver ($140)
I used the seven test version
http://www.3tquest.com
- Baron's DAT Exam Questions
I received a very old version of this for free which is why I used it. Not bad but not amazing. The link is for the new since I can no longer find the version I used. It asked some really random questions, one of which was very similar to a question I saw on the DAT.
http://www.amazon.com/Barrons-DAT-Dental-Admissions-Test/dp/0764193848
- Topscore ($60)
Three practice exams
I thought the difficulty of these exams were the closest to the actual DAT
http://www.scholarware.com

I've also heard good things about the following but did not use it myself:

-Cliffs for biology, chem etc...
-DAT Destroyer - a lot of people mentioned this one
http://www.orgoman.com/datdestroyer.html
-CrackPAT
https://crackdat.com/
-Feralis
http://datbootcamp.com/feralis-biology-notes/

ALSO: prometric, the company that gives the DAT, offers a $37 web based practice exam. If I knew about it, I would taken that too.

https://www.prometric.com/en-us/clients/ADA/Pages/landing.aspx

DAT Courses

There are $1,500+ classes available depending on where you are. I didn't take any of these. From some of the people I knew who took these, the instructor generally just ran them through the book the company provides. I guess if it's difficult for someone to get motivated, this might be a good thing? I thought the price was a little steep and that I was more than able to run through the books myself. Maybe some people received amazing help from one of these courses but I don't really know.

Cost

I've heard a lot of people say these materials are too expensive but considering the exam costs over $300, it would cost more to have to take it two or three times. You really want to get a good score the first time around and spending on prep materials is a REALLY good idea. A lot of the exams listed above are digital downloads that can only be installed ONCE, so if you were planning on sharing the cost with a friend I guess you would have to share the same computer.

College Courses

I would also suggest taking the related college courses before taking the DAT. The ones that helped me were bio, ochem, chem (of course) as well as animal physiology or any kind of physiology. Reviewing is a lot easier than learning for the first time. You will need these prereqs to apply for most of the schools anyway.

My Method

The forty days leading up to my DAT test date were the most intensive since I really started feeling the pressure. I made sure that I was doing nothing else: I left my job, moved back in with my parents and hardly talked to my girlfriend (she is very understanding). All I did from morning to night was study. I was completely unable to study at home so I found a coffee shop that opened early, closed late and was big enough so I could find a very isolated spot. Coffee shops can be really noisy so I always carried earbuds and played white noise on a loop to drown out any background noise. It payed off.

Unexpected Consequence
I realized that, in studying for the DAT, I had been isolated for so long I had a hard time interacting with people. My social skills were rusty and I had a sort of stutter for the first time in my life going out after finishing the DAT. Of course, seeing sunlight again and finally hanging out with friends and family fixed that in a week or so but it was still something I didn't expect: this might be specific to me. Either way, it was worth it.

A Few Pieces of Advice Based on my Experiences: 

If you finish a section early do not just move on to the next section. Sit there with eyes closed (make sure you don't miss the start of the next section though) and just relax.

Take as many of the practice exams as you can as if it were the actual DAT. This got me used to how grueling the process is.

The practice exams are generally more difficult than the actual exam, don't get too hung up on getting scores lower than what you are wanting. I thought topscore was pretty similar to the actual DAT in difficulty.
If you have group that you study with that is constantly keeping you from focusing, ditch the group.
If you need help, find a tutoring center at your local school.
The MCAT audio osmosis advice for the reading section really helped me. Received a 25 in that section.
My math section had a ton of trig functions (i.e. cos/sin equals ____ kind of stuff) which really made me wish I had glanced at that prior to the test.

My Score (taken in 2013)

Academic Average: 22

Perceptual Ability: 23

Science: 21
Reading: 25

A Question I've Been Asked: How to Study

I have been asked this question a few times so I'll try and answer as best I can.

General Advice
One of the best things is probably something you have heard very often: read ahead to be familiar with the material, this allowed me to get an idea of what the professor focused on during class (indicator of what is going to be on the test) instead of trying to keep up. It is easy to slip on this one, I know I did.
If the professor puts up old tests that is a great resource. The tutoring center for my school had practice problems, that helped as well. I think everyone said for every hour you are in class, spend three hours studying on your own, that was accurate I think.

There is NO Study Method that Works for Every Class
Some classes are math driven so practice and repetition is important, others are more concept/reading driven and some are just straight memorization so each type of class requires its own strategy.

Later on, I realized I was wasting time in some courses reading the textbook as much as I did and I should I started with the outline and went back to the text if it was confusing. There is so much that is different for each type of class that all I can say is try as much as you can, do everything and weed out what really isn't helping.

Studying in groups never really worked for me except with this ONE person. I tried studying with over fifty? people in the past couple years and only one worked out for me. Normally it ends up just being a social thing and this one awkward time I spent ten minutes trying to study while the other people just flexed and looked at their biceps and the other group members' biceps; I got weirded out and left quickly.

PPAC: Zero Interviews to Six

This is the community packet. This is where you interview with a few professors from your college and they write a packet letter for your application. It also allows allows you to ask your references to send their letter to be filed in with community packet coordinator months in advance. This sounds like a minor deal but the number one reason I recommend this is that it enables you to submit everything on the very first day the application is available. YOU WANT TO SUBMIT ASAP. Finishing your application a month after the application opens up means that hundreds of interview spots from your school of choice have already been sent out. It was called a PPAC at my school and my PPAC advisor collected my letters of reference and packet letters months before I needed them. The letter of reference can set you back a month or so if your professor is busy. You would be surprised how many LOR requests a professor gets and how much you need to hassle them. The first time I submitted my application it was over two months late since I was waiting on ONE LETTER. Needless to say, I did not get a single interview. The following year, with a PPAC, submitting on day one, I received six interviews out of the nine I applied to.

This is seriously a big deal. The PPAC coordinator collects all of you reference letters, community letters and evaluations and compiles it into one PDF and allows you to submit your application on day one.

GPA

I am going to start this with my science gpa: 2.9. I messed up a while ago and failed a few science courses. Quite a few people told me that my chances of even getting an interview were extremely low. Six out of the nine schools I applied interviewed me. As long as the weak part of the application can be offset by another portion, getting interviews is absolutely possible. My DAT and personal story, I think, were interesting enough to get me in the door: more on that in a later post.