I Hate Doing a Post Like This, But...

The fact is that I sent my application June 14th, which is considered early by most standards, and have only received one interview request. I do not expect every school to request an interview, but one out of nine is an abysmally low percentage. It is October 3rd for chrissake!

I have no idea what goes on behind the hallowed wall of dental school admissions, so I should not judge, but my frustration is growing by the day. In all honesty, I do expect to get interviews at half the schools I applied to because of my state residency. I know that my scores and grades are definitely worthy for interviews at those schools, too.

As for the others, I knew applying there would be a crapshoot. There is really know way of knowing what the admissions counselor is looking for. Even worse, there is no way to know who is getting interviews. The Student Doctor Network, SDN, is the closest thing dental shool applicants have to show which schools they applied to and what stage, such waitlisted and accepted, they are in a particular school's application process. The problem with SDN is that it has a heavy selection bias of great applicants. For example, the average DAT score of interviewers at Temple University is a 21, which is way higher than their dental school's average over the past few years. Even though I am aware of this bias, it still affects me.

Ok, now that I have that off my chest, I feel a little better. I still have one interview and, until I get others, that should be my principal focus over the next few weeks along with my biochemistry class, volunteering, and weekend exploits. Who knows, maybe the next time I write I will have many more interviews. Let us hope...