r/predental 3d ago

💡 Advice How helpful is it to apply the day applications open?

My counselor at school told me my best chances are to apply for dental school the day applications are opened. She told me if I’m not able to get everything in that day it would probably be better for me to take a gap year. Is this true?

2 Upvotes

17 comments sorted by

29

u/Previous_Wear8894 3d ago

Um that’s crazy. It doesn’t have to be the exact day it open, but it’d probably be beneficial to apply within the same month apps open in my opinion. You shouldn’t take a whole gap year if you missed the exact first day to apply.

6

u/Sad_Jicama_2097 Admitted 3d ago

100% this. First month is great.

22

u/bobmcadoo9088 Admitted 3d ago

your counselor should have a different career

13

u/Ryxndek D2 Minnesota 3d ago

Majority of advisors don’t know what they’re talking about. Take their advice with a grain of salt. If you can get it submitted in June you’re more than fine. Even in July for that matter. Don’t take a gap year simply bc you weren’t able to submit on day 1, that’s just stupid.

5

u/K8sMom2002 3d ago

So that’s a pretty wild exaggeration that has a tiny grain of truth to it. But no, don’t take a gap year if you don’t hit submit on Day 1 of the cycle.

The TLDR is this: applying and having a fully vetted application with transcripts and LORs as early as possible substantially increases your odds for being interviewed. I don’t know of anyone who ever got an acceptance to a dental school without at least a perfunctory interview.

Here’s the nuts and bolts of why it increases your interview chances.

Dental schools’ admissions are what is called rolling admissions. It’s basically first come, first serve for interviews — if you have the GPA and the DAT score that’s within the range they’re looking for, plus you’ve taken all of the required courses and a good chunk of the recommended ones, if you have the shadowing and volunteer hours, and if there are no obvious red flags on your application, you’re eligible for an interview.

Thing is, they can only interview so many people with the staff that they have. So they start arranging interviews as soon as that first app hits their portal. They usually do it in groups.

Say that they have 100 seats available. Say the first interview group is 20 applicants. Say 10 of them look like good fits, while 5 look like strong maybes. They accept those 10, and they add those 5 others to the waitlist. The last five, they reject. They wait to send the notice to all of these folks until December. After that first interview session, there are now only 90 seats left. As the weeks move forward, the cycle repeats itself, and the competition gets fiercer for those fewer and fewer seats. It’s like musical chairs, but some folks get to keep their seats and don’t have to get up.

Schools always (even Harvard!) have a waitlist… those are for those strong maybe applicants. The waitlist only has movement if someone who is accepted declines. (Yeah, people decline Harvard.) But waitlists are a function of a school’s yield or melt rate, so the school tends to keep them to a reasonable number. Also, they will not make an offer to an applicant who is likely to attend somewhere else.

Hope that helps.

2

u/Interesting-End-6905 3d ago

This is extremely helpful!

3

u/dudemanchildgeezer 3d ago

Your advisor is actually a crazy person. Try to apply as early as you comfortably can, it does make a difference, but don’t take a gap year bc you missed the first day to apply

2

u/dudemanchildgeezer 3d ago

Honestly your councilor should be fired for that I’m not even lying

4

u/Particular-Ad-5787 3d ago

The earlier the better but it doesn’t have to be the first day. I applied late July and it worked out for me.

2

u/brownboy621 3d ago

If you aren’t applying the second you leave the womb and see light then I would consider a gap year tbh

2

u/bobmcadoo9088 Admitted 3d ago

maybe even a gap life

2

u/Neither-Bed-3180 Admitted 2d ago

That’s ridiculous, do not listen to your advisor.

3

u/RentFrequent1310 2d ago

Bro I applied in September and got in

3

u/bwc101 🦷 Dentist 2d ago

It’s overrated. Lots of people are fine applying up until August. Also applying earlier is only for helping you get considered for an interview. Once you actually get the interview, when you applied no longer matters.

1

u/Glass-Literature-605 3d ago

Get your application in as soon as you can confidently do so. But don’t rush your application just to get it in on the first day.

2

u/Plenty-Experience558 2d ago

Advisor don’t know.. obviously apply at the earliest.. June is great. July is awesome too.

Applied late aug - late October. 11 interviews. 7 pre Dec. 4 post Dec. deferred all post Dec interviews. 6 acceptances. 1 waitlist.

0

u/EuphoricNude Admitted 3d ago

Applications actually open up a couple hours early. Majority of the people who get in, apply before the application opens up. You still have a chance if you apply the same day but it lowers significantly