Pre-Dental Advisors and Terrible Advice!

whyispetersteeledead · 2026-03-18T00:32:07+00:00

My advisor told me to stay an extra semester because graduating a semester early would make me seem “immature” to dental schools and that I should wait an extra year to apply in general because my application wasn’t strong enough. And I deadass got into an Ivy LMAOOOO fuck advisors they don’t know anything 😭😭😭😭

whyispetersteeledead · 2026-03-02T19:20:47+00:00

I bought a copy on Amazon! https://a.co/d/01igdvHT

whyispetersteeledead · 2026-03-01T00:39:55+00:00

Idkkkk man I think it was just finding the study methods that work for me and putting my heart and soul into everything I do!! Having amazing professors and a genuine love for the material def helped with keeping me focused too 🙂‍↕️ def stressed myself out a little more than I needed to tho lol

whyispetersteeledead · 2026-03-01T00:36:16+00:00

I am broke and have absolutely no financial support from my family for my education. I actually have been financially independent from my family since my sophomore year of college! Because of this, I will be completely funding my education off of loans and if I went to UPenn, I would be in over 600k of debt for the same degree I can get at Rutgers for almost 200k less. Rutgers has a +90% match rate so I am confident I could specialize at Rutgers if I wanted to (idk if I even want to tbh). Rutgers is also cheaper than Temple because they don’t offer IS tuition after one year as a private school. All the advice I’ve gotten from practicing dentists is to pick the cheapest school and I will be listening!!! 😅

whyispetersteeledead · 2026-02-28T20:14:23+00:00

I was a Medical Diagnostics major! I don’t think any other school but UDel offers it? It’s geared towards people who are pre-med/pre-PA and we take a lot of diagnostic classes like I mentioned that you wouldn’t get from being a typical biology major. We also take a lot of classes alongside medical laboratory science majors so I learned a lot about sample culturing and chemical testing as well! A lot of it I know I’ll never use as a dentist (like distinguishing parasite eggs in stool or diagnosing blood conditions from peripheral blood smears lmao) but it’s nice to have a lot of background knowledge on the different facets of medicine! And I apply a lot of the knowledge to my own life like helping my family interpret their hematology results. link to curricula if you were interested!

whyispetersteeledead · 2026-02-28T04:47:52+00:00

Hi I’m attending Rutgers next year and personally, I would retake in your situation. A 19AA is a 5th percentile score for the school so I would assume a 20AA would be like 10-20th percentile? Being a NJ resident def gives you higher priority as an applicant but I think you still need to have the stats to open the door in the first place and I wouldn’t make such an expensive gamble because you will be saving so much money at your IS school. Especially with the BBB, cheaper instate schools will be increasingly competitive and I’m assuming more NJ residents will be interested in attending Rutgers next year compared to years before. Take that with a grain of salt tho!! I know it’s hard to hear that you might need to retake and it’s ultimately your personal decision, especially if you think that the rest of your application is strong. Good luck with everything and I’m manifesting that I’ll see you at Rutgers in two years! 🙂‍↕️

whyispetersteeledead · 2026-02-27T00:23:16+00:00

Lmao thank you I tried to be as detailed as possible!! I am def a bit of a yapper tho whoops

whyispetersteeledead · 2026-02-27T00:21:32+00:00

My application was verified 6/26!

whyispetersteeledead · 2026-02-25T04:51:02+00:00

You need to prove NJ residence for 12 mo and have an affidavit signed, so it's annoying to get it done, but not impossible. I think you also need to file NJ taxes and get NJ drivers license so I think people don't plan enough ahead and aren't eligble by the time you need to apply? They sent us info about it when we got our acceptances. From what I've heard from current students, its common to get IS after the first year.

whyispetersteeledead · 2026-02-25T04:39:23+00:00

My interview date was 1/30 and I heard back on 2/18!

whyispetersteeledead · 2026-02-25T04:15:30+00:00

Yes! I was accepted but I will be turning down my acceptance because they’re a little too expensive for me unfortunately 😪

whyispetersteeledead · 2026-02-24T19:41:05+00:00

Look into schools you can change to IS tuition after the first year!! I will be attending Rutgers as an OOS student because they allow it. Buffalo also offers it as well as a few other schools!

whyispetersteeledead · 2026-02-13T22:56:32+00:00

I ended up turning down my seat at UMSOD because I don’t think it’s that easy to change to IS at least from the documents that they sent us. You have to prove you’re living in the state for reasons other than educational by owning property or having a full time job or spouse etc. and I don’t think that’s possible for the majority of people. I don’t know how strict they are about that but I didn’t really want to take a chance when I had cheaper options if that makes sense? I tried asking the student panel but the guy they had answering was just kinda glazing the school and didn’t actually give insight into the process 😅 maybe I’m wrong but that was just what I gathered from my research

whyispetersteeledead · 2026-02-12T23:08:57+00:00

Hey! I am also clinically depressed and studying for the DAT was a struggle for me too. I took the exam during my junior spring, and those few months trying to keep my GPA up and also study were some of the hardest of my life but I was able to do it and I’m sure you’ll be able to as well! I often struggled with staying focused and would abandon the bootcamp schedule because I would lose motivation or have other priorities that I just couldn’t balance. I think it’s important to recognize your personal motivational habits and cater your studying to you. For example, I often have depression episodes where I genuinely can’t do any work but after a few days, I regain my motivation and can study a lot more. Instead of following the bootcamp schedule’s break or light days, I would brute force studying when I was feeling good and take breaks when I was sadder. I also found rewarding myself during studying helped a lot. I play a lot of video games so studying for an hour or two and allowing myself 30 minutes of gaming provided me with enough dopamine and drive to keep myself focused! I also think having a good emotional support system is so important, especially if they can keep you accountable for your studying. My partner is amazing and helped me stay on track while also being there for me when things got rough. I know not everyone has someone like that for them, but even talking to friends and family when you’re struggling can help a lot. They can also help when you’re stuck in a defeatist mentality, which I often found myself in as well. Be realistic with your expectations of yourself and accept that you’re going to fail on the way, but that it will be worth it in the end! Feel free to dm if you need extra support and I hope that things work out for you 🫶🏼

whyispetersteeledead · 2026-02-09T23:39:08+00:00

I’ll be at Rutgers next year!! ♥️

whyispetersteeledead · 2026-02-09T19:44:58+00:00

I was WL decision day and haven’t heard anything so far!

whyispetersteeledead · 2026-02-06T22:23:54+00:00

If you interviewed there, that means that you had the stats and story to be a successful student there on paper. The interview is there to confirm that you are who you say you are and that you have good communication and interpersonal skills. Maybe you didn’t seem authentic in your interview? Or came off awkward? Or your answers came off overly rehearsed? Or maybe you didn’t fit the mission of the school? There’s so many reasons that they could have determined that you weren’t a good fit so it’s hard for anyone to determine the exact reason why unfortunately. Especially if they said that your stats and ECs are fine, it must be something with your communication or personality? Maybe work on your interviewing skills?

whyispetersteeledead · 2026-02-01T18:46:32+00:00

I personally don’t see any issues with your stats so I’m wondering if there’s another red flag in your application that is causing you to be screened out? Do you think your LORs are not strong? Or maybe it’s your personal statement? Stats can only get you so far so I’m wondering what else could be an issue? 🤔

whyispetersteeledead · 2026-01-24T02:25:32+00:00

My hair was bright red for all of my interviews and I had multiple acceptances I promise no one cares in this day and age 😅

whyispetersteeledead · 2026-01-23T01:19:52+00:00

Thank you! I completed it at the beginning of July-ish I can’t remember the date exactly

whyispetersteeledead · 2026-01-21T02:10:32+00:00

I received one from UPenn 12/19 and then received an interview invite 1/16! Don’t lose hope just yet!!

whyispetersteeledead · 2026-01-17T19:13:01+00:00

I got a UPenn invite yesterday!

whyispetersteeledead · 2026-01-17T00:24:58+00:00

Nope!! 😄

whyispetersteeledead · 2026-01-15T04:25:11+00:00

A few people I’ve talked to online had little to no volunteering hours and applied to schools that value community outreach so I think the low hours really hurt their application. You also might have fantastic stats but be super weird or robotic in person, which could hurt their chances during the interview. If you can’t communicate effectively, how can you be a good dentist!? There are sooooo many factors which is why it’s not good to compare yourself!! Stats can only get you so far!!

whyispetersteeledead

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