I don't know which ADEA board member motioned to prevent dental schools from admitting applicants until DECEMBER each year, but that person is probably a sadist (jk, sorta). Of course, we lucky students applying for the class of 2023 had the pleasure of waiting until December 3rd, since the 1st landed on a Saturday. What doesn't kill us makes us more neurotic, or something like that.
Pretty much since the day I submitted my application, I had a countdown in my phone ticking toward Monday, December 3rd. The night before felt like Christmas Eve, I was so excited. Of course, my head was full of "what if's" too, but my anticipation shoved my doubts to the side.
At the end of the day on the 3rd, I told my mom that I won't have a better day in my life than that day for like, ten more years. Here's how the day went down:
Acceptance #1
During the interview at one of the schools, the Director of Admissions told us that he planned on staying up the night of the 2nd to send out acceptance emails exactly at midnight on the 3rd. I didn't take into consideration that I live in a timezone one hour behind the timezone where the school is, so I was drooling on my pillow all night with an acceptance email tucked in my inbox, just two feet away from me. I had been talking a big game to my boyfriend for the past few days, saying I felt like I would get a midnight acceptance from this school, but he kept telling me not to have any expectations so I don't get my hopes up. He knew I'd be disappointed if I didn't get that acceptance, so that's why I woke up around 6:00 on the 3rd to him reaching over me, peeking in my inbox to see if I had gotten the email. There was that beautiful subject line: "Congratulations Class of 2023!" I read every word of the email to him and we squealed with joy because, "I'm gonna be a dentist!!!"
Acceptance #2
After I read the first acceptance email, I returned to my inbox and THERE WAS ANOTHER ACCEPTANCE EMAIL! After I read that one out loud too, I called my mom to share the news, and then hopped out of bed because no way was I going to go back to sleep.
Acceptance #3
At this point, I was refreshing my email like never before. You know how you pass the time in a lecture by constantly hoping an interview invite would grace your screen? Well, I was refreshing at ten times this rate. I took the fastest shower of my life and when I got out, I had another acceptance! This one was from a school that I seriously felt like I bombed the interview. I couldn't believe they had actually accepted me after hearing me fail to coherently speak English. I was so happy for yet another option to choose from.
Acceptance #4
By now, it was 8:00, and since I didn't have work until noon, I was reading about everyone's good news on SDN. That's when I saw a post that someone had received an acceptance call from the school that completely stole my heart during their interview day. Thirty minutes later, a number popped up on my phone with an area code that matched the city of this school and I seriously thought I was going to have a heart attack. Though I tried to gain my composure, I'm sure I didn't sound casual at all when I answered. Honest to god, I cried after she hung up--I loved the school so, so much. It was the best day of my life.
Waitlist #1
Twenty minutes later, I received an email from a school placing me on their waitlist. Even though I loved this school, I didn't feel upset since (1) I was still coming down from the acceptance call I just got and (2) a waitlist is not a rejection! I was happy to have heard back from them at least.
Waitlist #2
Browsing SDN, I saw multiple users mention that their AADSAS status changed for some schools before hearing from them directly. So, I logged into my portal and saw that another school had waitlisted me. I later ended up getting an email from them at 4:30 while I was at work. I felt fine about this waitlist too, since it's not a rejection!
Waitlist #3
By noon, I still heard only crickets from the last school that interviewed me. My expectations for an acceptance from them were low; I felt iffy about them after the interview day and it seemed like the feelings were mutual. At 1:00, though, they surprised me with a waitlist email! Yesss, not a rejection!
What a day!
Between the realization that I am going to be a dentist one day and the flattery of getting so many opportunities, December 3rd was honestly one of the best days of my life. I now have the (amazing) problem of making a decision on which school to attend. I am so excited that I reached my goal of earning an acceptance and now I can't wait to tackle dental school!