adgp2390 Posted February 18, 2019 Report Share Posted February 18, 2019 Hey everyone! I wrote the Canadian DAT in Nov 2018 and was wondering if I could get any feedback from you all on my scores! I'm looking to apply in 2019 for both Canadian AND U.S schools and am currently debating whether I should try attempting the American DAT this summer, or even do the Canadian DAT once again in November... My scores were: 21AA 23 GC 18 BIO 21 RC18 PAT My cumulative undergrad GPA (including summer school, but not this semester) is approximately a 3.79. If anyone had any advice or opinions regarding my DAT scores and whether they think these are fine or not, it would be much appreciated! Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toothurty Posted February 18, 2019 Report Share Posted February 18, 2019 Your GPA is a lot more concerning to be completely honest. Your DAT scores are fine, in fact I had similar scores. With your GPA however, your best shot at interviews this year will most likely be at a US or Australian school. Depending on your best 2 year GPA (not counting summers) you may also have a shot at Western but you would also need some really good ECs to boot. If you're serious about staying in Canada I would suggest taking a 5th year to boost your GPA or doing a masters degree. Best of luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saskdent009 Posted February 20, 2019 Report Share Posted February 20, 2019 On 2/18/2019 at 4:16 PM, toothurty said: Your GPA is a lot more concerning to be completely honest. Your DAT scores are fine, in fact I had similar scores. With your GPA however, your best shot at interviews this year will most likely be at a US or Australian school. Depending on your best 2 year GPA (not counting summers) you may also have a shot at Western but you would also need some really good ECs to boot. If you're serious about staying in Canada I would suggest taking a 5th year to boost your GPA or doing a masters degree. Best of luck. I would disagree with you, depending on the province, your scores are great and your GPA is competitive, depending on the school of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starburst Posted February 20, 2019 Report Share Posted February 20, 2019 On 2/18/2019 at 6:16 PM, toothurty said: Your GPA is a lot more concerning to be completely honest. Your DAT scores are fine, in fact I had similar scores. With your GPA however, your best shot at interviews this year will most likely be at a US or Australian school. Depending on your best 2 year GPA (not counting summers) you may also have a shot at Western but you would also need some really good ECs to boot. If you're serious about staying in Canada I would suggest taking a 5th year to boost your GPA or doing a masters degree. Best of luck. I don't think that's true. OP still has a chance of getting into UWO and other provinces. We also don't know his GPA with his worst year dropped. The only school he might not have a chance of getting into is UofT. @adgp2390 I would apply and see how it goes. Also what's your GPA with the worst year dropped? And what's your GPA without the summer classes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adgp2390 Posted February 20, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2019 Thanks everyone for the responses! I definitely know that U of T is one of the harder ones to get into due to my GPA. The thing is, the GPA that dental schools will see still includes the current semester I'm in! So excluding this current semester which I don't have marks for yet and dropping my worst year and summer courses, my GPA is around 3.87. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manolo59 Posted February 20, 2019 Report Share Posted February 20, 2019 Hi adgp2390, I think your GPA and DAT scores are on the lower spectrum, but not disqualifying for Canadian schools. For UofT specifically, its only your AA and PAT which are looked at. Your AA is fine, but I'd say your PAT is more borderline low in terms of the interviewed pool of candidates. I'd say your GPA would be on the lower end of the spectrum for interviewed candidates as well. This is because the minimum interviewed GPA as published on their website is 3.85 - unsure if this accounts for before/after Master's degree boost. Since the interviewed GPA seems to be rising a little every year, I think U of T would be hit or miss, depending on the candidacy pool next year. I do think that you'd have a very good shot at American schools though! When I was interviewing in the states earlier this year, I met a lot of Canadian candidates with similar stats as yours who were invited to interview and subsequently accepted. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adgp2390 Posted February 20, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2019 1 hour ago, manolo59 said: Hi adgp2390, I think your GPA and DAT scores are on the lower spectrum, but not disqualifying for Canadian schools. For UofT specifically, its only your AA and PAT which are looked at. Your AA is fine, but I'd say your PAT is more borderline low in terms of the interviewed pool of candidates. I'd say your GPA would be on the lower end of the spectrum for interviewed candidates as well. This is because the minimum interviewed GPA as published on their website is 3.85 - unsure if this accounts for before/after Master's degree boost. Since the interviewed GPA seems to be rising a little every year, I think U of T would be hit or miss, depending on the candidacy pool next year. I do think that you'd have a very good shot at American schools though! When I was interviewing in the states earlier this year, I met a lot of Canadian candidates with similar stats as yours who were invited to interview and subsequently accepted. Good luck! Thank you! I definitely do understand the GPA issue Good to hear about the possibilities of US! Would you suggest against rewriting the DAT then? American and Canadian? I would like to improve my PAT score for schools like U of T, but I don't want to risk having my AA go down as it seems like it's at a good position in US and Canada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manolo59 Posted February 20, 2019 Report Share Posted February 20, 2019 1 hour ago, adgp2390 said: Thank you! I definitely do understand the GPA issue Good to hear about the possibilities of US! Would you suggest against rewriting the DAT then? American and Canadian? I would like to improve my PAT score for schools like U of T, but I don't want to risk having my AA go down as it seems like it's at a good position in US and Canada. That's a tough question to answer, because there is a always risk that your DAT scores can drop if you rewrite it, depending on the sample of the questions chosen for that writing, the candidate pool, (and your corresponding knowledge). I think I heard someone say that the highest cDAT bio score in one of the more recent sittings was a 20? (not 100% sure about this though!) Ultimately, I think it really comes down to whether you have a strong preference over schools in the US or Canada. Personally, the financial cost of tuition in the States was a very significant drawback for me. My consensus from speaking with practicing dentists/specialists are that current choices for dental school will significantly restrict the financial viability of specialization in the future. Particularly if you want to do specialty training in Canada, majority of the programs will require you to pay tuition (apart from OMFS I believe). Even though the cost of specialization training may not seem insignificant, the net delta of what you're paying vs what you can be making as a GP to pay off student loans during the same time period is actually significant - especially when coupled with interest rates. Of course, if you're quite sure that you are able to take on the financial aspect of pursuing dental school in the states (and that doing so wouldn't restrict your choice whether to specialize or not), then NOT re-taking the DAT and applying with your current stats is the safer option. Even though its on the lower end, the candidacy pool for Canadian schools does fluctuate every cycle and you never know! On the other hand, if you're heavily favouring Canadian schools over American ones, then the risk of re-taking the DAT may be worthwhile. That is, studying extremely hard and going for a higher DAT score - or pursuing more coursework/Masters to boost your GPA in order to increase your chances at a Canadian school. In the end, it really comes down to knowing yourself, your own financial situation, and being wise about financial choices associated with each option. After all, dental (or any professional education) is like an investment (of time, money, and more). The investor can get input from other people, but ultimately they're the only ones who can decide whether or not the investment is worthwhile pursuing! I interviewed at dental schools in both the US and Canada & I know the process can be really daunting. This is my take on your situation, but feel free to PM me if you have additional questions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saskdent009 Posted February 20, 2019 Report Share Posted February 20, 2019 On 2/18/2019 at 9:17 AM, adgp2390 said: Hey everyone! I wrote the Canadian DAT in Nov 2018 and was wondering if I could get any feedback from you all on my scores! I'm looking to apply in 2019 for both Canadian AND U.S schools and am currently debating whether I should try attempting the American DAT this summer, or even do the Canadian DAT once again in November... My scores were: 21AA 23 GC 18 BIO 21 RC18 PAT My cumulative undergrad GPA (including summer school, but not this semester) is approximately a 3.79. If anyone had any advice or opinions regarding my DAT scores and whether they think these are fine or not, it would be much appreciated! Thanks I would highly recommend you research admissions statistics for any province you are interested in applying to. Also, each province weighs DAT, GPA and Interview differently. For some provinces the DAT only constitutes 10-20% of your score, whereas GPA can be much higher (60%+). Several universities I've considered have minimum scores around 18 to be considered, and averages around 20 for each section. Last Averages of those accepted: 2018: UofA 21/21/25 (RC/PAT/MDT) GPA 3.85 2017: UofS 20/19/22 (AA/PAT/RC) GPA: 83% 2018: UBC 22 (ALL) GPA 86% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms. Chip Skylark Posted February 25, 2019 Report Share Posted February 25, 2019 On 2/20/2019 at 4:40 PM, saskdent009 said: I would highly recommend you research admissions statistics for any province you are interested in applying to. Also, each province weighs DAT, GPA and Interview differently. For some provinces the DAT only constitutes 10-20% of your score, whereas GPA can be much higher (60%+). Several universities I've considered have minimum scores around 18 to be considered, and averages around 20 for each section. Last Averages of those accepted: 2018: UofA 21/21/25 (RC/PAT/MDT) GPA 3.85 2017: UofS 20/19/22 (AA/PAT/RC) GPA: 83% 2018: UBC 22 (ALL) GPA 86% note that out of province applicants usually need higher marks than in-province applicants so depending on where you live the scores you need to meet to be competitive are different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saskdent009 Posted February 25, 2019 Report Share Posted February 25, 2019 On 2/25/2019 at 11:34 AM, Ms. Chip Skylark said: note that out of province applicants usually need higher marks than in-province applicants so depending on where you live the scores you need to meet to be competitive are different. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adgp2390 Posted March 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 Hello again everybody! I think after looking at the stats for U of T and Western interviews for this cycle, I've decided to give the November 2019 Canadian DAT a go! What everyone's been saying about the US tuition for Canadian applicants is true, and it makes me want to try even harder to get into a Canadian school. Does anyone have any advice about whether they might think there's a chance that my scores could go even lower and that they really don't recommend I try it again? The November 2018 curve has scarred me haha! I'm thinking to just apply this summer with my Nov 2018 DAT scores to US schools, but also quite hesitant about this. Just really wary about the US aplpication process and don't know whether my stats are good enough... I appreciate everyone's responses to this thread, thank you! Any last-minute thoughts before I decide would be GREAT :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricktheshambler Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 34 minutes ago, adgp2390 said: Hello again everybody! I think after looking at the stats for U of T and Western interviews for this cycle, I've decided to give the November 2019 Canadian DAT a go! What everyone's been saying about the US tuition for Canadian applicants is true, and it makes me want to try even harder to get into a Canadian school. Does anyone have any advice about whether they might think there's a chance that my scores could go even lower and that they really don't recommend I try it again? The November 2018 curve has scarred me haha! I'm thinking to just apply this summer with my Nov 2018 DAT scores to US schools, but also quite hesitant about this. Just really wary about the US aplpication process and don't know whether my stats are good enough... I appreciate everyone's responses to this thread, thank you! Any last-minute thoughts before I decide would be GREAT just take the american DAT. You can do it before November and it will allow you to apply to some American schools this upcoming summer if you want to, and you can even use it to apply to Canadian schools other than Alberta that requires the Manual Dexterity section...only downside is that you need to be decent at math for it, and you need to know some Orgo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adgp2390 Posted March 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 23 minutes ago, ricktheshambler said: just take the american DAT. You can do it before November and it will allow you to apply to some American schools this upcoming summer if you want to, and you can even use it to apply to Canadian schools other than Alberta that requires the Manual Dexterity section...only downside is that you need to be decent at math for it, and you need to know some Orgo Canadian schools won't accept the American DAT! If I write the American test, it would only be for US Schools, which is why I've been asking people for advice regarding my scores to see whether it's truly worth it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmd1995 Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 3 hours ago, adgp2390 said: Canadian schools won't accept the American DAT! If I write the American test, it would only be for US Schools, which is why I've been asking people for advice regarding my scores to see whether it's truly worth it Nah some Canadian schools accept the American DAT. Off the top I know that UBC and UofT accept it. Need to do some research to get the complete list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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