Fakedoctor

do you know how long you have to serve if you join in your first year?

dentkid gave some solid advice, look at the schools your applying to and focus your studying to maximize your chances, for instance UWO doesn't even look at your PAT score and they put more emphasis on RC. in terms of studying I read a chapter of cliffs bio everyday as well as a chapter of ferallis notes (which I highly recommend since its a condensed version of cliffs), I memorized the hell out those notes and got a 26 on bio the first time I took the dat and a 23 the second time. For Chem their really isn't that many great resources most people like Chads videos but I found them to be

its the same for dentistry, I did a 5th year at western and it didn't count because it didn't meet the 3/5 rule

TBH I'm not really sure if its even be worth the time, especially if your employer is going to pay you min wage or something similar. The reason I say that is because even if you work near full time you're only going to be able to make a few extra grand for your entire summers worth of work, which in a few years time will be a week or two salary... it just doesn't seem worth it to me to spend your whole summer slaving away in a lab for not all that much money given your future earning potential, you already put in the leg work, enjoy your summer!

there's really no "one" reason, its a multitude of factors that are making it more competitive; increased access to information (internet etc), better high schooling and a weaker job market for new graduates in other fields and increased demand for HCP have all caused people to want to go into something thats stable and secured. @PhD2MD is also totally right people are playing the GPA game way more/better then before, not that there's anything wrong with striving to be more competitive but it has consequences when it comes to entrance averages. To add another example, I know that the av

I honestly don't think that a fifth year will help you all that much since your grades are pretty good, even if you took a fifth year and got a 4.0 at most it will only boost you by +0.02. I think it would be way more beneficial to try and do better in the dat, if you can get a 22AA and 21Pat I can't imagine that you wont at least get an interview. The only reason I'm so certain is because thats exactly what I got on the dat and I had a lower gpa then you.

exactly, I wouldn't be to worried I'm sure a some people paid the deposit just to not lose their seat in case they don't get accepted any where else. I'm almost certain that the waitlist will move just as much as previous years, because the fact is most of the movement happens after med school acceptances come out and nothing is changing that lol.

I really didn't have the option to graduate because in addition to doing a 5th year I wanted switched specialization within HS, however I don't think there is any significant difference between either choice really. I would just pick the option that you think will end up getting you the highest possible grades, if there is any difference.

I'm currently finishing a 5th year at western in HS too, what a coincidence lol. Doing a fifth year is relatively common I think for students who just didn't get accepted and want to take the time to boost your grades, get experience etc. If you decide to do a 5th year, western has a 3/5 rule meaning basically 3.0 of your credits have to be 3000+ for it to count towards your 2 best years. I took a full course load but did not know about that rule when I signed up four courses so I have a couple of extra credits that weren't 3000+ I wish I could help you out more but I really only applied

yes, I think @Steins;Gate posted about it somewhere. Edit: its the 4th post on this thread

Use the OMSAS scale to calculate your GPA, its the scale uoft uses to calculate gpa heres a link: https://www.ouac.on.ca/guide/omsas-conversion-table/

agreed, if you cant get a LOC just use a credit card for now and pay the balance on the card when you have all the documents you need to get a LOC. It would suck to lose your spot and all the work you've put in over something small like this.

it means time get ready, lol... Good luck

if you don't mind me asking, what was your day to day class schedule like in first year? and does everyone take have the same schedule/classes?

@marwii wow, thats was actually really helpful thanks