University of Alberta DDS Discussion/Interview Invites

[croissant]

23 hours ago, sliced789 said:

anyone wanna practice for interviews together?

I’d be down to!!

[sliced789]

https://discord.gg/XsAvUDmN anyone interested in Interview prep together, a discord has been created!

[Lovecoffee]

Congrats! Can anyone shed some light on what the personal statement section is like? Are you able to have written notes with you on what you want to talk about? 

[SAFTB]

Does anyone have a list of practice MMI questions they can share?

[Moose02]

On 2/16/2023 at 2:17 PM, Hopskipjump said:

GPA is now viewed as a threshold and not used competitively anymore (as long as you have >3.5 that is all they care about… doesn’t matter if you have a 3.95 or 3.55). Also we don’t know how if Casper is a threshold either.

Others commented before, and I know you said that’s what you heard at the info session, but I still just can’t believe this is fully true. Maybe to get an interview there’s a GPA threshold, but getting into the school  there’s only 30 spots, so they have to look at GPA and consider it. There’s only 3 real big factors so they can’t decide purely on interviews and DAT.

The DAT is an isolated test that only gets one fraction of University, so they’ve gotta look at the larger GPA too. 

[Hopskipjump]

18 hours ago, Moose02 said:

Others commented before, and I know you said that’s what you heard at the info session, but I still just can’t believe this is fully true. Maybe to get an interview there’s a GPA threshold, but getting into the school  there’s only 30 spots, so they have to look at GPA and consider it. There’s only 3 real big factors so they can’t decide purely on interviews and DAT.

The DAT is an isolated test that only gets one fraction of University, so they’ve gotta look at the larger GPA too. 

I hear you! And trust me, there were several follow-up questions trying to verify this in the info session because no one could believe it (which is also why they sent an email afterwards from admissions). But they don’t only look at DAT, GPA, and interview. A couple years ago, yes, that’s all they looked at. But that’s why they added Casper, volunteering, work experience, personal statement, etc. 

Maybe you’re right about the threshold only being for an interview. That would make sense to me. And trust me, I really hope you’re right… I worked my butt off to maintain a competitive GPA in my undergrad so to have that not matter sucks. I really hope you’re right!

[Futuredent02]

@HopskipjumpWhat're your stats like if you don't mind sharing? 

[Meowth]

On 2/24/2023 at 12:47 PM, Hopskipjump said:

I hear you! And trust me, there were several follow-up questions trying to verify this in the info session because no one could believe it (which is also why they sent an email afterwards from admissions). But they don’t only look at DAT, GPA, and interview. A couple years ago, yes, that’s all they looked at. But that’s why they added Casper, volunteering, work experience, personal statement, etc. 

Maybe you’re right about the threshold only being for an interview. That would make sense to me. And trust me, I really hope you’re right… I worked my butt off to maintain a competitive GPA in my undergrad so to have that not matter sucks. I really hope you’re right!

Do you still have the email from admissions? I'd love to see a screenshot because this is the first I've ever heard about GPA no longer being considered. On their website it says that a 3.5 is the minimum GPA, so I think it might be similar to how for the DAT you need a minimum score of 15. So you'd still want to have a high GPA, but having a GPA below 3.5 would mean you don't even qualify. But idk because I never went to the info session or got the emails!

[Teeththief]

If anyone is waiting in hopes of getting an interview, they have all been sent and accepted. 

 

With how GPA is looked at it really is just a threshold. If you have that 3.5 GPA your checked off and it is not looked at again as confirmed by UofA. 

I feel CASPER and DAT is now given more weighting.  So for anyone else applying next cycle, put your focus on CASPER, DAT and EC's! 

[titikam]

2 hours ago, Teeththief said:

If anyone is waiting in hopes of getting an interview, they have all been sent and accepted. 

 

With how GPA is looked at it really is just a threshold. If you have that 3.5 GPA your checked off and it is not looked at again as confirmed by UofA. 

I feel CASPER and DAT is now given more weighting.  So for anyone else applying next cycle, put your focus on CASPER, DAT and EC's! 

I still haven't received any emails for interviews or rejections. They just ghosted me :/

[Moose02]

On 2/24/2023 at 12:47 PM, Hopskipjump said:

I hear you! And trust me, there were several follow-up questions trying to verify this in the info session because no one could believe it (which is also why they sent an email afterwards from admissions). But they don’t only look at DAT, GPA, and interview. A couple years ago, yes, that’s all they looked at. But that’s why they added Casper, volunteering, work experience, personal statement, etc. 

Maybe you’re right about the threshold only being for an interview. That would make sense to me. And trust me, I really hope you’re right… I worked my butt off to maintain a competitive GPA in my undergrad so to have that not matter sucks. I really hope you’re right!

Exactly, for years I've been working super hard to get and now maintain my 3.93 GPA, and I feel kinda slighted if instead of looking at the culmination of years of effort, most of the weight is on one singular test being the DAT. Especially since most people get better scores on the DAT every time they take it, so submitting my decent scores from my first time taking 20/21/19 is just seen by them as only okay and I get written off.

[Predent123456]

Can anyone provide the link to the discord chat again please?m

[CoffeeMilkShake]

Has anyone received their score because I have not.

[sliced789]

1 hour ago, Predent123456 said:

Can anyone provide the link to the discord chat again please?m

https://discord.gg/w3c2C8Aw
 

@Predent123456 here you go

[yegger7]

https://take.supersurvey.com/poll4767175x9D6CAc67-148

poll to submit interview score

[FutureToothFairy]

On 4/2/2023 at 3:19 PM, Moose02 said:

Exactly, for years I've been working super hard to get and now maintain my 3.93 GPA, and I feel kinda slighted if instead of looking at the culmination of years of effort, most of the weight is on one singular test being the DAT. Especially since most people get better scores on the DAT every time they take it, so submitting my decent scores from my first time taking 20/21/19 is just seen by them as only okay and I get written off.

I do think that GPA and CASPER are used purely as a threshold, otherwise I would probably not get the interview invite.

My stats are: GPA in 3.5 ish range, before the deletion of the lowest year it was 3.4. My CASPER is 2nd quartile.

But I had my degree completed 3 years ago now and had plenty of healthcare-related work experience since, all of which went into my application.

Honestly didn’t think I had much of a chance, but I got the interview invite.

My interview score is 71/84. So hopefully I will get in, as from what I was told when you get to the interview stage only your interview score and personal statement matter for them to make the decision.

Will see, fingers crossed!

[Teeththief]

On 4/2/2023 at 3:19 PM, Moose02 said:

Exactly, for years I've been working super hard to get and now maintain my 3.93 GPA, and I feel kinda slighted if instead of looking at the culmination of years of effort, most of the weight is on one singular test being the DAT. Especially since most people get better scores on the DAT every time they take it, so submitting my decent scores from my first time taking 20/21/19 is just seen by them as only okay and I get written off.

I feel this.

i have a 3.98, 2nd Q, 20/21/19 IP and no interview invite 

 

I feel at this point they choose candidates through a random draw

[Moose02]

51 minutes ago, Teeththief said:

I feel this.

i have a 3.98, 2nd Q, 20/21/19 IP and no interview invite 

 

I feel at this point they choose candidates through a random draw

That's an actual crime you didn't get an interview with a 3.98. Can I ask, you're still mid-degree right? Cause maybe if you're a second year then they don't really accept interviews of 2nd years until you've got more semesters under your belt (Also that way they can get you to keep paying the application fee).

At this point U of A's system for accepting applicants is too far removed from choosing the best academic applicants. Yes ethics and personality are huge, but there's a big difference between considering multiple factors, but they've over-corrected now and they totally undervalue academic performance.

At this point I've realistically accepted that my 60/84 interview score probably isn't enough, so mentally prepping to apply to Australia. Its

[yegger7]

1 hour ago, Moose02 said:

That's an actual crime you didn't get an interview with a 3.98. Can I ask, you're still mid-degree right? Cause maybe if you're a second year then they don't really accept interviews of 2nd years until you've got more semesters under your belt (Also that way they can get you to keep paying the application fee).

At this point U of A's system for accepting applicants is too far removed from choosing the best academic applicants. Yes ethics and personality are huge, but there's a big difference between considering multiple factors, but they've over-corrected now and they totally undervalue academic performance.

At this point I've realistically accepted that my 60/84 interview score probably isn't enough, so mentally prepping to apply to Australia. Its

I think you have a good chance of getting in with a 60/84 score, so don’t be hard on yourself. 
 

As for the gpa change, guys there’s nothing we can do about it now. It has its pros and cons and you could make an argument for both sides. Just need to tailor our applications to be competitive with new criteria, and having a high gpa gives you chances at other schools across Canada, so it’s still an advantage.

[Teeththief]

On 4/3/2023 at 11:41 PM, Moose02 said:

That's an actual crime you didn't get an interview with a 3.98. Can I ask, you're still mid-degree right? Cause maybe if you're a second year then they don't really accept interviews of 2nd years until you've got more semesters under your belt (Also that way they can get you to keep paying the application fee).

At this point U of A's system for accepting applicants is too far removed from choosing the best academic applicants. Yes ethics and personality are huge, but there's a big difference between considering multiple factors, but they've over-corrected now and they totally undervalue academic performance.

At this point I've realistically accepted that my 60/84 interview score probably isn't enough, so mentally prepping to apply to Australia. Its

 

 

[oopsnotgettingin]

For anyone who interviewed this year vs. last, did anyone else receive a lower score this year?

There's obviously many issues with anonymous opening polling, but if the poll results are an accurate representation it seems like people's interview scores this year are trending lower vs. last year. Or at least there's a lot more people scoring in the 50s vs last year?   

[pastamasta]

20 hours ago, yegger7 said:

I think you have a good chance of getting in with a 60/84 score, so don’t be hard on yourself. 
 

As for the gpa change, guys there’s nothing we can do about it now. It has its pros and cons and you could make an argument for both sides. Just need to tailor our applications to be competitive with new criteria, and having a high gpa gives you chances at other schools across Canada, so it’s still an advantage.

I think your interview score is still competitive, my 48 though there is no hope. I'm honestly shocked because I thought I did okay. 

[Moose02]

1 hour ago, pastamasta said:

I think your interview score is still competitive, my 48 though there is no hope. I'm honestly shocked because I thought I did okay. 

Awe I'm sorry to hear that. I almost wonder if the scores are designed to be bell-curved like the DAT where there's a true mid at 15 (and in this case 42/84).

Also i hear what you mean, one of the most frustrating things is when you thought you did better than reality, but also get zero feedback to know what went wrong or where we should work to improve. While I get the need for secrecy in a lot of it, but it'd just be nice to get a breakdown like "On Question A you averaged 6/7, but Question B and C you only averaged 3.2/7... etc"

[Moose02]

Also, anyone who gets in in the early acceptance round, I'm excited to know how y'all did so we can see what the bar is. (I'm pretty sure they only send out April acceptance letters to people who've completed their degrees, and so there's less of a need to wait till after finals from current term).

[yegger7]

3 hours ago, oopsnotgettingin said:

For anyone who interviewed this year vs. last, did anyone else receive a lower score this year?

There's obviously many issues with anonymous opening polling, but if the poll results are an accurate representation it seems like people's interview scores this year are trending lower vs. last year. Or at least there's a lot more people scoring in the 50s vs last year?   

@oopsnotgettingin I also noticed that about this year too, seems like there’s more of a lower trend and less really high scores in the 70s and up. I think that could be a good sign though and lessen some of the score anxiety.