UWO admission stats for class of 2010 are up

[braces2005]

http://www.schulich.uwo.ca/dentistry/docs/Class%20of%202010%20-%20Statistics.pdf

[laxman]

wow - those are intense stats....

[predentist_gal]

wow is right :S what scares me most is the DAT scores...I really don't see myself doing that well on the PAT, and soap carving... and also, how would you convert the 88% GPA to a 4 point scale mark (would it be like a 3.9 (because that's an A at other universities)?

[laxman]

3.9 would be my guess too. But compared to last years stats it appears the DAT scores didn't really increase much, if at all - its the marks that have sky rocketed with last years applicant pool. Up an average of 4% (approx?) over one year - as I already said...wow! What's going to happen with the double cohort? Has anyone asked or been told by the admissions office how many applications they have recieved to date? Damn I going to be thinking about this all night long now...hahaha time for a drink

 

cheers everyone

[predentist_gal]

3.9 is freakin insane....let's not forget though, this is the mean...I'd like to know what the range is, to see where the "cut off" seems to be. I'm going to try to call tomorrow and ask them for more info (like what the mean GPA was to get an interview)...I shall post if I find out anything interesting

 

It really does suck that this is the double cohort year...double the competition.

[dr.drill]

3.9 is freakin insane....let's not forget though, this is the mean...I'd like to know what the range is, to see where the "cut off" seems to be. I'm going to try to call tomorrow and ask them for more info (like what the mean GPA was to get an interview)...I shall post if I find out anything interesting

 

It really does suck that this is the double cohort year...double the competition.

 

Cutoffs are always dangerous. Some years someone has special cimcumstances and is allowed an interview even tho their scores are lower. Ignore the cutoffs and focus on the average.

[wisdom_tooth]

wow is right :S what scares me most is the DAT scores...I really don't see myself doing that well on the PAT, and soap carving... and also, how would you convert the 88% GPA to a 4 point scale mark (would it be like a 3.9 (because that's an A at other universities)?

Exactly!

in some courses i've received 88 but my school reports it as an 'A' on my transcript and using UWO conversion..that only equates to a 3.8 as opposed to other schools in which an 88% is reported as a 3.9

 

my top two years are around 3.84 and I'm freaking out now that these stats have been released!

lol

[laxman]

It would be nice to know the median and the ranges so we could speculate on possible outliers, that, cross our fingers, are bringing the average way up. I have doubts about a ton of outliers but you never know. We also have to remember the way in which Western calculates who gets in- ie. 60% marks from best 2 years + 25% interview + 15% DAT. Unless they updated things this year, although marks aren't everything, lets just hope we killed the DAT get an interview and knock their socks off.

[predentist_gal]

K Trish had the day off today, so I didn't get a chance to speak with her - but I asked another lady about what GPA you need to get an interview...and she said that usually if you have one year with an avg. of over 80%, and a pretty good DAT score, you'll get an interview. (that seems promising...)

[Adversary]

Keep in mind though, 500+ applicants for 54 spots.

[Goldenboy6]

wow is right :S what scares me most is the DAT scores...I really don't see myself doing that well on the PAT, and soap carving... and also, how would you convert the 88% GPA to a 4 point scale mark (would it be like a 3.9 (because that's an A at other universities)?

 

You can't convert it directly. GPA does not work like that. For example, if someone took two courses, and got an 88 in both courses, then their average would be 88, and yes that would work out to be a 3.9. Now lets say someone else got a 98 in one course and got a 78 in another. Their average would also come out to 88, however a 98 is a 4.0 and a 78 is a 3.3 and that comes to a 3.65 gpa. Remeber that each grade is converted first, then averaged, not the other way around. So having an 88 average doesn't mean that the class had a 3.9 average gpa. (I just did this using two courses for simplicity but the same idea would apply to 5 courses)

[predentist_gal]

You can't convert it directly. GPA does not work like that. For example, if someone took two courses, and got an 88 in both courses, then their average would be 88, and yes that would work out to be a 3.9. Now lets say someone else got a 98 in one course and got a 78 in another. Their average would also come out to 88, however a 98 is a 4.0 and a 78 is a 3.3 and that comes to a 3.65 gpa. Remeber that each grade is converted first, then averaged, not the other way around. So having an 88 average doesn't mean that the class had a 3.9 average gpa. (I just did this using two courses for simplicity but the same idea would apply to 5 courses)

 

OK, so that means that the GPA is most likely lower than 3.9.... but then what I'm wondering is, why do they tell us the average as 88%...because then those of us who go to a university that uses a different scale (i.e. A+, A etc.) can't compare ourselves to it!! GRRR they should have told us the avg in the standardized 4.0 scale - like U of T.

[orlinmyer]

Check this out

 

http://www.usask.ca/dentistry/admissions/pdf/Admission_Stats.pdf

[wishywish82]

Those stats are looking tight all over the place! How does U of S do the overall DAT calculation?

[dentalbuggy]

Do they convert each individual grade into a number based on a scale or do they convert the average of all grades into a number based on a scale?

This is getting very technicial!

[Goldenboy6]

Do they convert each individual grade into a number based on a scale or do they convert the average of all grades into a number based on a scale?

This is getting very technicial!

 

Well, if a school is using a grade point scale, which it doesn't seem like Western is doing, then they generally convert individual grades first, then average everything together. So its a very coarse measure. For example, the highest score you can get on a 4.0 scale, is obviously 4.0, which represents any grade from 90-100 (for most schools). So, this means that it doesn't make a difference if you got 99 in a class, or 90, because they both translate into a 4.0. By Western looking at your actual average instead of converting it into a 4.0 scale, IMO I think its a more accurate way to measure a student's abilities. The only problem is that some schools do not give the actual numerical grades to students but instead use a different system (like only giving letter grades).

[clive]

Whats the conversion like if you go to an institution that gives only letter grades?

[The Law]

Well, if a school is using a grade point scale, which it doesn't seem like Western is doing, then they generally convert individual grades first, then average everything together. So its a very coarse measure. For example, the highest score you can get on a 4.0 scale, is obviously 4.0, which represents any grade from 90-100 (for most schools). So, this means that it doesn't make a difference if you got 99 in a class, or 90, because they both translate into a 4.0. By Western looking at your actual average instead of converting it into a 4.0 scale, IMO I think its a more accurate way to measure a student's abilities. The only problem is that some schools do not give the actual numerical grades to students but instead use a different system (like only giving letter grades).

 

Yeah I agree.

[predentist_gal]

Alrighty, I made phone calls today:

 

U of T:

- Avg GPA for students admitted 3.83 (which I already knew from the website)....range: 3.7-4.0

- Avg GPA for students invited for interview: 3.7 (not sure what the range is)

 

UWO:

Instead of converting everyone's grades to the 4.0 scale (like U of T does), they convert everyone's grades to the Western scale. So i.e.

A+ from uni other than western --> 4.0 --> converts to 95% (since a 4.0 for western is between 90-100%...they take the midpoint). So they switch all your marks to Western marks and then take the average of that....

 

Doesn't seem completely fair to me, because what if you got (hypothetically) 99% in a class, which may be simply considered an A+ at your university...then when Western looks at it, they just call it a 95%!

[Goldenboy6]

Is that only for schools that just give letter grades? My university gives both the letter grade and the numerical score, so I'm assuming for me they'll probably just use the numerical grades as reported?

[TBJ1]

Alrighty, I made phone calls today:

 

U of T:

- Avg GPA for students admitted 3.83 (which I already knew from the website)....range: 3.7-4.0

- Avg GPA for students invited for interview: 3.7 (not sure what the range is)

 

UWO:

Instead of converting everyone's grades to the 4.0 scale (like U of T does), they convert everyone's grades to the Western scale. So i.e.

A+ from uni other than western --> 4.0 --> converts to 95% (since a 4.0 for western is between 90-100%...they take the midpoint). So they switch all your marks to Western marks and then take the average of that....

 

Doesn't seem completely fair to me, because what if you got (hypothetically) 99% in a class, which may be simply considered an A+ at your university...then when Western looks at it, they just call it a 95%!

 

The UWO calculation, if that is true, doesn't make any sense. Here at UofT we do get numerical grades. I dont' see why they would take your GPA grade and then convert it back to a numerical when the numerical grade exists in the first place!

 

I think the reported average percentage is what it is - to obtain that you just average your numerical grades as opposed to your GPA grades for each course.

[laxman]

Hey everyone,

 

If you look back into the old threads around pages 6-8ish it gives stats of a couple people who were accepted and starting dental school this september. Most of them give GPA or percentage grade and DAT scores. Although we don't know their respective interview scores - it provides further information of what kind of marks/DATs one will need to be competative to be accepted into one of the matriculating classes for next year.

 

I'm dying here - I can only think about my DATs and getting into dental school - anyone else feel like this...I think need an intervention

 

Anyways have a good one!

[babytooth]

I'm dying here - I can only think about my DATs and getting into dental school - anyone else feel like this...I think need an intervention

 

Anyways have a good one!

 

 

Hi everybody,

i'm new to this forum but i've been reading it for some time. i just HAD to reply to say i feel exactly the same way!! all this waiting is killing me....

[predentist_gal]

Hi everybody,

i'm new to this forum but i've been reading it for some time. i just HAD to reply to say i feel exactly the same way!! all this waiting is killing me....

 

I feel your pain guys...and we have a long wait ahead of us...I know someone that got into U of T in mid-August... luckily we don't need to wait too much longer to find out our DAT scores!! (Not sure if that's a good thing or not - all I know is I'm not looking at them until after exams!)

 

So where does everybody want to go (first choice school)?

 

my first choice is U of T, then Western (comes in at a close second)...I'll be happy to get in anywhere, period!

[laxman]

I just want to get in too. As of now my choices are

 

Western

UofT

McGill

Dalhousie

UofA

 

However, if I get any interviews and have an option in the end I want to stay really open minded, ask lots of questions and then basically go with my gut feeling on where I think I would fit in best.