How Far Off Am I From Getting Into Dental School In Canada?

[Winnipeg9416]

First off, congrats to all those who have gotten interviews and/or been accepted into Dental school during the current application cycle!

 

I could use some honest guidance/opinions as to what I should do to better myself for future application cycles in Canada:

 

- I am a 4th year student at Western 

- I only applied to UWO Dentistry this year and was declined an interview

 

Year 1 = 81% or 3.56 GPA

Year 2 = 89.05% or 3.91 GPA

Year 3 = 85.5% or 3.85 GPA

Year 4 = 87% or 3.84 GPA ***Good estimate

 

*Also took English/essay course in summer 2015 and got mark of 73

 

DAT, written in Feb 2015 - RC (20), Bio (21), Chem (19), AA (20), PAT (21)

 

--> I applied to UWO Dentistry with my best 2 year average of 87.275% and the DAT scores above

--> I believe that Part 1 of my Personal Statement was good/strong (have nothing to compare it to though), though I'm thinking now that my Part 2 was weak

 

Volunteering + other info:

 

1) Prepared and served breakfast to those less fortunate, summer of 2014 on 7-8 occasions (under a certain organization that will remain nameless)

 

2) Teaching assistant (not paid) for one semester (2 hours per week) in the cadaver anatomy lab

 

3) Varsity athlete in Year 1 + team volunteering opportunities (2 or 3)

 

4) Hold a leadership position at a Toastmasters club ***As of Feb 2016, so was not on application

 

5) Shadowed 2 separate dentists back home for a combined 15 hours

 

6) Research = None

 

7) Had Jaw surgery in Summer of 2014 to resolve my life-long jaw pain - this is what has made me passionate about dentistry

 

 

 

--> After talking to reception at UWO Dentistry, she seemed to emphasize that they are really moving away from marks and towards well-rounded people in the current year and in the future

--> My best 2 year average for next year's cycle will be about 1% higher, around 88%. She explained how a 5th year would work to me and it doesn't seem worth it as it could only result in my 2 year average going up by another 1% to 89% (If I took easy courses in 5th year and got 91-92% average, that would be averaged with my 4th year, giving me around 89% as a new 4th year average)

 

--> Re-taking the DAT seems like a good idea. If I didn't go to school next year and could really focus on studying hard I'm sure I could get 22+ on both Bio and Chem. I got 21 on PAT (which was 92nd percentile) and I find RC by far the hardest section so I don't see myself improving on my 20 RC and 21 PAT. 

 

--> I am sure my extracurriculars/volunteering could improve as well
 

Please give me any honest thoughts about what I should do. I will attend any Canadian University that accepts me as I cannot financially afford to go to either the US or Australia. 

 

 

 

 

[mysteryoflife]

Deleted. I should've read the post more carefully :-(

[freewheeler]

I have no knowledge of the dentistry application process, but here are my impressions:

 

-GPA should be sufficient (I think?)

-no idea what those DAT scores mean

-ECs are almost non-existent

 

You should be able to determine from applicant statistics released by the individual schools, whether your GPA/DAT scores are competitive there.

 

Your ECs need serious work. Whatever you are good at/passionate about, take that as far as you can. Look for leadership opportunities, join organizations and work your way up. Involve yourself in/lead initiatives that have a tangible community impact--try to avoid things where you just "show up" a few times and that is it or just be present for a few hours a week.

 

Just my 2 cents. Good luck!

[Waves]

Last year's GPA cutoff at UWO was 87.5% so this year's is probably around the same, or higher. It's unfortunate that maybe getting a few more marks here and there in several courses may have landed you an interview.

 

However, when you apply next cycle you definitely have a good chance at getting an interview at UWO and maybe even U of T (your wGPA with worst year dropped would be 3.867 which isn't far off from the interview invite average of 3.9 this year). Additionally your average minus one year would be around 87 which is sufficient for UBC, but you would need much higher DAT scores. Thus you should definitely re-write the DAT as DAT scores have been pretty high this past cycle, maybe due to DAT marks inflation -- although you got a 21 in PAT and it was the 92nd percentile, this past November's 21 was considered 77th percentile, so you can definitely get a much higher PAT score. Both U of T and UBC look at PAT while UWO doesn't. And obviously you could raise both your bio and chem with sufficient studying. Additionally, you might also have a chance at all the other Canadian schools too, but I'm not familiar with their admissions processes. Just not USask though, since you'd need like a 92 best 2 year average.

 

I don't think your ECs are non-existent; you just need to continue doing them and add more. 15 hours of shadowing is definitely not enough -- try to aim for 100+.

 

Considering that you can't go to the US or Australia, I think doing a 5th year might be a good option too, in case you don't get in next cycle. Raising your average by 1% may not seem like that much, but look at how close you were to 87.5% this year. Who knows what the cutoffs will be in the coming years? Also it raises your U of T wGPA to 3.9 (if you 4.0 the year) which is definitely good enough for an interview invite. Obviously, that would make it harder on you with the DAT as well but you should still consider it.

[Nachoolibre]

This cycle has been weird. There are individuals with 85-87% that have received an interview since they have good ECs and they're well rounded. It is true that marks aren't everything anymore so honestly, I would say to bring up your ECs. Do some research, do more shadowing, help out in the community, all these things will come in handy in your ABS and make you more competitive. IMO, I feel like your average will land you an interview next year for sure if you get your ECs up. Your DAT scores are good (mine were lower than yours and I landed interviews at UFT, UWO, USask, this year) but do try to work hard and get your GPA as high as possible with better ECs. Feel free to PM me for more info but I do feel you will land an interview (and hopefully admission!) next year Good luck!

[Winnipeg9416]

Thanks for the honest feedback guys, I needed this. 

When I talked to reception at UWO, she said that the only cutoff of any kind for an interview was a minimum of 18 on RC. I knew that the cutoff was 87.5% within the past year or so, and I went to see what the cutoff was this year only to find out that there wasn't one. She said that there were interviews sent out to individuals who had averages as low as 83%, but they were exceptional in other areas of the application. She seemed to really stress that grades aren't as important with the new application process and that if I increased my 2 year average by say 1% it probably wouldn't be worth the time and money of doing a 5th year, but it may be worthwhile to explore other areas of my application. She couldn't discuss specifics of my application though.

 

With that said, this is just UWO. Are other Canadian dental schools seeming to still care a lot about GPA/average?

[Waves]

Interesting, no more average cutoffs? Then I guess your ABS was pulling you down, but it doesn't seem that bad... As for now, most Canadian schools are still GPA-oriented, maybe except for McGill and Dalhousie. 

[lifeproof93]

UBC only cares about GPA/DAT to get an interveiw. OPP got interviews with mid 80's and mid 20 DAT scores

[c2j]

Last year's GPA cutoff at UWO was 87.5% so this year's is probably around the same, or higher. It's unfortunate that maybe getting a few more marks here and there in several courses may have landed you an interview.

 

However, when you apply next cycle you definitely have a good chance at getting an interview at UWO and maybe even U of T (your wGPA with worst year dropped would be 3.867 which isn't far off from the interview invite average of 3.9 this year). Additionally your average minus one year would be around 87 which is sufficient for UBC, but you would need much higher DAT scores. Thus you should definitely re-write the DAT as DAT scores have been pretty high this past cycle, maybe due to DAT marks inflation -- although you got a 21 in PAT and it was the 92nd percentile, this past November's 21 was considered 77th percentile, so you can definitely get a much higher PAT score. Both U of T and UBC look at PAT while UWO doesn't. And obviously you could raise both your bio and chem with sufficient studying. Additionally, you might also have a chance at all the other Canadian schools too, but I'm not familiar with their admissions processes. Just not USask though, since you'd need like a 92 best 2 year average.

 

I don't think your ECs are non-existent; you just need to continue doing them and add more. 15 hours of shadowing is definitely not enough -- try to aim for 100+.

 

Considering that you can't go to the US or Australia, I think doing a 5th year might be a good option too, in case you don't get in next cycle. Raising your average by 1% may not seem like that much, but look at how close you were to 87.5% this year. Who knows what the cutoffs will be in the coming years? Also it raises your U of T wGPA to 3.9 (if you 4.0 the year) which is definitely good enough for an interview invite. Obviously, that would make it harder on you with the DAT as well but you should still consider it.

Hey, would you mind explaining why "when you apply next cycle you definitely have a good chance at getting an interview at UWO and maybe even U of T"? What difference does it make next cycle?

[Waves]

That's because he/she couldn't use his/her 4th year marks this cycle since the schools only look at your marks in completed years. But for next cycle his/her 4th year will count, thus improving his/her averages for both schools since UofT allows you to drop 1 year if you have 4 or more undergrad years completed.