Chances And Advise On Future Steps

[victorias]

Hi guys,

 

I am a non traditional student and want to apply to dental school in the coming cycle. I would love some input on my chances and future steps.

 

Here is some info about me:

 

- Ontario resident

- Graduated Bachelors degree (Biology), Masters degree (Medical Science), Graduate Diploma in Biotechnology, Certificate in Business Analytics

- Currently Working professional

 

GPA and Scores 

 

Last 2 years GPA (used OMSAS Scale): 3.81 and 3.90 

DAT: Not done yet

MCAT (third attempt): 129 (C/P); 123 (CARS); 130 (Bio); 129 (Psych) - decided not to retake it anymore and not applied anywhere

 

Prerequisites: 

I checked UWO requirements - I have completed physiology and organic chemistry, got A+ in all. I also did biochemistry courses during my undergrad but my grade was low - got a C+. I am planning on retaking it in Jan-April 2018 term.

 

I have also looked at UofT.

 

I am not familiar with schools outside Ontario, are there any schools I should look at?

 

Research experience - I have been involved in research since 2009

During undergrad:
- Completed a 4th year thesis research project (undergraduate)
- Completed a research based field course (international experiential learning opportunity)
- 1 online small publication, not peer reviewed (first author from undergraduate)
- 1 oral talk/presentation at a local conference
- 3 years employment experience as a Lab Technician position (total 2000 hours)
- 7 months Research Assistant in Health and Social Science lab (total 200 hours)

During graduate school:
- conducted experiments in the lab (2.5 years, 40-70 hours/week)
- 2 peer reviewed publications - one first author and one third author
- 7 national and international conference posters/abstracts
- 3 local invited talks/presentations

After graduation
- 1.5 years of full time work experience in research (2500 hours)

Employment:
1 year full time job in fast food (40 hours/week)
1 year part time office job (10 hours/week)

Clinical Volunteering:
1.5 years Hospital volunteering (150 hours)
1 year rehab group volunteer (110 hours)

Awards:
Undergraduate and Graduate school entrance scholarships
Dean's Honor Roll for 3 years

 

Extracurriculars:
1 year member + 1 year executive committee member of graduate student club
6 years Active member of a student club
6 months student events/orientation organizer
1 year peer mentoring
3 years Teaching assistant for science courses/labs (bio, chem, stats)

 

Potential LOR's (My letters are mostly academic based. EC's were from a few years back so not sure if I can get letters from there. Any feedback on this? )

Undergraduate thesis Supervisor (PI)
Graduate Thesis Supervisor (PI)
Graduate Thesis Advisor/Committee member
Graduate course instructor
2 Undergraduate Course Instructors
Current boss (assistant dean of the faculty, also a science prof but he never taught me for a course, I just work under him)

 

Future Plan (Goal is to get admission for September 2018):

 

- Study for the DAT this summer and take it in November 2017

- Shadow a dentist in the Fall/Winter term

- Apply to schools in Canada for December 2017/January 2018 deadline

- Retake biochemistry course in January 2018 term 

I think I can do well in the biochemistry courses this time. I self studied biochemistry for the MCAT and did well on that section (scored 130).

During my undergrad, I took biochemistry in the summer after first year (2008) and didn't really care about it then, hence the low grade. So I am confident that I can do much better this time.

 

Does my plan sound reasonable? I want to get the DAT out of the way first and then redo the biochemistry course.

 

Pending a DAT score, is the rest of my application competitive? Is it worth a shot?

 

How does the DAT compare to the MCAT? I know this question has probably been asked a million times already but I am really scared of standardized tests now after my failed attempts with the MCAT. I am trying to assess my strengths and weaknesses. CARS/verbal is a serious weakness that I have not been able to overcome on the MCAT. I beleive that I am strong in my sciences. Any advise on how to approach the DAT (given my background and score on MCAT) would be appreciated.

 

 

Sorry for the naive questions. I am not too familiar with the dental school admissions process. I had been gunning for medical school for many years and now I have come to a realization that it is not going to happen due to my battle with the MCAT CARS/Verbal section.

 

I am not looking into dental school as a backup. I already have a successful career path in my current job to fall back on as a backup plan. I have become interested in dental school for many legit reasons - I spoke with my friends in dental school and they all love it. I have recently shadowed a dentist for a couple of days and I am really interested in this career path.

 

I would really appreciate some guidance and help on how to go about getting into dental school in Canada. I have been out of school for a few years so I am now out of touch with the pre-dent community. I am trying to research on admissions processes and would love to hear your input.

 

Thanks,

 

Victoria

[Vendar]

Hi Victoria,

 

Thank you for sharing your information with us. Firstly for medicine, I do not think you should give up. Your GPA an experience can make you standout for Ottawa if they do not look at the MCAT. 

For dentistry, if you do reasonably well on your DAT (20-21+ in each section), I think you will get an invite for a dental interview at Western. UofT is a bit more heavy on the GPA, I am not sure what GPA you need to interview, but the average accepted GPA was 3.93 this year. Given your GPA, if you have a good result on your DAT, you should be able to get an interview.

 

I would also advise you to apply to McGill. Your portfolio looks great and I think it may get you an interview next year! (They don't look at the DAT).

 

Other people can add on as well

 

Answers to your questions:

 

Your plan sounds very reasonable!

 

I found the DAT to be easier than the MCAT since it has mainly discrete knowledge questions. The reading comprehension on the DAT is more doable. It is 3 passages in 50 minutes and it is testing your understanding of the passage and there are less inference questions. I did both the MCAT and DAT, and if you have studied for the MCAT already, it will help you out a lot!

 

I had a 126 CARS and I got a 27 in RC (if this comparison helps you!)

I had 132 in physics and bio and had 25+ on chem and bio on the DAT

 

 

All the best! 

[DDSER]

Hey,

 

If I were you I would significantly up my shadowing hours for UWO. Try to start ASAP so you can accumulate more hours and even go shadow some specialists or GPs who are able to do more unique procedures. Other than that, your plan is solid. Best of luck!

[victorias]

Thanks guys!

 

I am using the OMSAS scale for the grade conversion, so I am not sure how to convert these to percentages as required by UWO. How do I convert my grades to percentages?

 

Here is some info on my stats:

 

Based on OMSAS, my 4 years GPA breakdown is:

 

Year 1: 3.18

Year 2: 3.48

Year 3: 3.81

Year 4: 3.90

 

I also did some additional courses in the summer terms and 1 year part time studies after graduation to complete prereqs (orgo, english, and physics courses). So including everything, cGPA is 3.59.

 

Graduate GPA: 3.96

 

 

- For UWO, my best 2 years GPA is 3.81 and 3.90.

 

- For UofT, do they drop a total of 1 year's worth of grades or all together an entire year?

Dropping the entire first year, GPA is 3.73 (took average of years 2, 3 and 4)

Dropping 30 credits worth of grades, GPA is 3.82

I am not sure which method UofT is using for GPA calculation. Any input/info on this?

 

Other notes:

- I took a full course load each year during my undergrad (30 credits/year)

- I took courses at my level of study (followed the 3/5 rule that UWO has)

- Completed all the prereqs for UWO and UofT admissions

 

I am not too familiar with the schools outside Ontario but some suggestions I have received so far include:

 

- Manitoba

- Sask

- McGill 

 

I am trying to figure out how many schools I would be able to apply to given what I have in my portfolio so far. And what other things I would need to prepare a competitive application for these schools.

 

Action plan:

 

- Shadowing hours

- Retake Biochemistry course

 

My concern:

 

I want to clear the DAT first before doing other things like shadowing and retaking the biochemistry courses.

I made the mistake of trying to get everything else done for medical school admissions (prereqs, shadowing, volunteering, publications, research experience .....everything you can think of for a strong medical school application and then hit the roadbump with the MCAT). So this time, I want to have a good DAT score first, and then do the other things later.

 

Thanks once again!

[Waves]

To convert GPA to %, take each course’s GPA and convert it into the midpoint of the % scale according to the OMSAS scale (e.g. if one course is 4.0, that would be 90-100, so you’d have 95% in that course).

You should apply to USask and Dalhousie as well, which takes best two years and two most recent years respectively. Double check the prereq requirements for those (Dalhousie requires Microbiology/Immunology). You could also take UBC into consideration which drops one year, and they use % which may work in your favour. Not sure about Manitoba and Alberta.

UofT drops an entire year. Your 3.73 GPA is on the low end (I think the lowest GPA was still above 3.8 this year) but since you have a Master’s it’s definitely worth a shot. Maybe they won’t be as focused on marks next year.

You have exceptional ECs (research, volunteer, work, awards) for UWO’s autobiographical sketch, which they seem to be putting more of an emphasis on nowadays. No need for reference letters except for McGill, but I’m not sure if your cGPA is high enough for them. But with your ECs you should definitely apply anyway.

People who write the MCAT tend to do very well on the DAT. I don’t think you have to worry about the DAT that much, especially since none of the schools really put much of an emphasis on it. The Reading Comprehension portion of the DAT is a simplified version of CARS according to people who have written both. Just aim for 21+ in all sections. Practice the perceptual portion since that’s something that you won’t have any experience with (use DAT Bootcamp).

Lastly, keep shadowing, as others have already pointed out.