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Schulich Interview Invites 2018


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12 minutes ago, Incisor94 said:

Ah the famous Schulich curriculum. I'll give an overview as to how first year is so you have an idea of what we've done so far.

So we start off in first year with a course called Core Biology from September to October that brings everyone in the class on the same playing field. It covers topics such as Microbio, anatomy, physiology, head and neck, immunology, and some dental intro topics in saliva and mineralization. We also have Ethics and Biomaterials running concurrently till December. From October till January, we take the "General Medicine" Block courses which include gross anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology and general medicine. Its structured such that you have anatomy on Monday, physiology on Tuesday, pathology on Wednesday, pharmacology on Thursday and General medicine on Friday. FYI, general medicine brings together all the material you learned throughout the week into one case-based course to learn how to think like a practitioner (medical management of dental patients). It runs like this for each system (cardio, resp, renal, etc.) where we have midterms in December and finals in January. Dental Anatomy and Oral Histology also starts in October and continue till December and February respectively. You start wax ups in sim clinic in dental anatomy which is fun!

Essentially, you have 10 courses running simultaneously from October to December and 12 exams in December. In late January-Early Feb, you have 9 exams for the remaining courses. Its not the most attractive part of Schulichs curriculum but it has a lot of upside to it. In first year, we do pharmacology and general medicine (I know some schools take pharm in second year) so that we start thinking like practitioners before even going up into the main clinic. Not all schools take a course in general medicine but I feel the material that we learn in that course really prepares us to diagnose and learn medical management in depth. Also, our sim clinic is state of the art, newly renovated and worth every dollar. Its nice being able to spend time in a space that has new materials and equipment instead of the old sim clinic which doesn't even compare to what we have now!

Also, Schulich has fewer grad departments (ortho, oral surg) so students in upper years get more cases sent to them from what I've heard while shadowing them. The small class is a benefit since we're all tight knit, have intramural teams and go out together as a class! Of course every school isn't perfect and has their issues but I've been pretty happy so far here. @longhaul and @Waves can fill in anything I've missed but if you have any specific questions, let me know!

You wrote almost as much as one of Jensen's slides.

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Invite

GPA: 89.7%

DAT: 23AA/18RC/23 PAT/25TS

ECs: ~380 Shadowing hours with majority spent at a general practice and some at an orthodontist, research for 1 year with paper submitted for publication, extensive volunteering in hospitals and working with children with learning disabilities, club involvement including exec positions, self-intiatives.

Finished undergrad, taking a gap year. 

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7 hours ago, Dr.Rotinaj said:

Can any senior students comment on this?

I’m not a senior student and I’m not sure if any at UWO or UofT are still kicking around. I’m clearly not as aware as I need to be to answer this question, but I think if you keep on reading in that thread, you see that both sets of senior students from both universities 6 years ago have those who are frustrated.  My general experience when I talk to friends even in OOP schools too, including med, is that curriculum pains are present wherever 

edit: regarding curriculum transitioning, UWO did change their curriculum structure back in 2009 so the class of 2012 that started then were guinea pigs, hence why the thread you posted had them complain about the curriculum limbo. However, now as all years (D1-4) have been running through the new curriculum, there’s no growing pains or transitioning. I personally like the curriculum structure so far as so many courses build on top of each other and are layered in a linear way (speaking of general medicine block that we just finished). 

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9 hours ago, Incisor94 said:

Ah the famous Schulich curriculum. I'll give an overview as to how first year is so you have an idea of what we've done so far.

So we start off in first year with a course called Core Biology from September to October that brings everyone in the class on the same playing field. It covers topics such as Microbio, anatomy, physiology, head and neck, immunology, and some dental intro topics in saliva and mineralization. We also have Ethics and Biomaterials running concurrently till December. From October till January, we take the "General Medicine" Block courses which include gross anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology and general medicine. Its structured such that you have anatomy on Monday, physiology on Tuesday, pathology on Wednesday, pharmacology on Thursday and General medicine on Friday. FYI, general medicine brings together all the material you learned throughout the week into one case-based course to learn how to think like a practitioner (medical management of dental patients). It runs like this for each system (cardio, resp, renal, etc.) where we have midterms in December and finals in January. Dental Anatomy and Oral Histology also starts in October and continue till December and February respectively. You start wax ups in sim clinic in dental anatomy which is fun!

Essentially, you have 10 courses running simultaneously from October to December and 12 exams in December. In late January-Early Feb, you have 9 exams for the remaining courses. Its not the most attractive part of Schulichs curriculum but it has a lot of upside to it. In first year, we do pharmacology and general medicine (I know some schools take pharm in second year) so that we start thinking like practitioners before even going up into the main clinic. Not all schools take a course in general medicine but I feel the material that we learn in that course really prepares us to diagnose and learn medical management in depth. Also, our sim clinic is state of the art, newly renovated and worth every dollar. Its nice being able to spend time in a space that has new materials and equipment instead of the old sim clinic which doesn't even compare to what we have now!

Also, Schulich has fewer grad departments (ortho, oral surg) so students in upper years get more cases sent to them from what I've heard while shadowing them. The small class is a benefit since we're all tight knit, have intramural teams and go out together as a class! Of course every school isn't perfect and has their issues but I've been pretty happy so far here. @longhaul and @Waves can fill in anything I've missed but if you have any specific questions, let me know!

To also add, we’re getting digital X-rays and charting in the clinics beginning next fall which also greatly modernizes our learning just like the sim clinic does

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16 hours ago, Incisor94 said:

 We were told in the first few weeks that there has been a shift to applicants who have higher education (Masters, PhD)

I wonder how Western considers masters degrees in their selection process? Do they have a preference for thesis based masters over course based? I know UofT gives a GPA bonus but only if it's a thesis based masters. I also know many people who don't get accepted their first time with high GPAs decide to work for a year instead of do a masters but if Western is starting to favour students with higher education would it be better to consider doing a masters? 

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48 minutes ago, ysoNaCly said:

I wonder how Western considers masters degrees in their selection process? Do they have a preference for thesis based masters over course based? I know UofT gives a GPA bonus but only if it's a thesis based masters. I also know many people who don't get accepted their first time with high GPAs decide to work for a year instead of do a masters but if Western is starting to favour students with higher education would it be better to consider doing a masters? 

Here is the answer of admission office to my email asking the same question:

As noted in the information presented at the school website, we do acknowledge the work required to gain graduate degrees in our admissions process, by assessing bonus points to the files of these applicants who have completed these degrees. (Applicants who are enrolled in graduate degrees at the time of application must complete those degrees by the end of the application cycle.) We do not, however, advise as to the type of graduate degree one takes. The individual should decide if taking this level of education is in his/her best interests as a basis for either a dental or non-dental future.

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21 hours ago, Incisor94 said:

I’ll gladly help out longhaul here with inquires about Schulich! If you guys have questions about the interview process, curriculum or anything about Schulich, quote us and we’ll respond ASAP! Congrats again and we can’t wait to meet all of you!

The interview email states that "Schulich Dentistry no longer uses the Canadian Dental Association structured interview format", would you happen to know the current format of the interview? Is it just traditional? Thanks!

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53 minutes ago, driller said:

Here is the answer of admission office to my email asking the same question:

As noted in the information presented at the school website, we do acknowledge the work required to gain graduate degrees in our admissions process, by assessing bonus points to the files of these applicants who have completed these degrees. (Applicants who are enrolled in graduate degrees at the time of application must complete those degrees by the end of the application cycle.) We do not, however, advise as to the type of graduate degree one takes. The individual should decide if taking this level of education is in his/her best interests as a basis for either a dental or non-dental future.

So do you think that means they still calculate your GPA based on your undergrad and simply give you bonus points for having a masters? In other words having a masters can only help you not hinder you. 

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3 hours ago, dental2016 said:

The interview email states that "Schulich Dentistry no longer uses the Canadian Dental Association structured interview format", would you happen to know the current format of the interview? Is it just traditional? Thanks!

I can’t comment much about it but I think longhaul mentioned it’s beneficial to know personal experiences and try being yourself! I personally found CDA style questions beneficial for practice though so it wouldn’t hurt to look at those resources.

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2 hours ago, ysoNaCly said:

So do you think that means they still calculate your GPA based on your undergrad and simply give you bonus points for having a masters? In other words having a masters can only help you not hinder you. 

Correct. Schulich won’t factor in those grades but will give bonus points to your file for completed masters degrees! Our class demographics show having a masters/PhD in any field can positively influence your application post-interview!

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Although I go to U of T, I would highly recommend Schulich as well. I was very torn between both schools and almost picked Schulich - the interview weekend atmosphere was amazing, I really like London (did my undergrad there), and the curriculum/sim lab/small class size were very enticing. It's a great program/school that selects for well-rounded candidates and I have nothing but positives to speak about Schulich.

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On 2018-03-01 at 1:56 PM, longhaul said:

Congrats to those who were invited! We’re all really looking forward to meet you.

If you have any general questions about the procedure of the interview weekend, quote me in this thread and I’ll publicly respond when I can :)

Thank you so much for your offer! Could you give us some tips on how to prepare for the interview? and also do you have any idea that how heavily the final acceptance decisions rely on the results of the interviews? thanks again :) 

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21 minutes ago, yasipasi said:

Thank you so much for your offer! Could you give us some tips on how to prepare for the interview? and also do you have any idea that how heavily the final acceptance decisions rely on the results of the interviews? thanks again :) 

In regards to how you should prepare for the interview, I think as I mentioned previously in this thread, practice and reflect on scenarios in your life that have shaped who you are, your outlook, personality, and character. Knowing yourself is vital so you can communicate why you suit what Schulich is looking for in an applicant when you are conversing with the panel. Don't embellish or fake who you are so you can conform yourself to what you think the ideal candidate is - the interviewers are generally good at reading right through that. Be yourself and express your genuine strengths.

Other than the admission committee, no one knows what the admission formula is. Clearly with the ABS/PS, Schulich is looking for a well-rounded candidate to admit. Majority who interview will be quite similar in grades, DAT scores, and general experiences "on paper". Because of this, I personally think the interview is a large factor in the decision process and that's why you need to reflect well on what makes you stand out and express that "face to face" during the interview in a way that makes the panelists think "I would want ---x--- to be my dentist"

 

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I also got an invite (surprisingly!)

OOP

BSc

91% GPA 4.1/4.3

DAT: RC 19 PAT 21 AA 23

EC: I have a lot of job experience and some dental shadowing. It's also my second round applying and I didn't apply to western last year... so fingers crossed!

I was under the impression the reading score part of my DAT was too low for an interview, so I'm excited! 

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Invite

GPA (top 2 years): 3.98 or 97%

DAT (AA/RC/PAT): 24/25/22

ECs: 2 years of working experience after undergrad as a research coordinator at an oral oncology and maxillofacial prosthetics clinic, service trip to central America as a dental assistant, ~50 hours of shadowing at private general practice and ~40 at an orthodontist, loads of research experience and ECs in undergrad

I'll likely be turning down the invite as I've accepted UofT already. BUT, I wanted to offer a word of encouragement to people who had great applications but didn't get in last year or won't get in this year even though they're good candidates. I got rejected everywhere last year (even with the above stats), but tried again and have been successful. Keep trying! Don't give up on an entire life-long career after just one or two years of applications! 

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On 2018-03-01 at 3:30 PM, Incisor94 said:

I’ll gladly help out longhaul here with inquires about Schulich! If you guys have questions about the interview process, curriculum or anything about Schulich, quote us and we’ll respond ASAP! Congrats again and we can’t wait to meet all of you!

Im wondering what are some options for places to stay on the weekend of the interview (im from out of town)?

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44 minutes ago, Predentstudent1 said:

Im wondering what are some options for places to stay on the weekend of the interview (im from out of town)?

The best option would be to Airbnb and Uber to campus. There are some hotels around in downtown London but it may be pricey. If you want specific options for hotels, PM me and we’ll try to help you find something!

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For anyone that has to write the physiology exam, how are you studying for it? Are you studying based on one of the 2 recommended textbooks, or other supplementary sources? Also, for anyone that has already written the exam, how did you find it (was it easier than you had expected or more difficult)? Just trying to gage how much time I should put into studying. I have taken a couple physiology courses throughout my undergrad but unfortunately none of them qualified. 

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16 minutes ago, godsplan said:

For anyone that has to write the physiology exam, how are you studying for it? Are you studying based on one of the 2 recommended textbooks, or other supplementary sources? Also, for anyone that has already written the exam, how did you find it (was it easier than you had expected or more difficult)? Just trying to gage how much time I should put into studying. I have taken a couple physiology courses throughout my undergrad but unfortunately none of them qualified. 

I was in a similar position where they didn't recognize my physiology courses and had to write it. The best resource was the CD they recommend (MediaPhys 2.0 or 3.0 I believe). It is definitely not a hard exam and you only need a 70 to pass. I put in 4 full days of studying and it was sufficient. The upside is first year dental physiology is a breeze after you write the challenge exam.

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