premedarab Posted May 12, 2018 Report Share Posted May 12, 2018 Right now my GPA is a 3.76 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Science. WGPA won't help me because I had a tough 3rd year (this year). I have 1 published paper, 2 years of pharmacy experience, 2 years of research experience, over 300 hours of volunteer experience (clubs, hospitals, events, etc). I still have a year left to raise my marks but, this summer I need to decide what to pursue: Dentistry or medicine so that I can write my DAT or MCAT. I would rather pursue one that's most promising I will get in, depending on my GPA and extracurriculars. Because now I'm finishing 3rd year and my GPA is still relatively weak, I'm leaning more towards dentistry as I heard it's easier to get into given my credentials. Is this true? Also, i want my extracurriculars to help me with my application, but I'm not sure if dentistry even asks for my extracurriculars when applying. What should I do? Dentistry? Medicine? Masters (do you have any good suggestions)? Although it wouldn't be my primary, I never know and might like programs such as Optometry, Pharmacy, Genetics, etc... I'm highly dynamic and usually can like anything I set my mind to Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemon_tree Posted May 12, 2018 Report Share Posted May 12, 2018 Well do you want to study dentistry or medicine? Haha they are quite different in terms of jobs. Can always do a 5th year if you need too!!!! You have a lot of EC so maybe med? Haha maybe shadow some dentists to see if you even like it though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
premedarab Posted May 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2018 @lemon_tree Thank you for your reply! I've shadowed both - both are nice but medicine definitely is more interesting (more application based, more interesting content) However, my GPA seems to limit this opportunity. Dentistry is still nice, because it's still a lot of problem-solving, analyzing data, and being around people and getting hands-on work in (which I also really really like). Doctor seems more intense as I feel like it's more life-consuming; however, dentistry feels more laid back once you work hard to establish yourself. I wouldn't mind doing a 5th year, but I've heard med school is so competitive that unless you have an amazing GPA (at least over a 3.85) and extensive experiences you won't get in. (average age of acceptance is 25 years, but I definitely want to be settled in to a career path before that) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starburst Posted May 12, 2018 Report Share Posted May 12, 2018 1 hour ago, premedarab said: @lemon_tree Thank you for your reply! I've shadowed both - both are nice but medicine definitely is more interesting (more application based, more interesting content) However, my GPA seems to limit this opportunity. Dentistry is still nice, because it's still a lot of problem-solving, analyzing data, and being around people and getting hands-on work in (which I also really really like). Doctor seems more intense as I feel like it's more life-consuming; however, dentistry feels more laid back once you work hard to establish yourself. I wouldn't mind doing a 5th year, but I've heard med school is so competitive that unless you have an amazing GPA (at least over a 3.85) and extensive experiences you won't get in. (average age of acceptance is 25 years, but I definitely want to be settled in to a career path before that) Have you considered applying to US medical schools? Your GPA would be really competitive there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgolover Posted May 12, 2018 Report Share Posted May 12, 2018 You will also be competitive for DO schools in US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemon_tree Posted May 13, 2018 Report Share Posted May 13, 2018 On 5/12/2018 at 4:10 PM, premedarab said: @lemon_tree Thank you for your reply! I've shadowed both - both are nice but medicine definitely is more interesting (more application based, more interesting content) However, my GPA seems to limit this opportunity. Dentistry is still nice, because it's still a lot of problem-solving, analyzing data, and being around people and getting hands-on work in (which I also really really like). Doctor seems more intense as I feel like it's more life-consuming; however, dentistry feels more laid back once you work hard to establish yourself. I wouldn't mind doing a 5th year, but I've heard med school is so competitive that unless you have an amazing GPA (at least over a 3.85) and extensive experiences you won't get in. (average age of acceptance is 25 years, but I definitely want to be settled in to a career path before that) If GPA is the only thing stopping you from doing med (which sounds like you are more interested in), you should do a 5th year! Also, I have friends who are in med and they have only done 1 years worth of experience/volunteering, so it really depends on how you present yourself at an interview as well.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butterfly_ Posted May 13, 2018 Report Share Posted May 13, 2018 1 hour ago, lemon_tree said: I wish you luck! Keep being hopeful but def decide on your life’s career goals and not whatever it is you can qualify yourself for! Completely agree with the above statement. You need to find your passion. Considering that you’ll potentially do this for the rest of your life, thinking that dentistry and medicine as interesting or nice is not enough. Once you encounter the professions’ not so glamorous aspects, you might come to hate it. Before making a decision, you should really do more research on both, talk to people, read articles, shadowing (most likely out of country). Are both these professions really what you want to do? Or are you doing it because you wanna make something out of your science degree? FYI, I’m not trying to discourage you from pursuing either, I just want to make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. If you find that medicine or dentistry is truly your dream, definitely go for it :)! Best of Luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms. Chip Skylark Posted May 30, 2018 Report Share Posted May 30, 2018 On 5/12/2018 at 4:58 PM, Starburst said: Have you considered applying to US medical schools? Your GPA would be really competitive there But you'd also be in lots more of debt. Don't consider the US unless you really really really want to be a dentist and nothing else would make you happy in the world cause from what I've heard, US dental school has costed more than double of what it costs in Canada. (including residence/travel/tuition etc.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starburst Posted June 3, 2018 Report Share Posted June 3, 2018 On 5/29/2018 at 11:53 PM, Ms. Chip Skylark said: But you'd also be in lots more of debt. Don't consider the US unless you really really really want to be a dentist and nothing else would make you happy in the world cause from what I've heard, US dental school has costed more than double of what it costs in Canada. (including residence/travel/tuition etc.) It's about $200k more. And it's better to pay that much more than keep applying 2-3 years in Canada (you lost 2-3 years of income which turns out to be 300-450k of lost income). But obviously, you have to look at your stats and judge if you will ever get into a Canadian school, if you can't then it's better to go to a US school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
banaenae Posted June 3, 2018 Report Share Posted June 3, 2018 On 5/12/2018 at 2:49 PM, premedarab said: Right now my GPA is a 3.76 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Science. WGPA won't help me because I had a tough 3rd year (this year). I have 1 published paper, 2 years of pharmacy experience, 2 years of research experience, over 300 hours of volunteer experience (clubs, hospitals, events, etc). I still have a year left to raise my marks but, this summer I need to decide what to pursue: Dentistry or medicine so that I can write my DAT or MCAT. I would rather pursue one that's most promising I will get in, depending on my GPA and extracurriculars. Because now I'm finishing 3rd year and my GPA is still relatively weak, I'm leaning more towards dentistry as I heard it's easier to get into given my credentials. Is this true? Also, i want my extracurriculars to help me with my application, but I'm not sure if dentistry even asks for my extracurriculars when applying. What should I do? Dentistry? Medicine? Masters (do you have any good suggestions)? Although it wouldn't be my primary, I never know and might like programs such as Optometry, Pharmacy, Genetics, etc... I'm highly dynamic and usually can like anything I set my mind to You should check out McGill University in Quebec, they pay a lot of attention to extracurriculars. I don't really know about the minimal GPA there and if you would consider moving to Quebec but you could take a look at the forums to see if you're competitive sorry for my english haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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