What are my chances as a Canadian applicant? And how to improve

[Gazza]

Hi all,
I am currently a third year undergraduate student at a Canadian university.
During my first two years, I did not know what I wanted to do so basically I did not go to lectures at all. (Although I studied a day or two for the final exams) Consequently, Combining my first two undergraduate years, my GPA is around a B+ (my school has a percentage system along with letter grades; I have a 78% in my first two years). I think this translates into about 3.2~3.3 in AADSAS table. (might be a little bit lower but definitely over 3.0)
But in my third year, I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in dentistry so I started to attend all lectures and studied really hard for all my courses. So, in my first semester of third year, I got 3 A's and 2 A+'s. And I am pretty sure I will get around the same marks from now on because I am really determined to become a dentist.
The problem is in my third-year Biochemistry course and Biology course, I have gotten around 60%. These two courses are pre-requisites for Dental school, and I have done terribly on them because I prepared so little during my second year.
Do American dental schools place a heavy emphasis on pre-req science courses? Or do they look primarily on just the combined science gpa or the combined undergraduate gpa?
I belong in a middle-class family, but my parents have money to pay for my education at an American dental school (they might have to sell their house though and move to a smaller house). So I do not have to worry about getting a loan; I will just have to pay them off slowly when I start making money.
But, they do not want me to go to some no-name dental school. If I get into schools like NYU or Penn, they will be okay with paying for my education.
Do i have a chance at dental schools like NYU or UPenn? What do I need other than grades and DAT? (DAT, which I will take during my fourth year because I will probably taking a gap year after I graduate)
Sorry for a long post, but I am really worried if I do not have what it takes to get into a dental school.
Please tell me what you guys think, and thanks in advance.

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[futuredoc2019dds]

I would say they highly emphasize pre-reqs especially biochem because that's a class you'll have to take again once in dental school. They're pre-reqs for a reason, which is because they will help you a lot in dental school. the cumulative isn't that important but still get's looked at. I would say the order of importance would be pre-reqs, sGPA, and the cumulative GPA as the least important. Schools like to see an upward trend so make sure to do great the rest of undergrad.

Your GPA is on the lower side so UPenn would be a reach for you especially since you're an international applicant. If you raise that GPA up (maybe do a post-bac, masters, etc. as well), get a 21+ on the DAT, lots of shadowing and volunteering, you could get in. Make sure to look at school websites because there are certain schools that don't accept international students. I would definitely add UDM and USC to that list because they do have a higher acceptance rate for international applicants.

 

[BeaverLover]

Kind of harsh to categorize schools as no names. My dentists agree the majority of their patients don't even look at their plaque for where they received their degree from. Keep up the grades and apply broadly in case known names aren't an option.

ADEA guidebook provides info on international acceptances per school so that may help you

 

[doc toothache]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/2013-guide-mini-guide-to-dental-school-admission.942453/
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/2014-international-students-ds-admission-statistics.1095300/
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/2012-how-us-ds-rank-dat-gpa-other-selection-criteria.943474/

 

[Gazza]

I would say they highly emphasize pre-reqs especially biochem because that's a class you'll have to take again once in dental school. They're pre-reqs for a reason, which is because they will help you a lot in dental school. the cumulative isn't that important but still get's looked at. I would say the order of importance would be pre-reqs, sGPA, and the cumulative GPA as the least important. Schools like to see an upward trend so make sure to do great the rest of undergrad.

Your GPA is on the lower side so UPenn would be a reach for you especially since you're an international applicant. If you raise that GPA up (maybe do a post-bac, masters, etc. as well), get a 21+ on the DAT, lots of shadowing and volunteering, you could get in. Make sure to look at school websites because there are certain schools that don't accept international students. I would definitely add UDM and USC to that list because they do have a higher acceptance rate for international applicants.

Hi, thank you for your answer.
A question I have is, looking at the links provided by doc toothache, that there is a mention of the Science GPA, Non-science GPA, and overall GPA in ADEA, but there is no mention of specifically pre-req courses GPA. Here in Canada, dental admissions look at 1)pre-req courses required to apply to dental school (This is mostly first-year and 2nd year courses with one 3rd-year level Biochem) & 2) the overall GPA. Since I did so poorly in my pre-req courses, I was hoping that they will primarily look at my Science GPA (which I am improving in third and fourth year) because there is no mention of specifically the pre-reqs course GPA in the ADEA. Is this true? I hope they put a greater emphasis on sGPA.

Also, Canadian dental schools don't require shadowing and volunteering. Shadowing a dentist is obvious, but I am not sure what kind of volunteering you are referring to. I have been volunteering at a Residence for people with physical disabilities for 2.5 years now, but is the type of volunteering have to relate to the field of Dentistry?

Thanks

 

[SableFire]

According to AADSAS a 78% in a class is worth a C which is a 2.0. Got it from here https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...=xnSDc0cI77IPG64P_nIxow&bvm=bv.84116906,d.eXY