ADVICE NEEDED !

[rcbm]

I am Canadian student here in Toronto with a a pretty low undergrad GPA - 2.9. I am currently in my 4th year, and i will be doing a 5th year, to try to raise my GPA. This gives me 2 years of opportunity to raise my GPA - the question is choosing which way to do so.

My extra curriculars are pretty good, 250 hours of volunteering in medical and dental offices, both here in Toronto and abroad, as well as a founding member of the Sexual Violence Prevention Group as a work-study with a paid position. I am also an executive for an Active Minds Mental Health Awareness student-run club here on campus.

DAT score is 21AA.

I really want to get into an American Dental school. My school gives No Credit Received on courses that i attempt again, only the most recent mark.

Should i repeat classes, or take additional classes in 2000, eventually 3/4000 levels from Bio or other science departments? This is what i cannot decide, as i simply do not know what the best decision is.

I need suggestions for how to improve my chances of getting in. I've received suggestions of "course based masters" which i would love some more information about. Also, i am already considering retaking some Biology courses before i graduate in order to improve my GPA. Any suggestions are welcome and highly appreciated.

Thank you so much.

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[doktorinprogres]

If your prereq courses are low and you're confident you can make a significant improvement take those, otherwise take additional courses/higher level courses. Don't take so many at once that you won't be able to handle it.

 

[sobertiger]

One thing you should note is that AADSAS does not offer grade replacement even if your school does. In other words, ALL grades are taken into account.

e.g. If you got a F in a 5-unit class and retook it for an A, AADSAS would see it as 10 units with 2.00 GPA while your school might show it as 5 units with 4.00 GPA.

That said, you still have time to improve + show a strong upward trend.

 

[amariesa]

If you get 2 years worth of 4.0, averaged with 2.9 in the previous 3 years thats 3.3ish gpa for overall? Thats very low, especially for OOS, and slap international on top of that. The American average is 3.5-3.6 across US schools. If you take out in-state students with public schools, it may be 3.6-3.7 for OOS and international applicants. Just for context, I havent heard back from a great majority of American schools as a Canadian with a 3.9ish GPA, 21 DAT with no score below the 20s, and my application was complete in June.

I only say that to say that your GPA is massively lacking and I find that even though some schools dont publicize it, they don't treat internationals on the same playing field as IS or OOS Americans (as they shouldnt to be fair). If you really want dentistry, I say do those extra 2 years and take a few courses in the summer and really just overload your uGPA with 4.0s. Try to aim for a 3.4 at graduation. Then, apply to course-based masters and overload your GPA again with more courses. You are essentially forcing a GPA above 3.5. Then, look to apply to New Zealand and Australia in addition to USA for dental school.