Canada or US school?

[dentalfreak]

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I got accepted to Case Western and Marquette so far and Dalhousie in Canada. The canadian schools are cheaper and ADA accredited, but does anyone know anything else about the Canadian schools. Would they be worth going to?

Thanks

 

[AcidETCH]

I also applied to Dalhousie since I am from Canada. Didn't realize it was rolling admissions for the school. I thought it was like Western or U.ofT. in terms of a deadline for admissions. Argh!

I believe that Canadian schools are just as good as American schools in terms of quality education. My brother who's studying at Western dents. told me that Dalhousie is the second best in Canada in terms of Operative dentistry. Don't know how reliable that info is though. If I'm accepted to a Canadian school I will definitely go.

Best regards,
AE

 

[acrunner]

everything i have heard was that the canadian schools are much harder to get into than the us. i met a guy at u of detroit that from canada. he took the bridge across everyday for school! while there, my interviewer was telling me it was crazy how hard those schools are to get into. don't know what kind of education you get. must be good?.

 

[acrunner]

everything i have heard was that the canadian schools are much harder to get into than the us. i met a guy at u of detroit that from canada. he took the bridge across everyday for school! while there, my interviewer was telling me it was crazy how hard those schools are to get into. don't know what kind of education you get. must be good?.

 

[AcidETCH]

IMHO the reason why it's so hard to get into a Canadian dental school is due to the very small number of schools that offer dental education. I strongly believe that the Candian dental schools are not necessarily better than American ones. In the states, there are like 52 dental schools whereas in Canada there's considerably less than that (something like 15, correct me if I'm wrong). Also, from my experience interviewing at both Canadian and American schools I can say that the way that Canadian schools treat their students aren't as good as American schools. Maybe this is a direct result of numbers, but I could be wrong. Philosophy in the direction of dental education is also different. The only real advantage of a Canadian dental school is the cost of education. Just my observation.

AE

 

[mitwa]

actually there are 9 or 10 each accepting between 30 - 70. im canadian myself and really didn't bother applying there......way too much competition!!!

 

[D.I.T]

Hey AcicETCH,

Could you elaborate on what you meant when you said that
Canadian schools don't treat their students as well a US schools do? I know you interviewed at schools in the US and Canada, are you referring to how you were treated at an interview?

I go to a Canadian school and I can say that I have been treated with respect since the day I walked in. The Dean has taken it upon himself to make us feel welcome to the school, the faculty, and profession every chance he gets. My friends from other Canadian dental schools concur.

 

[AcidETCH]

D.I.T.: I'm not going to name which schools, but will say that the atmosphere between students and faculty is different. Maybe it's just the schools in Ontario, forgive me if I in any way suggested all schools. I'm sure that there will be people who will disagree with me, and that's fine. It's just my personal experience. For the schools that I did interview at in Canada last year, the atmosphere isn't as close as it is for American schools. Heck, they don't even provide a nice lunch to say the least. It's just my feeling that canadian dental schools don't value their students as much as american schools do, at least the ones I visited. At the interviews they don't even get to understand you as a person and the reasons why you chose Dentistry as a career....a lot of situational questions, something that anyone and BS without any concrete evidence. Maybe that's why there's a brain drain happening in Canada where a lot of professionals are migrating south. Interesting wouldn't you say?

AE

 

[D.I.T]

AcidETCH,

You're right, the Canadian dental school interviewees don' t get taken for a lunch by D-2 students as some US schools do. But I think you'd be generalizing too much to say that students don't get treated well here in Canada. True, I'd bet big tuition schools like NYU, Tufts, BU, UPENN, and U of Pacific SHOULD be treating students to lunches and organized tours---it's the least that they should do to entice you to pay their tuition. I think Canadian schools don't roll out the red carpet to interviewees simply because they are very selective and don't need to win over their applicants. But once, you're in the faculty you're treated with respect and fairness.

With regards to the interview process, the reason why interviewers don't ask you personal questions about your motivation to enter dentistry is that all Canadian schools have recently (2-3 years ago) switched over to a standardized set of "situation-based " questions. They found that too many students knew beforehand what questions they were going to asked and so had prepared answers for them. Classic ones are "Why do you want to be a dentist" and "What would you do if you saw a fellow dentist performing poor dentistry"? These new questions place you in situations that you've probably never found yourself in before and you have to draw from whatever life experiences you do have to answer the qustions in a appropriate manner. Do these interviews allow you to talk about how many hours you've shadowed a dentist or your research experience? No, but it does show how you can think on your feet (judgement), your ability to adapt to unique situations, and your level of maturity.

Hope that this helped to clear some things up. You may have perceived that you weren't treated well--but I know the interviewers respected the fact that you made it to the interview phase of the competitive selection process in Canada.

 

[AcidETCH]

D.I.T.:

I have no doubt that the faculty treats their students with respect and fairness as I know first hand since my brother is at a Canadian school. As for the situational questions, how many of the applicants do you think have been in situations like the ones asked during interviews? I'm sure that only a handful of people will actually have experience in such situations. For the rest of us, it's time to make something up and hope that it's what they're looking for. I would have hoped that they could balance the types of questions so that they could get a broader perspective on what the candidate is about and what his aspirations are.

Secondly, I think the reason why dental schools in Canada don't roll out the red carpet for their candidates is because they know that there are only a few dental schools in Canada, let alone a province. They don't need to impress highly qualified students because there aren't many dental schools out there to compete for those students. On the other hand, big name schools in the states have to impress the applicants because if they don't, those highly qualified students will just go elsewhere.

AE

 

[mitwa]

i'd have to agree with ae regarding ontario schools especially. i met with the dean of admissions at western ontario to discuss my potentially applying there. i brought along my transcripts etc. etc. he was so rude and arrogent. he pretty much told me that my gpa was too low and would not even be considered for interview. it's not what he had to say it's how he said it. he didn't give me any pointers for improving or encouraging me. instead he tossed my transcript back to me and said i would stick to an american school. not a great impression at all!!!!

 

[SeaBass]

I am a student at a Canadian school. I have heard some good things about the Dalhousie program. I would seriously consider it, especially if it would save you alot of $.

I wouldn't misinterpret your visit there as unwelcoming. You won't find any of these schools spoiling applicants with a fancy reception, lunches, etc., I don't think they have the budget for that kind of thing (hence the lower cost). In addition, none of the schools here are private and aren't really trying to compete with each other for the 'top' applicants. Most of us here were lucky to get an acceptance to one school, let alone multiple, and thus noone is really looking for which school impressed them the most.

So, give it some thought. But if you decide to go to eastern Canada for a couple winters, get a winter parka, a thick thick parka.

 

[D.I.T]

AcidETCH,

Canadian dental schools don't attempt to impress applicants simply because they don't need to--it's actually a privilege for the applicants to be considered for an interview because there are so very few spots available here. There are only 8 English speaking schools here with average acceptance rates of 13%. They don't need to COMPETE for any students...it's the other way around. Schools know that applicants WANT to attend there because they know of the alternatives: high-tuition private US schools.

High-tuition schools such as USC, NYU, and BU have to compete for students because these applicants could spend their money elsewhere. These are the same schools that are accepting applicants after 2 or 3 rounds of acceptance letters. Ever wonder why? It can't be because these applicants are highly qualified and can afford to be choosy. Sorry to sound like such a jerk, but I just think that you have it backwards about the schools competing for students in Canada.

Regards, D.I.T

 

[AcidETCH]

D.I.T.:

First, you gotta relax. No, I don't think you sound like a jerk...you're just really passionate about Canadian schools. That's fine. If you read my post carefully, you'll notice that that's exactly what I said. You just re-iterated it differently.

Mitwa:

I know exactly what you mean. I had the same situation happen to me. So, D.I.T., I'm not the only one who feels like this.

AE

 

[cavalli]

..go to the program that puts you less in the red..

..if you have a choice between the cheap state(or cunuck) school...and an expensive private school

go to the CHEAPER school!

you'll get the same education regardless

 

[gryffindor]

Here at SUNY Buffalo, we get our share of Canadian students. All of them have the same story - couldn't get into a Canadian dental school or didn't even bother b/c they didn't have the stats to be seriously considered. They come to Buffalo b/c it's a little cheaper than a private school, two hours from Toronto, and they can even live in Fort Erie, Canada, and commute to school in Buffalo every day.

But, my point is that two Canadian students that were in my class transferred out to Univ of Toronto and Western Ontario after first year. Apparently transfer spots are really hard to get into the Ontario schools but these students were at the top of our class after first year. They both accepted the transfers to the Ontario schools because of one reason - as Canadians, a Canadian school was waaaaaaay cheaper than any US school. (They were Canadians at heart and would be much happier in Ontario than Buffalo anyways.)

So yeah, go to the Canadian school if you are Canadian. The $$$ you'll save will help you out after 4 years and you can still practice in the US if you want - it's almost like having the best of both worlds. Since the Canadian schools are also ADA accredited, the education they provide must be equally as good as what you'll get over here.

BTW - we went to the Intl. Dental Student Conf (IDSC) in Toronto last year. Conference - yeah right! It was just one huge party all weekend and boy, do those Canadian dental students sure know how to party! There is definitely no IDSC equivalent here in the US. I can't believe the massive numbers of dental students that came in from all the provinces just for one weekend in Toronto. The IDSC is at some Quebec school this year (not McGill, not sure of the name because they started talking and cheering in French when they announced the location). Ask the dental students about it, I'm sure they have to know about this event.

Good luck!