Dental School?

[brainmyhurts]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hey guys,

I know you must get annoying threads like this a lot, but here goes:
I'm just in the process of wrapping up my first year at the University of Alberta, and I really didn't do as well as I'd hoped. I've wanted to be a dentist for the past 7 years or so, and right now, I'm a little worried because my GPA is a little low. I expect to finish my 1st year with a GPA of about 2.7. Honestly, how difficult will it be for me to pull my grades up in order to get to dental school in 3 years? I'm not planning on continuing at the U of A for dentistry, but in general, is there a realistic chance that I'll be able to become a dentist?

Thanks

 

[reapply2007]

No matter what your GPA is, you can always do better or more. This is problematic. Regardless of what your GPA is, you will meet someone with your same GPA who is raising their three brothers in an inner city neighborhood while living behind a grocery store and working as a janitor at an adult book store 30 hours per week at night.

However, GPA is one of the few quantifiable application portions that is under your control. If you are worried that this will sink the rest of your application then work harder to bring it up. It seems as if you need to be at least in the mid 3s to be in the statistical mean of applicants. I've heard Canada has a different GPA scale than the US so I'm not sure how this affects the math.

Also work on the nonquantifiable portions of your application. Perhaps you are URM. Perhaps you want to volunteer somewhere. You could also check the predent forums or use the search function.

 

[Ostracized]

I'm my experience you will need a GPA of at least 3.7 to get into dental school in Canada. I had a 3.5 and I didn't get in until I did a masters degree.

 

[brainmyhurts]

Thanks for your answers, guys.

I'm not planning on going to dental school in Canada, but by no means does that mean that I think the US has less stringent admission requirements. What kind of volunteer work, other than shadowing a dentist can I do to boost my chances of admission in the future? Also, don't know if you guys know, but if I'm applying for dental school in both Canada and the US, do I have to take both DATs? I don't know if it makes a difference as well but I'm a US/Canadian dual citizen (if that makes me exempt from anything/would help my chances at admission).

 

[Ostracized]

Some (5 or 10) American schools will accept the Canadian DAT. No Canadian schools will accept the American DAT.