Dentistry Advice

[INeedUrHelp]

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Hello everyone,

I am currently in my 5th year of university in Alberta (Canada). I completed three years of sciences before moving onto pharmacy. In my first two years, I did not take university serious and my grades were not the best.

Year 1- 3.1 (7 courses- 21 credits)
Year 2- 3.2 (10 courses- 30 credits)
Year 3 - 3.9 (10 courses- 30 credits)

I completed all of my pre-requirements and gained admission to pharmacy in Alberta.
In pharmacy, my grades have slightly dropped but are quite strong considering the program

Year 1- 3.6
Year 2, Semester 1- 3.6

Cumulatively, my GPA is greater than 3.5.

I hate pharmacy and want to move into density. I have been drawn to the career by a family member and friends. I was wondering if grades were good enough to get into accredited schools in the states, what schools that may be, and if these schools remove your lowest year when calculating GPA.

Also, if someone can please give me advice on what is the best way to study for the American DAT (ie) what is the best books to use and the best method to prep.

Thanks for the help!

 

[cmF]

I'm not at an admissions expert, but if I were looking at your application, I'd be hesitant to accept someone who dropped out of another program. That spot could have been filled by someone else willing to go the distance (and pay the tuition). That would be my primary concern rather than your DAT score.

You should probably start by shadowing 4-5 dentists and making absolutely sure that's what you what to do. Again, if I were admissions, and I see you've got 200+ hours of shadowing on your application, I'd be less inclined to doubt your willingness to complete the program. A strong personal statement about why you made the switch would emphasize this as well.

The DAT would be the last thing I would focus on (your obviously smart and able to do well). But, your shadowing and personal statement are probably worth developing more as that's going to make the biggest difference IMO. Best of luck to you and keep everyone posted.

 

[teethlover3]

For information about the DAT and such, many helpful threads are already here on sdn. I suggest you use the search bar located on the top right-hand corner. You can search for anything you have questions about in terms of dentistry.

You may want to start with this one: http://forums.sdn.net/showthread.php?t=992975

 

[INeedUrHelp]

Ya biggest mistake ever going into Pharmacy. More something that was forced on me and I went with it rather than a passion... But whatever now...

I do have the opportunity to shadow and I don't know how big a deal it is to leave a professional program. They changed pharmacy to grades based from pass/fail because students wanted to change programs. Each year, a few students apply to different programs and majority are successful.

I guess what I am really wondering is if my grades are good enough?

And thanks for the link... I've been looking at old links and finding them pretty helpful