Future Trends

[UMDeeMan]

I'm just curious here, everyone says trends will increase. is there going to be a max trend anywhere here??? or will everyone have to get 3.8-4.0's with 22+ DAT to be competitive in say 5 years?? some say pre-meds are switching to dental due to being underpaid and overworked, well won't that lower the standard for med school admissions then, thus creating Dschool admissions as the most competitive??I'm just wondering here cause I personally think the trend is about capped out at around 3.5/3.6 for the avg gpa. honestly, if you have a higher gpa you would apply to med school.

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[The Musketeer]

Just imagine that you will get a similar situation in U.S. in a couple of years as do you now in Canada - competitive dental/professional applicants: 3.8+ GPA and 22+ DAT.

 

[scandalouslj]

I dont really think its a thing to do with how high your GPA is. True a lot of med students that dont have the igher GPA's or dont get into Med school apply to dental school. But I dont think most people that are originally interested in dentistry are like oh my GPA is too high for dental school I should apply to med school instead. A lot more people are getting in dentistry sooner now instead of seeing it as an alternative due to all the pluses of dentistry and a lot of the minuses in Medicine. In my undergrad alone we almost had more kids applying for Dental than Med, and this is at a school of 30,000 undergrads. A lot of this is due to the greater interest in dentistry and the mroe respect dentists are getting. A few of my friends were Pre-med my fresman year, but switched to Pre-dent after talking to me. They didnt say oh my GPA is a 3.9 so I should do med school.

 

[LestatZinnie]

just like musketeer said...move up to Canada and we'll see what you have to say about GPA and dental schools.

The avg entrance GPA at Canadian schools are already AT LEAST at your theoretical maximum of 3.6. At the University of Toronto, the lowest GPA they accepted last year was 3.62 (according to another forum)

The entrance GPA for dental schools and med schools in Canada are pretty much the same- except med schools are usually pickier about extracurricular activities, etc.

Just imagine only State dental schools exist in the US- you guys would get the exact same situation. Just count your blessings there are still private institutions to dilute the competition in USA.

 

[UMDeeMan]

yeah, i'm just wondering cause when i apply (entering fall 2007) my gpa will be around 3.3-3.4. and that's with a low ass first year. since the first year it's been 3.7 and higher. i just hope a positive trend with a decent final gpa (3.3 range), good DAT (20+), shadowing and research (during 1 year hiatus between undergrad and dentals school) will be able to get me in.

 

[3rdMolarRoller]

Someone told me that the Canadian dental schools only look at your two best undergrad years...is that true???

If the US would close a bunch of schools, the GPA would go up also. Canada has very few dental schools, hence why the GPA is up

I know some people that want the GPA to go up so that they could brag about how hard it was to get in...who cares! Be happy its lower and that you will have a chance to pursue something you love instead of having some Med change over to dentistry as a next best alternative.

 

[JRogoff]

^^^^^

Don't worry so much about trends. You have to look out for yourself and not worry about what everyone elses stats are like. All you can do is do the best you can in your remaining classes and rock the DAT. You seem so parinoid about what stats are going to be like in a couple of years, RELAX! Yes the trend in stats are rising, but no one can predict the future. Maybe they will taper off. If you really need to know what stats are going to be like in the future I suggest you consult Mrs. Cleo

 

[aphistis]

All graduate & professional school applications have a history of cycling with the economy. When the job market is hot, more people are drawn to that & graduate education is less competitive. When things are more sluggish, like they have been for the last few years, the competition rises sharply.

 

[blankguy]

I just wish that the job market improves. It's long overdue for an improvement. This is like the 3rd year that it has been like this

A thing I've been wondering is how much the labor market has influenced the number of applicants to dental school. It has been picking up even without the sluggish job market.