private schools and Canadians

[howdysir]

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Hey everyone, I'm a second year undergrad student from Toronto, Canada and as some of you know getting into a Canadian dental school is extremely difficult. My GPA is 3.53, and I haven't taken my DAT yet, but I intend on applying to American schools only.

My question is this. Can I write the American DAT in Buffalo, NY? Also, I am aware that as an international applicant I have a much better chance at being accepted at a private school.
If possible, can you name me all the private schools in the US? I'm sure there aren't that many, but I'd like to apply to them all to maximize my chances. Do many Canadians get into private schools?
Do many Canadians get into other state schools? If so please tell me which ones.
Thank you for your help and God Bless America!

🙂

 

[Buckyball]

Hello howdysir,

After a long stent of not posting..... I'm back!

I am a 2nd year student at Columbia U, and also went to UofT for undergrad. I also didn't apply to any Canadian schools because I needed to get away from home.

I wrote the DAT in Buffalo, NY at the Sylvan learning centre... forgot which one, but i think there's only one main one that tests for the DAT (hope i got the name right).

You are in second year, so I assume because of your interest, you'd like to get out with a 3 year degree? I think it's a good suggestion ONLY if you are sure you want to do Dentistry. It's highly demanding and stressful, but the rewards at the end are fruitful (i hope!)

As for the private schools in the U.S., do a search in Google (www.google.com) and you should find your answer.... there are many private schools, but they are expensive. The likelihood of getting into a private school is honestly slim, but you might have a good chance at Buffalo. So, definitely apply there!

Let me know if you have any more questions, and good luck!

Bucky

 

[boyan]

Go for:
Univ. of the Pacific; Nova; Indiana; Univ. of Louisville; Boston Univ.; Tufts; Creighton; Columbia; NYU; Buffalo; Case; Penn; Univ. of Pitt; Temple; Marquette

Don?t even think about:
Alabama; Univ. of Florida; Georgia; UIC; Iowa; Louisiana state; Univ. of Mississippi; New Jersey; Stony Brook; Ohio state; Oregon; and the schools in Texas

 

[howdysir]

Thanks for your replies.
Bucky, how come my chances are slim at getting into a private school? I thought that that would be my best shot at getting in. What were your stats when you applied? I also looked into the pricing for private schools vs. state schools and the differences is not so overwhelming, so I think I can handle that.
Boyan, are all the ones you listed Canadian friendly schools because if they are I want to apply to them all.
I'm glad I don't have to do soap carving for the Canadian DAT, it looks difficult.
Does anyone else think I have a slim chance of getting into a private school?😱

 

[Bickle]

Originally posted by howdysir

I'm glad I don't have to do soap carving for the Canadian DAT, it looks difficult.
Does anyone else think I have a slim chance of getting into a private school?😱

I think you have a really good chance of getting into a private school. That is if your keep you GPA up. You may have a harder time applying without an undergrad degree, so that is what buckyball might be referring to.

If you keep your GPA where it is, I think you should give canadian schools a shot. And the canadian dat is A LOT easier than the US dat. The soap carving is tough, but I'd rather do that than the US dat. Also, many US private schools will accept the canadian dat, but some do not. Make sure you research a school before you apply.

Are you planning on finishing your undergrad degree or are you going to apply once you complete all of your pre-reqs? FYI you have to have a stellar gpa and dat scores to be considered if you have no undergrad gpa.

Good luck.

 

[Bickle]

Originally posted by boyan
Go for:
Univ. of the Pacific; Nova; Indiana; Univ. of Louisville; Boston Univ.; Tufts; Creighton; Columbia; NYU; Buffalo; Case; Penn; Univ. of Pitt; Temple; Marquette

adding USC and UDM to this list

 

[boyan]

Schools dont care if you are Canadian or French or German. They look at you as international. What they care about is if you have the funds to pay them. If you are canadian it means that you most probably will be able to find the money compared to someone from Albania. However if you are compared to someone international whos family is here in US but he couldnt get the green card due to some reasons then you'll probably be their second choice. Its all about money here... You must apply to the schools above. With your GPA and a good DAT (18-19 not like most people here will tell you 21-22) you will get accepted for sure.

 

[Bickle]

Originally posted by boyan
. However if you are compared to someone international whos family is here in US but he cound get the green card due to some reasons then you'll be probably their second choice

I talked to someone at the Tufts International student center. She told me that if you are a Canadian citizen getting a student visa is a cinch and does not take very long.

So unless you have ties to some terrorist organization, a canadian will have no problem getting a student visa for dental school.

 

[howdysir]

I do have the funds to pay them because my dad is a dentist.

So from what I read I learned that I can write the American DAT and should apply to the schools you mentioned, but I seriously doubt that the American DAT is harder than the Canadian DAT, it is essentially the same thing, with similar, if not the same questions with the exception of a quantitave and organic chem section instead of carving. There is a quantitative analysis section right?

If I went to a Canadian school I'd be paying about 175 G's for the four years (in Canadian dollars), and if I went to an American private school I'd be paying about 330 G's Canadian, so it's about twice as much, but money is not an issue for me, I'm just concerned with acceptance.

 

[Bickle]

Originally posted by howdysir

So from what I read I learned that I can write the American DAT and should apply to the schools you mentioned, but I seriously doubt that the American DAT is harder than the Canadian DAT, it is essentially the same thing, with similar, if not the same questions with the exception of a quantitave and organic chem section instead of carving. There is a quantitative analysis section right?

I guess its just personal preference. I hated organic chemistry in undergrad, so I was VERY grateful that the Canadian DAT did not include it. Also, the US dat is computerized. This makes the PAT section a little more challenging (from what I hear). If I were you, I would write the Canadian version, but in the end its up to you.

Any yes, I believe there is a quantitative section on the US dat.

 

[howdysir]

I'm taking organic chem right now and I'm ok with it, but if there was physics on the American DAT forget it, that's one subject I dread along with calculus, good thing dental school is not like optometry school which has many courses that are based on calculus and physics. I considered optometry as a backup choice to dentistry but when I learned about the heavy emphasis on physics then that ruled out that backup, now I'm just focusing on dentistry, and I will apply to every school I can, in the US, because Canadian schools especially in Ontario are known to reject people often with GPA's in the 3.8+ range, and below a 3.6 will not get me in guaranteed. At U of T the GPA ranges from 3.6 to 4.0, I asked.

 

[gryffindor]

The Sylvan center here in Buffalo is located in the town of Amherst. Adrdress - 4927 Main Street, Amherst, NY 14226. Their number is (716)565-0572. I took my GRE exam there and they are the only Sylvan around, so I'm assuming it's the same place Buckyball was referring to.

 

[Buckyball]

Originally posted by howdysir
Thanks for your replies.
Bucky, how come my chances are slim at getting into a private school? I thought that that would be my best shot at getting in. >>

Howdysir..... I'm sorry.... I meant to say "Public" or state schools are hard to get into..... slimmer chance than a Private school..... been a rough day.... didn't edit my post that well!

Have a good new year's!

Bucky

 

[Dr.BadVibes]

Hey Howdy...like Dentaldream said, I would advise you to take the Canadian DAT because you are only 2nd year, and if you could pull your GPA higher and get a good DAT, you could get into a Canadian school....better be safe! Most American schools will take the Canadian DAT....and these are the schools you will be able to gain acceptence too, so take the Canadian DAT.....these schools are obviously the expensive private schools. You are lucky you have your rich daddy to pay for it. So you have no worries....but I would look into Canadian schools....to you it may only be a easy 175K and Americans are only 350K, but try and be considerate and save your dad some money richboy! 😀

Trust me dude...u have no worries about dental school....you will get in...I have a 3.15 from UofT and I got in! You're golden!

 

[howdysir]

I guess I should be taking the Canadian DAT since everyone is telling me to...
avingupta, in your opinion which are the best American schools to apply to? I'm only going to apply to the private ones because I know I have the best shot at those, but some of the schools named earlier are not private I don't think, so tell me all the private schools in the US so I can apply to all except for that religious one in California, that's not for me.
I will miss the leafs, but it's a sacrifice I have to make, I think I'll enjoy the US though.

 

[gryffindor]

If you maintain your 3.5 GPA, I wouldn't rule out the state schools that Boyan & Dentaldream listed. You'd be surprised at the number of Canadian students that get into places like Indiana, Pitt, & Buffalo (my school). Quite a few, and obviously they're there b/c they had good grades & DAT, but not ridiculous enough to get into Canadian schools. With Buffalo being so close to the border, our Canadians like that they can go home to Toronto (or wherever in Ontario they're from) more frequently. Seems like the Canadian students really long for Canada, they claim somethings are just better there. We even have some dental students who live in Fort Erie & commute to Buffalo each day, that's how much they love Canada (although I wouldn't recommend that option).

You could still catch the Leafs games, especially when they play our Sabres in Buffalo. 😀

 

[howdysir]

Does anyone know how many international students, and more specifically Canadian students, attend dental school per year?
I read somewhere that there are about 4400 students enrolled each year in dental schools across the US and about 340 are international students. That seems like a large amount of international students, I wonder how many of those are Canadian, and I also wonder what the ratio of applied:admitted is.
If anyone knows please fill me in, I know it's a bit specific so I'm not expecting such great answers. 🙄 🙂

 

[Bickle]

this is straight from Tufts' website:

Geographical Distribution of the Tufts Entering Class of 2005:

West Coast ? 31% (CA, HI, OR, WA)
New England ? 17% (CT, MA, ME, NH, ME)
New York/New Jersey ? 10%
Southern Region ? 14% (AL, FL, GA, MS, NC, PR, TN)
Mid-Atlantic Region ? 4% (OH, PA, VA)
Western Region ? 8% (AZ, ID, NV, NM, TX, UT)
Mid West ? 3% (IL, MO, OK, WI)
Foreign ? 9% (Bahamas, Canada, Indonesia, Korea, Malawi, Morocco)

 

[Woodsy]

Take the Canadian DAT, you can't go wrong since most schools in the US accept the Canadian DAT except UCLA, UCSF and some others, but for East Coast most of them are cool with it and so are most private schools.

Soap carving...I honestly don't know how many American schools even take that component seriously( anyone know?)

I too am a Canadian applicant and I can relate to how hard it is to get into Canada.

I'm not sure if this is the case or not but a good reason why there aren't more Canadians in the US schools could be because not so much that they are international as compared to not having or not willing to pay the cash required.

The ones who get into Canada, stay in Canada, only a small portion of ppl in Canada are willing to pay such amounts for dental school in the USA and that might be why. Because theoretically, private schools don't care who they take so long as you have good stats, more or less.

 

[howdysir]

Dentaldream, do you know how many people are admitted each year to Tuft's? That way I can calculate how many international students there are. I understand that the number of international students enrolled in private schools could be anywhere from 0-100% although it is usually closer to around 10% as youve shown.

One thing I don't understand is this. The issue of cost should not be an issue at all even though you may pay twice as much as a Canadian going to a US private school instead of a Canadian school. Of course paying twice as much should be avoided when possible, but I can tell you from my own personal experience as being the son of a dentist that dentists make a lot of money and a person with no money can just get a loan and pay it off when they're a dentist. Money should never be an issue, because whether you pay 175 k or 350 k you'll make it back soon, so it's not a problem.

I could be wrong, but just my two cents. 🙂

 

[Dr.BadVibes]

Hey richboy,

Here are the private schools on the east coast u have a shot at:

NYU, BU, Temple, Nova, Tufts, Columbia, Penn, Pitts, Case, Detroit

But like griffin said, your grades are probably good enough to get into some state schools (DAT pending) such as Buffalo, Indiana, UConn, Michigan, etc.

By the way, 350K Canadian only applies to some US schools....schools such as BU and NYU are 300K AMERICAN....oh yah, but you got your dentist daddy to pay for it. Lemme guess, since you wanna be a dentist like your daddy, Im sure you probably wear you pants up high with your polo shirt at the country club with your dad, eh? Your daddy must be so proud of you....hehehe...Just teasing...

Like you I would miss the Leafs, but like griffin said I would goto a city where it would be cool to watch the Leafs play such as Philly, Buffalo, Detroit, etc. I watched a Leaf Game at Madison Square Garden last month during my NYU interview and it was great wearing the Leaf jersey and get heckled at! (BTW, LEafs won)

As for the actual Number of Canadians in dental school, each year it varies according to the applicant pool, but looking at my ADEA book from 2002, here are a few sample numbers:

School (total # of students/# of Canadians enrolled)
UConn (41/2)
Nova (95/2)
Boston (115/7)
Tufts (154/8)
NYU (241/10)
Case (70/7)
Penn (94/3)
Temple (125/5)

Hope that helps!

 

[howdysir]

I don't appreciate your snotty comments, you seem like a drugged out punk with a low GPA and low self esteem...

 

[howdysir]

Do you have anymore stats from other schools in terms of total number and number of Canadians?

 

[Dr.BadVibes]

I don't appreciate your snotty comments, you seem like a drugged out punk with a low GPA and low self esteem...

I may have a lower GPA than you, but Ill bet your daddys country club membership that I have done much more in my life so far than you.

BTW, what other schools were u interested in knowing the number of Canadians?

 

[howdysir]

any other schools you have info on will be great thanks.

 

[Thaxil]

UDM seem a bit friendly to you Canadians. The interviewer stated to me that 7 of 75 of last year?s class were Canadian. Also, I did some research for you and found that the Canadian DAT is acceptable.