Took the Canadian DAT in November

[ronzroyce97]

I recently took the Canadian DAT in November and got these scores.
Reading comp: 20
BIOL: 18
Chem: 17
Sci Total: 18
Academic Average: 18
PAT: 14
MDT: 6

This was my first time taking the DAT, and I went into it with zero preparation, based off these scores alone do you think there is any chance I could make it into a Canadian Dental school or should I retake the DAT in February and actually prepare properly this time.

My GPA right now is at 3.7, but by the time i finish it'll probably be around 3.8-3.9ish

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[TherealnorthOMFS]

No chance. Canadian Dental schools are among the most competitive on the planet, not because they are amazing but simply because we have too many qualified applicants and too little seats. You should retake and and aim to score 20+ across the board. And if you are applying to Alberta, MDT needs to be quite high.

 

[tiper15]

Definitely retake. If you can do that with zero preparation you can probably do a lot better with actual preparation. Your GPA of a 3.8-3.9 is competitive but you want your DAT to be at least 21+ for Canadian schools. Also depends on where your residency is; Ontario is the worst.

Also premed101 tends to have more Canadians if you want specific help.

 

[887194]

18AA is too low for Canada, even for the USA its quite low and a re-take is needed. Just take the time to prepare well and you will do well.

 

[FeralisExtremum]

This was my first time taking the DAT, and I went into it with zero preparation

Why?

 

[TherealnorthOMFS]

Why?

sometimes people do that to "test out the waters" or see what it's like. I did that also but I strongly urge against it as I look back.

 

[tiper15]

Why?

Also tends to happen that because the date tends to fall around midterm season people who haven't taken it before misjudge time and don't prepare enough or at all for it by the time it comes around.
Happened to me for the Nov dat this year haha

 

[ronzroyce97]

Also tends to happen that because the date tends to fall around midterm season people who haven't taken it before misjudge time and don't prepare enough or at all for it by the time it comes around.
Happened to me for the Nov dat this year haha

Yes this right here. I had four midterms in the two weeks leading up to the exam. Its okay though, no schools will ever see those scores because I made sure that these scores I got were not sent out to any schools. At least I'm hoping they won't see the scores :/. Anyways though I'm gonna work my ass for this next DAT and I'm gonna have a lot more time to study, since the exam is going to be held during reading week. 🙂

 

[887194]

Yes this right here. I had four midterms in the two weeks leading up to the exam. Its okay though, no schools will ever see those scores because I made sure that these scores I got were not sent out to any schools. At least I'm hoping they won't see the scores :/. Anyways though I'm gonna work my ass for this next DAT and I'm gonna have a lot more time to study, since the exam is going to be held during reading week. 🙂

Schools will be able to see all attempts if i'm not mistaken.

 

[ronzroyce97]

Schools will be able to see all attempts if i'm not mistaken.

I dunno because I checked on their website and it says that unless you actually ask for your scores to be sent, the schools will not be able to see the scores, a few days after I wrote the DAT I emailed them saying that I do not want my scores sent out and I got response saying that they won't send them out, so unless the universities themselves can request the scores I don't think they'll be able to see the score I got. And besides most universities I think just take your best scores anyways.

 

[887194]

I dunno because I checked on their website and it says that unless you actually ask for your scores to be sent, the schools will not be able to see the scores, a few days after I wrote the DAT I emailed them saying that I do not want my scores sent out and I got response saying that they won't send them out, so unless the universities themselves can request the scores I don't think they'll be able to see the score I got. And besides most universities I think just take your best scores anyways.

If i'm not mistaken, I believe that the next time you take it and ask them to send the scores out, they will see your past attempts and scores (Unless you there is a function that says don't count it like the mcat - I don't remember). But yes, to my knowledge schools will consider your highest score however, its not ideal to have multiple DAT attempts. It's not a big deal though. I would focus on improving your score and you will be fine.

 

[ronzroyce97]

If i'm not mistaken, I believe that the next time you take it and ask them to send the scores out, they will see your past attempts and scores (Unless you there is a function that says don't count it like the mcat - I don't remember). But yes, to my knowledge schools will consider your highest score however, its not ideal to have multiple DAT attempts. It's not a big deal though. I would focus on improving your score and you will be fine.

That's the plan! My goal is to have a 3.8-3.9 GPA by the time I finish and hopefully score +20 on all sections in February. I don't think Canada requires shadowing but I have 100 hours of that too! I think I have a real possibility of making it into a Canadian Dental school, hopefully I don't have to go to the USA

 

[887194]

That's the plan! My goal is to have a 3.8-3.9 GPA by the time I finish and hopefully score +20 on all sections in February. I don't think Canada requires shadowing but I have 100 hours of that too! I think I have a real possibility of making it into a Canadian Dental school, hopefully I don't have to go to the USA

I would say aim for a 22AA+ That would be ideal. Paired with your gpa, this would make you a strong candidate and give you many good options in the states should Canada not work out.

 

[ronzroyce97]

I would say aim for a 22AA+ That would be ideal. Paired with your gpa, this would make you a strong candidate and give you many good options in the states should Canada not work out.

Yes, the only issue I have with the USA is money. Most schools out there are 300k-500k usd, and I'd only be able to come up with 350k CAD, and I won't be able to get a loan in the USA cause I don't have a US co-signer.

 

[ronzroyce97]

Definitely retake. If you can do that with zero preparation you can probably do a lot better with actual preparation. Your GPA of a 3.8-3.9 is competitive but you want your DAT to be at least 21+ for Canadian schools. Also depends on where your residency is; Ontario is the worst.

Also premed101 tends to have more Canadians if you want specific help.

whats the company name for backpacks? LMAO i can't figure it out to signup

 

[doc toothache]

No chance. Canadian Dental schools are among the most competitive on the planet, not because they are amazing but simply because we have too many qualified applicants and too little seats. You should retake and and aim to score 20+ across the board. And if you are applying to Alberta, MDT needs to be quite high.

Is this a bombastic claims or are you genuinely knowledgeable with the dental education of the roughly 195 countries? Do you know the ratio of applicants to enrollees ratio for Canada?
Canadian DS-The Hoopla over "HIGH" Admission Stats-Part II
2011 Canadia DS GPA-DAT

 

[TherealnorthOMFS]

Is this a bombastic claims or are you genuinely knowledgeable with the dental education of the roughly 195 countries? Do you know the ratio of applicants to enrollees ratio for Canada?
Canadian DS-The Hoopla over "HIGH" Admission Stats-Part II
2011 Canadia DS GPA-DAT

Obviously I am no ADCOM nor do I represent any CDA authority, furthermore, my post was borderline 'humerus' (<- Sorry I couldn't resist). Having said that, Canada, and Ontario specifically, is one of the more difficult places for one to pursue a healthcare profession, be it medicine or dentistry. To give you some numbers, we have 2 dental schools in Ontario, the University of Toronto and Western University. Between the two schools there are approximately 170 seats only, therefore the supply is very limited. Western University publishes their admittance stats for the class of 2021: Mean GPA is ~89% which translates into a high 3.9 (for 56 seats) to go with an average of 21AA/22RC (56 applicants are admitted out of ~550-600 applicants). Btw, they look at RC and RC only when deciding who to invite for an interview, and they only consider AA for post interview admittance decision (I have 23 AA which is top 2 percentile, but due to my 18 RC, I have zero chance practically for an interview there). I couldn't find stats published by UofT, but according to multiple friends that are in the class of 2020 and 2021, they said that the average GPA is around 3.92-3.93. Ontario has a wealth of qualified applicants that are more than competent, as a result the recent standards have been quite high, and they keep rising year after year. For example, Last year a sizable amount of applicants with 23-25 AA and well over 3.9 GPA got rejected or wait-listed at U of T. Finally applying OOP (OOS), is quite far-fetch as the other 9 D-schools from the other provinces either do not allow OOP students or have a couple seats available (the most I've seen was around 6 at Manitoba and UBC, but i could be wrong). The number of Canadian students pursuing dentistry in the U.S., especially those coming from Ontario, is a testament to the limited amount of opportunity and the large amount of qualified applicants that we have here. Hopefully this provides a little bit more context as I didn't intend to project a false image (yes my "most competitive on the planet" proclamation was an exaggeration).

Cheers Doc.

 

[ronzroyce97]

Obviously I am no ADCOM nor do I represent any CDA authority, furthermore, my post was borderline 'humerus' (<- Sorry I couldn't resist). Having said that, Canada, and Ontario specifically, is one of the more difficult places for one to pursue a healthcare profession, be it medicine or dentistry. To give you some numbers, we have 2 dental schools in Ontario, the University of Toronto and Western University. Between the two schools there are approximately 170 seats only, therefore the supply is very limited. Western University publishes their admittance stats for the class of 2021: Mean GPA is ~89% which translates into a high 3.9 (for 56 seats) to go with an average of 21AA/22RC (56 applicants are admitted out of ~550-600 applicants). Btw, they look at RC and RC only when deciding who to invite for an interview, and they only consider AA for post interview admittance decision (I have 23 AA which is top 2 percentile, but due to my 18 RC, I have zero chance practically for an interview there). I couldn't find stats published by UofT, but according to multiple friends that are in the class of 2020 and 2021, they said that the average GPA is around 3.92-3.93. Ontario has a wealth of qualified applicants that are more than competent, as a result the recent standards have been quite high, and they keep rising year after year. For example, Last year a sizable amount of applicants with 23-25 AA and well over 3.9 GPA got rejected or wait-listed at U of T. Finally applying OOP (OOS), is quite far-fetch as the other 9 D-schools from the other provinces either do not allow OOP students or have a couple seats available (the most I've seen was around 6 at Manitoba and UBC, but i could be wrong). The number of Canadian students pursuing dentistry in the U.S., especially those coming from Ontario, is a testament to the limited amount of opportunity and the large amount of qualified applicants that we have here. Hopefully this provides a little bit more context, and yes my "most competitive on the planet" proclamation was an exaggeration.

Cheers.

Yeah you pretty much summed up the struggle of us Canadian students :')

 

[887194]

Yes, the only issue I have with the USA is money. Most schools out there are 300k-500k usd, and I'd only be able to come up with 350k CAD, and I won't be able to get a loan in the USA cause I don't have a US co-signer.

There are ways to get more than 350k (you need to know the bank system and use a loop hole). I will be releasing a guide some time early next year on these things.

 

[ronzroyce97]

There are ways to get more than 350k (you need to know the bank system and use a loop hole). I will be releasing a guide some time early next year on these things.

I'd like to hear more about this 😀

 

[doc toothache]

Obviously I am no ADCOM nor do I represent any CDA authority, furthermore, my post was borderline 'humerus' (<- Sorry I couldn't resist). Having said that, Canada, and Ontario specifically, is one of the more difficult places for one to pursue a healthcare profession, be it medicine or dentistry. To give you some numbers, we have 2 dental schools in Ontario, the University of Toronto and Western University. Between the two schools there are approximately 170 seats only, therefore the supply is very limited. Western University publishes their admittance stats for the class of 2021: Mean GPA is ~89% which translates into a high 3.9 (for 56 seats) to go with an average of 21AA/22RC (56 applicants are admitted out of ~550-600 applicants). Btw, they look at RC and RC only when deciding who to invite for an interview, and they only consider AA for post interview admittance decision (I have 23 AA which is top 2 percentile, but due to my 18 RC, I have zero chance practically for an interview there). I couldn't find stats published by UofT, but according to multiple friends that are in the class of 2020 and 2021, they said that the average GPA is around 3.92-3.93. Ontario has a wealth of qualified applicants that are more than competent, as a result the recent standards have been quite high, and they keep rising year after year. For example, Last year a sizable amount of applicants with 23-25 AA and well over 3.9 GPA got rejected or wait-listed at U of T. Finally applying OOP (OOS), is quite far-fetch as the other 9 D-schools from the other provinces either do not allow OOP students or have a couple seats available (the most I've seen was around 6 at Manitoba and UBC, but i could be wrong). The number of Canadian students pursuing dentistry in the U.S., especially those coming from Ontario, is a testament to the limited amount of opportunity and the large amount of qualified applicants that we have here. Hopefully this provides a little bit more context as I didn't intend to project a false image (yes my "most competitive on the planet" proclamation was an exaggeration).

Cheers Doc.

The number of seats available has absolutely nothing to do with the degree of competitiveness. Ignoring this for a moment, the ratio of applicants/enrollees for Western is ~10. By contrast, there are six US dental schools of applicants to enrollees ratios of less than 10 and one with 10. The range is 5 to 41 with a mean of ~21. By far, Western has the best record of the Canadian dental schools of pre dental education with 2 enrollees with a Ph.D., 15 with a Master, 29 with Honour, and 4 with B.S.. What metric(s) schools use to determine ranking of students for interviews or acceptances is an irrelevant criterion. RC scores as predictive value for first year dental school grades in bio medical sciences rates behind total gpa, science gpa, DAT scores in biology, general chemistry, organic, survey of natural science and academic average; for preclinical operative technique it rates behind total gpa, science gpa, organic, survey of natural science, perceptual ability and academic average; and for first year gpa it rates behind total and science gpa, biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, survey of natural science and academic average. Incidentally, according to their website: "Note: Effective the 2017-18 application cycle for entry in September 2018 all sections of the DAT test may be considered in the selection process with the exception of the Manual Dexterity section." A 23, irrespective of an RC score is no guarantee of acceptance to any dental school in the US or Canada. Evidence provided by the ADA suggests that roughly 8% of applicants with the highest range of gpa and DAT scores do not gain admission to any dental school in the country. A similar and more poignant tidbit is found from the AMA which shows that more than 10% of applicants with a gpa greater than 3.79 and MCAT scores greater than 517 do not gain acceptances. Stay tuned for more on the subject on the next installment of Canadian DS: The Hoopla over HIGH Admission Stats, coming soon to a screen near you.
https://www.aamc.org/download/321508/data/factstablea23.pdf