What are my chances and what can I do? Hoping to get into Canadian Dentistry as a Pre-Med student

[Remaddy]

Hi everyone,

I am trying to apply to Canadian dental school this year but I'm worried about whether or not I have a chance and what I can do to improve my odds. Over the last two years, I have tried to apply to med school in Canada but was unsuccessful in doing so. This year, I am hoping to get into dentistry. However, I do not have any ECs or volunteering experience with dentistry, most of my ECs are mainly health-related (ie hospitals, walk-in clinics, etc). Do I need any shadowing experiences with dentists? I am hoping to apply to write the DAT in November and apply in December 2020 for entry in 2021, so I won't be able to do any year-long dentistry work (if this is essential to get in). If I do any shadowing, it would have to be between now to Nov/Dec (but with COVID-19, it's even harder to find placements.

I really do want to get into dentistry this year. I would really appreciate any advice on what I can do so that I have a fighting chance to pursue dentistry. Also, has anyone been in a similar situation (from medicine to dentistry or lack of dent experience), but you were able to get in, what did you do???

Thanks everyone

-From a very, worried student

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[Quinque]

I’m not sure how it works in Canada (US student here), but shadowing dentists is pretty standard when applying to dental school.

Also applying to medical schools twice will hurt your chances at some schools. A couple dentists I shadowed told me that dental admissions are trying to get away from idea that dental school is a backup for med school just because the gpa requirement is lower. So accepting a failed med school applicant only fuels the whole perception of dental school is for people not cut to be med students//not a real doctor stigma

 

[Hi Just Lurking]

Hi everyone,

I am trying to apply to Canadian dental school this year but I'm worried about whether or not I have a chance and what I can do to improve my odds. Over the last two years, I have tried to apply to med school in Canada but was unsuccessful in doing so. This year, I am hoping to get into dentistry. However, I do not have any ECs or volunteering experience with dentistry, most of my ECs are mainly health-related (ie hospitals, walk-in clinics, etc). Do I need any shadowing experiences with dentists? I am hoping to apply to write the DAT in November and apply in December 2020 for entry in 2021, so I won't be able to do any year-long dentistry work (if this is essential to get in). If I do any shadowing, it would have to be between now to Nov/Dec (but with COVID-19, it's even harder to find placements.

I really do want to get into dentistry this year. I would really appreciate any advice on what I can do so that I have a fighting chance to pursue dentistry. Also, has anyone been in a similar situation (from medicine to dentistry or lack of dent experience), but you were able to get in, what did you do???

Thanks everyone

-From a very, worried student

Hello, applying in December is so late that I would consider it a waste of time/money.

 

[TheBookCookout]

You might get some more help with your situation if you post more about your stats/experiences. There's helpful format that floats around on the WAMC board, so maybe give that a look and come back. It's hard to recommend you a course of action if nobody knows what we're working with.

I decided on dentistry within the last year, and I just applied a few months back. It's definitely possible to do in a relatively short period of time. Your hardest task is going to be convincing admissions that dentistry isn't a last-minute backup plan. Like the above said, you have to prove that your "interest" isn't just due to the fact that you couldn't get into med school.

That process may possibly take longer than the four months between now and December. I'm a US applicant, so take my advice with a grain of salt, but I would imagine the process is relatively similar. My advice is to get involved with dentistry as much as possible! Shadow, try to find a job in an office, volunteer in dental clinics, network with professionals, and do whatever else pertinent to the feild. Make sure to kill the DAT, and keep that GPA high if you're still in school. I'm sure you know that the Canadian schools are wildly competitive with their stats.