Why is the average GPA for the entering class of Western University (CA) so low?

[Roy Williams]

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So I'm still getting my school list together for the ones I'm going to apply to. I noticed on the ADEA handbook thing that the average oGPA and sGPA for Western is 3.26 and 3.16, respectively. I thought this may have been an error, so I called them up, and those are accurate.

So I guess I'm just wondering what the deal is. Is Western a good dental school/super easy to get in? I really just don't know anything about it.

 

[pgex2t]

Western is a good school; they emphasize aspects of the application other than GPA and DAT. It isn't uncommon for those with stats far beyond their reported averages to not get interviewed.

 

[Roy Williams]

Western is a good school; they emphasize aspects of the application other than GPA and DAT. It isn't uncommon for those with stats far beyond their reported averages to not get interviewed.

Awesome, thanks for the insight. I honestly just had no idea.

 

[1passbbsSHAVE]

Western is a good school; they emphasize aspects of the application other than GPA and DAT. It isn't uncommon for those with stats far beyond their reported averages to not get interviewed.

I guess lower stat schools somehow give advantage to average to low stat students thinking that if the offers are made to highly qualified applicants, they will eventually withdraw from their school and go to other schools. But western U's stats seem really low compared to most schools. The numbers almost give an illusion that it is a breeze to get into dental school, which it is not. I applied to Western and didn't get an interview even though my GPA is slightly higher than their average and DAT is 3~4 higher than their average. It all depends on what they are looking for.

 

[Roy Williams]

I guess lower stat schools somehow give advantage to average to low stat students thinking that if the offers are made to highly qualified applicants, they will eventually withdraw from their school and go to other schools. But western U's stats seem really low compared to most schools. The numbers almost give an illusion that it is a breeze to get into dental school, which it is not. I applied to Western and didn't get an interview even though my GPA is slightly higher than their average and DAT is 3~4 higher than their average. It all depends on what they are looking for.

Yeah I really just didn't know much at all about that school, but it seems like an awesome area. And after all the research I've done on it today I'm thinking I might add it to the list I'm applying to. Those numbers just threw me off a bit.

 

[nonociceptors]

Yeah I really just didn't know much at all about that school, but it seems like an awesome area. And after all the research I've done on it today I'm thinking I might add it to the list I'm applying to. Those numbers just threw me off a bit.

Did your research include cost? lol Western is a great school but I'm sure people with higher stats get into their cheaper state schools and then the decision becomes a no-brainer. That probably explains most of it. And if you think Pomona is awesome I'd like to know where you're from sorry but Pomona...you can keep that

 

[Roy Williams]

Did your research include cost? lol Western is a great school but I'm sure people with higher stats get into their cheaper state schools and then the decision becomes a no-brainer. That probably explains most of it. And if you think Pomona is awesome I'd like to know where you're from sorry but Pomona...you can keep that

Lol I did research cost, but I guess my location research wasn't that great... I've grown up on the east coast. Care to explain what's bad about it?

 

[frozenicecreamDMD]

Lol I did research cost, but I guess my location research wasn't that great... I've grown up on the east coast. Care to explain what's bad about it?

western is one of the most expensive private dental schools out there, boost your total debt for cost of attendance with interest to 400-420k$

you can focus on getting into less expensive private school (creighton, Case western, University of pitts burg, etc) or public school that give instate after a year (total cost will b around 300k, such as UNLV, UConn, Stony Brook, Buffalo)

 

[MBlue16]

Lol I did research cost, but I guess my location research wasn't that great... I've grown up on the east coast. Care to explain what's bad about it?

I interviewed there a few years ago. The campus is rather unique: they bought a whole outdoor shopping strip and made it a school (I knew this from my interview). You should look it up online.

The city itself is rather small, not much going on, it somewhat looks like an abandoned city. But, the nice thing is that it is pretty close to LA (about 45 minutes from USC without traffic).

However, the students are pretty cool. It seems that they genuinely like each other lol. They sent a bunch of students to the ASDA annual meeting, that's how I got to see their interactions. Also, they are required to dress up in business casual attire every day at school.

 

[nonociceptors]

Lol I did research cost, but I guess my location research wasn't that great... I've grown up on the east coast. Care to explain what's bad about it?

I wouldn't say it's a bad city in that it isn't as dangerous as the locations of some other dental schools. There just isn't a whole lot to do there, and it's surrounded by, idk, Chino and Ontario? Just bland, no-nothing areas that aren't destinations on anyone's lists. And yeah, you'll hear it's close to LA which makes it better somehow, but that drive is not something you want to do on a regular basis with LA traffic. I mean when I interviewed in Vegas they had ****ing Disneyland and California beaches on their list of things to do. What the **** is that Sure Pomona to LA isn't nearly as ridiculous but it's a similar idea.

 

[pgex2t]

I wouldn't say it's a bad city in that it isn't as dangerous as the locations of some other dental schools. There just isn't a whole lot to do there, and it's surrounded by, idk, Chino and Ontario? Just bland, no-nothing areas that aren't destinations on anyone's lists. And yeah, you'll hear it's close to LA which makes it better somehow, but that drive is not something you want to do on a regular basis with LA traffic. I mean when I interviewed in Vegas they had ****ing Disneyland and California beaches on their list of things to do. What the **** is that Sure Pomona to LA isn't nearly as ridiculous but it's a similar idea.

I completely missed that list during Vegas. Wow that's a little sad ._.

 

[nonociceptors]

I completely missed that list during Vegas. Wow that's a little sad ._.

I was the 2nd interview day so maybe they realized how unattractive that was haha