[Can] Becoming A Dentist

[Canaologist]

Always been interested in Dentistry, and lately I've been looking into it a little more seriously.

I live in Canada, and my local school's average (UBC) intake was about 86%. Ok not TERRIBLY high, but only 25% of applicants we're accepted still, and the average declined applicant was still around 85.

I looked at other Canadian dentistry schools, and found they accept VERY few out of province applicants, so this is even more unlikely.

So the last option would be US schools, but after looking at several, the non-resident cost is ~110K per year (like 500-600K total in CAD).

So, I'm feeling very defeated right now. Am I missing something, or is the only way to become a Dentist for me is to get into that 25% that got into the local school?

Edit: Not allowed to post links, so the resources I referenced were UBC's admission statistics and Uwashingtons cost calculator.

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[Canaologist]

bump

 

[Lane138]

Always been interested in Dentistry, and lately I've been looking into it a little more seriously.

I live in Canada, and my local school's average (UBC) intake was about 86%. Ok not TERRIBLY high, but only 25% of applicants we're accepted still, and the average declined applicant was still around 85.

I looked at other Canadian dentistry schools, and found they accept VERY few out of province applicants, so this is even more unlikely.

So the last option would be US schools, but after looking at several, the non-resident cost is ~110K per year (like 500-600K total in CAD).

Can you explain what intake means? Are those GPA numbers?

I know several people who applied to US dental schools from Canada and got in. It's hard but not impossible, you should apply widely to ~20 US dental schools and see what happens. The loans that we Americans incur to go into dental school is 300-400k, so the non-resident cost barely faze me anymore. You have to consider how much family support you'll have, and how much debt you're willing to take on.

 

[Canaologist]

Can you explain what intake means? Are those GPA numbers?

I know several people who applied to US dental schools from Canada and got in. It's hard but not impossible, you should apply widely to ~20 US dental schools and see what happens. The loans that we Americans incur to go into dental school is 300-400k, so the non-resident cost barely faze me anymore. You have to consider how much family support you'll have, and how much debt you're willing to take on.

I'm too new to post links, but google "UBC Dental admission statistics".

Basically 200 BC resident applied and 54 got in, and 184 non-residents applied and 4 got in. Average applicants GPA was 83%, and average accepted GPA was 86ish with 22 DAT. My point in all this is basically I have a 25% chance assuming I can get a high GPA of 85%+, and that seems like the only option since other Canadian schools accept next to no non-residents.

I looked at 5 different US schools and on average they were 110K a year for non-residents, so that would be 140K CDN. So 600K total debt if I went to a US school.

Am I missing something here, or is it next to impossible for me to become a Dentist, is 600k even repayable after interest payments...?

 

[AppalachianDentalBoy]

You only have a 25% chance of getting into that one school. Apply to 10-15. Dental school costs a lot, better hope you get into your state school. Only you can decide if the loans are worth it but that is something to worry about once you have been accepted.

 

[Lane138]

I assume you are a British columbia resident then? A 25% chance is excellent! Have you looked at the admission rates of US dental schools? How good are your grades?

Again, you have to consider your own financial resources, goals in life (like where you want to practice, whether you want to specialize), ability for family to support you, how much you REALLY want to be a dentist, before considering whether 600k is worth it or not. Nobody can make that decision for you. Plus, not all US dental schools cost 110K a year... I lived very frugally and in dorms all 4 years and spent around 90k a year.

 

[Canaologist]

You only have a 25% chance of getting into that one school. Apply to 10-15. Dental school costs a lot, better hope you get into your state school. Only you can decide if the loans are worth it but that is something to worry about once you have been accepted.

I'm in Canada, we have 8 English Dental schools. Besides the one in your province, the other schools accept very few out of province (like 4 out of 200 applicants)

 

[Canaologist]

I assume you are a British columbia resident then? A 25% chance is excellent! Have you looked at the admission rates of US dental schools? How good are your grades?

Again, you have to consider your own financial resources, goals in life (like where you want to practice, whether you want to specialize), ability for family to support you, how much you REALLY want to be a dentist, before considering whether 600k is worth it or not. Nobody can make that decision for you. Plus, not all US dental schools cost 110K a year... I lived very frugally and in dorms all 4 years and spent around 90k a year.

Thanks for the insight. Yes I'm a BC resident, and although 25% sounds good, all the other schools (8 of them), I'd be "out of province", and statistically those are about 2% acceptance rates, and that 2% are exceptionally high GPA and DAT scores, making this unrealistic. So the other choice is American schools where because of 1USD=1.25CDN, on top of huge tuition, makes it almost unimaginable amounts of debt.

I'm really looking for something that's somewhat interesting, and will allow me to make a good living without working 80hrs a week. Dentistry seems like a great option, but doing the math of such dismal chances for me to get into a school in Canada, and the ridiculous 600k of debt for an American school, I'm feeling rather disappointed.

 

[tiper15]

What's your current GPA? If you can get it to a 88ish then you should be fine, assuming you get 20 on your DAT and don't do horrible on your CASPer. The only issue with UBC is that first round is literally just GPA, DAT, and CASPer to judge you for interview offers. Which kinda sucks but it is what it is. To be honest since you are from BC, a 25% chance is still pretty good. I would still apply.

Another place you can look at is Western in London, ON. They don't discriminate on IP/oop (I'm pretty sure) and they have around a 1/3 chance of getting an interview, and a 1/3 for acceptance after that. Which is pretty good. The best thing about western is that they also have a supplemental application. So unlike uoft, they actually look at your ECs and answers to their questions (there's a personal statement like one) and then hand out interviews based on that and your GPA and DAT. I only had a 84 and I got an interview, which is super surprising vs. the 3.93 avg GPA for uoft interviews.

Not entirely sure how much they would cost, but Iceland or Ireland ( I don't RMB which one) and Australia also have pacts with Canada to accept their degrees so going to those schools is also an option.

 

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[Canaologist]

What's your current GPA? If you can get it to a 88ish then you should be fine, assuming you get 20 on your DAT and don't do horrible on your CASPer. The only issue with UBC is that first round is literally just GPA, DAT, and CASPer to judge you for interview offers. Which kinda sucks but it is what it is. To be honest since you are from BC, a 25% chance is still pretty good. I would still apply.

Another place you can look at is Western in London, ON. They don't discriminate on IP/oop (I'm pretty sure) and they have around a 1/3 chance of getting an interview, and a 1/3 for acceptance after that. Which is pretty good. The best thing about western is that they also have a supplemental application. So unlike uoft, they actually look at your ECs and answers to their questions (there's a personal statement like one) and then hand out interviews based on that and your GPA and DAT. I only had a 84 and I got an interview, which is super surprising vs. the 3.93 avg GPA for uoft interviews.

Not entirely sure how much they would cost, but Iceland or Ireland ( I don't RMB which one) and Australia also have pacts with Canada to accept their degrees so going to those schools is also an option.

Kind of a unique situation. After high-school I walked into a well-paying union labour job, and never did any other schooling. I now have money saved up, am 23, and have a burning desire to do something more challenging. That said I really don't want to waste my time and financial resources on education if it's not going to end up paying more then where I'm at now, and not be incredibly boring.

Dentistry sounds great for those reasons to me. Guaranteed employment rates, high pay ceiling, and it's going to be both challenging and interesting. I'm open to other careers, but have yet to come across any others that really fill this criteria...

I goofed around a lot and never studied in high-school, but still averaged ~75% in sciences and math. I hope I'm not in for a big wake-up call, but if university is anything similar to high-school I should be able to get a 85%+ average.

My big issue is blowing all my savings I've worked so hard for on an undergraduate degree that won't get me into Dental school. Just trying to play the statistics here because 25%, and 2% at all the other schools (will check out Western like you said) isn't very encouraging.

By the way, what do most people do with their undergraduate degrees if they can't get into Dental school? I always thought most of them besides engineering/cs were useless employment wise.

 

[tiper15]

Kind of a unique situation. After high-school I walked into a well-paying union labour job, and never did any other schooling. I now have money saved up, am 23, and have a burning desire to do something more challenging. That said I really don't want to waste my time and financial resources on education if it's not going to end up paying more then where I'm at now, and not be incredibly boring.

Dentistry sounds great for those reasons to me. Guaranteed employment rates, high pay ceiling, and it's going to be both challenging and interesting. I'm open to other careers, but have yet to come across any others that really fill this criteria...

I goofed around a lot and never studied in high-school, but still averaged ~75% in sciences and math. I hope I'm not in for a big wake-up call, but if university is anything similar to high-school I should be able to get a 85%+ average.

My big issue is blowing all my savings I've worked so hard for on an undergraduate degree that won't get me into Dental school. Just trying to play the statistics here because 25%, and 2% at all the other schools (will check out Western like you said) isn't very encouraging.

By the way, what do most people do with their undergraduate degrees if they can't get into Dental school? I always thought most of them besides engineering/cs were useless employment wise.

I would say university is not really like high school at all, and youd have to work harder in it to achieve the same results. How much harder exactly depends on what kind of student you are and how fast you learn/understand or how well you take tests.

If you really want to get into canada, I would say youd have to shoot for a 90%+/3.9 average for a more or less relatively good chance of getting in, no matter where you apply. It'll become kind of a grind through university - youll have to put in the work to guarantee you getting in. In your situation, youd have to be really sure it is what you want to do and be ready for the work to get it. The thing with canadian schools is that often GPA is the most important, so you dont have to spend as much time doing extracurriculars, whereas good ECs can make up for GPA in US schools.

If you want the cheapest school to get into, itll be McGill because it is in Quebec. The out of province acceptance rate is low though, and the mode GPA of OOP interviews was a 3.97 and avg of 3.9. They only accept 9 OOP out of their 30-something class. Western tends to be biased towards ontario as well.

The flexibility of your degree depends on what its in really. I can only speak for people I know in my area, which is the biological sciences. Most of them just go into research, whether it be private, university, or government.Some go into other fields such as public health. Some try for pharm school instead. I don't know many people who have graduated for a long time and built a job after that; most of my friends are new grads, like me.