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Dentistry Entry Discussion and Questions

Hi all :),

I’m a new member here and was just wondering what are the chances of a non-standard tertiary student, rural and with a current GPA of 6.75, getting into JCU or Griffith Dentistry? Would this seem competitive for a position?

Thanks everyone :)
 

Crow

Staff | Junior Doctor
Moderator
I would check past admissions threads to gain an idea of your chances. For Griffith 6.75 has been enough in recent years. JCU depends largely on the strength of your written application, as well as your specific rural classification (RA-2, RA-3 etc). It is believed JCU factors in the level of rurality when calculating admission scores, so an RA-5 has a better chance of admission than an RA-2 applicant, for example.
 

dkae

Member
Hi all :),

I’m a new member here and was just wondering what are the chances of a non-standard tertiary student, rural and with a current GPA of 6.75, getting into JCU or Griffith Dentistry? Would this seem competitive for a position?

Thanks everyone :)

I belive above 6.8 to be fairly competitive. From the few announce of here all where above 6.85. Although depends how rural you are may give you a good standing.
 

firstsnow

Member
Hey,
I am planning to apply for CSU dental for 2019. I am a first year student at university of sydney. I have a GPA just above 5 for my first semester.

So how would they look at the gpa? do they just look at what you got for sem 1, or take into consideration of sem 2 as well?

Say i just get 5.3 as my gpa in total, and 95 percentile then would i still be able to get an offer?
 

DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
Hey,
I am planning to apply for CSU dental for 2019. I am a first year student at university of sydney. I have a GPA just above 5 for my first semester.

So how would they look at the gpa? do they just look at what you got for sem 1, or take into consideration of sem 2 as well?

Say i just get 5.3 as my gpa in total, and 95 percentile then would i still be able to get an offer?

The only non-standard we had report their offer here last year was 89th%ile, 5.7 GPA. ETA: I’m fairly certain your semester two GPA will also be considered.
ETA2: DDest used to be all over the dent requirements and might be able to help out. Or maybe Dr.Potato.
 

DDest

UAdel BDS III
Thank you

Hello firstsnow !

I am not too familiar with CSU dental entry requirements, but from their website for Bachelor of Dental Science (Link: Bachelor of Dental Science), they seem to consider two possible interview offer streams:

1. Domestic students - they use UMAT (i am not sure of what the threshold for UMAT is)

2. CSU university students/internationals - a GPA of 5.5 or more; CSU university students need to have completed 1 year full-time study (those without 1 year full-time study, must have >90 ATAR AND >5.5 GPA)

Then applicants are selected for "offer based on interview outcome, UMAT or GPA may be used to rank applicants with identical interview scores" (from the section: entry requirements in the website link above)

Note that for 2019, 50% of places are set aside for applicants with a rural/regional background or are Indigenous applicants.

Hope it helps and Good luck with your application!
 

Hamael

Member
im currently in year 12 and i am trying to get into dentistry , however i know i havent studied enough for undergrad dentistry so i was wondering if i get into bachelor of science at any university (most probably griffith or university of sydney) will i be able to apply for postgrad dentistry at any uni if i meet their requirements even the uni is in another state ?
 

jiaxing

Regular Member
im currently in year 12 and i am trying to get into dentistry , however i know i havent studied enough for undergrad dentistry so i was wondering if i get into bachelor of science at any university (most probably griffith or university of sydney) will i be able to apply for postgrad dentistry at any uni if i meet their requirements even the uni is in another state ?

Yo Hamael,

What do you mean when you wrote that you haven’t “studied enough” for undergrad dentistry? Do you mean you don’t meet the prerequisites?
 

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Hamael

Member
Hello firstsnow !

I am not too familiar with CSU dental entry requirements, but from their website for Bachelor of Dental Science (Link: Bachelor of Dental Science), they seem to consider two possible interview offer streams:

1. Domestic students - they use UMAT (i am not sure of what the threshold for UMAT is)

2. CSU university students/internationals - a GPA of 5.5 or more; CSU university students need to have completed 1 year full-time study (those without 1 year full-time study, must have >90 ATAR AND >5.5 GPA)

Then applicants are selected for "offer based on interview outcome, UMAT or GPA may be used to rank applicants with identical interview scores" (from the section: entry requirements in the website link above)

Note that for 2019, 50% of places are set aside for applicants with a rural/regional background or are Indigenous applicants.

Hope it helps and Good luck with your application!
what are the requirements for domestic students that are in bachelor of science in another university other than csu ? do the need a 90 above atar and 5.5 gpa too ? or are they only assessed based on the umat ?

Yo Hamael,

What do you mean when you wrote that you haven’t “studied enough” for undergrad dentistry? Do you mean you don’t meet the prerequisites?
i mean i havent studied enough to get a 95 above atar . ive messed up a few sacs and all
 
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Crow

Staff | Junior Doctor
Moderator
im currently in year 12 and i am trying to get into dentistry , however i know i havent studied enough for undergrad dentistry so i was wondering if i get into bachelor of science at any university (most probably griffith or university of sydney) will i be able to apply for postgrad dentistry at any uni if i meet their requirements even the uni is in another state ?
Hi Hamael, if you read a bit around the forum you will find that others mimic this advice: you should never do a degree for the sole purpose of gaining entry into dentistry. Most people that try to get into dentistry miss out - this is simply due to the supply of dental applicants being well in excess of the number of places available in dental schools in Australia. As such, while you should continue aiming for entry to dentistry, do a degree that will provide you with an alternative career option should this not work out for you. Good luck :)
 

Perplex

Emeritus Staff
Emeritus Staff
what are the requirements for domestic students that are in bachelor of science in another university other than csu ? do the need a 90 above atar and 5.5 gpa too ? or are they only assessed based on the umat ?


i mean i havent studied enough to get a 95 above atar . ive messed up a few sacs and all


Hello Hamel, I have merged your posts. When responding to multiple posts please do so in one post in order to avoid cluttering the thread. Thanks.
 

ajs604

Member
Hi, so I have decided to apply to JCU for Dentistry. Gemsas worked my GPA out wrong ( British degree), it is actually 5.6 and not 5.3. I know the application for JCU is based on experience, interview and then GPA. I have practiced rurually in my current profession and have also lived in rural places prior to moving to Aus, so I am not too concerned about that. I am also shadowing a Dentist and Orthodontist every week now on my days off from work. Does anyone know if I could boost my GPA with an honours year? In England by default we get a BSc Hons, but here it I a separate degree. So I was thinking of doing a honours year next year via distance ed as a back up in case I don't get in.
 

Yamster

Dental Moderator
Emeritus Staff
Hi ajs604,

I'm not entirely sure about the ranking process for JCU, I had a quick look here: Selection process and it seems to state that: "All other applicants are considered on the basis of tertiary study, specifically the Grade Point Average (GPA) from their most recent course.". If that were to read literally, then I don't think honours would have an effect? Maybe Benjamin would know.

I know that UQ/Griffith holds any form of research in high regard, eg. if you have 1st Class Honours, Masters by Thesis/Research or a PhD then you are automatically assigned a ranking of 99 by UQ (in Griffith's case it will be the equivalent of a GPA 7 as a rank 99 is not sufficient for dentistry/medicine entry there but a GPA 7 is pretty much guaranteed). Note that UQ requires you sit the UMAT whereas Griffith does not.

If you're keen on the undergraduate pathway, you could also consider applying to CSU's BDentSc program, they look at your UMAT score first and foremost as interview offers are based solely on your UMAT score. A combination of your UMAT score + interview outcome is used to then determine offers (this is where your GPA might be used as a tie-breaker if you've got the same combo as someone else).

You should also consider applying to USYD via the post-graduate entry pathway as their DMD entrance requirement only uses GPA as a hurdle (you need a credit average = GPA 5), eg. having a GPA of 5 does not hinder your chances compared to say someone with a 7 (although it might be used as a tie breaker like the CSU example). If you've achieved this hurdle (which you have), then entrance is based entire on your interview and GAMSAT score (a 59 this year for 2018 entry - which is relatively achievable).

I'm not sure how old your tertiary degree is but there are time restrictions placed on completed degrees, after a certain number of years, you're ineligible to apply with that degree. In most instances, tertiary institutions observe the 10 year rule, eg. if your degree was completed before January 1st, 2009 then you're ineligible to apply using that degree.

Probably avoid post-grad entry into UMELB/UWA as GPA is not hurdle based and since they're apart of the GEMSAS consortium, an honours year would wipe out the results from the first year of your last 3 years, but they'd still considered the grades from your last 2 years in addition to your honours year. This method might work if your first year was the one dragging down your grades.

I hope to see you around on one of the dentistry forums in the near future (as a dental student :)).
 
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Yamster

Dental Moderator
Emeritus Staff
what are the requirements for domestic students that are in bachelor of science in another university other than csu ? do the need a 90 above atar and 5.5 gpa too ? or are they only assessed based on the umat?

Hey Hamael,

From my understanding, if you are applying from a different tertiary institution into the CSU BDentSc, then interview offers are based solely on your UMAT score. A combination of your interview performance and your UMAT score is then used to determine offers. GPA can be used as a tie-breaker for applicants with the same UMAT score/interview performance (realistically though, a GPA of 5.5 is quite easy to obtain if you put in work, effort and commitment. You should be aiming a tad higher than this next year just to open a bit more doors eg. UQ's GPA entrance requirement is a 6.5/Griffith's is a 6.875). Next year CSU is assigning 50% of its BDentSc places to rural/aboriginal students, and with 150 interview offers, entrance might be a bit harder than you think.

I hope that helps. I found it a bit hard to comprehend your question but hopefully I understood it correctly.

All the best with the rest of year 12 and your future academic goals.
 
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Benjamin

ICU Reg (JCU)
Emeritus Staff
Hi ajs604,

I'm not entirely sure about the ranking process for JCU, I had a quick look here: Selection process and it seems to state that: "All other applicants are considered on the basis of tertiary study, specifically the Grade Point Average (GPA) from their most recent course.". If that were to read literally, then I don't think honours would have an effect? Maybe Benjamin would know.

My understanding of the JCU process for Med & Dent is that they look at GPA first, if you have two equal candidates with the same GPA but one has honours / higher degree then I would think they would rank them higher. I believe that most universities use the 1st class honours / PhD as a GPA 7.0 & wouldn't expect JCU to be any different.
 

ajs604

Member
Thank you both for your advice, it is much appreciated.

I am not sure a English honours degree has the same bearing in Australia. I obtained a 2.1 upper class honours degree in podiatry which was inclusive of my 3 yr BSc. I got 68% for my honours project but it was in the earlier years of my degree which dragged my GPA down as I was much less focused. Everyone graduates with honours in the UK unless they are an exceptionally poor student.

Unfortunately my degree was in 2008, so just over 10 years old. I am drawn more to JCU as they also focus on previous life experience. I have worked in rural Australia before and I feel that being a Podiatrist I must have pretty good manual dexterity skills, which could only stand me in good stead for the clinical aspects of dentistry. I am pretty sure I am out of time for USYD due to the 10 year rule and to be considered I would need to do a post grad diploma. I am 36 next year so I was hoping to get the ball rolling.
 

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K001

Lurker
Hi, I am a current UQ student studying bachelor of science and I'm looking to get into Griffith dentistry next year as a non-standard. However, I will only have completed 6 units by the end of this year (0.75) and will be doing 2 summer semester courses (at UQ). The summer semester course finishes around the 9th of February 2019 and I understand that the main offer round for Griffith dentistry will be on the 16th of January. Even if I get (hypothetically) a 7 GPA, will I have any chance to obtain entrance into Griffith dentistry for 2019? Thanks!
 

DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
Hi, I am a current UQ student studying bachelor of science and I'm looking to get into Griffith dentistry next year as a non-standard. However, I will only have completed 6 units by the end of this year (0.75) and will be doing 2 summer semester courses (at UQ). The summer semester course finishes around the 9th of February 2019 and I understand that the main offer round for Griffith dentistry will be on the 16th of January. Even if I get (hypothetically) a 7 GPA, will I have any chance to obtain entrance into Griffith dentistry for 2019? Thanks!

Moved, so: bump.
 

Yamster

Dental Moderator
Emeritus Staff
Hi K001,

Firstly, welcome to MSO. No chance without 8 courses unfortunately for the initial round. Your summer semester course grades won't count towards the initial round but maybe you will get a top up offer later on? I've been told that there have been no second round offers offered for the GU program in the past (but I'm unsure about late top-ups - chances are very slim though so I wouldn't get your hopes up tbh).

It should be noted that GU has fixed closing QTAC dates for its provisional MD program/Dental Health Science program: "Applications close 28 December 2018, however applications received after 14 December may not be assessed in time." so the chances are even slimmer, unfortunately.

You're heading on the right track though if you get a GPA 7 and would be pretty much guaranteed entry for 2020 entry.

All the best with your academic goals, I hope that it all works out for you!
 

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