Kia ora Supinya

We acknowledge receipt of your Official Information Act request.

If we have any questions or need to seek clarification on any points we will be in touch soon. Otherwise, we will seek to respond to your request as soon as practicable and no later than 20 working days after the date your request was received (by 18 March 2022). If we are unable to respond to your request by then, we will notify you of an extension of this timeframe.

Ngā mihi
Kelsey

Kelsey Kennard
Official Information and Compliance Coordinator

Office of the Registrar | Te Tari o Te Pouroki me te Kaituhi ki te Kaunihera
University of Otago | Te Whare Wānanga o Otāgo
New Zealand | Aotearoa
Email | Īmera [University of Otago request email]

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Kia ora Supinya

 

I refer to your Official Information Act request dated 18 February 2022.
You have requested information regarding entry to the Bachelor of Dental
Surgery (BDS) programme via the Alternative category of admission.

 

Please see our responses to each of your questions below.

 

1. Is the invitation to the interview for the Alternative Category based
on UCATANZ score or GPA or both for the Alternative category?

 

Application for entry to the BDS programme via the Alternative category
requires the submission of a personal statement, CV, and academic record.
These are used by the Dental Admissions Committee to select whether an
applicant is offered an interview. Please note that for entry to the 2022
BDS programme, UCAT thresholds were not applied to the Alternative
category of admission.

 

2. And if GPA is used for interview selection in the Alternative Category,
is the GPA of the whole degree considered or only the GPA of the
first-year papers is considered?

 

As noted in the [1]Guidelines for Admission for entry to the BDS
programme, for the Alternative category “all applicants to Dentistry must
have passed the equivalent of all papers prescribed for the University of
Otago Health Sciences First Year and have achieved a minimum academic
standard determined by the Dental Admissions Committee, usually a B (grade
point average (GPA) of 5) across any papers undertaken at university
level”.

 

3. What is the final determining factor for selection for a successful
applicant in the Alternative Category that has met all three admission
criteria? Is it the GPA, UCATANZ, or interview?

 

Applicants must pass the interview score threshold (which is determined
annually by the Dental Admissions Committee) to be considered for
admission to the BDS programme via the Alternative category. The final
decision is based on the personal statement, CV and academic record.

 

4. In continuation of Question 3, if GPA is considered as part of the
final determining factor for a successful BDS applicant, is the GPA of all
the degrees (bachelor’s and master’s) considered or only the GPA of the
first-year papers considered?

 

As noted in our response to question 2 above, an applicant to the BDS
programme via the Alternative category must have passed the equivalent of
all papers prescribed for the University of Otago Health Sciences First
Year and have achieved a minimum academic standard determined by the
Dental Admissions Committee, usually a B (grade point average (GPA) of 5)
across any papers undertaken at university level.

 

 

We trust you will find this information helpful.

 

Ngâ mihi

Kelsey

 

 

Kelsey Kennard

Official Information and Compliance Coordinator

 

Office of the Registrar | Te Tari o Te Pouroki me te Kaituhi ki te
Kaunihera

University of Otago | Te Whare Wânanga o Otâgo

New Zealand | Aotearoa

Email | Îmera [2][University of Otago request email]

 

 

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