Atlantic bride for Canadian student? Chances?

[TwinMD]

Hi ! I'm an 11th grade Canadian high school student and hope to apply to the Atlantic bridge! My dilemma is choosing between the 6-year, 5-year, and 4-year programs and whether or not to go to undergrad. I am from Toronto, Canada and was wondering what my chances are to get into the Atlantic bridge with my current marks straight out of high school (though its still early if I maintain these marks will it be enough?)
Anyways my grades for high school are

94 - English 11U
75- Math 11U
88- Biology 11U
92- Intro to Sociology Anthropology and Psychology 11U
92 -Graphic Design 11O
91 - Art 11M
92 -Photography 11M
83 - Chemistry 11U

I did not take physics 11u, should I take it in the summer?

My grades have been consistent and I am part of many extracurricular s. I work at a gym, am President of my school newspaper, Secretary for my school's Red Cross club, have 225 volunteer hours, taught English in Taiwan as a volunteer, and partake in many other clubs and school events.

Are my high school grades sufficient to get accepted for any of the programs? Also if I was to do my undergrad and go for the 4-year program would a bachelor of the Arts from McGill, or Bac. of Arts and Science decrease my chances?

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[Medstart108]

Hi ! I'm an 11th grade Canadian high school student and hope to apply to the Atlantic bridge! My dilemma is choosing between the 6-year, 5-year, and 4-year programs and whether or not to go to undergrad. I am from Toronto, Canada and was wondering what my chances are to get into the Atlantic bridge with my current marks straight out of high school (though its still early if I maintain these marks will it be enough?)
Anyways my grades for high school are

94 - English 11U
75- Math 11U
88- Biology 11U
92- Intro to Sociology Anthropology and Psychology 11U
92 -Graphic Design 11O
91 - Art 11M
92 -Photography 11M
83 - Chemistry 11U

I did not take physics 11u, should I take it in the summer?

My grades have been consistent and I am part of many extracurricular s. I work at a gym, am President of my school newspaper, Secretary for my school's Red Cross club, have 225 volunteer hours, taught English in Taiwan as a volunteer, and partake in many other clubs and school events.

Are my high school grades sufficient to get accepted for any of the programs? Also if I was to do my undergrad and go for the 4-year program would a bachelor of the Arts from McGill, or Bac. of Arts and Science decrease my chances?

Your high school grades are sufficient if you can pull up Bio and Chem both to 90+ in Gr. 12. Ireland looks at all your grades but emphasizes the Bio and Chem for medicine. Your ECs look good, if your volunteer hours are in healthcare its preferable.

You won't be eligible for anything other than 6 year if you aren't doing IB already anyways. So I would just apply for the 6 year program. 5 year program is better but i'm not sure if they will take an OSSD student.

Do yourself a favour and stay in Canada for undergrad. I'm studying medicine in the UK right now and honestly wish I just did undergrad in Canada. Its not as hard as you think and much more enjoyable. A few years ago I came to this forum looking for advice and got the same advice to stay in Canada from people who studied medicine in the UK, I chose to go abroad taking a big risk of course. Hindsight is 20/20 and believe me I would've succeeded in Canadian undergrad, I took the "failure stories" to heart without looking at my chances.

Doing medicine in Canada the "normal way" is much more satisfying, comfortable and better than going abroad. Its risky going abroad, expensive and you are thrown into the jungle quite literally. A route like this is so unorthodox that you will be fighting bureaucracy that has no clue how to deal with you and often just shuts you down.

 

[TwinMD]

Really? So would do a 4-year undergrad program at McGill for Arts and Science be better/ worse than doing one at a less prestigious school, but getting a higher GPA ?

 

[TwinMD]

Your high school grades are sufficient if you can pull up Bio and Chem both to 90+ in Gr. 12. Ireland looks at all your grades but emphasizes the Bio and Chem for medicine. Your ECs look good, if your volunteer hours are in healthcare its preferable.

You won't be eligible for anything other than 6 year if you aren't doing IB already anyways. So I would just apply for the 6 year program. 5 year program is better but i'm not sure if they will take an OSSD student.

Do yourself a favour and stay in Canada for undergrad. I'm studying medicine in the UK right now and honestly wish I just did undergrad in Canada. Its not as hard as you think and much more enjoyable. A few years ago I came to this forum looking for advice and got the same advice to stay in Canada from people who studied medicine in the UK, I chose to go abroad taking a big risk of course. Hindsight is 20/20 and believe me I would've succeeded in Canadian undergrad, I took the "failure stories" to heart without looking at my chances.

Doing medicine in Canada the "normal way" is much more satisfying, comfortable and better than going abroad. Its risky going abroad, expensive and you are thrown into the jungle quite literally. A route like this is so unorthodox that you will be fighting bureaucracy that has no clue how to deal with you and often just shuts you down.

Really? So would do a 4-year undergrad program at McGill for Arts and Science be better/ worse than doing one at a less prestigious school, but getting a higher GPA ? Or should I try McMasters?

 

[Medstart108]

Really? So would do a 4-year undergrad program at McGill for Arts and Science be better/ worse than doing one at a less prestigious school, but getting a higher GPA ? Or should I try McMasters?

I didn't say anything about which undergrad to do, just that you do it in Canada. Try McMaster, try McGill it doesn't matter. I would aim for something in the U15 though, they seem to have higher success rates, likely because the better students go to those schools.

One thing you need to learn about medicine. Prestige means nothing. I go to a "prestigious" school and it means absolutely nothing. Don't let your friends in other fields sway you. Getting into medical school is "prestige" if you are looking for it. Rules and Regulations is what controls medicine. Everything is made up of rules. In the business world the regulations aren't many. A guy with a degree from anywhere in the world can transfer his skills to another country in an instant. In medicine, there are quotas on how many doctors can be in every speciality, how many foreign doctors there can be, whether "so and so" country's education is equivalent. Simply switching from 2 similar countries can take years to do, countless exams and a lot of trouble. It doesn't take long to find the thread recently about the Canadian who went abroad, matched to a radiology program in the US only to find out the Canadian government had a "quota" on how many Canadian IMGs could go to the US and they had already reached it for that year. He and his SO had to deal with so much trouble with the threat of having everything they worked for over the last 4-5 years thrown away because the government bureaucracy had set "rules and regulations". They weren't fair by most standards, this man had paid his own way to medical school in a foreign country and wanted to do residency in the US, but because the visa he needed required him to return to Canada for 2 years after residency, Canada could set a "quota" on the "number of radiologists we need".

This is a lengthy diatribe, but the TLDR is you really should forget going abroad. It is a bad decision, I have plenty of friends who went abroad and many don't like it. They don't enjoy where they are studying and they don't like the uncertainty and they don't like missing their chance in Canada. If you go abroad, go abroad after you do undergrad. At least then you'll have given Canada your shot and you will be more focused and determined to succeed abroad.

 

[sassa]

I'm in 2nd year in Ireland medicine now - and I did my undergrad in Canada, and then worked for a bit.

I would recommend it. The undergrad degree gives you options, and time to decide if you *do* want to do the long haul slog that is medicine. Another degree doesn't hurt either, and you can do quite well in undergrad programs.

Look into the US visa rules too. You have 7 years of education visa - so a long residency can mean that you get kicked out of the country if you don't get a job. And if Canada hasn't given you a letter of permission to return with the US residency in whatever specialty, you just wasted all your money and time. That's more a "future problem" but it's worth knowing.

MedStart is correct again - prestige means absolutely nothing. Maybe for elective reference letters when you're in your senior med years, but before that. Nothing.

 

[LAtoDavis]

I came to learn about Atlantic brides, but stayed for another what are my chances at Irish medical schools discussion.