Background: I studied science in a canadian university out of high school, ran into some difficulties in my program for my first 3 semesters (diffculties were financial, but also maturity).
By definition I come from a disadvantaged economic background and finances were always the greatest constraint and worry as I attended universities in Canada with high costs of living in my region (national student aid in Canada is not always guanateed to cover even basic costs at times depending how it is evaluated, as I've had this happen to me and have had to work during my studies in later years, thus further delaying my academic progress). I had received academic scholarships that covered my entire first year of university and a bit of my second year, which helped me start right the process right away. My grades rebounded after this time period and I ended up trasferring to a different city where my sibling was living. I was always interested in research and both fortunately and unfortnately had developed a strong mentorship relationship with an influential scientist who has since retired.
One of the main concerns I have is that I have a few sporadic ec's - grades and research were the priority in my early twenties so I didn't always sustain or place emphasis on volunteering (shadowing is extremely rare in Canada as well - though I have interesting but brief shadowing experience as well. In terms of formal research, I have one term in a laboratory studying basic science research in lipidology/atherosclerosis under a different scientist whose lab was based at a hospital in a large academic type hospital when I was 19, unfortunately this was only for one term).
Combining these experiences with my upward trend in grades, (though not a strong upward trend as it is just a few semesters of A's and B's) and doing significant amounts of research into medical careers and evaluating my own career goals, I opted to try for an alternative career outside of the health professions. I felt that given how long training in medicine is, coupled with my checkered and non-linear university career, it made sense to explore alternative careers for sometime. I had a brief career in finance as an analyst at a government and met my parter in my mid-twenties who is still with me today. In the next five year period, I felt great personally and professionally, and never felt that "pull" or need to pursue science or medicine, given that I was ennjoying my coursework in economics and management, as well as my career path in a governemntal finance organization was fruitful in terms of compensation, enjoyment, work-life balance. The only area that it lacks is in fulfillment, as I always loved the journey of academics/university in trying to perform well in courses and ec's to gain acceptance to a medical school. This "pull" of wanting to go into medicine has now returned in my life significantly as I'm reaching my current age, as I've been able to achieve a degree of financial stability that neither I nor my family had ever had. Medicine still excites me today as it did over a decade ago, and am just looking for assistance in navigating a few conflicting variable constraints in my goal of attending a US medical school/residency.
As a Canadian, I understand I need to understand the degree to which this proves disadvantageous in the application process.
I also have a huge red flag in that I have over 20 W's. I have not yet graduated with my bachelor's degree and have about 40% left to do in this degree from Canada. (2.5 years of study out of 4, have been completed over the past 10+ years, with almost all of it coming from over 7 years ago now).
I have only one strong letter of reference from a professor who has been the second author of an eminent textbook in a somewhat specialized field related to neuroscience/psyc/biopsych - I consider this a strong element due to it's adhesiveness in binding my application structure together.
Upon completion of my degree, I am able to fund an SMP/post-bacc that accepts international students. I have one question around if there is any advantage to me completing my degree through an American institution, preferably online while living in Canada. I was thinking to wrap up this first bachelor's degree while living in Canada for the next 1.5 years, and then complete some general science coursework for the MCAT (it has been so long since I did a full science courseload). Then I'd write the MCAT, followed by applying strategically to postbacc's or maybe an SMP that willl accept me. I have never written the MCAT and my overall GPA is around a 3.1 with aforementioned withdrawals. I've only done about 4 science courses over a decade ago in the B range. I see this as somewhat of a fresh slate with which to work on. I've always tested well and loved being immersed in science. Can a sGPA that is high enough, offset the W's and low GPA in my early university years? Is there any benefit to it being from an American school vs. a Canadian school? ASU seems to have a good offering of online baccaleaurate degrees.
I am just trying to now develop a plan that would allow me to gain two more reference letters (preferably a committee letter from an American school, Canadian schools don't have committee letters). For the time being, I have funding for an American post-bacc program or SMP. I feel that these are a great opportunity for me to utilize on this journey. Aside from the additional cost and life changes, it appears doing a post-bacc would greatly serve my application by allowing me to achieve many of the pre-health goals that both I seek and medical schools generally require. For example, some of the programs I've researched offer robust volunteering opportunities of all sorts, a wide variety of coursework I find highly interesting in the life sciences, opportunities for research experience. Additionally, if it is a graduate program that I were to complete, that would serve well should I not be successful in the medical school application process.
I am just wondering if there are any major flaws in my plans that others can see? I realize many could be of the opinion that given my age, subpar grades etc, that it might be best just to pursue DO or other paths, but is there any insight that I may be able to receive on what my options are for entering a career in medicine to go through the MD route? At this point I am not yet aware of how a DO would allow me to achieve my goals within medicine. I have always wanted to work at an academic center so I've researched MD/PhD programs as well, and given the additional funding in those programs it would help me out a lot, as an international - however, the overriding issue that one can see is, is this an obvious pipedream or could there be a school where there is a fit? Anything I should know? I understand private institutions oftentimes accept international students in an equivalent manner to domestic students. I had missed an opportunity to publish a biochemistry and biophysical research article back in the lipid lab by about a month, and I'd love to get back into research through a program, but are there postbacc's where doing this type of research is even possible to publish, or is that generally reserved for the few undergrad students who are competitive and connected to those positions. That would also bring a level of much needed consistency to my application if I were to gain some level of additional research experience.
I am just in the process of looking into postbacc options at CWRU, BU, Cinci, Rosalind Franklin, though I am open to any program with clinical volunteering/research opportunities, and am intrigued by linkages as well. Yet another issue/constraint are post-baccs that do/do not sponsor visas for full-time study for international/canadian students.
I am having a bit of a tough time trying to align which post-baccs would help me in gaining admission to MD schools that correspondingly accept Canadian students. I've attened some info sessions and corresponded with a few programs but am just wondering which program might help me the most. I also have a reference letter as a research assistant from a non-science/non-faculty area of a university, as well as another academic reference from an overseas faculty member for a conference I presented a seminar at. My grade breakdown is about 8/24 courses being A's/A+s, with the majority of the remainder of the coures in the B range, and a slight few that are lower (but all older). I'm also wondering, which schools have the strongest recency bias, in that they will be somewhat more forgiving of old grades, if newer grades show a strong and definable upward trend? I am finding there to be quite a bit of diversity in school's policies/verbage.
My last and most pressing question is, given that I have 3 reference letters, a GPA that is technically over 3.0, and approaching senior year studies, should I just go for the MCAT and see if I can get an acceptance, while being based in Canada by completing online coursework and the MCAT? I am lacking in volunteering however. Or is it best to make the move to the US postbacc program, get the medical experiences and research experiences, optimize the profile assuming I do well in the postbacc coursework, and have a lot of demonstratable competencies from completing one of these programs? Does it make more sense to do science coursework right now and then write the MCAT which seems like the most direct path? or is it best to just graduate with my degree first and then write the MCAT afterwards? Also for MCAT studying, is it mangeable to take coursework while studying for the MCAT or should MCAT studying be a full-time job for a few months in it of itself?
Whole-heartedly apologize for the long and convoluted response! I am just hesitant to make any decisions as I would be leaving my current job in the next 8-12 months to work on various parts of the application, namely the MCAT and additional coursework. I always thought I should get my GPA up to a 3.4-3.5-ish before even remotely thinking about medical school in the US again, as I thought a 3.0-ish applicant could have stellar aspects of their application in other areas, that aren't directly quantifiably reported in the data (olympic athlete, military/service ethic, musician or other areas of high performance of endeavour). But is it as simple as saying that, if my MCAT is over x, (let's say a 510-515), could that be enough to offset my 3.1 GPA? Or is the postbacc/SMP essentially a requisite to admission at this point?
By definition I come from a disadvantaged economic background and finances were always the greatest constraint and worry as I attended universities in Canada with high costs of living in my region (national student aid in Canada is not always guanateed to cover even basic costs at times depending how it is evaluated, as I've had this happen to me and have had to work during my studies in later years, thus further delaying my academic progress). I had received academic scholarships that covered my entire first year of university and a bit of my second year, which helped me start right the process right away. My grades rebounded after this time period and I ended up trasferring to a different city where my sibling was living. I was always interested in research and both fortunately and unfortnately had developed a strong mentorship relationship with an influential scientist who has since retired.
One of the main concerns I have is that I have a few sporadic ec's - grades and research were the priority in my early twenties so I didn't always sustain or place emphasis on volunteering (shadowing is extremely rare in Canada as well - though I have interesting but brief shadowing experience as well. In terms of formal research, I have one term in a laboratory studying basic science research in lipidology/atherosclerosis under a different scientist whose lab was based at a hospital in a large academic type hospital when I was 19, unfortunately this was only for one term).
Combining these experiences with my upward trend in grades, (though not a strong upward trend as it is just a few semesters of A's and B's) and doing significant amounts of research into medical careers and evaluating my own career goals, I opted to try for an alternative career outside of the health professions. I felt that given how long training in medicine is, coupled with my checkered and non-linear university career, it made sense to explore alternative careers for sometime. I had a brief career in finance as an analyst at a government and met my parter in my mid-twenties who is still with me today. In the next five year period, I felt great personally and professionally, and never felt that "pull" or need to pursue science or medicine, given that I was ennjoying my coursework in economics and management, as well as my career path in a governemntal finance organization was fruitful in terms of compensation, enjoyment, work-life balance. The only area that it lacks is in fulfillment, as I always loved the journey of academics/university in trying to perform well in courses and ec's to gain acceptance to a medical school. This "pull" of wanting to go into medicine has now returned in my life significantly as I'm reaching my current age, as I've been able to achieve a degree of financial stability that neither I nor my family had ever had. Medicine still excites me today as it did over a decade ago, and am just looking for assistance in navigating a few conflicting variable constraints in my goal of attending a US medical school/residency.
As a Canadian, I understand I need to understand the degree to which this proves disadvantageous in the application process.
I also have a huge red flag in that I have over 20 W's. I have not yet graduated with my bachelor's degree and have about 40% left to do in this degree from Canada. (2.5 years of study out of 4, have been completed over the past 10+ years, with almost all of it coming from over 7 years ago now).
I have only one strong letter of reference from a professor who has been the second author of an eminent textbook in a somewhat specialized field related to neuroscience/psyc/biopsych - I consider this a strong element due to it's adhesiveness in binding my application structure together.
Upon completion of my degree, I am able to fund an SMP/post-bacc that accepts international students. I have one question around if there is any advantage to me completing my degree through an American institution, preferably online while living in Canada. I was thinking to wrap up this first bachelor's degree while living in Canada for the next 1.5 years, and then complete some general science coursework for the MCAT (it has been so long since I did a full science courseload). Then I'd write the MCAT, followed by applying strategically to postbacc's or maybe an SMP that willl accept me. I have never written the MCAT and my overall GPA is around a 3.1 with aforementioned withdrawals. I've only done about 4 science courses over a decade ago in the B range. I see this as somewhat of a fresh slate with which to work on. I've always tested well and loved being immersed in science. Can a sGPA that is high enough, offset the W's and low GPA in my early university years? Is there any benefit to it being from an American school vs. a Canadian school? ASU seems to have a good offering of online baccaleaurate degrees.
I am just trying to now develop a plan that would allow me to gain two more reference letters (preferably a committee letter from an American school, Canadian schools don't have committee letters). For the time being, I have funding for an American post-bacc program or SMP. I feel that these are a great opportunity for me to utilize on this journey. Aside from the additional cost and life changes, it appears doing a post-bacc would greatly serve my application by allowing me to achieve many of the pre-health goals that both I seek and medical schools generally require. For example, some of the programs I've researched offer robust volunteering opportunities of all sorts, a wide variety of coursework I find highly interesting in the life sciences, opportunities for research experience. Additionally, if it is a graduate program that I were to complete, that would serve well should I not be successful in the medical school application process.
I am just wondering if there are any major flaws in my plans that others can see? I realize many could be of the opinion that given my age, subpar grades etc, that it might be best just to pursue DO or other paths, but is there any insight that I may be able to receive on what my options are for entering a career in medicine to go through the MD route? At this point I am not yet aware of how a DO would allow me to achieve my goals within medicine. I have always wanted to work at an academic center so I've researched MD/PhD programs as well, and given the additional funding in those programs it would help me out a lot, as an international - however, the overriding issue that one can see is, is this an obvious pipedream or could there be a school where there is a fit? Anything I should know? I understand private institutions oftentimes accept international students in an equivalent manner to domestic students. I had missed an opportunity to publish a biochemistry and biophysical research article back in the lipid lab by about a month, and I'd love to get back into research through a program, but are there postbacc's where doing this type of research is even possible to publish, or is that generally reserved for the few undergrad students who are competitive and connected to those positions. That would also bring a level of much needed consistency to my application if I were to gain some level of additional research experience.
I am just in the process of looking into postbacc options at CWRU, BU, Cinci, Rosalind Franklin, though I am open to any program with clinical volunteering/research opportunities, and am intrigued by linkages as well. Yet another issue/constraint are post-baccs that do/do not sponsor visas for full-time study for international/canadian students.
I am having a bit of a tough time trying to align which post-baccs would help me in gaining admission to MD schools that correspondingly accept Canadian students. I've attened some info sessions and corresponded with a few programs but am just wondering which program might help me the most. I also have a reference letter as a research assistant from a non-science/non-faculty area of a university, as well as another academic reference from an overseas faculty member for a conference I presented a seminar at. My grade breakdown is about 8/24 courses being A's/A+s, with the majority of the remainder of the coures in the B range, and a slight few that are lower (but all older). I'm also wondering, which schools have the strongest recency bias, in that they will be somewhat more forgiving of old grades, if newer grades show a strong and definable upward trend? I am finding there to be quite a bit of diversity in school's policies/verbage.
My last and most pressing question is, given that I have 3 reference letters, a GPA that is technically over 3.0, and approaching senior year studies, should I just go for the MCAT and see if I can get an acceptance, while being based in Canada by completing online coursework and the MCAT? I am lacking in volunteering however. Or is it best to make the move to the US postbacc program, get the medical experiences and research experiences, optimize the profile assuming I do well in the postbacc coursework, and have a lot of demonstratable competencies from completing one of these programs? Does it make more sense to do science coursework right now and then write the MCAT which seems like the most direct path? or is it best to just graduate with my degree first and then write the MCAT afterwards? Also for MCAT studying, is it mangeable to take coursework while studying for the MCAT or should MCAT studying be a full-time job for a few months in it of itself?
Whole-heartedly apologize for the long and convoluted response! I am just hesitant to make any decisions as I would be leaving my current job in the next 8-12 months to work on various parts of the application, namely the MCAT and additional coursework. I always thought I should get my GPA up to a 3.4-3.5-ish before even remotely thinking about medical school in the US again, as I thought a 3.0-ish applicant could have stellar aspects of their application in other areas, that aren't directly quantifiably reported in the data (olympic athlete, military/service ethic, musician or other areas of high performance of endeavour). But is it as simple as saying that, if my MCAT is over x, (let's say a 510-515), could that be enough to offset my 3.1 GPA? Or is the postbacc/SMP essentially a requisite to admission at this point?
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