Stressed out Canadian Applicant @ An American University...

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LNDO

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Hey, guys. I hope you guys can help me...

I am a Canadian-born applicant (3rd year) hoping to get into a medical school such as McMaster, UofT or Queens. I currently go to Baylor University in Texas.

My cumulative GPA is 3.77 in the hopes of getting it to 3.8 by the end of this semester. I haven't taken my MCAT yet, but I hope to also obtain a high score in it (the old equivalent to a 30+ I suppose).

According to the stats, these 3 universities are extremely competitive, with an average of accepted applicants with 3.9ish GPAs! However, I also realized that a 4.0 is obtained with at least an 85%. In my university, I need at least a 93% in order to get a 4.0 in a class! Therefore, it was extremely difficult in order to keep that GPA.

I also took some courses at a community college as well in which I have a 3.77 GPA in those courses.

So my first question is: will an application officer take into account the grading system of a certain school, and maybe use a conversion factor to give each application a 'fair' (if you will) GPA? I feel as if my GPA could be a lot higher if that is the case.

I have been enrolled in an organic chemistry-related research group for one semester, I am a TA for a freshman-level course for one semester, enrolled in an honors society for one semester (not very active) and fundraising chair for the African Student Association for a semester. Bear in mind these all started last semester.

My volunteering hours are extremely low. I have less than 100 hours. I also do not have any shadowing experience, but I will try and get that done this summer.

My second question is: how many hours of volunteering would be considered okay?

My last question is: lets say I get 100+ hours of volunteering plus adequate shadowing experience, plus a 30+ MCAT (old equivalent) score... will I have a shot at these schools? Do they have somewhat of a holistic view of acceptance?

Thank you so much and I appreciate any type of advice...

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First - OMSAS will calculate your OMSAS gpa based on what is on your transcript. Doesn't matter if Baylor is 93+ for an A or if UT is 90+ for A. No adjustments will be made.

Second-A lot of medical schools in Canada have a weighted gpa system. For example, UT drops your lowest credit hours based on how many years of full time school you have completed. Once you have calculated your weighted gpa, you will have a better understanding of your chances.

Third- your ECs are really lacking, and as far as I know, Canadian application (OMSAS) allows you to put in up to 50 entries of accomplishments. You're against an uphill battle with your lack of ECs.

Good thing for you I suppose is that MCAT requirements for Canadian medical school is a bit lower ...in the sense that you just have to meet their cutoffs. From what I remember, UT has mcat cutoffs of 9/9/9, queens 10/10/10, and McMaster looks at your verbal.

PS. check out premed101 forums
 
Canadian schools are very rote based there isn't much in terms of holistic views. UofT will drop your lowest courses but only if you maintain a full course load each semester, McMaster takes all your grades into account and they care most about the VR or CARS section of your MCAT. As long as you score 10/10/10 and over with Queens and maintain a best 2 year 3.7 GPA or higher you have a chance with Queens, but your ECs have to be good and your ECs are all right but not stellar.

If you can get an 11+ on VR you have a shot at Mac, otherwise you probably don't have too high of chances at any of these 3 schools, but its worth applying nonetheless.
 
For Canadian schools, shoot for 32+ with a 10 min in every section. UWO had a 12 min in BS last year!

I think Queen's looks holistically (which means more volunteering is good!). Mac is more numbers based (33% verbal, 34% GPA, 33% casper or something like that). U of T has a high cutoff but if you take 5 classes, they drop the worst one so your GPA might be higher. Look at the OMSAS conversion, it might not be what you think.

For it being "fair" compared to Ontario grads, consider that in my orgo class, the average was a 65... with no curve. The average Canadian school is meant to have a lower average, so it should be roughly equal once it comes to GPA.
 
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