canadian undergrad --> US med school?

[canadian7]

hi everyone
i'm from ontario, canada and am entering university in september. i'll be attending an ontario university for undergrad for sure just because it's most practical.
afterwards i'd like to study medicine, preferably in ontario as well but it's the hardest place to get admission in canada.
in some cases, i know it might be easier to get admission into some US schools (obviously not the top ones but if i don't get into canadian schools, that's the only time i'll think about going to the US just because of cost, distance, etc.)

my dilemma is that i'm between 2 universities for undergrad: university of western ontario and university of windsor.

in canada, med schools don't look at where you did your undergrad. i've heard that in the US it does matter, and that they take the reputation into account. is this true? if so, how big of a difference is there between windsor and western?

also, here are the pros of each school:

WINDSOR
- get to live at home, less time spent on food, laundry, etc.
- save lots of $ and get a bigger scholarship
- pretty sure i can get a research position with a prof here
- i know the community so it may be easier to get involved with new things while staying involved with my current activities
- i might be more focused studying at home
- not as many outstanding students -- easier to stand out

WESTERN
- much bigger school with more opportunities for research, i MIGHT be able to get a position
- more reputable (but by how much? and does it matter?)
- overall personal development from going away and being independent
- more school organizations to be involved with (like, a lot more)
- london > windsor so there is more to get involved with in the community; however i don't know the community so it'll be like starting over - is this a big deal?

i'm undecided between these 2 schools because each has its own advantages.

2 questions:
1) based on the list above, where should i go to maximize my chances of attending med school in canada or US?
2) how much of a difference will it make in terms of school reputation if i go to windsor or western if i apply to US med schools?

thanks!

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[Medstart108]

in Canada it would probably be Windsor since you just need the best GPA you can get and reputation doesn't matter. In the US, its more of a toss up because they care where you went to school. Western might be looked more favorably upon but in reality only McGill and UofT would be looked favorably upon because they are difficult markers.

I once met a resident who did undergrad in Windsor and he said do undergrad in Windsor. He explained this by saying that in Windsor he was a star and the professors wrote him good reference letters for his application whereas if he went to another school he might not have been so good.

So I would go to Windsor, unless you are interested in changing things up for uni. If you like home and you feel comfortable spending another 4 years at home then go to Windsor. The difference between Windsor and Western isn't too big + you will probably get a higher GPA anyways at Windsor so it will compensate.

 

[JPodel]

in Canada it would probably be Windsor since you just need the best GPA you can get and reputation doesn't matter. In the US, its more of a toss up because they care where you went to school. Western might be looked more favorably upon but in reality only McGill and UofT would be looked favorably upon because they are difficult markers.

I once met a resident who did undergrad in Windsor and he said do undergrad in Windsor. He explained this by saying that in Windsor he was a star and the professors wrote him good reference letters for his application whereas if he went to another school he might not have been so good.

So I would go to Windsor, unless you are interested in changing things up for uni. If you like home and you feel comfortable spending another 4 years at home then go to Windsor. The difference between Windsor and Western isn't too big + you will probably get a higher GPA anyways at Windsor so it will compensate.

"In the US, its more of a toss up because they care where you went to school."

You serious???

 

[PapaGuava]

Windsor sounds more feasible if your looking at it from that point of view. Where you will feel most comfortable and doesnt put you at a complete disadvantage is where you ll do best! Thats the way i look at it.


P.S. do you place ice hockey? I'm down in Florida but i play hockey as well. Im being a total stereotype right now asking this question but had to

-Goodluck to whatever decision you choose and glad you brought it up! We are a building community for college and highschool students.

 

[434420]

Thanks everyone for your input! I truly appreciate it.*i really can't decide so i've been looking into everything that might play a role in my decision.

According to the omsas gpa chart, 90-100% from western = omsas 4.0 and A+ from windsor = omsas 4.0
A+ from windsor = 93-100%.
therefore, 90% is my goal at western but 93% is my goal at windsor? is that right, or did i misread the chart?
if it's right then western seems to be the better option but at the same time, is it harder to get those good marks at western? (i guess no one can really answer this, it's going to be comparable for difficulty but different because of living at home vs. going away... and in the end it depends on me)

ALSO, another thing is that since there are already so many student organizations at western that i'd like to get involved with if i go, i'll just be one of many students that participates in clubs. am i right in thinking that it might be more difficult to stand out? (like in terms of starting my own club, contributing to a cause by leading a group... i have some ideas for things i'd really like to do but am worried they might overlap with stuff that people at western are already doing) if i'm right about this, then i can definitely do a lot more and be a more prominent leader at windsor.

how do the research opportunities compare? western obviously is much larger but they have more of a focus on grad school, right? and since there are so many people i might not have a chance to do as much as i would here? or would western have the advantage since there's so much more funding and they're doing a lot more?*any input is greatly appreciated and thanks once again!

 

[434420]

i'm leaning towards windsor right now just because i think i'll be more focused at home, i'll have the opportunity to start more things on my own because there are less student groups at windsor and because the party atmosphere of western scares me and i don't want it to affect my marks.

HOWEVER is there any advantage that western has over windsor if this is what matters to me?

 

[Medstart108]

no not really i don't think western has much of a reputation outside of canada. For all intensive purposes they are both no name schools outside Canada.

In Canada western is considered better, it has a medical school and is quite prolific with medical discoveries, but Canadian m schools don't look at reputation at all. However, its very popular among GTA students whereas Windsor isn't so it will be harder to get grades i think.