canadian undergrad --> us med?

[434420]

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!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[RxConfused]

I don't think it makes that much of a difference where you go for undergrad for US schools. I think they tend to focus more on your GPA, MCAT scores, extracurriculars/volunteer/work experience, research, etc. In terms of the schools, both would probably be looked at as equal. I feel like UofT, McMaster, and McGill are more well-known here because they publish a lot of studies. From what you said, Windsor sounds like a better choice because you can get research experience more easily and also because you said it would be easier for you to stand out and I think med schools look at that stuff more.

 

[onelastpuff23]

I don't think it makes that much of a difference where you go for undergrad for US schools. I think they tend to focus more on your GPA, MCAT scores, extracurriculars/volunteer/work experience, research, etc. In terms of the schools, both would probably be looked at as equal. I feel like UofT, McMaster, and McGill are more well-known here because they publish a lot of studies. From what you said, Windsor sounds like a better choice because you can get research experience more easily and also because you said it would be easier for you to stand out and I think med schools look at that stuff more.

While I agree that US schools don't know anything about CDN schools, and can't tell the difference between UWO and Western, they view the schools much differently that CAD med schools. Canadian med schools don't care where you attended undergrad. They just want a high GPA followed by a higher than cutoff MCAT

 

[IANKRISBANAWA]

I agree to them. It doesn't matter where you you going to stay for your studies. What is more important is you study in the university. Studying in university itself has a lots of advantages and benefits from it. Another importance is that you excel from you school thus giving you an edge to other people. That is my opinion

 

[MadHopsMD]

I went to US medical school after going to a canadian undergrad. It DOES matter what school you for vast majority of American schools. Especially the top 20 ones which I got interviews at.

I think the reason is because the students from a particular school is just a known commodity which helps them objectively judge the performance of students scores. To get an A from a class with acceptance of a high SAT scores OR a class size of 200+ is "more impressive" than a state school that accepts practically everyone. For example: Umich and UC berkely produce more medical students than any school in the country. Small private schools such as MIddlebury, Boldin do well because you practically have to be a genius to get into that (or have connections or $$$ THAT is whole another issue).

In canada the only school they "recognize" is McGill, with UofT a very distant second. I think though UofT is on the rise, but that could be my personal bias.

Every other canadian school is blah. If choice between those two schools, I would go to Western -- I know more people go to medical school after going to western than windsor in general. That is the only reason why. But coming out from either schools you will have to "prove yourself" by being the top 10% of the class and scoring WELL above average on the MCATs. ANd sometimes you cannot disregard the happiness factor that comes from living at home on your performance

 

[Medstart108]

I remember that one of the residents who went to Windsor for undergrad explained to us that Windsor is good because its small, and its easy to stand out allowing the profs to recognize you and help you get into med school.

I'm sure in the US they recognize better schools but Western isn't going to get much more recognition than Windsor. I'm in the UK and no one here knows any school in Canada except a few know UofT, UBC or McGill and one person knew Queens. Thats it.