cegep + us med schools

[mikkey]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hey,
I am wondering what American schools do with the classes that you have taken in Cegep. I am afraid that they will take them as AP credits and hence I won't have any of the requirements, as all basic physics, math, chem is taken in these 2 years. Also, its not even an option to redo them, as that is illegal at McGill University, where I am currently enrolled.
Any comments?

 

[mikkey]

any ideas anyone?

 

[FLaughaLot]

Sorry- no clue and i'm guessing that not many cegep students are on this...I'm sure it also probably differs from school to school so I'd recommend e-mailing or calling a few to find out directly.
Best of luck!

 

[mikkey]

Yes, thanks for the advice.
I tried contacting the schools and the secretaries on the other end didn't have a clue about what a cegep is. One of them even asked me if I had even done the courses. They also told me to contact the admissions directors, some of whom still have not gotten back to me, and it has now been 2 weeks...

 

[MadHopsMD]

Hey,
I am wondering what American schools do with the classes that you have taken in Cegep. I am afraid that they will take them as AP credits and hence I won't have any of the requirements, as all basic physics, math, chem is taken in these 2 years. Also, its not even an option to redo them, as that is illegal at McGill University, where I am currently enrolled.
Any comments?

ask/search in the premed101.com forum. you will have better luck there.

 

[Critical Mass]

What is Cegep?

 

[sejin8642]

What is Cegep?

On wikipedia, it says "cegep is a French acronym for Collège d'enseignement général et professionnel, meaning College of General and Professional Education."

 

[degoo_]

In Quebec, Canada, students only have 3 years of high school. After that there are two years of "college" (CEGEP). After this, you can go to university. In Quebec, there are certain med admissions programs that allow students to enter medicine directly from CEGEP, meaning these students don't have to do an undergraduate degree. The MD degree takes 5 years for them. So I'm sure OP, there are tons of issues regarding prereqs if you want to apply to US schools. I think if you ask your school they should know about this, and how to properly take the prereqs. I would think that you'd have to take the prereqs at the university level if you want to leave Quebec.

 

[DrZeke]

Hey,
I am wondering what American schools do with the classes that you have taken in Cegep. I am afraid that they will take them as AP credits and hence I won't have any of the requirements, as all basic physics, math, chem is taken in these 2 years. Also, its not even an option to redo them, as that is illegal at McGill University, where I am currently enrolled.
Any comments?

DR ZEKE TO THE RESCUE:

I have completed CEGEP and went to McGill and got into medical school in the USA! Do not worry about CEGEP...your important classes are regarded as transfer credits. I had Dawson College draft a letter for me and included it in my package of reference letters. It says that CEGEP is a required for advancing to University in the province of Quebec and at my CEGEP I completed 1 full year of physics with lab, 2 years of English, 1 full year of biology with lab....and so on. This letter was signed by the registrar and had a copy of my transcript. I used a letter service for my LORs so I didn't have to order a copy each time from Dawson. I did this as a precautionary measure. Don't worry about a thing. I listed all my CEGEP classes and then listed the lump sum of 30 credits from Dawson College that is on my McGill transcript. I did this just to show schools what I took in case they were interested.

Basically, Americans don't know much about CEGEP and they don't care. Some interviewers were curious about my school system, but mostly they just liked that I went to McGill, although some of them had no idea what it is... I just did all that stuff to show that I met their requirements. If you have any questions about how to fill it out on AMCAS, you can PM me or you call AMCAS, they are MOSTLY helpful, but watch out that you aren't talking to a complete idiot.

Good luck to you and don't worry, CEGEP is not the end of your world, it just means they can't really ask you anything about your med pre-reqs, but will mostly rely on your MCAT and since you completed a rigorous undergraduate degree (compared to a typical "pre-med" whatever that they do in the states at many institutions) they will rely on that as clear evidence that you are more than capable in medical/biological sciences.

 

[degoo_]

DrZeke, did you hear back from McGill? I recall you were considering applying?

 

[DrZeke]

DrZeke, did you hear back from McGill? I recall you were considering applying?

well degoo, I think I already knew how this was going to play out once the lovely admissions officer told me that they would view my SMP grades as a "personal accomplishment".

Uh huh...yeah...f*ck that... 🙂