Chances at Canadian Medical School?

[whereshope]

deleted

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[UBC2014]

highly dependent on MCAT score.

As well, what is the year by year breakdown of your grades? This also matters alot, you said 3.7 for best 4 out of 5 years. But what are each years breakdown and courseload?

Your best bet will be alberta schools.

 

[whereshope]

year 1 2.9
year 2 3.5
year 3 3.7
year 4 3.9
year 5 3.7 (took 2 graduate courses on top of undergrad courses big mistake)

are ECs looking okay so far? should i write the MCAT and keep working towards it? or does the poor undergrad hold me back too much?

 

[whereshope]

highly dependent on MCAT score.

As well, what is the year by year breakdown of your grades? This also matters alot, you said 3.7 for best 4 out of 5 years. But what are each years breakdown and courseload?

Your best bet will be alberta schools.

year 1 2.9
year 2 3.5
year 3 3.7
year 4 3.9
year 5 3.7 (took 2 graduate courses on top of undergrad courses big mistake)

are ECs looking okay so far? should i write the MCAT and keep working towards it? or does the poor undergrad hold me back too much?

 

[UBC2014]

year 1 2.9
year 2 3.5
year 3 3.7
year 4 3.9
year 5 3.7 (took 2 graduate courses on top of undergrad courses big mistake)

are ECs looking okay so far? should i write the MCAT and keep working towards it? or does the poor undergrad hold me back too much?

Your ECs look fine, but they won't matter in most cases if you don't meet the GPA/MCAT cuts.

Are the years all full-load?

Right now, if your full load, you should qualify for an automatic interview at UWO with year 4 and year 5 grades (assuming its still 3.7 minimum?) and if you followed their 3/5 rules AND if you score really well on the MCAT.

So as you can see, you really need a strong MCAT score first and foremost.

UofA and UofC are still on the table, but you'll need to again destroy the MCAT, and really write up your non-academic experiences well on your application(especially for UofC).

Take the 2 years for your masters to 1) get really good grades 2) be productive in your research 3) Stay involved in community service and leadership.

 

[whereshope]

Your ECs look fine, but they won't matter in most cases if you don't meet the GPA/MCAT cuts.

Are the years all full-load?

Right now, if your full load, you should qualify for an automatic interview at UWO with year 4 and year 5 grades (assuming its still 3.7 minimum?) and if you followed their 3/5 rules AND if you score really well on the MCAT.

So as you can see, you really need a strong MCAT score first and foremost.

UofA and UofC are still on the table, but you'll need to again destroy the MCAT, and really write up your non-academic experiences well on your application(especially for UofC).

Take the 2 years for your masters to 1) get really good grades 2) be productive in your research 3) Stay involved in community service and leadership.

Thank you so much! UWO is off the table as I only took 4 courses per semester. Maybe Queens remains in the run? My last 2 years are ~3.82. UofC is my ideal choice.

Best case scenario is a 4.0 during my Master's which would give me a ~3.75 GPA to apply with. Will do everything I can to be productive in research and continue being involved. I will also write the MCAT within a year or so - it is hard to find the will to write it when you feel you don't stand a chance.

 

[UBC2014]

Thank you so much! UWO is off the table as I only took 4 courses per semester. Maybe Queens remains in the run? My last 2 years are ~3.82. UofC is my ideal choice.

Best case scenario is a 4.0 during my Master's which would give me a ~3.75 GPA to apply with. Will do everything I can to be productive in research and continue being involved. I will also write the MCAT within a year or so - it is hard to find the will to write it when you feel you don't stand a chance.

Do Masters GPAs even count? If its thesis based, i can't imagine you have very many courses right? I would check UofC and UofA's requirements for masters GPAs to be considered.

Well, you either have a will or not. Thats on you to just muster up the will. You have zero chance if you don't write the MCAT and count yourself out. You have a decent chance if you write the MCAT and do well on it, pending the above commentaries.

 

[whereshope]

Do Masters GPAs even count? If its thesis based, i can't imagine you have very many courses right? I would check UofC and UofA's requirements for masters GPAs to be considered.

Well, you either have a will or not. Thats on you to just muster up the will. You have zero chance if you don't write the MCAT and count yourself out. You have a decent chance if you write the MCAT and do well on it, pending the above commentaries.

You're absolutely right.
Yes, I e-mailed UofA/UofC and asked them. Even if I take one graded course during my Master's, it will count as one year of GPA (added to my undergraduate years).

 

[UBC2014]

You're absolutely right.
Yes, I e-mailed UofA/UofC and asked them. Even if I take one graded course during my Master's, it will count as one year of GPA (added to my undergraduate years).

That doesn't sound right, i believe for UofC you would still need a minimum of 18 or 24 credits for a year to count in the gpa calculation...but its been a while since I looked into it. Having just "one graded course" wouldn't make sense as being acceptable for GPA calculations.

 

[whereshope]

deleted

 

[whereshope]

That doesn't sound right, i believe for UofC you would still need a minimum of 18 or 24 credits for a year to count in the gpa calculation...but its been a while since I looked into it. Having just "one graded course" wouldn't make sense as being acceptable for GPA calculations.

See that's what I thought too! Then, I e-mailed them and here is the conversation:

" I am planning on pursuing a thesis-based Master's degree for the next few years. I was just wondering how the GPA is calculated for graduate school. I understand that my Master's GPA would count as 1 year (added to my undergraduate years). My question is, how many courses would I need to take each semester for my Master's GPA to be included in the calculation? "

UofC: "Even if it’s only one course, it will form a gpa as described in the Manual."

"Does it need to be one course per semester? Or one course throughout the entire Master's degree?"

UofC: "As long as you have a course with grades to calculate the GPA at some point during your Master’s . If it’s thesis based and has no grades at all then of course we can’t calculate the GPA."

My understanding of this: yes my Master's is thesis-based but I am required to take 3 courses at some point throughout my degree. Thus, the grades in those 3 courses will count as my GPA.

 

[UBC2014]

See that's what I thought too! Then, I e-mailed them and here is the conversation:

" I am planning on pursuing a thesis-based Master's degree for the next few years. I was just wondering how the GPA is calculated for graduate school. I understand that my Master's GPA would count as 1 year (added to my undergraduate years). My question is, how many courses would I need to take each semester for my Master's GPA to be included in the calculation? "

UofC: "Even if it’s only one course, it will form a gpa as described in the Manual."

"Does it need to be one course per semester? Or one course throughout the entire Master's degree?"

UofC: "As long as you have a course with grades to calculate the GPA at some point during your Master’s . If it’s thesis based and has no grades at all then of course we can’t calculate the GPA."

My understanding of this: yes my Master's is thesis-based but I am required to take 3 courses at some point throughout my degree. Thus, the grades in those 3 courses will count as my GPA.

Definitely download the UofC application manual and take a thorough read of it, to be sure.