have I been cheated?

[SuperSaiyan3]

hey guys,
I was feeling really bitter because I had been reading up on some discussions on other forums that going to Queen's University for Life Sciences is tough to get good marks in. I'm already 2 years in and my GPA isn't great (3.465) and I really have been trying my hardest. I feel like I've been cheated out of my marks because I was comparing GPA standards for some other Universities in my province and they had lower standard for higher GPA scores. Plus that and I hear that it's easier to get good marks in schools such as McMaster and whatnot.

Is this true? Am I gonna get ANYTHING at all by graduating with a Queen's life sci degree, but with only a sub-par GPA? How does this compare to somebody who graduated from a "easier" university but with higher GPAs?

Needless to say that the public school system failed completely in preparing me for university and how to work around its system.

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[McGillGrad]

What advisers never tell you, which is blatantly obvious after you apply to med schools is:

DO THE EASIEST UNDERGRAD MAJOR YOU CAN FIND. Usually that means finding a interesting major which is not difficult to ace and then work your ARSE off for the pre-reqs.

Science majors have NO SIGNIFICANT advantage in med school classes.

Switch majors ASAP and build up the only two things that matter for med school admissions:

1). GPA
2). MCAT

They do not care how difficult your classes are or how difficult your university is (compared to others). Only your GPA and MCAT matter to get interviews and your personality and extraCs help a little after that.

 

[PistolPete]

This is the unfortunate reality, which many students (including myself) don't really realize in undergrad, and that advisers don't really talk about. There is no point in slaving away as a physical chemistry major, only to have a lower gpa than a pscyhology major (I'm generalizing here). The higher gpa/"easier major" will always trump the bio major/lower gpa. Plus, boatloads of bio majors apply to med school every year, and being one of them does not help you to stand out.

Find a major that interests you, and do well in it. Switch majors ASAP. You should still be OK. You still have another 2 years, and many Canadian med schools will average only your last 3 years for example (I think Queen's is one of these, but make sure to find out for yourself).

Good luck! If worst comes to worst, apply to US medical schools as well, which are more forgiving of GPA and MCAT scores.

 

[coralis]

🙁 Very harsh reality. I did the Food Chem/Nutrition undergrad....to find out midway that they try hard to keep this UG at medschool level, as they say: it's a medicine program and it shouldn't come easy 🙁 . I still didn't learn my lesson easy and fast enough and after a 3.11 UG GPA went into M.Sc. Chemistry (WTF was I thinking?!) course based + mini-thesis and publication requirement (ALL WHILE doing FULL-time courses) ..... please, please change majors, if medicine is what you want .... do something you just like now and you will be up to your eyeballs in hard science classes in medschool!

 

[Flame219]

Contrary to popular belief, I wouldn't say McMaster is one of the "easier" schools in terms of the Sciences. Coming from three different universities for my undergraduate, UTSC, Waterloo and Mac, Mac was the hardest of the three. It is true that Mac and Western has the most number of grads that get into Med School, but this is biased from the fact that Mac Health Sci skewed both the GPA stats and the metriculation percentages. Mac Life Sciences (and bio, psych for that matter) isn't as easy as waterloo (piece of cake, even my peers said it) and UTSC (they teach less stuff because they teach slower in general).

If I could choose again, I would've switched to York instead.

 

[steady hands]

I dont want to derail this thread but could you explain why Western and Mac have the highest percentage of grads getting into med school? I am considering transfering to McGill next year, 2010-2011, but if I have a better chance at med school with a degree from Western. . .