Hey guys

Started by ChineseKid
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ChineseKid

ChineseKid

learning
10+ Year Member
Not sure if this is the right forum but looks like the best place.

I just have a couple questions to ask.
I know how a lot of the pre-req. for medicine school is in first or second year. However, I have only decided to want to attend med school recently (during late 2nd or early 3rd year you can say) and to my luck, the marks for my 1st and 2nd year was nothing near speculator...

So I am just wondering here if it is still possible to have a chance to get into med school with my current conditions.
My average for 1st and 2nd year is around 75% and I am now in the second term of my 3rd year, 2 more years to go until finishing my major in cell biology and genetics.
- I think in GPA term my current GPA is around 3.30
- some good news: my grades are improving since I am working harder, but still a long time to bring GPA to above 80%... dam.. 3rd year courses are hard..

I am now volunteering at local hospital and had done volunteer work at senior house and other hospitals too but the hours aren't adding up; they aren't willing to give me more than an hour a week. I have also joined my school's (UBC) premed club hoping to get more help.

-what are some other possible places to volunteer at?
-I've heard shadowing is good, but I've tried to find a doctor that is ok with this and it seems impossible! How do people ask for this? 😕

Other than that, I also do breakdancing, popping, swimming, working out 3 times a week and other sports from time to time (Basketball, badminton, etc) since I love doing them and have heard it's good to have some extracurricular activities.

I WAS thinking of doing the Mcat in upcoming Sept, however I don't think with my current GPA it is wise to do so...
- a friend of mine suggested that I attend med school in remote places so I have a better chance of getting into or another country. Is this true?


So what I am posting to see is if I can get some wise opinions from you experienced viewers.
 
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ChineseKid said:
Other than that, I also do breakdancing, popping, swimming, working out 3 times a week and other sports from time to time (Basketball, badminton, etc) since I love doing them and have heard it's good to have some extracurricular activities.
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Dude, I hate to break it to you, but those aren't extracurricular activities unless you formally participate in them (e.g. President of dance club or something). Those are hobbies.

Nobody gives a **** if you work out 3 times a week.

Extracurriculars are like, community service, working part-time, etc.

There are 15 slots on your AMCAS application for research, clinical volunteering, and other stuff. Find something really meaningful for about 5 of those slots and fill the rest up with publications / conference abstracts and smaller stuff.

What's your GPA? If by 75% you mean you've gotten Cs for 2 years (e.g. your GPA is a 2.0) you're pretty much screwed. Get good grades for the next two years and an SMP maybe, and apply after that.
 
dokein said:
Dude, I hate to break it to you, but those aren't extracurricular activities unless you formally participate in them (e.g. President of dance club or something). Those are hobbies.

Nobody gives a **** if you work out 3 times a week.

Extracurriculars are like, community service, working part-time, etc.

There are 15 slots on your AMCAS application for research, clinical volunteering, and other stuff. Find something really meaningful for about 5 of those slots and fill the rest up with publications / conference abstracts and smaller stuff.

What's your GPA? If by 75% you mean you've gotten Cs for 2 years (e.g. your GPA is a 2.0) you're pretty much screwed. Get good grades for the next two years and an SMP maybe, and apply after that.
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Well, hobbies or not it is still better than studying all the time no?
I have a friend that had a 95% average and she also did pretty good on Mcat but she never heard back after interview.
I have been getting Bs and A minus (never a C) but maybe the grading is a bit different. and what does SMP mean?
 
ChineseKid said:
Well, hobbies or not it is still better than studying all the time no?
I have a friend that had a 95% average and she also did pretty good on Mcat but she never heard back after interview.
I have been getting Bs and A minus (never a C) but maybe the grading is a bit different. and what does SMP mean?
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It's better for you, but not for your application. They ask it during the intervew, usually: "what do you like to do in your free time?" and as long as you aren't so stupid as to answer "eat, sleep, and sometimes take showers" you'll be okay. If you're accomplished in one of those then yeah it'll look nice to round out your application (but only if your app is otherwise solid). If you perform in Carnegie Hall it'll look really good.

But you got to stop comparing yourself to people who didn't get in, but rather people who DID get in. The amount I care about your friend is not at all. People who do get in generally have good grades, solid MCAT, good clinical experiences, and extracurriculars outside of hobbies.

I don't know your grading scheme so can't answer that much.

As for SMP:

http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=smp+medical+school
 
dokein said:
It's better for you, but not for your application. They ask it during the intervew, usually: "what do you like to do in your free time?" and as long as you aren't so stupid as to answer "eat, sleep, and sometimes take showers" you'll be okay. If you're accomplished in one of those then yeah it'll look nice to round out your application (but only if your app is otherwise solid). If you perform in Carnegie Hall it'll look really good.

But you got to stop comparing yourself to people who didn't get in, but rather people who DID get in. The amount I care about your friend is not at all. People who do get in generally have good grades, solid MCAT, good clinical experiences, and extracurriculars outside of hobbies.

I don't know your grading scheme so can't answer that much.

As for SMP:

http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=smp+medical+school
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Thanks.

When you say "good grades, solid MCAT, good clinical experiences, and extracurriculars outside of hobbies."

Lets use a example of someone who go in then. He told me as long as my GPA is around 85% mark it is 100% for the GPA field for med school of UBC. SO I am assuming 80% is good too?

I looked around and it seems MCAT of above 32 is competitive?

What did you mean by good clinical experiences, and extracurriculars outside of hobbies? How would they define good? I know long term is good, but does the location matter? (ie. hospital vs dental shadowing)
 
ChineseKid said:
Thanks.

When you say "good grades, solid MCAT, good clinical experiences, and extracurriculars outside of hobbies."

Lets use a example of someone who go in then. He told me as long as my GPA is around 85% mark it is 100% for the GPA field for med school of UBC. SO I am assuming 80% is good too?

I looked around and it seems MCAT of above 32 is competitive?

What did you mean by good clinical experiences, and extracurriculars outside of hobbies? How would they define good? I know long term is good, but does the location matter? (ie. hospital vs dental shadowing)
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Sorry, I really don't know anything about grades for Canadian schools. This is 1) because I don't know the Canadian system and 2) because I don't know how medical schools in the US interpret it. So your friend's 85% might answer point #1 but I still don't know point #2.

32 is competitive. Generally on the MCAT you'll want to do as well as you can, so aim high and see where you end up after a few practice tests.

Good clinical experiences are ones that really allow you to understand what being a doctor is like. This includes some sense of the hours and day-to-day grind, which is why they like to see dedication over a long period of time. It also includes involvement, which is why shadowing, though important, cannot be your only clinical experience.

Extracurriculars... do you volunteer in clubs (and are in a position of responsibility)? Do research (and have gotten/are getting published)? Community service? Etc.

It's also good to have one or two unique things to your application to help spark some interest in your application, and being as they are supposed to be unique I can't advise you exactly what to do. But if you do well in a dance competition or something, that can help. But this is conditional on everything else being good.
 
Alright. Thanks.

I am going to postpone my MCAT till I finish my bachelor then, while boosting my GPA, do some more extracurricular and clinical volunteers in the upcoming 2 years.

1 more remark. Longest clinical experience I have so far is 4 month time period where it is once a week; hospitals here don't give volunteer more hours than that..
when you mean long period of time I am assuming you meant around a year at least correct?

thank you again for the help
your answers has greatly enlightened me.
 
As a Canadian, you need a higher GPA and MCAT comparing to Americans to get into you provincial school.
 
Oh?
But I thought each provincial med school leaves most spots within their med school for their own students.
 
I have no idea how the grading works in Canada, But I can't imagine that a 75% is a 3.3.... dude a 75% should be like a 2.5

??😕
 
Elpenor said:
I have no idea how the grading works in Canada, But I can't imagine that a 75% is a 3.3.... dude a 75% should be like a 2.5

??😕
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If you look at the scale linked to on Wikipedia, anything 85+ in BC is an A. No idea about the difficulty though.
 
schrizto said:
If you look at the scale linked to on Wikipedia, anything 85+ in BC is an A. No idea about the difficulty though.
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Elpenor said:
I have no idea how the grading works in Canada, But I can't imagine that a 75% is a 3.3.... dude a 75% should be like a 2.5

??😕
Click to expand...

Generally, it's a harder to get a higher percentage in Canada. The difficulty of coursework should be similar to the U.S. However, instructors ask harder questions on exams.
 
tennisball80 said:
Generally, it's a harder to get a higher percentage in Canada. The difficulty of coursework should be similar to the U.S. However, instructors ask harder questions on exams.
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what?
that stinks 🙁

mmmcdowe said:
There is often some preference like that in the US, but that isn't going to help you if your GPA is below the cut off.
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true..
Since I've already decided to head into this path I will get my GPA up with the 2 years I have left..


Thanks guys, for all the help.
If it wasn't for you guys I might have of took the MCat this Sept even thou my GPA isnt good enough as of right now 🙂
 
tennisball80 said:
As a Canadian, you need a higher GPA and MCAT comparing to Americans to get into you provincial school.
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OP, did you say you wanted to go to a Canadian or American school? Or it doesn't matter?

Hopefully someone can verify this, but I read on SDN that the writing score of the MCAT is much more heavily weighted at Canadian schools than ones in the US. This seemed to be a very real concern for Canadians on the MCAT forum.
 
FloatOn said:
Hopefully someone can verify this, but I read on SDN that the writing score of the MCAT is much more heavily weighted at Canadian schools than ones in the US. This seemed to be a very real concern for Canadians on the MCAT forum.
Click to expand...

I've heard that too, that the verbal section apparently is weighed the most by Canadian schools.
 
FloatOn said:
OP, did you say you wanted to go to a Canadian or American school? Or it doesn't matter?

Hopefully someone can verify this, but I read on SDN that the writing score of the MCAT is much more heavily weighted at Canadian schools than ones in the US. This seemed to be a very real concern for Canadians on the MCAT forum.
Click to expand...

schrizto said:
I've heard that too, that the verbal section apparently is weighed the most by Canadian schools.
Click to expand...

Writing score is not that heavily weight at Canadian schools as far as I know.
 
tennisball80 said:
Writing score is not that heavily weight at Canadian schools as far as I know.
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Just from a quick search on the MCAT forum:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=8681963#post8681963

SN2ed said:
The S is your Writing Score (WS), which US medical schools don't care about too much. Sure, the S will look nice, but it's a small factor and will in no way compensate for a poor score in the other sections. On the other hand, a bad WS can sink an otherwise good candidate that is applying to Canadian medical schools. Your Verbal score (VR), is very important to medical schools. Anything below an 8 in this section is bad news unless you have an easy to get into in-state school. Last year, only a few US medical schools (the ones that cater exclusively to their in-state residents, ex. Arizona's sole medical school) accepted people with a verbal score of 7. The majority of schools did not accept anyone below an 8 or 9 in VR.
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reapplicant5 said:
Two Canadian medical schools have hard cut-offs for the MCAT and GPA-above them, it is an automatic interview.

And their WS section cut off is a Q.

Know one guy with a 36 P who was automatically eliminated from both those schools. Imagine a re take just to improve the WS score!
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http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=9022159#post9022159

Isoprop said:
The writing sample is the least important score. There is almost no trend between writing score and medical school acceptance. But it's also the most easily fixed score-- you can learn to write a mediocre essay very easily and "pass" the writing section.

Pick up any of the big prep company's book on writing and follow their approach.
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J DUB said:
exactly....unless you are applying to schools in Canada!!
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reapplicant5 said:
True, just got rejected from Queen's University for not having atleast an R on the writing sample!
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Anyone from Canada want to definitely confirm this?
 
FloatOn said:
OP, did you say you wanted to go to a Canadian or American school? Or it doesn't matter?

Hopefully someone can verify this, but I read on SDN that the writing score of the MCAT is much more heavily weighted at Canadian schools than ones in the US. This seemed to be a very real concern for Canadians on the MCAT forum.
Click to expand...
It doesn't really matter.
As long as its a medical school. I was thinking of ones other than NA a while ago but realized how hard is to come back and get a residence from reading.

wait... i thought scores are more heavily looked upon in the US than Canada .
 
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