Only have the GPA to apply to one or two Canadian schools. Need to retake MCAT. Need advice.

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SillyCactus

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Hello,

I am a Bachelor of Science graduate in Canada that transferred into a B.Eng because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do/engineers in the family recommended I try it out. I recently decided that I wanted to apply to Med School and took some time off to study for the MCAT. I got a 498 on the MCAT and I'm a little disappointed that I need to write it again (I've heard some schools take the average MCAT score rather than your best score). I didn't take organic chem in my science undergrad (partly due to poor degree planning) and I'm thinking I should probably take that course in order to improve my background.

As of now, assuming I can improve my MCAT, I think I could apply to just a couple of schools here in Canada (Dalhousie, U of Manitoba and McMaster I think) with my present GPA (cGPA = 3.1, last two years of Bsc = 3.5 each).

Has anyone gained admission to med school by applying to just a couple schools? I'm worried about my prospects since my GPA seems to keep me from casting a wide net.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

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Canadian schools generally take your most recent MCAT score, so that's not the issue.

Your GPA is a huge issue, though. Your chance of acceptance anywhere with a 3.5 is abysmal unless your volunteering/work/research/etc. are very strong, and you haven't mentioned those in your post.

You options include:
- Apply to the schools you mentioned, but unless your volunteering, etc. is awesome, you'd likely be wasting you money.
- Take another two years of undergrad and get 3.8+, but first think hard about whether you have the study skills to do this, given your poor MCAT score
- Apply to American DO schools (after re-taking the MCAT and getting 505+), but please thoroughly research your likelihood of obtaining a Canadian residency afterwards
- Research other health professions you may be interested in, which I feel is your best option at this time

BTW what was your CARS score? In which province do have residence, if you don't mind sharing?
 
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