I am in the second year of my grad degree. I applied for September 2013 entry into several Ontario Canada medical schools with the knowledge of my supervisor, who wrote me an excellent reference letter. This is my first time applying.
I have a good chance at getting an interview (3.9+ undergrad GPA, 37S MCAT, lots of longterm volunteering activities, etc) however my grad degree is not progressing the way it was supposed to. Some unfortunate things have happened and as a result, it's not 100% clear that I'll be done by Sept.2013. When I applied, I was on track to be done by June and had my supervisors blessing.
Most of the schools don't care if I'm done the degree or not. My supervisor understands that I may quit and is okay with this. I've had scholarships for my degree so he hasn't had to pay me anything. As well, I wasn't going to apply for 2013 since I wanted to make sure I was done my degree but he advised and encouraged me to do so, thinking I'd be done. So now he completely accepts and supports the fact that I may have to quit.
But will it forever taint my CV that I'll have 2 years of grad school but no degree? I don't know what to do at this point and I don't know how badly something like quitting will effect me down the line? Will this look bad when I apply for residency programs? Jobs? Will I forever be explaining this to interviewers??
I'd REALLY like to not drop the degree and finish it. But at the end of the day, med school acceptances are so hard to come by these days, that I can't justify saying no to med school in order to finish an MSc. So the ONLY reason I would drop the degree is if I have a med school acceptance in hand.
The chances that I'll finish in the fall are still uncertain at this point. It's about 50/50. I'll know more by second semester. There is still a possibility that I'll be done by fall. If I get into the med school at which I am doing my grad degree, I'd be happy to do it concurrently to try and get it done. I've also emailed adcoms about deferrals since there is really nothing at all that neither I nor my supervisor can do at this point.
Of course, whether I'm done or not, I still have no acceptances so this is all hypothetical at this point. Nonetheless I can't stop thinking about it and if anyone has some advice I'd really appreciate it.
I have a good chance at getting an interview (3.9+ undergrad GPA, 37S MCAT, lots of longterm volunteering activities, etc) however my grad degree is not progressing the way it was supposed to. Some unfortunate things have happened and as a result, it's not 100% clear that I'll be done by Sept.2013. When I applied, I was on track to be done by June and had my supervisors blessing.
Most of the schools don't care if I'm done the degree or not. My supervisor understands that I may quit and is okay with this. I've had scholarships for my degree so he hasn't had to pay me anything. As well, I wasn't going to apply for 2013 since I wanted to make sure I was done my degree but he advised and encouraged me to do so, thinking I'd be done. So now he completely accepts and supports the fact that I may have to quit.
But will it forever taint my CV that I'll have 2 years of grad school but no degree? I don't know what to do at this point and I don't know how badly something like quitting will effect me down the line? Will this look bad when I apply for residency programs? Jobs? Will I forever be explaining this to interviewers??
I'd REALLY like to not drop the degree and finish it. But at the end of the day, med school acceptances are so hard to come by these days, that I can't justify saying no to med school in order to finish an MSc. So the ONLY reason I would drop the degree is if I have a med school acceptance in hand.
The chances that I'll finish in the fall are still uncertain at this point. It's about 50/50. I'll know more by second semester. There is still a possibility that I'll be done by fall. If I get into the med school at which I am doing my grad degree, I'd be happy to do it concurrently to try and get it done. I've also emailed adcoms about deferrals since there is really nothing at all that neither I nor my supervisor can do at this point.
Of course, whether I'm done or not, I still have no acceptances so this is all hypothetical at this point. Nonetheless I can't stop thinking about it and if anyone has some advice I'd really appreciate it.
