So so Grades, great personal hardship... which school?

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Avicenna04

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Hey guys,


My grades are so so.. My MCAT score is so so... Neither is especially high or competative.

What would set me apart is personal hardship that i've gone through. I'm just wondering which Canadian school would be good to apply to under my circumstances? I heard McMaster looks at the application rather closely... any other schools?

Thanks guys!

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Hey guys,


My grades are so so.. My MCAT score is so so... Neither is especially high or competative.

What would set me apart is personal hardship that i've gone through. I'm just wondering which Canadian school would be good to apply to under my circumstances? I heard McMaster looks at the application rather closely... any other schools?

Thanks guys!


For us to be able to answer, please enlighten us on what those so and so's are. It would also help us to know where you're from.
 
Are you applying this year? If you haven't opened an OMSAS account yet, it's too late. The deadline for registering an account is September 15th. The deadline for the app itself is October 1st.
 
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No have not opened an account, but might apply next year anyway. I want to take a year off to do some research.

Grades are around 3.5 prereqs and 3.0 post reqs. as it stands now. Hoping to do better this year.

Again, my grades will not get them to look deeply into my application. I need a school that will read the essay and take it seriously.

Any suggestions?
 
How's your French? :laugh:

Seriously, the applicant pool for the French medical schools is much smaller than for the English ones, and as such their entry requirements are not as high -- although I'm not sure about a 3.3/3.0. But if you can make it, they're wonderful schools. I think I remember reading that University of Montreal students have scored the highest in Canada on the board exams for the past... seven?... years or so. But of course, you must speak French ;)

If that's not a viable option, McMaster certainly is more prone to looking at non-academic accomplishments. But because of this, their applicant pool is huge (over 4000 applicants, more than any school in Canada), which despite their policy results in an exceptionally high matriculant academic average. So it's still a long shot.

And where are you from? Are you from Canada? Because if you're not, there are only a few schools that will even consider your application -- again, making the competition all that more fierce.

I'm not as familiar with the Western med schools, I'm afraid.
 
How's your French? :laugh:

Seriously, the applicant pool for the French medical schools is much smaller than for the English ones, and as such their entry requirements are not as high -- although I'm not sure about a 3.3/3.0. But if you can make it, they're wonderful schools. I think I remember reading that University of Montreal students have scored the highest in Canada on the board exams for the past... seven?... years or so. But of course, you must speak French ;)

QC schools are impossible to get in as an OOP.

If that's not a viable option, McMaster certainly is more prone to looking at non-academic accomplishments. But because of this, their applicant pool is huge (over 4000 applicants, more than any school in Canada), which despite their policy results in an exceptionally high matriculant academic average. So it's still a long shot.

Yeah, I have a 3.5 and I'm not even applying there. Their average is 3.9
+. Only 2 out of 100+ people in the class last year had GPAs between 3.5 and 3.59, and no one below.

I'm not as familiar with the Western med schools, I'm afraid.
I don't think it makes sense to apply out of province with those grades. While schools like UBC or Calgary are not TOO grade-focused when it comes to their IP applicants (both are heavy into ECs/life experience), they get so many OOP applicants that they can pick and choose the most competitive ones. I recall someone who applied to UBC as an OOP and despite having a great app otherwise, was told that it was his 3.7 that killed him - too low for OOP.

Calgary has a weighting formula for OOPs that involves your best 2 years' GPA, MCAT VR, and BS scores. So if you only have 2 bad years, but the other 2 are good, and you score 12 or more on both BS and VR, you can be competitive (best 2 years' GPA cut-off for OOPs is 3.6, and I'd say you're gonna need to get 15s on the MCAT to meet the overall cut-off with a 3.6 GPA; 12s are more for 3.8 GPA).

I'm not sure how Alberta works in regards to OOPs, but I do hear that they are more into numbers than U of C. I'm an IP with a 3.5 cumulative/3.76 for best 2 years/32T MCAT and I couldn't decide whether to even bother submitting the app for like 3 months this summer, because I really don't think I stand a chance with my stats. But I dunno what (if any) their OOP cut-offs are, so I'd peruse their website for information.

Sask is cut-throat in terms of grades, I think a 93% average is the cut-off for OOPs (A+).

If you don't have 2 really strong years, but do REALLY well on the MCAT, you could try for Manitoba. They take 50% MCAT and only 10% grades, plus their GPAs are weighted (you can drop so many bad grades per total # of credits - the exact numbers are on their website). So if you ace the MCAT, you can probably get an interview there.


Bottom line: your only chance in Canada is if you blow your MCAT through the roof (we're talking 38+ here). Otherwise, I'd look into doing a second degree. If you don't have time for that, the warm tropical islands are always an option.
 
Warm tropical islands sounds heavenly... lying on the beach with a drink on hand, being waited hand and foot... pure bliss.

oh wait we're talking about med apps. back to reality. speaking of which, with your current GPA, I don't think it's sufficient enough for Ontario schools. Although I can't be completely sure about that since I only have an idea of what your breakdown is. And the knowledge of your MCAT score will be helpful as well. And yes, the question of where you're from. We're not trying to be nosy or anything but knowing that will probably bring in more insights.
 
Grades are around 3.5 prereqs and 3.0 post reqs.
What do you mean? Are you trying to say 3.0 cumulative and 3.5 if you don't count pre-requisites? I've never heard of "post reqs."
 
I'm not sure how Alberta works in regards to OOPs, but I do hear that they are more into numbers than U of C. I'm an IP with a 3.5 cumulative/3.76 for best 2 years/32T MCAT and I couldn't decide whether to even bother submitting the app for like 3 months this summer, because I really don't think I stand a chance with my stats. But I dunno what (if any) their OOP cut-offs are, so I'd peruse their website for information.

I remember reading the entries of people accepted by UofA on the premed101 forms (http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6303 and go to the entries for this year) and I found that there were a significant number of people who got in with not so great marks, but great life experiences. I would really look into UofA because I think that's where you stand the best chance - think about working in Alberta for a year as that's all it takes to be considered an IP applicant. Also, this is assuming you would have all the prereqs required by UofA.
 
just as a side note, "personal hardship" will only take you so far in the process. Don't think that a school will accept you based on sympathy.

Work on strengthening your app in all areas if you want to stand a chance at canadian schools
 
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