what are my chances and should I do a masters?

[spongeycashew]

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Hi everyone,

So, I'm kind of an idiot and I screwed up my first two years of university (3.35 and 3.21 GPA respectively). I've been pulling up my GPA steadily over the past year and a half though, and I received a 3.92 last year, and 3.96 last semester. Would it be worth it for me to do a masters to hopefully boost my GPA up, or do I have a chance at med schools without it? I'm a BC resident, studying at Queen's university. I feel like my ECs aren't really that amazing (some research experience, no pubs for two summers, volunteer/mentor at the hospital for 2 years, volunteer first aid provider for 4, executive of two municipal service committees for 2 years, big buddy to two children for 3 years, lots of retail work experience, and academic grievance officer for 1 year), so I'm a little lost as to what to do. I received a 511 on the MCAT (128/127/128/128) from self-studying last summer, and I'll be retaking it again this year with a class to boost up my CARs mostly.

Do I have a chance at medicine, or should I do a masters before I apply for it?

 

[bearded frog]

Are you talking about a special masters in the US for application to US medical schools? Or a graduate school masters in Canada for applying to a Canadian medical school? If its the former, you might try in the premed section or what are my chances for people with experience with that, although I don't know how being a Canadian affects your chances. If its the later, you should try premed101 as this is mostly a US school oriented forum, and also Masters marks are not counted in GPA so it would not help you at all and you should do 1-2 more years of undergrad either as a ad-hoc post bac or as a two year add on degree, depending how many credits youve taken and your overall GPA.

 

[spongeycashew]

Are you talking about a special masters in the US for application to US medical schools? Or a graduate school masters in Canada for applying to a Canadian medical school? If its the former, you might try in the premed section or what are my chances for people with experience with that, although I don't know how being a Canadian affects your chances. If its the later, you should try premed101 as this is mostly a US school oriented forum, and also Masters marks are not counted in GPA so it would not help you at all and you should do 1-2 more years of undergrad either as a ad-hoc post bac or as a two year add on degree, depending how many credits youve taken and your overall GPA.

Hi! Thanks for your response. I could do a post-bac but in Canada it's a little harder to do that than in the US I believe.

 

[ConfusedChemist]

Hi! Thanks for your response. I could do a post-bac but in Canada it's a little harder to do that than in the US I believe.

Master's won't help if you undergrad grades are low. Being from BC is great-you have a shot there still. Look up their criteria.

Keep up your GPA like you have been, and do a 5th year of undergrad. 3 strong years is enough. Being prepared to need to apply a couple times

 

[David Mike]

I appreciate your hard work which you did earlier. GPA plays an important role in medicine admission in Canada. Masters can help you to become expert in the subject but as @bearded frog said masters GPA may not add value to get into top medical school.