Worried about my situation...

[Schmitty]

Hello all,

I consider myself a non-traditional applicant...hence why I'm posting in here.

I'm 24 (in a couple weeks), and in my fifth year of UG at the University of Toronto. I actually have 2 more credits to go to graduate with a major and a specialist in Nutritional Science and human Health and Disease, respectively.

What I believe makes me a non-trad applicant is my unusual situation. I began at U of T in Engineering Science and I had no idea what I wanted to do, but I knew i didn't want to do that as it was very boring. Because of this, I never went to class and just barely passed (like 58 average or something horrible like that)....However, after the first semester, I switched into part-time studies (and worked part-time) in random history/arts sci stuff....again, I hated it and was very bored (especially considering I was preoccupied with meeting the love of my life whom I now live with) and hence did very poorly.

Anyway, after my horrendous first year, I switched into Part-time studies (50% load) in life science....which I loved! I got 4.0 in all those courses, then I went full-time the year after, and fast-forward 3 years of full-time studies I have a 3.68 cumulative GPA. However, taking out those non-science courses I took in my first year (which is now 4 years past), I have a 3.9 GPA Including this years 4th year courses.

My question is, how badly will med school admissions look upon my horrible first year? Will they even consider that it was 4-5 years ago and, presuming i get a chance to explain myself in my personal statement, take personal issues into consideration?

On top of my GPA, i ahve been volunteering at Mount Sinai hospital for about 6 months now and am continuing through the summer and I love it (working in CT). Unfortunately, all summers up to now I have had to move up north with my parents and work full-time at a casino as I must cover all my educations costs myself. As you can imagine, this leaves little time/money to get ECs during the summer.

Also, I have had 2 research-assistant positions at U of T; one in a physiology lab, and the other which I have right now, assisting with obstetric anaesthesiology simulation research, working with obstetrical emergency teams, which I find fascinating.

This summer, I applied for, and received a Government Grant Research award from the government to fund a Nutritional Science project of my own, which hopefully will at least lead to the publication of an abstract.

Other than that, I really don't have much else to pad my application, which has me worried when seeing many of peers having to actually NOT include some of their copious amounts of ECs because they have too many.

As for the MCAT, due to me taking summer courses, doing research full-time, and not having taken any physics for at least 5 years, I don't believe I will have time to study for the MCAT this summer. As such, I think I may just apply to the 2-3 schools in Canada that do not require the MCAT, and even if that doesn't work out, at least it'll be good practice. then over the next year I will study for and write the MCAT and apply for 2010 matriculation at other Canadian schools.

I would love to apply to some US schools, but as I must completely fund my education myself and already have tons of debt, the over 2x cost of US schools doesn't seem feasible.

Does my plan sound acceptable? Also, how do you think my situation with my engineering marks will be viewed upon?

Thank you very much for everybody's time and consideration.

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[Gold 5]

Hi,
What was your BCMP average? If your overall average is above 3.5 and your BCMP is above 3.5 I don't think it will be a big deal for most US schools. Perhaps you can cover your poor performance in your essays and how you bloomed once you found something you liked. How Canadian schools will view this? As always try to kick butt on the MCAT to prove that you can do well in med school. I would strongly recommend though applying broadly to schools. Three is not going to cut it

 

[nu2004]

i would say that you're enough of a traditional applicant to put this in the "What are my chances?" general thread. You'd likely get more feedback there... you'd probably also see a lot of posts very similar to yours, perhaps with replies that you might find useful.

 

[Schmitty]

Thanks all, i'll post it in the other thread later on.

Which courses do I include in my BCMP gpa? We don't use that term in Canada much, but if you mean my average in OrgoChem1+2, BIO1+cell bio, Physical Chem, Physics, and Calc, then it's a 4.0 as I have between 86 and 95 on each of those. Actually, I have never taken a physics course outside of Engineering (an obviously high school)...so that is not factored in there....

Any suggestions as to what I can do during next year when I will only have 2 courses? I am going to keep volunteering, continue my summer research project, and hopefully find a decent part-time job.

Thanks again.

 

[avalon18217]

Well you're lucky you figured it out in a year, it took me 4 years to figure out what I wanted to do at which time I had gone to school part time as well and had even "failed" a 1 credit class I forgot to officially drop. But my GPA was ~3.67 overall and BCMP was ~3.8 (I'd have to look it up but don't feel like it so sorry if it's different than what I have posted on MedApps).

IMO I don't think med schools cared that those "bad" (B's and C's) grades were 6-8 years ago if they were there they counted. I think they mostly just look at GPAs and maybe one or two classes they are interested in. They might also scan for anything unusual like multiple withdraws or failed classes. But I'm not an ADCOM.

I didn't have time to study much for my MCAT which also might have hurt me, but I still got into some schools.

As for taking the MCAT or not I don't know anything about Canadian schools but I think you'll want to have a good MCAT and a good personal statement to explain your first year.

 

[overthebars]

Be wary of "practicing" applying to medical school, it is unforgiving as a hobby. It leaves you short money and a little dignity even when it works out well. You only get this one chance to make a first impression. If it doesn't work out you will have some questions to answer. Consider waiting until you are completely ready and then go full guns. You don't want to seem too impulsive, uncommitted or even unrealistic by applying to a relative few number of schools because you didn't want to take the MCAT. Then again it could be different in Canada.

 

[Deanis]

Hey Schmitty.

I'm Canadian too and I'm in a similar boat as you. I couldn't write the MCAT last summer, so I applied to McMasters and NOSM. Rejected pre-interview by both, which I expected but it actually was good experience. Both schools recieve a lot of applicants (+2500 for NOSM and +3000 for Mac) so I'm not sure if they will remember you or take the time to re-look you up if you reapply (I could be wrong).

Anyways, in short, that first year will hurt you in Canada. How much depends on the school. The nice thing for you is that a lot of schools weight your last couple years more than the first two (at least one school doesn't even consider your first year marks). You cumulative GPA is about average (maybe a bit on the low side) for Canadian schools - especially if you're planning on applying out of province, and definitely low for the three Canadian schools that don't require the MCAT. Another downside is that a fair number of Canadian schools don't count any part time credit towards your GPA (you do get credit for them however) - though it seems you have quite a bit of full time credit.

I don't want to discourage you, I'm just giving you what I've learned from being in a similar place a year ago. If you want another (and likely more informed) Canadian opinion, get in contact with trustwomen. She is very knowledgable (damn, how so you spell that?) and frank, and she is going to medical school in Canada. You could also check out the details for teh Canadian schools on their websites - it doesn't take very long when there are only 13 or so

Good luck.