Olle

I'm not where I want to be yet (Plan A), but my gut feelings say I might be closer than ever. But I'm also in a position where I haven't accomplished anything tangible in life and I'm getting more conscious about my age. An age where I everyone including myself sees me as a young person, but also an age where I feel people have begun to judge me for the career I have, and the failed path I must have taken to get there. As a result, I recently feel a great appeal about my plan B, which is software engineering. However, the other side of my brain is telling me that this is how people give up on medical school: Since I have no background in CS, I'm going to have to spend a huge amount of energy to pull myself up to the "average", at a later period in life than most people in the field. All those hours I'm going to spend grinding on Leetcode, all those hours networking, planning personal projects, and all those hours prepping for my technical interviews could be funneled towards perfecting my med school app. This is going to take years to get an okay grasp. So my struggle comes from the fact that I don't know how successful, or how long it will take for plan B to actually become a plan B, while plan A is also an uncertainty. What if I do end up satisfied in plan B, but not that satisfied, when I've reached a critical point in trying to achieve both plan B and A? Wouldn't that lead to regrets for not having invested more time and energy in plan A? That's actually a bigger fear to me. There's also a plan between A and B, which would lead to stable career, and give more leeway for me to prep for plan A for the forseeable future, but the outcome would just not be satisfying as plan A or B, and I feel like I'd regret not challenging myself at a younger age with plan B, if plan A fails to be achieved in this route. Should I stick with plan A until I achieve it someday, and then think of achieving plan B? My instincts tell me this is right, and I have so many long-term goals after becoming an MD, whereas plan B is more shortsighted (to get me out of the rut that I'm in now) but I just feel like the time is ticking for me to take risks and reliably explore more options, considering the realistic side of age in society, and all the responsibilities that comes with it. I'd love to hear advice.

To give you some background I already have a BSc degree with a GPA of ~3.7 on a 4-point scale (~85%), and I'm gunning for UBC med. As far as I'm aware, you can apply to medical school in the first year of your second degree. However, many med schools value third and fourth year courses and some even value an upward trend. So does this mean that, even if my grades will average on the upside (UBC policy on second degrees), I won't have a decent chance until I reach my third and fourth years? (Excluding the reason that my grades would be simply higher by then).

I know for the near future medicine will look more attractive for its security, but I'm talking about the long-run when things have equilibrated. If Alberta becomes more like Saskatchewan or Manitoba over time, then the overall pool of competitive applicants will shrink compared to cities like TO or VAN, assuming UCal and UofA continues to provide the same advantages to applicants who have IP status.

A mass exodus of foreign and domestic companies are expected in the oil sector over the coming years. Many people are considering to move from the province to seek job opportunities and better educational environments for their children, elsewhere. Educated immigrants and their families will increasingly choose other provinces as well... U of A already announced they may be decreasing the number of faculties in response to Alberta's new budget plan. So in the wake of the changing energy market, do you think admission to UAlberta/U of C will become less competitive over the next few years?

Did anyone do a second degree through TRU or Athabasca? I did think of going back to UBC, but I'm in my late 20s, and want to upgrade my GPA while making money to sustain myself. I know "easy" is relative, but in your experience are the courses manageable to get a high GPA? Which programs do you recommend?

Did anyone do a second degree through TRU or Athabasca? I did think of going back to UBC, but I'm in my late 20s, and want to upgrade my GPA while making money to sustain myself. I know "easy" is relative, but in your experience are the courses manageable to get a high GPA? Which programs do you recommend?

During the EC screening process how do you think med schools view applicants who have undergone mandatory service in countries such as Israel, Singapore, South Korea etc? I understand that military service is looked upon favourably but this usually applies to voluntary reserve enlisting, or military vets. I did voluntarily apply for the Korean Navy (I still had a Korean citizenship at the time so it was more of a pick your poison-type-deal.) which is regarded as more difficult and longer than the other options (air and armed). I would say the biggest things you learn are teamwork, endurance, good judgement, and the ability to work under pressure. Just interested to hear opinions.

Hey, I've been working graveyard shifts for a little more than a year in a lab position at a medical biotech company. Obviously graveyard shifts aren't the most desired position, so I am worried that mentioning the job on my application would raise a red flag when assessing my relative competence. Also, it requires a lot of sacrifice of routines you have during the regular day, and I don't want to be seen as that person who would sacrifice all of that for a job, if you get what I mean. Should I keep it out? I would appreciate your thoughts!

Hey guys, I would like your input on whether to pursue a second undergrad degree or a course-based masters. Some things I should tell you about me: - I graduated from UBC with a AGPA of ~85%. I know this GPA allows me to apply to UBC, but my degree was an absolute mess. I have 2Ws, 2 semesters with 4 courses instead of 5, I was interested in science but I never organized my thoughts to concentrate on a subject so my third and fourth year timetable was riddled with a bunch of non-degree, non-science electives. Anyone with a critical eye will be able to see that I never had a passion in my studies, and while I successfully met the requirements to graduate, I feel like I graduated as an undeclared student. And I now feel terrible about my records. - My ECs from UBC is on the good side. Lots of experience in research, leadership roles, and a few long term commitments I'm still continuing today. - I've been working in my current job for a year. Pay is sub-par but has significant upward mobility. Pros for course-based masters: I'm thinking of a public health degree Advances my career (although not directly). Should increase my cAGPA by 1 or 2%. Generally just more experience I can mention. Cons for course-based masters: Once I finish my masters I'll be approaching 27 (I need to finish some courses as an undeclared for a year to meet my prereqs). It kind of bothers me that I'll submit my first med school app come this age. Pros for second undergrad degree: I'll be able to redeem myself. I've made poor choices in my first degree, but I did know how to study and I've matured significantly since, so if I complete another degree I know I'll feel very proud. Possible to bump my GPA up ~3%. Allows me to apply 3 times throughout my second degree. I guess more experience always helps for the next cycle. Getting rejected in my first and second time could mean the difference of acceptance on my third, so I think this is big. Cons for second undergrad degree: Actually backwards movement for my career. In 3 years I would have a better position within my company if I stayed, not that I want to. If I don't get into med school within the 3 years of doing another degree, I'm back to square one while having more debt. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

I'm currently in 4th-year pending approval for graduation, and I'm gunning for UBC med. - My AGPA is currently 84.5%. When I complete 2 summer courses, I think I'll be at 85%. - I want to do a full 5th year because there are 4th-year level courses I'm interested in taking and I'm pretty confident I can pull up my AGPA close to 86% (I also have a B- in one of my courses and a withdrawal this year so I want to prove that I'm capable of getting straight As or A+s on full-time as well). However, I can't afford to do another full year so I'm thinking about doing 0.5 years (15 credits/ 30 credits) instead before I graduate. - The problem is that I would have to officially graduate on May of 2021 because my school only offers November and May graduation dates, which means that I would have to be on part-time studies while I complete the 15 credits. Would med schools (esp. UBC) question this decision? Is it worth taking another 5 courses in my case?

GPA is golden, and I wish you the best for the MCAT Your ECs could use more long-term activities as all of your activities are very short-term. Med schools tend to value depth.

Firstly, I'm gunning for UBC med only. My university record is not exactly the best thing I can showcase, but I think I'm at a point where I could try harder and actually have a chance to study medicine. Here's my record: 1st year: 77% (27 credits) 2nd year: 82% (28 credits) - 1W ( I took the course again in the 2nd semester) 3rd year: 85.5% (30 credits) 4th year: I'm expecting ~ 88% average (30 credits total, 1W) 5th year: I know what to take for GPA-boosting purposes and will likely reach the early 90s. My AGPA with 1st year taken out is 83.6% atm, although this will likely rise to about 84.5~85% once I've finished my second-semester courses. My major EC's: - Volunteered at 3 Labs, 1 lab internship (WorkLearn), I started one last month and will likely continue through my 5th year to get something tangible this time. - Founder of non-profit organization - will continue through 5th year and beyond. - 250 hours of community volunteering (continuing for 1.5 years now and will continue for another 1.5) - Freelance Spanish language tutor (volunteer) since HS. - Scifi writing The thing is, I lived in Canada for over 21 years, but I'm still an "international" student. So I will need to get a PR which can take 1.5~3 years after graduation, and I'm already 22. By the time I am even eligible to apply to medicine I will be 25 or 26, which is getting a bit old. Do you think I should do a 5th year in my case?

I thought if you had over 90 credits they apply aGPA regardless of the number of credits you took in a particular year?

Thanks for that I'm already expecting myself to spend 3~5 years out of university just reapplying to UBC medicine haha If I can't pull myself up to 85%, do you think its worth doing a 5th year?

My university record is not exactly the best thing I can showcase, but I think I'm at a point where I could try harder and actually have a chance to study medicine. Here's my record: 1st year: 77% (27 credits) 2nd year: 82% (28 credits) - 1W ( I took the course again in the 2nd semester) 3rd year: 85.5% (30 credits) 4th year: I'm expecting ~ 89% average (30 credits total, 1W) 5th year: I know what to take for GPA-boosting purposes and will likely reach the early 90s. My AGPA with 1st year taken out as of today is 84.1%, although will likely rise to about 85% once I've finished my second-semester courses. My major EC's: - Volunteered at 3 Labs, 1 lab internship (WorkLearn), I started one last month and will likely continue through my 5th year to get something tangible this time. - Founder of non-profit organization - will continue through 5th year and beyond. - 250 hours of community volunteering (continuing for 1.5 years now and will continue for another 1.5) - Freelance Spanish language tutor (volunteer) since HS. Do you think I should do a 5th year?