Occupational Therapy Student

[MedRevival]

Hello,

 

This is pretty long so if you want a tl;dr go to the bottom 

 

I'm a 23 y/o Ontario resident who was just looking for a bit of advice. As you can tell from the title I am currently an Occupational Therapy Student in my second year, graduating this summer, and this forum helped me through those applications 2 years ago so I'm hoping for some more help.

 

My story isn't very exciting but I could use a second opinion. It might be kind of long so I apologize in advance.

 

I have basically wanted to be a physician all my life. Since elementary school. I did my undergrad in health sciences in order to pursue this dream. However, undergrad was very different from high school for me. In high school I graduated with an >90% average without putting in very much effort. As a result, I went into university not knowing how to study and this ultimately lead to a not so great 1st year (GPA 2.7). In second year, I decided to minor in life sciences to get the med prereqs and those courses also kept my marks down (cGPA 2.7). It reached a point where I basically gave up on medical school and started looking for other post-graduate options. I knew I didn't want to do a thesis because research really isn't for me. Hence, my search for an applied Master's program began.

 

3rd year was where I started to learn about rehab. One of my profs was an occupational therapist and I never heard of that profession so I did tons and tons of research on it (the kind of research that I consider to be fun haha). After reading about it and loving what I saw, I decided my new goal was to be an OT. I had one year left and needed to make the most out of it because My 3rd grades still weren't the best and OT schools look only at your final 2 years. So I switched my minor to gerontology which I enjoyed but was also notorious for being easy and was able to get all A's that semester.

 

I took a year off so all my grades could count in my application and worked as a medical assistant. Fast forward 1 year. I applied to a bunch of Ontario schools for OT and got into the one in my city. I was super duper excited. When I started my program, which I enjoyed, I realized I kept convincing myself that this was what I wanted to do. It just didn't fulfill me as much as I had anticipated. It also didn't help that we shared our campus with med students and that my placements were in hospitals filled with med students. I was basically surrounded by people who were living my dream. 

 

I want to emphasize that I think OT is an amazing profession and is so beneficial for so many people but it just didn't give me what I wanted. Physicians are the front-line caregivers for patients which is why I am so passionate about pursuing this career. Unfortunately, my scope of practice as an OT would not give me enough freedom to be able to help people to my full potential. So, I decided I would at least give Med a shot. I might get rejected but at least I can say I tried and won't regret it (I plan on trying several times if I have to though). I am more driven and motivated than ever before. If anything, OT sparked an even stronger passion in me for medicine. I feel like I have so much more to give if I was a doctor thanks to my OT degree. So after I graduate from OT this July I'm planning on applying to med at McMaster, Queen's, UofT, and Western after writing the MCAT.

 

TL;DR

 

OT student graduating this summer and planning to apply to med at McMaster, Queen's, Western and UofT in October 2017. What are my chances? How do I improve in the meantime?

 

Planning on doing the MCAT this summer.

 

Here are my current stats:

 

OMSAS cGPA: 3.30

wGPA: 3.45

sGPA (best 2 yrs): 3.62

Work exp: Worked as a medical assistant at a clinic for 1 yr (worked with all types of specialists, triaging, administering some treatments, assisting, etc...). The rest of my work was in retail and proctoring exams.

Volunteer: Heart and Stroke Foundation (health promotion), a long-term care home (residents with dementia), physio clinic, teaching assistant (elementary school)

Placement Experience: Pediatrics (kids with developmental disorders), Neurology, Psychiatry, 2 placements next year as well.

EC: Started a cake business, soccer

Research: Did a research project in 4th year and currently working on a research project for my grad program (hoping for a publication).

 

Do I stand a chance with my low GPA?

 

Thanks for all your help! 

[Fresh fry]

 

Here are my current stats:

 

OMSAS cGPA: 3.30

wGPA: 3.45

sGPA (best 2 yrs): 3.62

 

 

Do I stand a chance with my low GPA?

 

 

 

This is the only part that you have to work on. Your GPA is much to low. Yes you theoretically have a chance but for all intents and purposes you need a clean slate with 3-4 years of full time studies with a GPA > 3.9. You need a second undergrad degree. Doing a masters or part time studies will not help you. Your ECs and volunteering/research are sufficient I would not invest a bunch of time trying to improve on these.

 

You need to find a program that you can do well in and put your nose to the grind stone. Fortunately you can work part time as an OT to help with the bills in the meantime.

 

GL

[Artier]

Are you willing to do more years of undergrad? You'll need at least 2 more years of undergrad with a high GPA (at least >3.8 but really in your situation you want >3.9 as Fresh fry said). Since you said you had all A's in your 4th year, it's POSSIBLE if you get 1 more year of undergrad you might be good for Western and Queen's (check Western's course requirements though, they are very strict) but that all depends on your MCAT.

 

What I would do in your situation is study full time for and write the MCAT. If your score is competitive at Western/Queen's, then do more years of full-time undergrad and aim >3.9. That's really the only way to get in with your situation, considering you are also an ON resident.

McMaster and U of T are likely not viable options in your situation.

All the best.

[Npd]

Hello! I’m in the same boat. I will attend OT school this September but have a dream of being a doctor. I decided not to apply to med school as my gpa is only 3.6, and my extracurriculars are mediocre. Do you think if I do well on the MCAT and use the time in my masters to boost my extracurriculars applying to medical school is a good idea?

[Med89]

On 6/1/2020 at 8:43 PM, Npd said:

Hello! I’m in the same boat. I will attend OT school this September but have a dream of being a doctor. I decided not to apply to med school as my gpa is only 3.6, and my extracurriculars are mediocre. Do you think if I do well on the MCAT and use the time in my masters to boost my extracurriculars applying to medical school is a good idea?

Hey  i'm in the same boat too! I think my gpa is not very competitive but i'm applying in Quebec so the grades are calculated differently.How do you like OT now?