Really Bad Gpa First 2 Years

[medmaybe2017]

I'm a student at UBC but before, I was here I took courses at a college and my GPA from my first 51 credits in total is about a 3.1. I also did not take full course loads so I don't think I can drop my lowest year. This is really bad because I just checked and UBC med does count all post secondary grades although many other med schools in Canada do not and will only count my grades from UBC. The reasons for the low grades is quite frankly medical school was not on my mind back then at all and it's a fairly recent decision I have made. What should I do if UBC is my first choice (due to family/friends/housing/work)? I will be aiming for straight A's the next 4-5 semesters but I don't think even that will be good enough to bring up my GPA to the point where I am competitive at UBC. 

[Fresh fry]

http://forums.premed101.com/index.php?/topic/93630-horrible-first-two-years/

 

http://forums.premed101.com/index.php?/topic/93254-questions-about-doing-a-second-degree/

 

http://forums.premed101.com/index.php?/topic/92779-advice-please-low-gpa-mcat-ecs/

 

http://forums.premed101.com/index.php?/topic/92686-how-screwed-am-i-iffy-mcat-low-gpa/

 

http://forums.premed101.com/index.php?/topic/92673-what-are-my-options-low-gpa/

 

http://forums.premed101.com/index.php?/topic/92066-poor-first-year/

[medmaybe2017]

Thank you for the links. I realize this type of question must get posted a ton. I don't think my chances at most Canadian med schools are hopeless but I am hoping to hear anyones input specifically regarding UBC med. Thanks.

[Pterygoid]

Competitive IP UBC is 85% +
Anything below that you would need a very high NAQ score (34+) to compensate.

Having said that, some students are accepted with averages below 85%

Just go look at their posted statistics.

[RichardDegrasseSagan]

UBC will be extremely difficult at this point, particularly with the lost weighting. If you get extremely high marks for the next few years, it might be possible, given the fact that UBC uses percents as opposed to GPA. GPA really penalizes low marks more so than percent. However, UBC aside, I think your best bet would be some of the other Canadian schools that employ different weightings as well as a potential 5th year.

 

A few examples of weighted schools are Ottawa (take last 3 years; [3x most recent year + 2x second most recent year + 1x third most recent year]/6), Queen's takes most two recent years, Western takes best two years. As long as you have a full course load in these year, yourlack of a full course load in your first two years will not matter!

 

Good luck buddy! I hope your newfound appreciation for medicine will really drive your grades up. I found that my grades took a SIGNIFICANT bump when I switched from the mentality of "bird courses" to taking physiology/anatomy courses that I found interesting. Granted, you don't want to go all crazy and take the hardest courses. Find a balance in courses which interest you, and which have fair marking schemes.