Transitionning Towards Cegep

[Candid]

Hello guys,

 

I'm in my last year of secondary and next year I'll be in cegep. In these two years, I want to do everything possible to be admitted in premed.

But here is the thing: I think that I am too decent, average. My grades are in the high 90s in science related subjects but everything else is around 80, basically just a few points above average. I don't know if I'll get the same grades in cegep, it might be harder or.. easier (?),

but I really need help, I cannot afford to just "do my best" and see the outcome, it's too risky for someone like me.  

 

• How was first semester of cegep for you guys?
• Did u perform as well or worse or maybe even better than in highschool?
• And for those who've had their grades strongly improved throughout these two years, what helped you accomplish it?
• What did you do to get an R score high enough to get into premed or any competitive university program?

 

I don't want my first semester of Cegep to be a hard brick in the face. I think that my high school prepares the students well enough for cegep but I want to push myself even more and secure the chances of getting into med.

 

Thank you very much for your understanding,

Marie

[Symphonie]

Hi Candid

 

I think cegep is harder than high school based on the fact that it requires constant work. Even if you didnt do you your homework, HS was pretty doable according to me.

The key to succes in cegep is work and organization. Do all your homework and do them again before your exam. For the other non-scientific subjects, read all your texts and read them again near the exam date. Write résumés in Word and read them outloud. Besides, never get scared to ask questions to your teachers by meeting with them. It will show them that you are interested by the subject (even if you're actually not) and that you want to learn. Plus, it will help you understand better.

Most people have to adapt to cegep, workload wise. In my case, my first semester was not that good. I learned from this and adopted better study methods, wich helped me to land a pretty higher r score.

My advice would be to do your best for the rest of HS. Furthermore, once you'll start cegep, get organized quickly and plan your study and working time.

And dont forget that the numeral number result per se doesnt account for the RScore. In fact, the most important thing is your Z Score. You need to be above the average to have a good r score, whatever your numeral grade is. A 90 can give you a 27 rscore while a 80 can give you a 32 rscore.

 

Good luck!

[Candid]

Hi Candid

 

I think cegep is harder than high school based on the fact that it requires constant work. Even if you didnt do you your homework, HS was pretty doable according to me.

The key to succes in cegep is work and organization. Do all your homework and do them again before your exam. For the other non-scientific subjects, read all your texts and read them again near the exam date. Write résumés in Word and read them outloud. Besides, never get scared to ask questions to your teachers by meeting with them. It will show them that you are interested by the subject (even if you're actually not) and that you want to learn. Plus, it will help you understand better.

Most people have to adapt to cegep, workload wise. In my case, my first semester was not that good. I learned from this and adopted better study methods, wich helped me to land a pretty higher r score.

My advice would be to do your best for the rest of HS. Furthermore, once you'll start cegep, get organized quickly and plan your study and working time.

And dont forget that the numeral number result per se doesnt account for the RScore. In fact, the most important thing is your Z Score. You need to be above the average to have a good r score, whatever your numeral grade is. A 90 can give you a 27 rscore while a 80 can give you a 32 rscore.

 

Good luck!

 

Thank you very much, do you have an approximate idea of the weight of secondary grades on the R score?

And also, my friend told me that her cousin got into premed with 32 R score as she did over 700 hours of volunteering at hospitals, would it do me good to work intensively during summer in hospitals? I mean as in,no summer job and just volunteering? I just got a job offer not so long ago but my family told me to focus on volunteer and school only.

[Guest]

Thank you very much, do you have an approximate idea of the weight of secondary grades on the R score?

And also, my friend told me that her cousin got into premed with 32 R score as she did over 700 hours of volunteering at hospitals, would it do me good to work intensively during summer in hospitals? I mean as in,no summer job and just volunteering? I just got a job offer not so long ago but my family told me to focus on volunteer and school only.

 

This is what I think you should do, but I am not an expert.

Take your first semester easy. Put 99% of your focus on your R Score, and maybe commit to 1 low-commitment activity. Once you are sure that you can handle this, commit to more activities over the next few semesters and summers (There is not really any workload difference between semesters). Remember that you will have long summers and that french schools don't look at your CV. 

Also, consider the quality of your activities. Volunteering as a greeter in a hospital? Waste of time. 

Working as a cashier? Not so valuable, unless you really need to finance your studies.

Don't plan on getting an interview with a 32 r score. You probably won't (there's like 1-2 people who get interviews with 32 r score, and usually, it's because they've submitted a letter of extenuating circumstances and have excellent grades/CV otherwise).

[Symphonie]

Thank you very much, do you have an approximate idea of the weight of secondary grades on the R score?

And also, my friend told me that her cousin got into premed with 32 R score as she did over 700 hours of volunteering at hospitals, would it do me good to work intensively during summer in hospitals? I mean as in,no summer job and just volunteering? I just got a job offer not so long ago but my family told me to focus on volunteer and school only.

The IFG (strength) is based on the average of each student in your class during secondary IV and V. In a 30 students group, your grades wont weight that much.

[Bambi]

Marie,

 

Welcome to the Forum.

 

Google CanMEDS Competencies. You can attain many of these competencies through work or volunteering. Therefore, do not close the door to summer work in the belief you are better of doing volunteering.

 

Let"s say you do work in customer service dealing with unhappy customers. You will learn tact, diplomacy and develop better communication skills, all of which are important in life, for the interview and for physicians in their interaction with patients, colleagues and others.

 

In volunteering, do something meaningful that contributes to your community and where you make a longterm commitment. For example, Big Brother, Big Sister where you can be a role model for a younger person who perhaps is in foster care, a group home or who has one parent only who works and is not home often. You can make an important difference in this child's life. Or, visiting lonely elderly in s home who have no visitors will make a difference. And if you do something like this, stick with it.

 

Only McGill cares about these activities which are not considered by the Franco schools. However, these life experiences will help you in terms of communication skills, experiencing empathy and caring for others.

 

When. I went pro Cegep, I did not have the requisite maturity to be serious and do well. I had a lot of growing up to do. I did not have the grades to apply from Cegep. It was a maturing process. By the time, I started undergrad, I was serious and knew how to study, was motivated and became a straight A student.

 

Do not fall behind, ask questions if you don't understand anything, study in a smart way for you and if you are unsure, go to counseling. Good luck!

[Candid]

Marie,

 

Welcome to the Forum.

 

Google CanMEDS Competencies. You can attain many of these competencies through work or volunteering. Therefore, do not close the door to summer work in the belief you are better of doing volunteering.

 

Let"s say you do work in customer service dealing with unhappy customers. You will learn tact, diplomacy and develop better communication skills, all of which are important in life, for the interview and for physicians in their interaction with patients, colleagues and others.

 

In volunteering, do something meaningful that contributes to your community and where you make a longterm commitment. For example, Big Brother, Big Sister where you can be a role model for a younger person who perhaps is in foster care, a group home or who has one parent only who works and is not home often. You can make an important difference in this child's life. Or, visiting lonely elderly in s home who have no visitors will make a difference. And if you do something like this, stick with it.

 

Only McGill cares about these activities which are not considered by the Franco schools. However, these life experiences will help you in terms of communication skills, experiencing empathy and caring for others.

 

When. I went pro Cegep, I did not have the requisite maturity to be serious and do well. I had a lot of growing up to do. I did not have the grades to apply from Cegep. It was a maturing process. By the time, I started undergrad, I was serious and knew how to study, was motivated and became a straight A student.

 

Do not fall behind, ask questions if you don't understand anything, study in a smart way for you and if you are unsure, go to counseling. Good luck!

 

This is a great source, thank you! Do you have any examples of something in a CV that shows leadership? I don't know if owning a student club could work.

For the moment, I've been doing volunteer for less fortunate families (food baskets, gifts for children, etc). I'm mostly categorizing the donations, wrapping gifts and distributing them to children and families, sometimes I guide the volunteers but it's a very small role so I don't think there's much of a leadership vibe going on :S I've been doing this annually since 2010.

 

And also, what's shadowing a doctor for exactly? What do you do and is it for more than just confirming your passion for health sciences? Also I think I might be too young to shadow (turning 17), maybe I'm planning things too detailed, but when would be a good time to start shadowing?

[Snowmen]

Physicians in the US seem to be more open to shadowing and it is almost a requirement over there. In Canada, it is very hard to shadow a physician unless you are a medical student and it is not much of an asset for your application, and even more so for the french schools.