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I've been kind of feeling down lately about getting into medical school. I was hoping some of you guys can look at my GPA/EC and tell me what the best course of action I should take over the next few years.

 

1st year: 2.7

2nd year: 3.38

3rd year: 3.66

4th year: 3.79

5th year: Will start this fall, hopefully a 4.0, realistically a 3.9+

 

Hopefully my cGPA will land somewhere around 3.49-3.51

 

MCAT: Will try to write it during 2018 Summer in August since I will be free that summer.

 

EC:

100+ food bank (will be around 200 or so by the end of my fifth year)

2+ year muay thai (will be 3 years)

1+ year archery (will be 2 years)

 

will start hospital volunteering this summer and continue for the next 2 years hopefully; will look into shadowing where I can.

will try to find RA/TA positions during my fifth year

 

 

What I've been thinking:

 

- Western is probably my best avenue into a medical program but that would depend on my MCAT

- Queens is probably not realistic for me considering my ECs (however I will be taking a gap year after my MCAT summer, but I don't know if a full year of volunteering/work will be enough)

- Dalhouise seems difficult since I have no connection to the maritime.

-Ottawa seems like a stretch with a 3.88 wGPA with best case scenario of a 4.0 in my fifth year

-Mac is probably also a reach with a 3.5 cGPA

- I'm a Canadian citizen but I'm also an LPR of the United States and I'm looking at various US DO/MD schools. My residence is in California though so I don't know how realistic USMD might be with a 3.5 cGPA.

 

 

 

 

So how screwed am I?

I feel like whatever improvements I have done during my later years is pretty much a case of "too little too late". I've been looking at my options which includes doing an SMP/Postbacc in the states, a second undergrad in Canada or doing a masters in Canada or US and hope my 3.5 is good enough.

 

I was wondering what you guys would do in my position, any advice on how I should approach the next 2-3 years would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

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Keep your options open (not just med), but it's do-able if you work extremely hard. You may have to do a 5th and 6th year. If you do that and do well, you would become competitive for Western, Mac, Queen's, and Ottawa.

 

I was in a very similar position as you. Check out my "Lost (with updates)" post in the non-trad forum.

Yea I've read your thread, I was wondering if your 5th and 6th year were apart of your first undergrad degree.

 

I kind of want to just graduate after my 5th year and maybe take a non-degree year to boost my gpa, but I know that would cause issues with Ottawa. Would it just be better to enroll in a a 3 year second undergrad or should I lengthen my first degree even further? 

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Yea I've read your thread, I was wondering if your 5th and 6th year were apart of your first undergrad degree.

 

I kind of want to just graduate after my 5th year and maybe take a non-degree year to boost my gpa, but I know that would cause issues with Ottawa. Would it just be better to enroll in a a 3 year second undergrad or should I lengthen my first degree even further?

I would say add a major/minor and just extend your first degree. It prevents all the complications of a second degree. However, definitely hear out/research some of the other perspectives on second degrees.

 

P.s. yes the last two years were part of my first degree

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I've been kind of feeling down lately about getting into medical school. I was hoping some of you guys can look at my GPA/EC and tell me what the best course of action I should take over the next few years.

 

1st year: 2.7

2nd year: 3.38

3rd year: 3.66

4th year: 3.79

5th year: Will start this fall, hopefully a 4.0, realistically a 3.9+

 

Hopefully my cGPA will land somewhere around 3.49-3.51

 

MCAT: Will try to write it during 2018 Summer in August since I will be free that summer.

 

EC:

100+ food bank (will be around 200 or so by the end of my fifth year)

2+ year muay thai (will be 3 years)

1+ year archery (will be 2 years)

 

will start hospital volunteering this summer and continue for the next 2 years hopefully; will look into shadowing where I can.

will try to find RA/TA positions during my fifth year

 

 

What I've been thinking:

 

- Western is probably my best avenue into a medical program but that would depend on my MCAT

- Queens is probably not realistic for me considering my ECs (however I will be taking a gap year after my MCAT summer, but I don't know if a full year of volunteering/work will be enough)

- Dalhouise seems difficult since I have no connection to the maritime.

-Ottawa seems like a stretch with a 3.88 wGPA with best case scenario of a 4.0 in my fifth year

-Mac is probably also a reach with a 3.5 cGPA

- I'm a Canadian citizen but I'm also an LPR of the United States and I'm looking at various US DO/MD schools. My residence is in California though so I don't know how realistic USMD might be with a 3.5 cGPA.

 

 

 

 

So how screwed am I?

I feel like whatever improvements I have done during my later years is pretty much a case of "too little too late". I've been looking at my options which includes doing an SMP/Postbacc in the states, a second undergrad in Canada or doing a masters in Canada or US and hope my 3.5 is good enough.

 

I was wondering what you guys would do in my position, any advice on how I should approach the next 2-3 years would be greatly appreciated.

You are not screwed. Apply to DO med schools. You'll be in first year by this time next year.

Try Touro California, and Western University Pomona. All in California.

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You are not screwed. Apply to DO med schools. You'll be in first year by this time next year.

Try Touro California, and Western University Pomona. All in California.

Yea I was looking into Pomona, it would be nice since my family lives 15 minutes away from that campus. 

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I've been kind of feeling down lately about getting into medical school. I was hoping some of you guys can look at my GPA/EC and tell me what the best course of action I should take over the next few years.

 

1st year: 2.7

2nd year: 3.38

3rd year: 3.66

4th year: 3.79

5th year: Will start this fall, hopefully a 4.0, realistically a 3.9+

 

Hopefully my cGPA will land somewhere around 3.49-3.51

 

MCAT: Will try to write it during 2018 Summer in August since I will be free that summer.

 

EC:

100+ food bank (will be around 200 or so by the end of my fifth year)

2+ year muay thai (will be 3 years)

1+ year archery (will be 2 years)

 

will start hospital volunteering this summer and continue for the next 2 years hopefully; will look into shadowing where I can.

will try to find RA/TA positions during my fifth year

 

 

What I've been thinking:

 

- Western is probably my best avenue into a medical program but that would depend on my MCAT

- Queens is probably not realistic for me considering my ECs (however I will be taking a gap year after my MCAT summer, but I don't know if a full year of volunteering/work will be enough)

- Dalhouise seems difficult since I have no connection to the maritime.

-Ottawa seems like a stretch with a 3.88 wGPA with best case scenario of a 4.0 in my fifth year

-Mac is probably also a reach with a 3.5 cGPA

- I'm a Canadian citizen but I'm also an LPR of the United States and I'm looking at various US DO/MD schools. My residence is in California though so I don't know how realistic USMD might be with a 3.5 cGPA.

 

 

 

 

So how screwed am I?

I feel like whatever improvements I have done during my later years is pretty much a case of "too little too late". I've been looking at my options which includes doing an SMP/Postbacc in the states, a second undergrad in Canada or doing a masters in Canada or US and hope my 3.5 is good enough.

 

I was wondering what you guys would do in my position, any advice on how I should approach the next 2-3 years would be greatly appreciated.

Well, in my opinion your best bet for Canada would be to do a second UG and increase your GPA. It simply isn't competitive enough for Canadian schools unfortunately. If you are willing to commit yourself to studying 2-3 more years in a different undergrad, you could make yourself into a strong applicant if you achieve a 3.9+ over those years. This is very doable, as I and many others have done it, but it takes lots of discipline. Evidently, much of this hinges on how well you do in your MCAT, so I don't think myself or anyone need to tell you how much effort you should put into this exam.

 

If you realistically want to have a shot in Canada, that is what you have to do. You can always try your luck at DO schools in the states, but if you don't want to pigeon-hole yourself into something you might not fully be into, I would strongly suggest doing another UG degree.  

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Well, in my opinion your best bet for Canada would be to do a second UG and increase your GPA. It simply isn't competitive enough for Canadian schools unfortunately. If you are willing to commit yourself to studying 2-3 more years in a different undergrad, you could make yourself into a strong applicant if you achieve a 3.9+ over those years. This is very doable, as I and many others have done it, but it takes lots of discipline. Evidently, much of this hinges on how well you do in your MCAT, so I don't think myself or anyone need to tell you how much effort you should put into this exam.

 

If you realistically want to have a shot in Canada, that is what you have to do. You can always try your luck at DO schools in the states, but if you don't want to pigeon-hole yourself into something you might not fully be into, I would strongly suggest doing another UG degree.  

I was thinking about following what RDS said and just add a minor and extend to 6 years. 

 

I'm kind of stuck in doing a 5th year at the moment in order to graduate with the degree that I want. Honestly doing my fifth year and then doing a second undergraduate (which would take another 3 years to complete) just seems like too much at the moment. 

 

Do you have any strong opinions in whether a second undergraduate would be better then a 5/6 year?  

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I was thinking about following what RDS said and just add a minor and extend to 6 years. 

 

I'm kind of stuck in doing a 5th year at the moment in order to graduate with the degree that I want. Honestly doing my fifth year and then doing a second undergraduate (which would take another 3 years to complete) just seems like too much at the moment. 

 

Do you have any strong opinions in whether a second undergraduate would be better then a 5/6 year?  

Well certain schools require you to do another UG to get the "2nd UG" policy to kick in, such as UWO and McGill. That being said, if those are not on your list, it really doesn't matter 1 path or the other.

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Do you mean the undergrad institution itself? Because UWO med just looks at best two years.

If you want to use UWO "Second UG only" policy, as in erase all your grades from your previous UG. That is what I was referring to

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If you want to use UWO "Second UG only" policy, as in erase all your grades from your previous UG. That is what I was referring to

Sorry, I am not quite following. Why would someone want to use the "second UG only" policy for UWO? They only use your best two years. And there is no problem for OP given that both this 5th/6th years are part of a degree program and not special years post-graduation.

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Sorry, I am not quite following. Why would someone want to use the "second UG only" policy for UWO? They only use your best two years. And there is no problem for OP given that both this 5th/6th years are part of a degree program and not special years post-graduation.

I was under the impression that you always need to have 3/5 courses in a semester to be of your current year level or higher to be used as one of the best two years. So this would create a complication if doing a 5th or 6th year within the same degree. I thought it was for this reason that individuals tend to shift to a 2nd UG degree so that you can satisfy the 3/5 requirement.

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My friend did the Postbac program at Medical Education Advising and got in in Queen's as well as in Irish and 80000 scholarship in SGU. 

This source seems rock solid. We should pin this and advertise it to all of premed 101 

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I was under the impression that you always need to have 3/5 courses in a semester to be of your current year level or higher to be used as one of the best two years. So this would create a complication if doing a 5th or 6th year within the same degree. I thought it was for this reason that individuals tend to shift to a 2nd UG degree so that you can satisfy the 3/5 requirement.

 

This would definitely depend on the institution (their diversity of course offerings and flexibility in their major requirements). I didn't find it too challenging to take upper year courses in my 5th and 6th years at UofT (although my third year was part time, so it may have saved some of my upper year courses for later years).

 

Also, IIRC, med schools don't discriminate between 3rd and 4th year courses. They're treated the same. So you just have to take 60% of your courses in the 3rd/4th year level during your 5th and 6th years. 

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