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Upgrade Undergrad GPA v. Pursue Graduate Studies


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Looking through their admissions website, MUN looks to be pretty vague in what they're looking for in terms of GPA. 

As an IP student, I should be graduating with a cGPA of 3.85 (possibly 3.86-3.87, if I'm lucky) and average of approximately 85-87%. I'm finishing my last year, and then have a year to upgrade my application while I wait to know whether I'm accepted. I am kind of forced to take a year off as my application will not be ready to apply for September (mostly due to MCAT but I also wish to improve ECs further). I am planning as if I will have to apply for the second time, so that I remain competitive. 

While this is a little far in the future, I really want to formulate a plan. My 3 options seem to be:

A) Get a full-time job while I'm waiting - This could be helpful if it's somewhat within the health field, but if not, it might not be a huge strength on my application. However, I do not come from a privileged family so the money would be a help.

B ) Continue doing UG courses to try and boost my application further. This is pretty self-explanatory. 

C) Apply and spend a year in the MPH program. It's a 1 year program (September - August) that includes 2 semesters of courses and 1 semester of a workplace practicuum (paid or unpaid). I like this option because the courses are of interest to me, it has a shorter time frame, and it's within my "scope". It also provides some what of a back-up just in case I have to wait around for another year. I have a background in psychology (mostly social psychology) as well as business. However, I worry that it makes me look like a "cookie cutter" applicant.

Is it better to go for the graduate program, try to improve undergrad further, or work? 

 

 

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There's not a ton of emphasis on the GPA after you get an interview (and your GPA is high enough for an interview). I don't think the GPA boost you would get from another year of undergrad would make much of a difference. 

I agree with you with the job option. If it's in a health related field or if it gives you specific skills that would be helpful in medicine then it would help. But if it's just a job for the sake of a job, probably not. I tried a few times to get in but the work experience I had (health related field doing research with some clinical experience) really helped in the year I got in. I was able to bring lots of work experiences into my interview.

The benefit of doing MPH would be getting research experience especially if you don't have much research experience elsewhere. 

 

I would probably rule out more undergrad right away and go with one of the others. The job option really depends on where you're working and if you think that the experience and skills would be more valuable than what you would get from a grad program.

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MPH do not provide any research experience. The practicum experience could be beneficial to you, but do not expect a MPH to boost your GPA significantly/at all. Also keep in mind that some schools absolutely require that you finish your graduate program before beginning med, so depending on your finishing date you could end up missing an application cycle. Considering you're IP for MUN, and depending on your MCAT, I would go with the job. 

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Just for reference I completed the MPH program at MUN in 2014 and of my class, 6 of us have been accepted into medical school (4 of which were IP at MUN). Each year the program has students interested in a career in medicine, many of which have been successfully accepted to MUN or another medical school in Canada. 

Additionally, because MUN counts all courses taken, your graduate courses will be included in your GPA calculation so between option B and C, option C is the better choice because you would be gaining the same benefit of boosting your GPA while also gaining a new degree, relevant course material, and exposure within the Faculty of Medicine. However, I agree with the above poster that the MPH program does not lead to any significant research opportunity, unless you seek those opportunities outside of the course material (although it may allow you to connect with a prof doing research more easily).

Just my thought!

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Thank you so much to everyone for your help! I agree that doing another undergrad year probably will not help significantly (it would bring me up to a 3.88 at best). However, I am leaning toward the Masters program. 

1 hour ago, Dr.Doc said:

Just for reference I completed the MPH program at MUN in 2014 and of my class, 6 of us have been accepted into medical school (4 of which were IP at MUN). Each year the program has students interested in a career in medicine, many of which have been successfully accepted to MUN or another medical school in Canada. 

Additionally, because MUN counts all courses taken, your graduate courses will be included in your GPA calculation so between option B and C, option C is the better choice because you would be gaining the same benefit of boosting your GPA while also gaining a new degree, relevant course material, and exposure within the Faculty of Medicine. However, I agree with the above poster that the MPH program does not lead to any significant research opportunity, unless you seek those opportunities outside of the course material (although it may allow you to connect with a prof doing research more easily).

Just my thought!

I agree with a lot of what you're saying. It can help with the GPA side of things while remaining a new challenge/step-up from undergrad. However, I do worry about what Chels1267 said as well - I assumed that the practicuum portion would be finished by the end of the summer semester at MUN (mid-august) as on the website it says 12-16 weeks.

As someone who has already finished the program, would you expect there to be an overlap between the start of school (if I were to get admitted) and the end of the program? To be more specific, is it feasible?

 

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Based on my experience, there would be no overlap between the start of school and the end of the program if you complete the program on a full-time basis and in alignment with the layout of the program. For instance, for every student graduating at the October ceremony during my year, all the practicums were completed by mid-August at the very latest (I completed mine by the end of July). So I don't think the MPH program would conflict with the start of med school (unless you are applying to a school that starts July like U of Calgary).

Although other schools like DAL have specific requirements, I don't recall MUN having a requirement that a Masters needs to be completed prior to the start of school. A good friend of mine was 1-year into the MSc in Clinical Epidemiology program at MUN when she was accepted to MUN med and they basically gave her the option to not complete the MSc and take a diploma in clinical epidemiology  in order to honour the coursework she already completed or continue the MSc throughout medical school since MUN incorporates research into the curriculum. 

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7 hours ago, UndecidedMD said:

Thank you so much to everyone for your help! I agree that doing another undergrad year probably will not help significantly (it would bring me up to a 3.88 at best). However, I am leaning toward the Masters program. 

I agree with a lot of what you're saying. It can help with the GPA side of things while remaining a new challenge/step-up from undergrad. However, I do worry about what Chels1267 said as well - I assumed that the practicuum portion would be finished by the end of the summer semester at MUN (mid-august) as on the website it says 12-16 weeks.

As someone who has already finished the program, would you expect there to be an overlap between the start of school (if I were to get admitted) and the end of the program? To be more specific, is it feasible?

 

You can always check with MUN to see if they have a deadline for completion. The only downside to doing the MPH partway is that I'm fairly certain you wouldn't be able to use any of the grades from your coursework in your GPA calculation without officially completing the program, so leaving it unfinished would be kind of a waste of time in that sense. 

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