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[reticularlamina]

.

 

[44332211]

good luck!

[reticularlamina]

1 hour ago, alokozay said:

Never give up, if this is what you really want. To answer your question, yes, you have a chance if you focus and do well in your last two years- you'd have a chance at Western (top 2 >3.7 OMSAS), Queens (last 2 years). If you have been taking a full course load, you would qualify for UofT's weighted formula, and if you choose to go on and do a Master's they will take into consideration your research productivity. If you are from another province other than Ontario, then your provincial school will be most forgiving. If you finish your first undergrad with a subpar GPA, you always have an option of doing a second undergrad, and trying again. The MCAT will help you a lot so prepare for that (especially for the states).

In short, yes it's possible, never give up. Life will go on no matter what, so keep trying and ignore the naysayers

Good luck!

Wow thank you so much! Unfortunately I’m IP Ontario so ontario schools are my best shot but I wasn’t expecting that kind of support so I really appreciate it 

[Meridian]

Abandoning your current undergrad degree won't help you for medicine unless you truly don't want to finish it or you cannot achieve a high GPA in it.

You need to nail 3rd and 4th year with +3.9x GPA.   That can open up Queens and Western.  A 5th year might help open up Ottawa wGPA & UofT wGPA and maybe help your cGPA enough for MAC.

Don't think Masters yet.  You need the undergrad GPA first to know if a Masters would be of any use for Med school applications.  Research is not necessary for med school.   EC's are required so think EC's first.  Review Can-Meds.

It wont be easy - but that is still the best path.

 

 

[reticularlamina]

1 hour ago, Meridian said:

Abandoning your current undergrad degree won't help you for medicine unless you truly don't want to finish it or you cannot achieve a high GPA in it.

You need to nail 3rd and 4th year with +3.9x GPA.   That can open up Queens and Western.  A 5th year might help open up Ottawa wGPA & UofT wGPA and maybe help your cGPA enough for MAC.

Don't think Masters yet.  You need the undergrad GPA first to know if a Masters would be of any use for Med school applications.  Research is not necessary for med school.   EC's are required so think EC's first.  Review Can-Meds.

It wont be easy - but that is still the best path.

 

 

So if I get a +3.9 these 2 years I have a fair chance at western and queens even though there’s people who have four years of +3.9? The reason I was thinking masters was because I don’t want to damage my GPA which is already so fragile by doing a lot of volunteer so I thought masters would open up the opportunity for me to build on my EC’s. I wouldn’t mind research either + i’d make a bit of TA money; or should I just get everything done each summer and do a fifth year?

[Instagrammar]

I would HIGHLY advise a fifth year over pursuing any masters degree (course-based or thesis-based). I went the masters route and in terms of GPA, it is only acknowledged at NOSOM (who is very selective on geographic region/population) and UofT. Every medical school will look at a fifth year (in Ontario) as this is still part of an undergraduate degree. Does your University offer research opportunities as part of fourth year courses? Additionally, you can consider taking masters level courses at your university during your fifth year if you contact the course instructor (not many people know of this). 

In general, a masters degree confers little to no benefit for GPA. A fifth year lets you remain at your institution, and continue involvement in extracurriculars you have previously committed to (unless you choose a masters at the same institution). Furthermore, only UOttawa allows you to abandon your masters degree if accepted. Every other school has a policy that you MUST expect to complete your two year thesis-based, or one year course-based masters by June of that year (if classes start in September). 

I would be hesitant to rely solely on a great MCAT score and CARS score if you have yet to take the exam. Once you know your MCAT results, then you can figure out what route you want. From personal experience, the masters route is not one you should consider GPA boosting. 

[reticularlamina]

On 1/19/2019 at 2:22 PM, Instagrammar said:

I would HIGHLY advise a fifth year over pursuing any masters degree (course-based or thesis-based). I went the masters route and in terms of GPA, it is only acknowledged at NOSOM (who is very selective on geographic region/population) and UofT. Every medical school will look at a fifth year (in Ontario) as this is still part of an undergraduate degree. Does your University offer research opportunities as part of fourth year courses? Additionally, you can consider taking masters level courses at your university during your fifth year if you contact the course instructor (not many people know of this). 

In general, a masters degree confers little to no benefit for GPA. A fifth year lets you remain at your institution, and continue involvement in extracurriculars you have previously committed to (unless you choose a masters at the same institution). Furthermore, only UOttawa allows you to abandon your masters degree if accepted. Every other school has a policy that you MUST expect to complete your two year thesis-based, or one year course-based masters by June of that year (if classes start in September). 

I would be hesitant to rely solely on a great MCAT score and CARS score if you have yet to take the exam. Once you know your MCAT results, then you can figure out what route you want. From personal experience, the masters route is not one you should consider GPA boosting. 

Yeah I won’t even bother for schools like NOSM because I’ve lived in the city my whole life (school wise u of t is my best chance geographically) but u of t could care less about who attended their school. Stats alone show the majority of acceptances were for Mac kids. I wanted to do a masters because I wanted some useful publications as my EC’s are highly lacking but I was also hoping to be a TA so I could save a bit of money- this year I quit my part time job to just focus on school. But calculating my cGPA even if I got 4.0 the next 3 years my cGPA would be 3.83, barely competitive. I’m not throwing all my baskets into u of t because most people I know with much better stats didn’t get in. U of T however does seem to be more forgiving for those w a masters. But I had no idea about the 5th year masters option, could I TA as well if I’m a 5th year? And would I be doing research??? 

 

Yeah definetely going to reweigh my options after the MCAT and CARS. But I know it’s GPA> MCAT so I just want to be sure that GPA is high enough to at least get noticed because it’s really discouraging to know even if I did get 4.0 these 2 years my CGPA is kind of ruined from the past 2 years.  

[Instagrammar]

1 hour ago, reticularlamina said:

Yeah I won’t even bother for schools like NOSM because I’ve lived in the city my whole life (school wise u of t is my best chance geographically) but u of t could care less about who attended their school. Stats alone show the majority of acceptances were for Mac kids. I wanted to do a masters because I wanted some useful publications as my EC’s are highly lacking but I was also hoping to be a TA so I could save a bit of money- this year I quit my part time job to just focus on school. But calculating my cGPA even if I got 4.0 the next 3 years my cGPA would be 3.83, barely competitive. I’m not throwing all my baskets into u of t because most people I know with much better stats didn’t get in. U of T however does seem to be more forgiving for those w a masters. But I had no idea about the 5th year masters option, could I TA as well if I’m a 5th year? And would I be doing research??? 

 

Yeah definetely going to reweigh my options after the MCAT and CARS. But I know it’s GPA> MCAT so I just want to be sure that GPA is high enough to at least get noticed because it’s really discouraging to know even if I did get 4.0 these 2 years my CGPA is kind of ruined from the past 2 years.  

Just remember that GPA is not everything. The one problem in particular I have with this website and its culture in general is the monumental affinity individuals place on GPA and MCAT scores. Yes, having good GPA and MCAT help but it is not the crux of a good applicant. I will leave you with this: I got an interview to UofT with a 3.78 cGPA and an OOP interview to UBC with that same GPA. Having done this process for a few years now, I personally know individuals with 125 in CARS and who had mid 3.8x GPAs that were accepted to McMaster (despite the culture here saying anything below 128 in CARS is worth considering a re-write). The reporting bias on this website is very real and does not capture the true breadth of applicant GPA's, MCAT's and EC's. Just continue doing what you enjoy - and figure out where you can improve. A barista at Starbucks can get as much life experience and insight into the working environment as a hospital volunteer, researcher, etc... 

As for your questions, those are all institutional dependent and will require some work on your end. I hope you do not fall victim to self-doubt this website can often foster among applicants because of the emphasis people have on GPA and MCAT. These aspects will certainly open doors, but by no means restrict all access. 

[reticularlamina]

1 hour ago, Instagrammar said:

Just remember that GPA is not everything. The one problem in particular I have with this website and its culture in general is the monumental affinity individuals place on GPA and MCAT scores. Yes, having good GPA and MCAT help but it is not the crux of a good applicant. I will leave you with this: I got an interview to UofT with a 3.78 cGPA and an OOP interview to UBC with that same GPA. Having done this process for a few years now, I personally know individuals with 125 in CARS and who had mid 3.8x GPAs that were accepted to McMaster (despite the culture here saying anything below 128 in CARS is worth considering a re-write). The reporting bias on this website is very real and does not capture the true breadth of applicant GPA's, MCAT's and EC's. Just continue doing what you enjoy - and figure out where you can improve. A barista at Starbucks can get as much life experience and insight into the working environment as a hospital volunteer, researcher, etc... 

As for your questions, those are all institutional dependent and will require some work on your end. I hope you do not fall victim to self-doubt this website can often foster among applicants because of the emphasis people have on GPA and MCAT. These aspects will certainly open doors, but by no means restrict all access. 

Oh my goodness thank you so much.

honestly lurking this forum I thought I was so hopeless I was seriously considering not even finishing this undergrad and doing another one because I figured I would have 0 chances even getting a 4.0 these 2 years. 

I just got the impression that if your GPA is <3.9 and your CARS is <129 you don’t have a chance 

I love science but I just had some really poor study habits due to some external factors + working + straight up sticking with courses that had some bad professors and not dropping them because I was stubborn. I know is not an excuse but it really did limit me. and that’s why I wouldn’t mind doing a masters in general because I wouldn’t be thinking of it as a waste of time. 

I will definitely be doing a bit of research on my end but I really appreciate the advice as I wasn’t even thinking of applying OOP because I thought admissions would just laugh in my face. 

 

On that note I’m going to review some lectures and study hard! Thank you so much you’ve given me a bit of hope!

[Happy_go]

15 hours ago, reticularlamina said:

Oh my goodness thank you so much.

honestly lurking this forum I thought I was so hopeless I was seriously considering not even finishing this undergrad and doing another one because I figured I would have 0 chances even getting a 4.0 these 2 years. 

I just got the impression that if your GPA is <3.9 and your CARS is <129 you don’t have a chance 

I love science but I just had some really poor study habits due to some external factors + working + straight up sticking with courses that had some bad professors and not dropping them because I was stubborn. I know is not an excuse but it really did limit me. and that’s why I wouldn’t mind doing a masters in general because I wouldn’t be thinking of it as a waste of time. 

I will definitely be doing a bit of research on my end but I really appreciate the advice as I wasn’t even thinking of applying OOP because I thought admissions would just laugh in my face. 

 

On that note I’m going to review some lectures and study hard! Thank you so much you’ve given me a bit of hope!

That's the correct attitude. Rock those courses and get your GPA up!