Some Advice Please?

[yeescience]

Hey everyone, 

I was hoping to receive some advice on how to proceed to become a stronger med school applicant- this is my dream so I will do whatever it takes. I've given this a lot of thought but would really appreciate help as I feel really stuck. 

My stats are as follows:

BSc (Hon.) from McMaster U

1st year: ~3.1

2nd year: ~2.6 (went through some heavy personal issues these two years so I can explain this in academic explanation essays for relevant medical schools) 

3rd year: 3.65

4th year: 3.93

5th year: 3.77 with research based thesis (no pubs, 2 poster awards, many presentations) 

MSc Research Based from UofT

3 years and one manuscript in progress (will be a high impact paper and first author) 

MCAT: written 4x all with pretty much the same frustrating scores and distribution, highest achieved was physchem/cars/bio/psych: 129/124 (hate this section so much) /128/126

ECs: Pretty well rounded I think... exec in clubs throughout undergrad and grad school, hospital many years, volunteer abroad, camps, mentoring, etc. (all follow a similar theme of things Im interested in, mainly being part of the childhood cancer community, Hispanic community, and under-privileged societies) 

Geography: Ontario from GTA

I am going to be finishing my MSc and pub this coming summer and I was thinking of staying in my lab as staff for another year after that to wrap up things and save money. I will also finally take time to focus on the MCAT during that year, which I found very difficult the last four times I wrote it because of grad school, so I hope this does the trick to pull up my CARS (its been 124 each time) . Then, I am looking at potentially doing a second-entry undergrad program if I get no med interviews again next cycle (I've applied twice with no luck and I'm not very hopeful unless my MCAT increases). I would like to improve my GPA and target schools like Ottawa, but I feel so lost on which programs I could look into. I thought about the two-year Physician Assistant program at UofT-NOSM, but I am unsure if that will help with GPA due to clinical rotations. I am unsure what kind of other programs are out there, especially since I already have a BSc... doing another one could be redundant? Also, I would prefer not to look into going abroad to Ireland/Australia just yet as I hope to be a CMG one day. 

Any guidance will be much appreciated, especially if you have been in a similar situation. Good vibes or hope or success stories would also be welcome. Thank you. 

[RicardoKaká]

1) Rewrite MCAT - not sure when your last rewrite was but Id try to get that CARS up. Would open many doors for you based on your cGPA.

2) Potentially do a 3-year undergrad and aim for high marks (although this option would be pretty tough and $$$)

Unfortunately your GPA is on the lower side, same with the MCAT - harsh reality of the Canadian med app process. You wont be looked at in the file review stage based on those marks. 

Alternatively you can try going abroad - this is also $$ and its becoming increasingly difficult for an IMG to match back in Canada - especially if you are not interested in FM. 

Feel free to PM me for more advice, however it looks like a stellar MCAT (~90%) would be required in your case to have better odds at interview. Best of luck!