Chances to US med school

[Medenguoft]

Hi there,

I need help regarding my current situation. I am a uoft engineering graduate who intends to apply to Canadian and US medical schools (with the US being more probable in my situation) during the next few cycles. I am in this constant dilemma of choosing between pursuing a fifth year to improve my chances vs working and supporting my family while applying. I know that there is a number of people here that can give me insights regarding the most optimal path I can take. Here are my stats;

1st year, 1st semester (6 courses), 1.85, 2nd semester (5 courses), 3.2

2nd year, 1st semester (4 courses), 3.92, 2nd semester(5 courses), 3.87

3rd year, 1st semester (5 courses), 3.76, 2nd semester (5 courses), 3.89

4th year, 1st semester (5 courses), 4.0, 2nd semester (6 courses), 4.0

I know my first year (specially my first semester) bring my overall GPA down to 3.5 (I had a serious personal issue). From an application perspective, do I need a fifth year to boost my grades, or will US medical schools be forgiving given the last 3 years marks? I am talking solely from a GPA perspective. 

Please, your input means a lot to me, I am relatively new to the entire process and I am having problems figuring out the best route in my situation. Your response is really appreciated.

[downinggr]

Well, one of the benefits of pursuing medical education in the United States are the great variety of options with respect to schools and the types of candidates they accept.  Many schools in particular will reward upward trends and will appreciate the rigours of the engineering program you were in.  Please do remember that unlike Canada, medical schools in the United States can often be expensive, and have a lengthy list of prerequisite courses that need to be completed.

One of the challenges is deciding whether you want to apply MD/DO, which are both valid ways of becoming a practising physician in Canada, although I certainly think you have a shot at some MD schools and most DO schools which are Canadian friendly!  

Another thing to remember is that there a number of medical schools in Canada which consider the final two or best two-three years of your degree when it boils down to GPA calculations.  I personally suggest rolling the dice on some of these schools in your first cycle while making sure you meet prerequisite requirements for USA schools just to see how it goes.

[Medenguoft]

On 11/18/2019 at 2:09 AM, downinggr said:

Well, one of the benefits of pursuing medical education in the United States are the great variety of options with respect to schools and the types of candidates they accept.  Many schools in particular will reward upward trends and will appreciate the rigours of the engineering program you were in.  Please do remember that unlike Canada, medical schools in the United States can often be expensive, and have a lengthy list of prerequisite courses that need to be completed.

One of the challenges is deciding whether you want to apply MD/DO, which are both valid ways of becoming a practising physician in Canada, although I certainly think you have a shot at some MD schools and most DO schools which are Canadian friendly!  

Another thing to remember is that there a number of medical schools in Canada which consider the final two or best two-three years of your degree when it boils down to GPA calculations.  I personally suggest rolling the dice on some of these schools in your first cycle while making sure you meet prerequisite requirements for USA schools just to see how it goes.

Thank you so much for your response.

I think moving forward, It is best if I focus on improving other aspects of my application as opposed to taking an extra year to boost my grades. Specially if I am applying to US schools, from what I have seen, the process sounds expensive and time consuming, so I rather focus my energy on that while working with my degree.

It is really frustrating that one bad semester can roll you out of multiple schools.

[Sarah31]

Hey guys, wondering if any of you would mind commenting on my chances for US MD or DO schools. My stats are below. 

Year 1: 2.7/4

Year 2: 2.855/4

Year 3: 3.4/4 (first semester was 3.02 and second was 3.78)

Year 4: 3.975/4

Grad school GPA: 3.7/4

I also have two first author papers (mid-tier journal and Science) and am a co-author on a number of other papers (mid-tier and Nature Comm). I would have very strong LORs from these research supervisors. 

Around 6 years of research experience, lots of work experience working with people with disabilities, and a bit of volunteer and athletics. 

Haven't written the MCAT yet, wondering if it's even worth it? I've read that US schools usually look at upwards trends in GPA. I realize my first two years were pretty rough (financial and personal issues) but I got things together in the last two years and grad school. 

Thanks in advance!

[JohnGrisham]

4 minutes ago, Sarah31 said:

Hey guys, wondering if any of you would mind commenting on my chances for US MD or DO schools. My stats are below. 

Year 1: 2.7/4

Year 2: 2.855/4

Year 3: 3.4/4 (first semester was 3.02 and second was 3.78)

Year 4: 3.975/4

Grad school GPA: 3.7/4

I also have two first author papers (mid-tier journal and Science) and am a co-author on a number of other papers (mid-tier and Nature Comm). I would have very strong LORs from these research supervisors. 

Around 6 years of research experience, lots of work experience working with people with disabilities, and a bit of volunteer and athletics. 

Haven't written the MCAT yet, wondering if it's even worth it? I've read that US schools usually look at upwards trends in GPA. I realize my first two years were pretty rough (financial and personal issues) but I got things together in the last two years and grad school. 

Thanks in advance!

Do the MCAT first and find out. If you do well enough on the MCAT, and have a good personal statement, it is possible(especially outlining your strong upward trend).