My path in slowly preparing med school application

[ashutoshbhanot]

So after being out of school for so long, I am finally gonna apply to med school at the age of 28... Becoming a medical doctor had always been on my mind when I was in high school but after consulting with my parents when I was 17,18, I chose chemical engineering at UofT instead of life science. 

Being 18 and a party go-er, my first year GPA was the reason why I gave up the dream of becoming a doctor and decided to become an engineer instead. I paid the price of partying too much in first year. 

My GPA:

First year: 2.4 (surprisingly, I didn't get into academic probation lol)

Second year: 3.0

3rd and 4th year: 3.7 (dean's list both years)

With this GPA, I managed to get into a research master's program at UofT chemical engineering after. Did that plus an internship at a consulting firm, then on my path of engineering. 

Based on this, I think my good and only bet would be Queen's university (in-province) and at most, Dal. 

I have been studying MCAT for a year and decided not to take any pre-requisites since MCAT it self is very energy-draining. I used mostly Khan Academy and went to a course of princeton review to study. 

My MCAT score is: 131/128/126/129 

EC-wise:

I used to volunteer at a hospital when I was 16 and shadowed a doctor and did microbiology-related research in his lab when I was 18 (going into uni). So I used to know how much I want to become a doctor. 

During uni: Co-captain of chem eng basketball team, hosting and leading cardio training, exec members of two clubs (music & pharmacist), summer research, aboard engineering intership at a plastic manufacturing firm. 

Master's: No paper (LOL. Fail... last time I check, my supervisor was clogged up with all the papers he wants to publish). 1 poster presentation. 2 oral presentations at conferences. continue to serve as VP to a club member. TA-ed final year capstone courses and engineering workshops. 

Work: P.Eng designation, served as an expert witness to defend village drinking water contamination, designed remediation systems for oil and gas companies, provide health and safety assessment (lead exposure) to police departments. Volunteered at local YMCA as trainer, volunteering mentor a middle school boy and provide support to his family for a year. 

Question: for the 48-item list, would that be project-based or is it activity based ? For example, all the projects I have done would be of different roles,  it would be weird to summarize all the stuff/designs that I did in 3 years in 150 words and also weird to list out the important projects that I've done in 3 years and filling half of the 48 items...

My path is far from over and I am applying in July 2020, Hoping to do another MCAT and score better to compensate my shit GPA...I gave up one relationship and two vacations for this already, I wish I can include that in the personal essay. 

Good luck everyone. 

 

 

[Meridian]

Good job on the MCAT.  Unfortunately your GPA is not helping.

Queens -  they will look at your last  2 years for wGPA.   Each year they set a GPA cut-off threshold that is near  3.82-3.84 or so.    They allow a little flexibility on that threshold if you have a Masters but I doubt a 3.7 would get you a file review.  Call the admissions office and ask.

    https://meds.queensu.ca/academics/undergraduate/prospective-students/applying/method-selection

 

Dal - you may meet the cut off criteria but may not be competitive as an out-of-province.  They will take all of your masters course marks and create a "3rd year" GPA to combine with your 2 best years from undergrad.    Two key points.  You need to write an essay regarding maritime connection which is critical for an OOP interview.    Also, they only interview about 50-60 people for ~10 spots.   Successful candidates tend to have really high GPA context scores.

    https://medicine.dal.ca/departments/core-units/admissions/admissions/gpa-requirement.html

 

Western might be an opportunity

Western - they will look at your best 2 year GPA.   Both years need to be 3.7  (are you >3.7 in both years?) .  Your MCAT meets their thresholds.   

    https://www.schulich.uwo.ca/med_dent_admissions/medicine/admission_requirements.html#grade_point_average

 

[ashutoshbhanot]

1 hour ago, Meridian said:

Good job on the MCAT.  Unfortunately your GPA is not helping.

Queens -  they will look at your last  2 years for wGPA.   Each year they set a GPA cut-off threshold that is near  3.82-3.84 or so.    They allow a little flexibility on that threshold if you have a Masters but I doubt a 3.7 would get you a file review.  Call the admissions office and ask.

    https://meds.queensu.ca/academics/undergraduate/prospective-students/applying/method-selection

 

Dal - you may meet the cut off criteria but may not be competitive as an out-of-province.  They will take all of your masters course marks and create a "3rd year" GPA to combine with your 2 best years from undergrad.    Two key points.  You need to write an essay regarding maritime connection which is critical for an OOP interview.    Also, they only interview about 50-60 people for ~10 spots.   Successful candidates tend to have really high GPA context scores.

    https://medicine.dal.ca/departments/core-units/admissions/admissions/gpa-requirement.html

 

Western might be an opportunity

Western - they will look at your best 2 year GPA.   Both years need to be 3.7  (are you >3.7 in both years?) .  Your MCAT meets their thresholds.   

    https://www.schulich.uwo.ca/med_dent_admissions/medicine/admission_requirements.html#grade_point_average

 

Thanks for the great input. I was really hoping that the 'slightly' can really cover to my gpa. My third year was a 3.68, not a 3.7, although I had an 83 average vs an 80 average in 4th year (3.71). It may be a stretch for UWO since they don't consider graduate degree that much. Dal is definitely out, when I read the requirements,  I don't want to BS about those tights, although I could potentially find a higher-paying job there and wait for two years and re-apply. 

My last bet would be NOSOM, if my application is not successful next year, I might go into mining engineering in Sudbury and buy a house there, live two years... and retry? or take the online courses (another 5000 cad for all courses that I need) at UofT and re-apply. 

I really put the medical school dream aside when i was in engineering school. man. 

 

[ashutoshbhanot]

Just got off the phone with QueensU, they said that graduate students who met the MCAT requirements but not GPA requirements will go to a subcommittee and looked at separately, as listed on their website:

‘Graduate applicants that have met the MCAT requirements but not the undergraduate GPA, will be reviewed separately, by a subcommittee of the Admissions Committee, from the general pool of applicants.’

’

1. Applicants applying through the graduate stream must have completed their graduate degree by the August 1 prior to the commencement of medical school;
2. Marks for undergraduate years must be considered satisfactory or demonstrate a rising trend;
3. The subcommittee will assess the suitability of the candidate’s performance and if the graduate degree was completed at an accredited university;
4. If the subcommittee determines that the applicant is suitable, they will progress to the applicant file review.’

so it seems that it’s not a solid death sentence for me at Queens. 

From the vibe, students with a graduate degree seems to compete at an easier level. 

Good luck everyone.

[ashutoshbhanot828]

So one of the 'professor' at the gym that I volunteer at heard that I need a higher gpa and recommended me to do a business degree at Yorkville University full time. He gave me a wink on the difficulty the school is teaching is on another spectrum compare to university of toronto

I took a look at their courses... omg... birdiness overload... and they are seriously an accredited university... 

I am planning to do one year of full time study while keeping my day time job as an engineer... 

oh and I got an interview at sunnybrook as a biomedical engineer. finger crossed. 

[Meridian]

Good go on the Sunnybrook interview.   

While accredited,  I would be highly suspicious of the success you may have at using Yorkville towards Med school admissions. IMHO