Applying in 3rd year, is it worth it?

[premed12322]

 

Hey everyone, I'm in my second year going into third year, wanna know if it's worth applying in the upcoming cycle. 

Ontario ting but nothing special like swomen :/

Applying to Toronto, Mac, Ottawa and Queens

3.93 cGPA first 2 years (Ottawa wGPA: 3.94) 

MCAT taking this summer hoping for a 515+

Research:
- volunteer research lab position 3 months in summer before undergrad
- paid clinical research asst. (1st yr summer + 2nd year) fMRI
- paid summer research asst. (2nd year summer - nserc got rejected, PI felt bad for me lool) - imaging as well

ECs are cookie cutter (exec, volunteer, etc) but w a focus on wellness/mental health.  

Also no awards except deans honor and entrance scholarship 

Thoughts???

 

[X Æ A-12]

You've a pree good shot with what you have, just depends on your MCAT and UofT essays and CASPer

[MedicineLCS]

In all honesty, this is kinda pointless without an MCAT score that affects half your school list. I have yet to meet someone who isn't hoping for a great score. 

Your GPA is fine so it turns into a ECs game. Those are extremely hard to predict so "chance me" threads are only really useful for saying obvious things (like an MCAT or GPA that is too low for a school). If you're willing to ask people to verify/write letters it's worth a try but don't get your hopes up. 

That being said, you note yourself that your ECs are "cookie cutter". What do your ECs say about you? Good stats (although yours are on the edge of great)+research+cookie cutter ECs are a dime a dozen, why should a school pick you? Try and find something interesting in your current experiences or add something that describes you and demonstrates an ability to work with diverse people, ideally. 

[Psych]

If you feel that you have a strong application and you're ready to go to med school, then I would go for it! Most schools don't make a distinction between what year you're in (except for grad school), they just pick the best candidates. If you're a third year with a strong app, you have just as good a shot as a fourth year. I am in third year and applied this year to the four Ontario schools you mentioned, and I got interviews at 3/4! Obviously it depends on your stats and ECs, but there's nothing about being a third year specifically that disadvantages you 

[Galaxsci]

Never any harm sending in an application and seeing what happens. Your GPA is good enough to potentially get an interview or two. I've got a few friends with very similar stats and all of them had 0-2 interviews in 3rd year and 4+ interviews in 4th year with the advantage of GPA weighting formulas and another year of ECs. Even if you don't get in the first time, that process of writing an app and potentially interviewing is incredibly valuable for the second time around.

[ottawa1234]

Don't let the fact that you're in 3rd year stop you from applying! I actually know a couple of people who actually just applied to one school out of 3rd year and now they're in med school. 

[Birdy]

Doesn't hurt to apply. I applied to four schools in my third year (Mac, Ottawa, Queen's, MUN) and got in. Few ECs. Definitely was nice to finish earlier.