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FAQ: What are my chances?


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Hello,

I've been reading a lot of this forum, trying to outline the list of the med schools I have chances with.

I'm not sure how to self-assess my GPA. I've got BSc in Nursing, going to school full time for 4 years (Sept to August). However, before starting the nursing program, and before I even knew I would be accepted, I took 6 courses (3 credits each) which were not technically pre-reqs, they would have been a part of the program otherwise (2 ENG, 2 BIO, 2 electives).

So, that was winter and summer semesters before starting the bachelor of nursing. Each semester 9 credits, so I guess it's full-time, right?

And then I had 4 full years, each year still full time, despite the 'lightened' course-load provided by the above-mentioned.

A lot of courses were 'mastery' courses, pass/fail kinda thing. I never had a fail and I never had to re-take anything.

Basically, after graduation my transcript only has 65.5 GPA credits, out of 138.

I would appreciate your advise on now to approach the calculation. My cumulative GPA is not that great, 3.47, but, for example, if I take the last 2 years, it is 3.85, which, with my strong ECs (4 years working as a nurse, 2 years in hospital leadership + a lot more), would allow me to hope to be accepted to one of the schools.

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  • 1 month later...

Wanted to know what my chances at UofT med school are

Currently in 4th year biotechnology at UofT

GPA: 3.97, wGPA: 4.0

MCAT: 522 (127 cars)

Extracirrculars: Was a TA for 2 courses (management and stats course, for 1 semester each). Executive position on 2 clubs (event coordinator) for 3 years. 3 work-study jobs and volunteering at hospitals (mainly shadowing, did this for about 2 semesters).  First responder for EMRG on campus.

Research: I had a few research from high school but im leaving that out. Research over the summer at sick kids (twice) and did currently doing a thesis course. Previously did a team research course. NSERC. No pubs tho....

Letter of recommendations: 1 from my thesis supervisor, 1 from professor, 1 from my work-study supervisor 

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

I completed my B.Sc with a WGPA (based on OMSA) for UofT 3.21...and 3.2 calculated gpa for u of calgary (excluding my lowest year of my B.Sc and including my  M.Sc gpa). I am an albertan.

During my B.Sc, I spent 200+ hours volunteering at the hospital, 200+ hours as a research volunteer, and 100+ hours as a research assistant. I am an author in 4 papers during my undergraduate study. I have tutored 2000+ hours and worked at the optometrist office for a year.

I completed my M.Sc and medical science (thesis-based) and had two oral presentations in international radiology conferences and completed with a 3.8/4.0 cgpa in the courses I have taken.

I am currently a PhD student still in medical science (thesis based) and I want to apply for medical school after completion. The first time I took the MCAT in 2015, I got a 508. I will be retaking it two years from now. 

I was discouraged after looking at my undergraduate gpa...do I have a chance?

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2 hours ago, M.ScGHOST said:

I completed my B.Sc with a WGPA (based on OMSA) for UofT 3.21...and 3.2 calculated gpa for u of calgary (excluding my lowest year of my B.Sc and including my  M.Sc gpa). I am an albertan.

During my B.Sc, I spent 200+ hours volunteering at the hospital, 200+ hours as a research volunteer, and 100+ hours as a research assistant. I am an author in 4 papers during my undergraduate study. I have tutored 2000+ hours and worked at the optometrist office for a year.

I completed my M.Sc and medical science (thesis-based) and had two oral presentations in international radiology conferences and completed with a 3.8/4.0 cgpa in the courses I have taken.

I am currently a PhD student still in medical science (thesis based) and I want to apply for medical school after completion. The first time I took the MCAT in 2015, I got a 508. I will be retaking it two years from now. 

I was discouraged after looking at my undergraduate gpa...do I have a chance?

Honestly, no. You have pretty much a zero chance of getting in with that GPA. Try doing 1 or 2 years of UG coursework for the schools that will accept that

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hello!

I'm VERY interested in applying for the DMD program at UBC and have a few questions about admissions.

A bit of background on me...  I completed an undergrad degree in Business with a 3.2 GPA. I have yet to take the pre-reqs for the DMD program at UBC, as well as write the DAT and CASPER test before applying for the program. After my experiences I realized that dental is what I want to do and I'm aiming to complete the pre-reqs with good grades and complete the DAT and CASPER with high marks.

I'm afraid that with my 3.2 undergrad GPA I have no chances of getting into the program at UBC but I'm hoping that the pre-reqs and DAT turn that around. 

I'm wondering if UBC assess the pre-reqs for the program over the undergrad degree? And how much weight GPA truly has on your application? 

I have some extra curriculars related to my undergrad but none for dental. Would it be a good idea to have some dental extra cirrculars for when I apply? 

Please help! What are my chances of getting accepted? Is there any possibility at all? 

 

Thanks so much!

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I wanted to know if I should do a 2 year research masters or take a gap year with my stats? I didn't do too well for my fourth year so my GPA plummeted cause of 2 courses. I want to be a physician heavily focused in research, so don't want to waste years doing a masters in a subject that I might change my mind in the future after medical school. Same time whatever gives me a boost to get in UofT medicine, I'll take it.
 
IP: Ontario
Year: 4th year undergrad
 
cGPA: 3.9
wGPA: 3.94
 
Year 1: 4
Year 2. 3.9
Year 3: 3.85
Year 4: 3.85 (at most)
 
MCATs
(Going to retake this summer after getting a 122 CARS and 128 other sections)
 
My ECs:
-a club president and vice president of another club
-volunteered and worked at hospitals
-did some TA work
 
Research
-no pubs but one NSERC
-two years of clinical research at a hospital
-one year research thesis course
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1 hour ago, Medase said:
I wanted to know if I should do a 2 year research masters or take a gap year with my stats? I didn't do too well for my fourth year so my GPA plummeted cause of 2 courses. I want to be a physician heavily focused in research, so don't want to waste years doing a masters in a subject that I might change my mind in the future after medical school. Same time whatever gives me a boost to get in UofT medicine, I'll take it.
 
IP: Ontario
Year: 4th year undergrad
 
cGPA: 3.9
wGPA: 3.93
 
Year 1: 4
Year 2. 3.9
Year 3: 3.85
Year 4: 3.85 (at most)
 
MCATs
(Going to retake this summer after getting a 122 CARS and 128 other sections)
 
My ECs:
-a club president and vice president of another club
-volunteered and worked at hospitals
-did some TA work
 
Research
-no pubs but one NSERC
-two years of clinical research at a hospital
-one year research thesis course

There's nothing in your application that can be helped by a Masters. You need a much higher CARS score because your 122 shuts the door to every medical school in the province (and probably country). I would take a gap year, really work on increasing your CARS score and spend the rest of your time working and volunteering.

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On 4/11/2019 at 9:20 AM, xiphoid said:

There's nothing in your application that can be helped by a Masters. You need a much higher CARS score because your 122 shuts the door to every medical school in the province (and probably country). I would take a gap year, really work on increasing your CARS score and spend the rest of your time working and volunteering.

And to add onto that, from an ADCOM perspective, despite your overall competitive GPA, the consistent downward trend will be very worrying. I think taking an extra year of undergrad and showing a strong improvement will help your application a lot more than a masters. Also yeah, re-write the MCAT, there isn't a single med school in Canada that would give you an interview with that low of a CARS score. 

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55 minutes ago, zxcccxz said:

And to add onto that, from an ADCOM perspective, despite your overall competitive GPA, the consistent downward trend will be very worrying. I think taking an extra year of undergrad and showing a strong improvement will help your application a lot more than a masters. Also yeah, re-write the MCAT, there isn't a single med school in Canada that would give you an interview with that low of a CARS score. 

Only American schools take into account trends in GPA. Canada is very formulaic; your GPA is your GPA. 

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On 4/11/2019 at 11:20 AM, xiphoid said:

There's nothing in your application that can be helped by a Masters. You need a much higher CARS score because your 122 shuts the door to every medical school in the province (and probably country). I would take a gap year, really work on increasing your CARS score and spend the rest of your time working and volunteering.

I feel like my wGPA burdens me from getting accepted to UofT, even with MCAT cutoffs, as I don't have publications. I'll be applying to other Canadian medical schools, though the chance of getting a stellar CARS score seems out of reach.... I was thinking of doing a masters to increase my chances at UofT, and other universities to balance out my lower CARs score (projecting 126-128) and GPA

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10 minutes ago, Medase said:

I feel like my wGPA burdens me from getting accepted to UofT, even with MCAT cutoffs, as I don't have publications. I'll be applying to other Canadian medical schools, though the chance of getting a stellar CARS score seems out of reach.... I was thinking of doing a masters to increase my chances at UofT, and other universities to balance out my lower CARs score (projecting 126-128) and GPA

Is this a joke? A 3.94 GPA will not be the weakness of your application (unless you have a Nobel Prize that we don't know about and a forthcoming cure for cancer?) You don't need publications to get into medical school. The research part is just a checkbox and your application can already check off that box. Having publications will also not balance out a low CARS score when you're currently at a 122 and the minimum Toronto even considers is a 125 (to be honest, a 125 CARS will likely automatically screen you out of most Ontario medical schools); your GPA is not low. Honestly, I think your best bet is to take a gap year and really work on getting that CARS score up.

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Hi all,

I graduated a few years ago from a two year BScN program after completing 4 years undergrad in BSc in Nutritional Sciences. I am currently self studying for the MCAT with plan to write in June and start my application for the upcoming application cycle. This will be my first time applying. I’ve always felt discouraged by my GPA and never thought it was competitive - esp since I will only qualify as IP for UBC. At this point, it'll come down to the MCAT, but are there other schools with the following stats I should consider?

 

GPA: I’ve been having trouble figuring my GPA conversion from percentage. I used the conversion from OMSAS, please correct me if I’m wrong.

Undergrad - completed all basic science courses, but didn’t do well in them:

1st year - 69.7% (2.70 or 3.00?)

2nd year - 81.3% (3.70)

3rd year - 80.2% (3.70)

4th year - 81.3% (3.70)

 

Accelerated Nursing program

3rd year - 84.7% (3.70 or 3.8?)

4th year 85.2% (3.8?)

 

Non academics

Work experience: RN for 3 years, work study library student in undergrad

Some research experience but never published (ie. research nurse, CIHR summer studentship grant, nutrition related research abroad)

EC: Hospital volunteer, LTC rehab volunteer, orientation coordinator, team lead in inner city school program, school club exec/president, student nurse rep, travelling/backpacking, community orchestra

Thank you in advance for your help!

 

Edited by ptRN
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On 4/25/2019 at 9:16 PM, ptRN said:

GPA: I’ve been having trouble figuring my GPA conversion from percentage. I used the conversion from OMSAS, please correct me if I’m wrong.

 

For the OMSAS conversion you have to convert each individual course to its corresponding GPA and average those. e.g. if you have 90% (4.0) in one course and 80% (3.7) in another, your GPA would be 3.85. 

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Hi there, 

It's my first time posting here so pls bear with me if I don't know the right lingo. I'm a student in McMaster's research focused iSci program mentioning because I think this gives me an edge? maybe someone lmk if it does?.

Anyway as of the end of my second yr I have a: 

3.7 cGPA and my Science and Non-science should be same by the AMCAS scale 

I'm confident that by the next yr I'll have a

3.80 flat

Is a 3.80 still competitive with a 80th percentile MCAT for US schools? This is approx what I'm aiming and  I'm confident I can get if I apply early to low and mid tiers.

ALSO CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN TO ME IF 4TH YEAR GRADES EVEN MATTER IF YOU WANT TO ENROLL AFTER 4TH YR CUS WE SUBMIT OUR APPS IN EARLY MAY FOR US MD SCHOOLS AND JULY FOR CDN SCHOOLS?  

I'm a Canadian citizen 

My EC's are 

ALL SHADOWING WAS DONE IN INIDA:

OBGYN shadowing - 50 hrs

Anesthesiologist shadowing - 50 hrs

Family physican shadowing - 100 hrs

Ortho surgeon shadowing - 200 hrs

General surgeon - 150 hrs

Paediatric surgeon - 120 hrs

Multiple research projects and 2 undergrad conference presentations and one chapter published in an earth science book 

VP external of Indian Association 

Big sib program basically a mentor 

NOTE- I'm counting out Canadian schools for the most part because I don’t wanna wait until after 4th yr to apply cus then my 2Ygpa would be a lot better but I’d rather go to the US if I get in. 

 

 

 

 

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Went through this great flowchart, but since I am in a grey area for GPA and have abnormal research experience, it would be good to have some feedback before writing the MCAT this summer. I am an Ontarian who just graduated Queen's Life Sciences.

GPA (calculated with OMSAS): 3.74 (cGPA) / 3.85 (last 2 years, my best 2 years)/ 3.81 (best 2 years with UWO standards) / 3.87 (taking out the worst 8 half credits out as per U of T wGPA)

MCAT: as mentioned before, I will be writing this summer (unless my application seems too weak to have a chance)

Volunteering: 40-50 hours volunteering in a local hospital's Urgent Care Centre during my 4th year

Research: No lab research, however I have worked as a Project Assistant for a Clinical Research Coordinating Centre part-time for two school years, and full time for a 4 month summer. This has been an office job, where I have been the leader for the update of an internationally used research tool (Family Satisfaction with ICU questionnaire), took part in the auditing and closeout of a medical device trial, and assisted with the coordination of an end of life decision making study and a critical care nutrition trial. I've definitely worked more than 600 hours.

Extracurricular experience: Worked as a bartender at a student run bar in 4th year, Sponsorship Assistant for a student run Neuroscience conference in 3rd year, Brand ambassador for a nootropic in 3rd year, Water polo intramurals twice, ultimate frisbee intramurals once, Worked as a 1:1 camp counsellor for children with special needs after 1st year (my favorite job I've had)

My friends think that I'd do well on an interview, but I'd have to earn an interview first. I also feel like most applicants are either naturally good with interviews or prepare themselves thoroughly for interviews. It is true that I'm good with oral communication, confident speaking, and friendliness (I loved working as a camp counsellor, UCC volunteer and bartender) I really don't think it's something to bank my chances on.

So, with this GPA, with my abnormal research experience and with my limited volunteering, do I still have a chance for Canadian schools? Or should I do a Master's or look at alternative options to med.

Thanks for reading all this, and for offering any insight!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello 

So I am currently freaking out about applying to Canadian med-schools and I know that it's only becoming more competitive so I am here to ask some questions and get a few opinions on my future steps.

I will be going into my 3rd year of undergrad in bio at UWindsor and my GPA has really take a horrible hit during second year. I know that I really need to turn things around for the next two years if I want to make Medschool happen but I feel like my chances of getting in even if I get 4.0 during my 3rd and 4th year, are really low. 

currently first year GPA: 3.67 (my GPA was dragged through the mud because of one single course in fall) second year GPA: 3.6 (I have no justification for this score, it was a horrible year) I did take two classes over the summer after my first year and got 4.0 in both of them but almost every medschool I've looked into stated that summer courses are not considered. (I had a full course load during the fall and winter semesters) 

This summer I am preparing to write the MCAT, if I still have a shot at Medschools, what score should I really be aiming for? I was thinking around 515 with a cGPA averaging at 3.84 (hopefully) will this make me competitive?

I am also very involved at the university in different leadership positions as well as research (1 year in an ecology lad and recently joined a biochem-physics lab and might get paid during the school year through a work-study program) I have also been volunteering at the hospital since I was 16 and I'm very involved with my community as well. I feel like all this involvement may only come in handy if I get an interview and does not really have a signifiant effect if my MCAT and GPA are not the greatest, is this true? 

if I do not get an interview after my 4th year of undergrad, should I be looking into improving my grades by doing a double degree program or something similar? if I were to take 1-2 extra years of courses, do they get considered for my GPA? anyone know how this would work? since this is not a traditional route, its harder to find online or on trustable resources. there are 2-3 courses I would really like to re-take to improve my grade in those classes, is it worth it or should I just look into taking different classes?

I have heard that doing a masters gives you experience in research which is really good, however it does not make a significant difference when applying for medical schools, can anyone attest to this as well?

would anyone know anything about applying to American medical schools? are their cut off GPAs and MCAT scores lower? I know that there are a lot more schools but how much "easier" will it be to get into American schools given my academic standing?

I would really appreciate any advice you have for me on how to approach this and proceed ahead 

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I was thinking, maybe we should update that flow chart on the first page of this thread? It's over 10 years old at this point, and the grades you need to be competitive now are appreciably higher than they were in 2008. 

I'm going into my fourth year of undergrad, and I'm planning on applying only to the Northern Ontario School of Medicine this year because I haven't written the MCAT yet and I want to take some time after I graduate to prepare for it. I'm doing a nursing undergrad at Ryerson, so I didn't take the bio/chem/organic chem/math/physics courses, needed for it, and I need to go through those on my own if I'm going to have a shot at this thing. On the other hand, on the off-chance that I could get in at NOSM, that wouldn't be an issue, so I figure it's worth a shot. 

I'm not from Northern Ontario. I grew up in Toronto, although I did live in Sudbury from late 2012-mid 2014 to go to college (I have an electrical technician diploma from Cambrian College). My French is absolute entry-level. It's something I'm working on everyday, but right now I couldn't carry on a conversation in French. 

GPA (all numbers are using the OMSAS scale): cGPA is 3.88. Without summer courses it's a 3.87. First year GPA was a 3.78, 2nd year was a 3.95, 3rd year was a 3.91. In my upcoming 4th year I'll only have 6 courses because the last year of nursing school is focused mainly on clinical placements, so I don't anticipate that my GPA will change much either way; I'll probably be finishing my degree with a mid-high 3.8 on the OMSAS sale. 

ECs :

  • 100+ hours volunteering in Long Term Care
  • Since January of this year, I've been working part-time as a Personal Support Worker for a home care agency in downtown Toronto (12 hours/week). Care is usually monitoring, helping with transfers, housekeeping/organizing, reminders for things like medications, morning/personal care, etc. 
  • Director of Community Outreach for the Canadian Nursing Student's Association at my school (I help organize events for students related to career development and academic success, doing things like event planning, room booking, and fundraising).
  • Anatomy and Physiology Tutor (I create mock-exams and run sessions where we'd go through the content as a group).
  • Member of UHN's Learner Leadership Committee (we participate in focus groups and conferences directed at raising the quality of education at UHN facilities). 

This year I also won a student election to sit on the school's student senate for the following academic year, but that hasn't started yet. The student senate makes decisions related to curriculum changes, academic policy, accreditation requirements, etc. 

 

Research: No current publications, but I'm working with a prof on a few studies related to the impact of gun violence on homicide co-victims. She said she expects a few publications out of the work she's done, but no word yet on when that may happen. In addition, for this summer I've been working at a summer job with the Ontario Nurses Association, a provincial union. We're doing research on creating an evidence-based delivery model for the services they offer to their members. These are qualitative and administrative nursing research, not biomedical or clinical research. 

Does it sound like I have an outside chance? 

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