Success Stories- Non Trad Style!

[123coco]

Congradulations! You're definitely not the the prototypical pre-med. Your unique background must have been refreshing for adcom to see.

 

Best of luck!

________

Crosman destroyer grains pointed 250ct

[thereisnotry]

I look forward to meeting you both in the fall!

 

Likewise

 

what were most of the non trads undergrad marks like?

 

I can only speak for myself - OMSAS GPA = 3.85. I suspect that there is more variability in non-trad GPAs than in those of a more typical (probably not the best word to pick but my brain is fried right now) applicant cohort.

[LitGal]

Hey everyone:

 

I can now officially share my success story too! I'm 31, married with a mortgage, did a B.A. and M.A. in English Lit, and have been teaching at high school for 6 years. I applied last year and was waitlisted at a fairly good spot, and this year was offered admission!

 

I know that I may need to work harder in my first 2 years (and have already lined up some tutors, some first year science textbooks, and have access to the specific curriculum at my school). I don't want to go crazy this summer, but I will do a bit of work. I think.

 

I'm very excited and ready to start on a whole new adventure. I figure that in x number of years I'll age anyway, and don't want to spend my life regretting not trying something wonderful. I can't wait till fall!

 

p.s. - I'd LOVE to hear from anyone in med/accepted to me from a humanities background! I've met up with one girl with the same schooling as me who is now a first-year resident, and she loved it, but sharing makes for happiness!

[Tara21]

Wow, congrats to all you non-trads! Some awesome success stories here too. You keep me motivated to not give up!

[Alchemist_Happiness]

Another success story here

 

I got pregnant in high school and had my daughter in the middle of my last year of high school. I was determined that being a single mom wasn't going to stop me from pursuing med school and went right into university when she was 8 months old. I spread myself too thin in my first degree and only had a 3.55 gpa, so after applying twice I took a year off to improve my application, work, get married etc. I applied a third time, but my MCAT scores didn't get released and my application was rejected without even being reviewed. At that point I couldn't handle another rejection, so I took a few years off to have my two younger girls and let my husband focus on his career.

 

This year was my first time applying in 4 years and things had changed a lot since the last time I applied, but I put everything I had into my application, prepared for the interview and went in knowing that I had done everything I could. I just got my acceptance to UBC today and it feels incredible.

 

After reading stories like this, hopefully kids who are still wet-behind-the ears like myself start to realize what an incredible blessing it is to be able to go to med school. I never had to experience anything like this, and I am properly humbled.

[yeeha]

Yeeha, congrats, can't wait to meet you, you sound like you have had a difficult struggle. I can identify with that. Rachel

 

Thank you gnomey. Congrats as well! I can't wait to start - I'm already starting to pack

[gnomey]

LOL so have I!

[shannn]

Hey guys, great thread, just remember to keep your heads up.

 

I was the guinea pig year for the double cohort (first ones to graduate in grade 12), so I decided to take an extra year of high school so that I could expand on my EC's and earn some money for university.

 

Went to first year at U of T (downtown lifesci), screwed up first year. Then in 2nd year, I had the most amazing professor that took me under her wing and allowed me to do a 2nd year thesis with her in psychology. It really inspired me to look at health as a whole and to change my studies to psychology.

 

Transferred to York and spent that last 3 years studying psychology and health. It was a great experience, met great people, really enjoyed what I was studying at last and was able to pull up my GPA.

 

During my 5th year of post-secondary, I applied to Ottawa (with a wGPA of 3.83) and Saskatchewan (with a 2 year average of 92%), but got rejected preinterview for both. I also applied and got accepted into SLP, OT, and PT at U of T and Western, as well as a really competitive clinical psychology program at U of T. Thought long and hard, and realized that it wasn't for me, so I decided to take the year off and luckily found a clinical research job in Toronto.

 

Applied to medicine again for the 09/10 cycle to Ottawa, Western and Queen's, but got rejected preinterview at Queen's and Western (stupid MCAT cutoffs).

 

Thought I screwed up my Ottawa interview, but, I got good waitlisted. And an hour ago, I just got off the waitlist and will be in Ottawa for September!!

 

So, I will be turning 25 late this year. Had my doubts, but, had a strong group of friends and a wonderful girlfriend who supported me this whole way through. And the pm101 forums of course too, the "What are my chances" thread really helped me when I got my bad MCAT scores, and helped give me some confidence.

 

Good luck guys! It will be great to hear from you all as colleagues in the future!

[Prion]

Hey guys, great thread, just remember to keep your heads up.

 

I was the guinea pig year for the double cohort (first ones to graduate in grade 12), so I decided to take an extra year of high school so that I could expand on my EC's and earn some money for university.

 

Went to first year at U of T (downtown lifesci), screwed up first year. Then in 2nd year, I had the most amazing professor that took me under her wing and allowed me to do a 2nd year thesis with her in psychology. It really inspired me to look at health as a whole and to change my studies to psychology.

 

Transferred to York and spent that last 3 years studying psychology and health. It was a great experience, met great people, really enjoyed what I was studying at last and was able to pull up my GPA.

 

During my 5th year of post-secondary, I applied to Ottawa (with a wGPA of 3.83) and Saskatchewan (with a 2 year average of 92%), but got rejected preinterview for both. I also applied and got accepted into SLP, OT, and PT at U of T and Western, as well as a really competitive clinical psychology program at U of T. Thought long and hard, and realized that it wasn't for me, so I decided to take the year off and luckily found a clinical research job in Toronto.

 

Applied to medicine again for the 09/10 cycle to Ottawa, Western and Queen's, but got rejected preinterview at Queen's and Western (stupid MCAT cutoffs).

 

Thought I screwed up my Ottawa interview, but, I got good waitlisted. And an hour ago, I just got off the waitlist and will be in Ottawa for September!!

 

So, I will be turning 25 late this year. Had my doubts, but, had a strong group of friends and a wonderful girlfriend who supported me this whole way through. And the pm101 forums of course too, the "What are my chances" thread really helped me when I got my bad MCAT scores, and helped give me some confidence.

 

Good luck guys! It will be great to hear from you all as colleagues in the future!

Two thumbs up. Very inspiring story:) I'm glad everything worked out for you. Had Ottawa overaccepted like UofT, I'm sure you'd have an offer two weeks ago already.

 

I was extremely disappointed when I got WLed by UT and Ottawa(bad WL) this year. But reading stories like yours make me realize there's plenty of opportunities down the road, as long as we don't lose our hope and desire.

 

Have fun and celebrate like crazy!

[leescait]

I'm also a successful non-trad applicant!

 

I did my undergrad, BA (Hons), starting out in Film Production at York University for the first year and finishing the rest of the degree at Northumbria University in England for Film and Television Studies. During all this time, I was very focused on cultural studies and academia.

 

Following that year, I went to U of T to do an MA in Cinema Studies. One month into grad school, I realised I couldn't stand being a part of academia and did not want to pursue it as a career.

 

I wound up sneaking into my graduate housing roommate's classes at U of T medicine, and I loved it. I finally figured out how I could meaningfully help other people and contribute to their lives. It was too late for that application cycle, but I started preparing for the next.

 

I wrote my MA thesis on Disney World to try to get the most fun out of it possible, and started volunteering and even went back to adult high school to get the high school science courses I never had. That was an experience - my lab partner brought beer to class in a water bottle! The following year, thesis finished, I headed back to undergrad part time at U of T, doing bio and chem. I worked part time at Indigo to support myself and also did more volunteer work.

 

I applied to Mac and got in! As they say - you only need one school.

[supafield]

I had always planned to leave my story in this thread.... and I finally have the time to write it.

 

So fast forward through all the indecision and partying..... and we end up at the end of third year with a GPA, hovering around 3.0... my best year a 3.6, and I've decided I want to do medicine.

 

The plan.... get into Western by rocking 4th year, and being conditionally accepted 5th year. The first step is to write the MCAT, however, I did not take physics, chemistry or organic in University. Study like a nut all summer trying to learn the subject from prep books.... and I come out with an 11, 11, 9 (BS) R.... At this point Western required a 10 in Bio... and I was heartbroken.

 

On to 4th year.... aiming for a 3.7 to meet Western's cutoff. Long story short... I enter finals with a 3.75.... I come out with a 3.6 on the year (useless). So 1 year into the trek, I had nothing I could use other than a complete Ba in Kinesiology. There was roughly a 1 hour panic, and then I decided I'm doing a whole new degree. I initially sign up to become a bio student and then do more reading, and decide I'm going to do Health Science (Rehab Sci Specialization) over 3 years.

 

1st year in.... 3.89! and all's looking well. Write the MCAT again that summer after one summer off and get a 12,10,10 S..... Western had an 11 cutoff in bio the year before, but I'm told personally by the admissions office it should go back to a 10 based on their predictions.

 

Western then in September, announces if you're doing a second degree you must be finishing it the year you apply. I specifically had asked about that before starting and planned my degree over 3 years when I heard it was ok to apply during the middle. I panic again but through some creative reshuffling I gut my course selection, switch from rehab sci to a general health sciences degree (still Honours) and with some intersession courses it's still doable.

 

January rolls around.... cutoffs come out... 11 remains.... I'm devastated. I skip the pre-med symposium at Western I already paid for and mope..... 2 weeks later after an agonizing weekend.... I find out my 3.89 and 3.6 (3.745 2 yr gpa) clear the mark at Queen's and I get an invite. Absolutely unexpected.

 

Prep, prep, prep, have an average interview and one really strange faculty interviewer.... waitlisted.... obsessively watch gmail widget until mid-July only to get the class is full e-mail.

 

The good news... I received a 3.89 again in my final year. I calculate what my weighted GPA is for Ottawa in the upcoming year and it's 3.843.... rounded to a 3.84 and no good.... sooooo close. But wait! Bird health sci course I end up with an 89 in is actually a 90 if my mark is added going to two decimal places on each component. That bumps one half course that year from a 3.9 to a 4.0. It changes my year from a 3.89 to a 3.9.... and it changes my wGPA from a 3.843 to a 3.846.... which rounds up to a 3.85 and I'm good to go for Ottawa's cutoff!

 

With my year off, I work sparingly, do lots of volunteering I had always wanted to do with the cancer society that wasn't as feasible when I was a student, I get an amazing dog and I reapply.

 

Queen's interview again, not as surprising this time. January 31st comes and I get an Ottawa interview unexpectedly. If you recall I didn't take any chemistry, except for this random half course in exercise biochemistry I took in Kin which counted. So as of Jan 31st I need 3 half courses in chemistry by June 1st, or the Ottawa interview means nothing.

 

I immediately sign up for Athabasca, and learn everything I can about how school is done at Athabasca and all the booking procedures which usually require 20 days notice. I do all of first year chemistry in 2 months minus the labs... as well as my volunteering, work and doing my Queen's (average) and Ottawa (fantastic feeling) interviews. I get home from my interview at Ottawa, and do the first half of orgo (midterm, final and assignments) in 14 days.... Now, it's April 15th or so and I'm done all the course work minus the labs. I fly out to Edmonton from May 1st - 8th and from 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m do labs all day while living in a hotel.

 

I get home May 8th... take one day to recover from my red-eye flight. Start working feverishly on 27 lab reports that I have to hand in. May 13th rolls around.... first e-mail of the day is an acceptance to Ottawa. Throw my hand in the air, tell my girlfriend I'm going to be a doctor, commence celebrating.... later am waitlisted at Queen's, but I'm happy to tell them that I won't be waiting. Continue to work feverishly on lab reports after a weekend of celebrating with family at home... hand the last lab report in May 22nd..... thanks to one amazing tutor I had, my lab reports were all marked within days.... my marks were rushed through the registrar and entered on the same day that they were submitted and I sent my transcript off to OMSAS on May 27th.... 4 days before I was required to finish my pre-requisites.

 

I now sit here, finally fully relaxing, sifting through my housing options and getting police check/immunized. I'm unbelievably pumped to start at Ottawa in September. They have a fantastic curriculum with loads of flexibility built in for the student to study/do electives and shadow/or walk their basset hounds lol. We're driving up to Ottawa next weekend to look at houses and life couldn't be better.

 

It was a long journey with some devastating and arduous moments. I began with the idea that Western was my only shot, and maybe eventually Queen's. I started with 3 years of GPA at 3.0 or below and got into a school I never even thought I'd be able to apply to because one of their primary cutoff was GPA above 3.85 and 3 full years of it!

 

I'm just turning 26, and I'm sure I haven't gone through half the trials that many have you are going through. However, for every kick along the way, if this is really want you want, and there is a way you can get there, which there usually is, it's a surreal feeling in the end. You get there and appreciate it because of all the extra hoops you had to jump through to earn your acceptance.

 

Best of luck to all of my fellow non-trads. I hope this short novel gives some motivation. Always feel free to private message me about anything that you think I might be able to help with, whether it's info on doing a 2nd degree, doing athabasca courses, or the application processes at Ottawa and Queen's. I may take a bit to get back to you, but I'm more than willing to help.

 

Non-trads for the win!

[gnomey]

Way to go Supafield!!!!!! Non-trads Rock

[nosuperman]

Supafield that is truly amazing and inspiring. Thanks for sharing.

[Islander33]

Congrats Supafield! I printed your story because it truly is inspiring; you will be an amazing doctor with determination of that kind!

[Guest viscous]

@ Supa: Its funny how I always continued to think after screwing up first year at UT that UWO is the school I will get in cuz of the 2 years above 3.7 gpa and mcat thing ... I never got an interview at UWO... its ironical when I look back at what I thought and what it turned out to be.

[shannn]

@ Supa: Its funny how I always continued to think after screwing up first year at UT that UWO is the school I will get in cuz of the 2 years above 3.7 gpa and mcat thing ... I never got an interview at UWO... its ironical when I look back at what I thought and what it turned out to be.

 

Heh, that is funny, I thought the exact same way as well (relying on Queen's/UWO's selection method to help me get in)

 

I never even thought of applying to Ottawa until last year

[mcyee]

Wow, these are all such incredibly inspirational stories. It really changes my perspective on some things. Thank you guys so much for sharing.

[TBB]

I'm finishing my MA in Cinema at York right now and did my undergrad at U of T in Cinema, English and Italian. I've been planning on applying to medical school for about a year now, but won't be able to apply until next fall since I need to raise my undergrad cGPA (I had a hard second year). So, I've been taking undergrad courses at U of T (and am considering taking some at York over the next academic year), but not sciences. I really just want to go to McMaster and since they don't have prerequisites, I was going to focus on getting high grades in courses I'm comfortable with. As much as I'd love to take science (and I really would!), I don't think now is the time to be experimenting since as is, I don't meet the cut-off, but I know I will with a few more courses. I did audit physiology at U of T last year and loved it! It seem counterintuitive to be taking a bunch of humanities courses, but I feel like it's strategic at this point. Any thoughts?

 

I'm volunteering with a psychiatrist (I want to purse psychiatry or family, I think), and have been volunteering at a health-related ngo for three years, so I'm hoping these experiences (in addition to others I've had, of course) will show that I'm familiar with the medical environment.

 

Anyway, leescait, was so excited when I read your post!! How are things going for you? I wonder if we've seen each other around. Feel free to email me, though I'm not sure if you have the option of doing so... (?)

 

Has anyone applied to Caribbean medical schools? I'm thinking of applying to St. James as well. Apparently they only recommend the sciences. I would apply in about year so that I don't have to ask my referees for letters twice in a year.

 

Also, I know my cGPA will pale in comparison to most applicants, so I really hope the rest of my application will make up for it. Any thoughts on this for Mac?

 

I'm so glad my friend told me about this thread.

 

I really want to be a doctor.

 

I'm also a successful non-trad applicant!

 

I did my undergrad, BA (Hons), starting out in Film Production at York University for the first year and finishing the rest of the degree at Northumbria University in England for Film and Television Studies. During all this time, I was very focused on cultural studies and academia.

 

Following that year, I went to U of T to do an MA in Cinema Studies. One month into grad school, I realised I couldn't stand being a part of academia and did not want to pursue it as a career.

 

I wound up sneaking into my graduate housing roommate's classes at U of T medicine, and I loved it. I finally figured out how I could meaningfully help other people and contribute to their lives. It was too late for that application cycle, but I started preparing for the next.

 

I wrote my MA thesis on Disney World to try to get the most fun out of it possible, and started volunteering and even went back to adult high school to get the high school science courses I never had. That was an experience - my lab partner brought beer to class in a water bottle! The following year, thesis finished, I headed back to undergrad part time at U of T, doing bio and chem. I worked part time at Indigo to support myself and also did more volunteer work.

 

I applied to Mac and got in! As they say - you only need one school.

[lovestruck]

 

Best of luck to all of my fellow non-trads. I hope this short novel gives some motivation.

 

 

Not only was this motivating but it made me cry lol. My PI now thinks I have some severe dust allergies. Big huge congratulations and I hope you love Ottawa! It's an amazing city and an amazing school!

[kylamonkey]

I'm so glad to read this thread. I'm sitting around this week, twiddling my thumbs waiting for UBC apps to open on Monday.

 

Reading the success stories makes me realize that I can KILL the apps this year!

[Tara21]

Thanks for the awesome post, Supa'! I am so happy for you. Congrats again!

[supafield]

Thanks everyone! I'm glad you enjoyed the story.

 

Just got back from Ottawa, had a great weekend... Dinner at Byward Market, my first Beavertail (in summer lol), was toured around the city and saw some mansions in Rockcliffe Park, and I think we have found a tiny house close to the med school.

 

Room for the dog to roam in the backyard and a park nearby.

 

Even more excited to move there!

[moongoon]

Hey everyone.

 

I came across this thread a while back and now I’m one happy guy who gets to post up his story.

 

It actually starts all the way back in kindergarten where I was held back a year. From then on it seems as though I was considered a "special" child. I always had some sort of resource room to go to for homework and I was always given extra time on my tests. This went on until I had to write provincial exams in high school. It wasn’t until grade 12 biology that I actually did well in a high school class except for gym.

 

So there I was. Out of high school and completely directionless. So I went travelling…

 

So there I was, still directionless after travelling. Then I decided that I would go back to school and see if I really liked this biology thing. My heart sank in the meeting with the academic advisor who told me I had to upgrade all of my sciences. Here is the thing: I hated math and for that matter, all other sciences (I now enjoy those things by the way). I had no chem or physics and only math 11. I didn’t even have a good enough grade in math 11 to use it either. I re-took Math 11 and FAILED it. Could not understand a word the teacher was saying. But my bio and chem marks were good! Re-take Math11 again. No problema this time. I was stoked. I also found that I really liked the atmospheric geography classes that I was taking so I decided to just roll with those for a bit. I got super into it and looked at taking meteorology at UBC. To go there I needed more chem, physics and god damn math. So I upgrade all of those and start taking first year sciences as well. After completing first year calculus, chem and physics with A’s in prep for UBC I had a bit of an epiphany: Maybe I could be a physician? This is something that had been in the back of my head for a long time. Just never though I could do it.

 

From then on I was committed. UBC lost my app and so I went to U of C for geog. I still liked geog and it allowed me to take all my electives in med pre requisites. Wrote the MCAT before my last year (which was 08/09). Scores for the record: 11,10,11 N. If you have read this far, you’re likely thinking something along the lines of “yah that N is justified”. I’m just not a good writer, but I’ve been working on it.

 

I applied last year to U of C, U of A and some Ontario schools. I only interviewed at U of C. I was waitlisted all summer and rejected.

 

I applied again this year to U of C, U of A and some more Ontario schools. I only interviewed at U of C and U of A. I thought things went really well and U of C and not so hot at U of A. Despite what I thought, I was rejected from U of C and Accepted at U of A.

 

Sorry for such a long story. Since so many of you folks like to ogle over stats I’ll give you my GPA. CGPA= 3.96 (Good thing high school math doesn’t count, eh?)

 

Thanks for reading and thanks to everyone else who posted their tale.

[Noval]

So inspiring, and liked the modesty in it. Thanks for sharing, and congratulations.

[RiceWine]

Hey everyone.

 

 

 

I applied last year to U of C, U of A and some Ontario schools. I only interviewed at U of C. I was waitlisted all summer and rejected.

 

I applied again this year to U of C, U of A and some more Ontario schools. I only interviewed at U of C and U of A. I thought things went really well and U of C and not so hot at U of A. Despite what I thought, I was rejected from U of C and Accepted at U of A.

 

thanks for sharing your story dude.

 

this process is random..... waitlisted the 1st time, 2nd time rejected....