Engineer hoping admission in MD

[Masserized]

Hello,

I am an engineer, practicing for about three years now, with a degree in construction engineering from the École de technologie supérieure (120 credits for a GPA of 3.8 / 4.3, graduated in April 2015). I am also a candidate for a Master's degree in Business Administration at UQTR (GPA of 4.0 / 4.3 for 21 completed credits out of 45).

I would miss some prerequisites in biology and in chemistry too, which I'm hoping to complete this fall and winter at college while practicing. I had several classes in mathematics and physics during my engineering degree which seems to be over what is really needed for MD.

In your opinion, would my profile have a chance to be accepted for an interview and then have an opportunity for admission in MD ? Do you know if McGill has a positive view on engineering degrees ?

Thank you in advance for your answer !

[la marzocco]

5 hours ago, Masserized said:

Hello,

I am an engineer, practicing for about three years now, with a degree in construction engineering from the École de technologie supérieure (120 credits for a GPA of 3.8 / 4.3, graduated in April 2015). I am also a candidate for a Master's degree in Business Administration at UQTR (GPA of 4.0 / 4.3 for 21 completed credits out of 45).

I would miss some prerequisites in biology and in chemistry too, which I'm hoping to complete this fall and winter at college while practicing. I had several classes in mathematics and physics during my engineering degree which seems to be over what is really needed for MD.

In your opinion, would my profile have a chance to be accepted for an interview and then have an opportunity for admission in MD ? Do you know if McGill has a positive view on engineering degrees ?

Thank you in advance for your answer !

For the purposes of admissions, the marks from graduate degrees (e.g., your MBA) would not be included in the cumulative GPA. That is, your marks in your undergraduate degree are what counts. You should convert your GPA to McGill's scale using the academic workbook and the accompanying guidebook: https://www.mcgill.ca/medadmissions/applying/elements/maaw.

If you're IP, the average GPA for interviewed candidates is 3.83 (source) - this is out of a 4.0 scale. 

Engineers + graduate degree holders are viewed somewhat favourably imo because they likely benefit from a higher "context" score: 

• A candidate’s academic background is weighted at 70% during the prescreening process. Within this 70% academic score, 90% is based on the undergraduate CGPA and 10% is based on academic context. The assessment of an applicant's academic context consists of (a) the progression of difficulty of coursework, (b) post-bachelor's academics and (c) the recognition of professional degree programs (i.e.: programs that lead to the practice of a profession for which one must be a member of a professional order).

I believe that engineering is a professional degree program as it leads you to practice in a profession for which one must be a member of a professional order (i.e., P.Eng. designation). 

[Masserized]

16 hours ago, la marzocco said:

For the purposes of admissions, the marks from graduate degrees (e.g., your MBA) would not be included in the cumulative GPA. That is, your marks in your undergraduate degree are what counts. You should convert your GPA to McGill's scale using the academic workbook and the accompanying guidebook: https://www.mcgill.ca/medadmissions/applying/elements/maaw.

If you're IP, the average GPA for interviewed candidates is 3.83 (source) - this is out of a 4.0 scale. 

Engineers + graduate degree holders are viewed somewhat favourably imo because they likely benefit from a higher "context" score: 

• A candidate’s academic background is weighted at 70% during the prescreening process. Within this 70% academic score, 90% is based on the undergraduate CGPA and 10% is based on academic context. The assessment of an applicant's academic context consists of (a) the progression of difficulty of coursework, (b) post-bachelor's academics and (c) the recognition of professional degree programs (i.e.: programs that lead to the practice of a profession for which one must be a member of a professional order).

I believe that engineering is a professional degree program as it leads you to practice in a profession for which one must be a member of a professional order (i.e., P.Eng. designation). 

Hi ! Thanks for you reply.

What do you mean by "IP" ?

Yes, engineering is a professional degree program. I'm also a member of a profesional order (I was a Jr until last year).

Finally, the link for the academic workbook doesn't seem to work. I can't find any hyperlink to download the Excel nor the guide. Do you happen to have the direct link by any chance ?

Thanks in advance !

[la marzocco]

1 hour ago, Masserized said:

Hi ! Thanks for you reply.

What do you mean by "IP" ?

Yes, engineering is a professional degree program. I'm also a member of a profesional order (I was a Jr until last year).

Finally, the link for the academic workbook doesn't seem to work. I can't find any hyperlink to download the Excel nor the guide. Do you happen to have the direct link by any chance ?

Thanks in advance !

IP means in-province candidate. A majority of the seats at McGill are reserved for in-province (i.e., Quebec students). For example, there are different situations where you would be considered as in-province - an obvious one is you being born in Quebec. https://www.mcgill.ca/medadmissions/applying/elements/proof-citizenship-or-residency <- here's a list of various situations. 

It seems they removed the workbook as they normally do between admission cycles to tweak the Excel sheets/formulas, etc. You can wait until early Sept when the next admission cycle opens and their workbook should be put back up. 

[jul059]

19 hours ago, la marzocco said:

For the purposes of admissions, the marks from graduate degrees (e.g., your MBA) would not be included in the cumulative GPA. That is, your marks in your undergraduate degree are what counts. You should convert your GPA to McGill's scale using the academic workbook and the accompanying guidebook: https://www.mcgill.ca/medadmissions/applying/elements/maaw.

If you're IP, the average GPA for interviewed candidates is 3.83 (source) - this is out of a 4.0 scale. 

Engineers + graduate degree holders are viewed somewhat favourably imo because they likely benefit from a higher "context" score: 

• A candidate’s academic background is weighted at 70% during the prescreening process. Within this 70% academic score, 90% is based on the undergraduate CGPA and 10% is based on academic context. The assessment of an applicant's academic context consists of (a) the progression of difficulty of coursework, (b) post-bachelor's academics and (c) the recognition of professional degree programs (i.e.: programs that lead to the practice of a profession for which one must be a member of a professional order).

I believe that engineering is a professional degree program as it leads you to practice in a profession for which one must be a member of a professional order (i.e., P.Eng. designation). 

Engineering will grant you a very small bonus like stated, but the admissions office told me it almost negligeable. Don’t count on this to significantly change your chances. 

If you want to know how you compare in terms of gpa, you should convert it to 4.0. The way mcgill does this is they give A+=4.0 and A=4.0. Just go through your transcripts and add everything up. If your transcripts are number-based, you should contact them to know how to calculate your equivalent gpa.

Your workbook and CV are actually quite important. My guess is the standard deviation on the applicant’s gpas is smaller than non-academic stuff, but they don’t take this into account properly when they weigh the 70% academic vs 30% non-academic. It’s all conjecture though... i had a gpa above the admission average, engineering degree and masters, several hundred hours of volunteering and experience as a research associate at university. I did not get an interview.

If you speak french, université de Montréal is quite sympathetic to engineers switching to medicine. But it is the longest program in the country, which is not what I whish to anyone coming from a professionnal background. Also, since you’ve been practicing for over 2 years, Université de Sherbrooke has a special pathway for you and the admission is much less competitive.

Have you looked into McMaster? I understand you might not want to write the mcat, but mcmaster looks only at the cars section, for which you can’t study, but can (and must) only practice.

Finally, look into Thompson Rivers University Open Learning for your courses. It is online, self-paced learning. Don’t go to college if you don’t have to, especially while practicing! I did physics, organic chemistry and biology this spring. You can even start your course today if you’re ready, no need to wait. Just make sure they’re accepted by McGill.

Best of luck