My chances at Ontario Med Schools

[justhoping]

Hi there. Just trying to get a better understanding of my chances at Ontario med schools - I've really lost perspective on if I'm good enough over the last year and just want some opinions. Please be brutally honest.

I'm currently in my 3rd year of undergrad at UofT. GPA listed is OMSAS GPA predicting what I'll have at the end of this year (as a medium case scenario). 

cGPA: 3.87

UofT wGPA: 3.92

MCAT: Haven't written yet. Took the NS full length without studying last summer and got 506 (126/126/127/127) if that means anything.

Other info: very involved since my high school days, a few awards, Dean's list every year so far, leadership heavy, mentoring focused as well as women's empowerment, mental health advocacy, NSERC recipient, 2 poster presentations, 1 oral presentation, paper currently in review (just contributed supplemental material though so one of the last authors), long term sports involvement and captaining role too, working at a community center with refugee youth population, DON'T HAVE ANY CLINICAL EXPERIENCE/HOSPITAL VOLUNTEERING

Honestly, I'm really worried about my GPA mainly. I had a rough first semester this year because of mental health issues (ironic because of my ECs smh) but not completely awful as I didn't get anything below 80, but I got mostly 3.7s which brought down my cGPA a bit so idk if that warrants an academic explanations essay.

 

[Meridian]

Just keep going and concentrate specifically on GPA for the rest of the term.  You realize already how important it is.   You also already recognize some schools using weighting.  Understand Queens and Westerns also.  Clinical and Hospital volunteering while common for premeds is not mandatory.  A lot is how your write up your ECs -- Google CanMeds and center around that.   Write MCAT late summer and see where you are GPA/MCAT-wise in the fall.   You can do it !     

As far as Academic explanation essay - you can try - but I don't see you as being much different than anyone else as far as feeling pressures to do too much. Overdoing ECs is pretty common - to the point of exhausting yourself or at expense of grades.   Again - throttle back and focus on GPA. 

[Ontario have mercy]

That's an amazing diagnostic for the MCAT if you really didn't study at all. A lot will depend on your CARS score/CASPER for Ontario, so it's really hard to say. As the poster above me mentioned, try to get that GPA up for this semester and hopefully you kill the MCAT!

For reference, I got a 523 with a 496 diagnostic.

[Galaxsci]

Those stats are pretty good overall. Yeah the GPA isn't as high as you might like, but it's definitely not going to hold you back significantly. Even if the average acceptance GPA at a school is 3.96, that just means they take two 3.98s for every 3.92. It's always a bit of a roll of the dice when it comes to med apps, especially if you're not that perfect 4.0, 525, varsity athlete type of candidate (and very very few are), but if you apply broadly, I can't see you having problems.

[justhoping]

 

On 2/16/2020 at 5:51 PM, Meridian said:

Just keep going and concentrate specifically on GPA for the rest of the term.  You realize already how important it is.   You also already recognize some schools using weighting.  Understand Queens and Westerns also.  Clinical and Hospital volunteering while common for premeds is not mandatory.  A lot is how your write up your ECs -- Google CanMeds and center around that.   Write MCAT late summer and see where you are GPA/MCAT-wise in the fall.   You can do it !     

As far as Academic explanation essay - you can try - but I don't see you as being much different than anyone else as far as feeling pressures to do too much. Overdoing ECs is pretty common - to the point of exhausting yourself or at expense of grades.   Again - throttle back and focus on GPA. 

Thanks for the input and encouragement. I definitely agree that writing the ECs and essays will have a huge impact. I plan to get started on those early and do lots of reviewing and editing - hoping to get some people to read them as well. Definitely going to be working hard on the GPA this semester to get it up as much as possible.

[justhoping]

On 2/17/2020 at 1:48 PM, Ontario have mercy said:

That's an amazing diagnostic for the MCAT if you really didn't study at all. A lot will depend on your CARS score/CASPER for Ontario, so it's really hard to say. As the poster above me mentioned, try to get that GPA up for this semester and hopefully you kill the MCAT!

For reference, I got a 523 with a 496 diagnostic.

Wow congrats on that MCAT score! I'm definitely going to be putting in a lot of work on the MCAT. What prep materials did you use for each subject and how long did you study for?

[justhoping]

On 2/20/2020 at 9:07 AM, Galaxsci said:

Those stats are pretty good overall. Yeah the GPA isn't as high as you might like, but it's definitely not going to hold you back significantly. Even if the average acceptance GPA at a school is 3.96, that just means they take two 3.98s for every 3.92. It's always a bit of a roll of the dice when it comes to med apps, especially if you're not that perfect 4.0, 525, varsity athlete type of candidate (and very very few are), but if you apply broadly, I can't see you having problems.

Thanks, the breakdown on the average really clears some of the panic in my mind. I plan to apply anywhere that I can meet the requirements so hopefully it works out.

[Matty66]

Based on those stats you got this! Just focus a summer on the MCAT and make sure you're continuing to stay involved in extracurriculars and you should be fine! I had a really similar GPA when I applied through OMSAS and got multiple interviews. I think once your GPA is above a 3.8, other things like ECs and LORs matter more.

[justhoping]

On 2/26/2020 at 9:41 PM, Matty66 said:

Based on those stats you got this! Just focus a summer on the MCAT and make sure you're continuing to stay involved in extracurriculars and you should be fine! I had a really similar GPA when I applied through OMSAS and got multiple interviews. I think once your GPA is above a 3.8, other things like ECs and LORs matter more.

Thank you so much! This really gives me hope