Need Help Selecting Pre-Med University( UnderGraduate Univ)

[UG_International]

Hello All

 I am a international student and currently completing my high School from the USA. I am a international student even in USA.

 I aim to do medicine from Canada.I applied to the few colleges as listed below and got my acceptance letters from all of them. After reading through the various articles in this forum as well some more research am in a dilemma on choosing the right college which will help me achieving my dream of doing medicines from Canada which will help me in maintain my high GPA and other activities.

Appreciate all help the help in providing me inputs & directions to chose one of them as I would be NEW to Canada

Universtiy of British Columbia

Simon Fraser

Universtiy of Toronto

University of Waterloo

University of Ottawa

Lakehead

University of Alberta

Dalhousie

Concordia   Thanks to all the lovely people out here!

[bearded frog]

I think barring exceptional circumstances you must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident to do med school in Canada. I know for sure you have to be either to do residency in Canada.

Assuming you plan on becoming a PR/citizen, keep in mind you can do your premed/undergrad in the US or other reputable international school and still apply to Canadian medical schools, although having Canadian ECs probably will help either way.

In terms of which school you have selected, the answer is the school where you can get the highest grades. This usually means it's in a place you can get support from family/friends and have a work/life balance that will allow you to get that 4.0, or a school with class size/philosophy that matches yours. The caveat to this is if you have significant academic aspirations, then perhaps looking into what research opportunities are available at each school would also be relevant. Larger schools may have more resources for pre-meds but note that generally going to school X for undergrad does not hugely increase your chances of going to med school at school X unless you benefit from in-province status.

[Mofie]

You'd be better off doing undergrad and med school in America and then coming for residency

[wattsthematta44]

congrats on being accepted to all those schools ! the best undergraduate university as mentioned above would be whichever school you can excel most in with the highest GPA, so things like curriculum, your learning style, class sizes, support system, on-campus support resources, etc. but do take some time to research med school eligibility as an international student 

[UG_International]

I have never traveled to Canada and nor do have any family friends or friends.

As You all have been a part of Canada and there Education system, please suggest which university will help me in maintaining my GPA from the above list.

Thanks

[UG_International]

8 hours ago, bearded frog said:

I think barring exceptional circumstances you must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident to do med school in Canada. I know for sure you have to be either to do residency in Canada.

Assuming you plan on becoming a PR/citizen, keep in mind you can do your premed/undergrad in the US or other reputable international school and still apply to Canadian medical schools, although having Canadian ECs probably will help either way.

In terms of which school you have selected, the answer is the school where you can get the highest grades. This usually means it's in a place you can get support from family/friends and have a work/life balance that will allow you to get that 4.0, or a school with class size/philosophy that matches yours. The caveat to this is if you have significant academic aspirations, then perhaps looking into what research opportunities are available at each school would also be relevant. Larger schools may have more resources for pre-meds but note that generally going to school X for undergrad does not hugely increase your chances of going to med school at school X unless you benefit from in-province status.

 have never traveled to Canada and nor do have any family friends or friends.

As You all have been a part of Canada and there Education system, please suggest which university will help me in maintaining my GPA from the above list.

Thanks

[bearded frog]

I mean, there's more than just throwing a dart at the map in choosing a school. Maybe you would struggle with the large class sizes of UBC/UofT but you would go stir crazy in Waterloo or Thunder Bay. And undergrad as an international will be expensive off the bat (International med school tution is ~$90000 a year at the schools who take internationals), and maybe you would rather somewhere with less cost of living? Also consider that UBC does not accept non Canadian citizens/PRs for med school, where UofT does, and you'd have to look at each other med school who suggests who does so that might play a role as well.

What is your plan for residency after med school?

[UG_International]

@bearded frog

First of thanks!

With my high GPA(3.9/4.2) and SAT at high school i got thru admissions for all the colleges.Just to add i have 100K Grant scholarship from UofT and 7K from others- that gives me a tiny little relief from the tuition fee.

Right now what i aim is for school where i can maintain my GPA same as high school. I do plan to apply to Medicines at USA also, post my UG.

As far as residency is concerned- i think first approach for both countries would be that I apply for my work Permit and then rest later..

What are your suggestions for Univ of Ottawa ? It has lower Tuition fee as compared to others.

Is it true that in Canada-  a Med school would prefer student from there own Province UG students?

[bearded frog]

2 hours ago, UG_International said:

With my high GPA(3.9/4.2) and SAT at high school i got thru admissions for all the colleges.Just to add i have 100K Grant scholarship from UofT and 7K from others- that gives me a tiny little relief from the tuition fee.

Well U of T should be at the top of your list then... Getting a good GPA is more important than cost in the long run, but personally I would have to have some strong dealbrakers to not go somewhere I had 100k scholarship.

2 hours ago, UG_International said:

Right now what i aim is for school where i can maintain my GPA same as high school. I do plan to apply to Medicines at USA also, post my UG.

You have to figure out what led you to success in high school and how you can best follow that same strategy in University. FYI undergrad was way more difficult than high school, I skated through with straight As then hit undergrad and did not do so well lol.

2 hours ago, UG_International said:

What are your suggestions for Univ of Ottawa ? It has lower Tuition fee as compared to others.

I think its a fine school as all the others, have no personal experience with it.

2 hours ago, UG_International said:

Is it true that in Canada-  a Med school would prefer student from there own Province UG students?

Most med schools will give preference to residents of their province, a notable exception being UofT. You'll have to read the fine print though because you need to be there a certain number of years, and some don't count time you're there just for undergrad. They don't outwardly have a bias for their own UG students, unless their UG program is designed as a med school feeder program (Mac health sciences, etc).

[UG_International]

Thanks All !