Which medical schools require courses to be at or above the year level?

[tryingtoohard 4]

Does anyone know which medical schools actually require you to take courses at or above the year level? If I am in 3rd year or 4th, will medical schools, especially U of C, U of A, and UBC, require me to take at least three 3rd year and 4th year courses in each semester? Could you send me a link to it if you can?

[nothingbutmed 29]

UBC doesn't discuss that specifically, but does say this in relation to full-time vs part-time:

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A full course load is not necessary for application to the program, and we recognize that applicants may have many reasons for taking less than a full load. However, applicants must display an ability to handle the demands of medical school and may be required to demonstrate the reason behind a part-time course load.

I'm not aware of any requirements at U of C or U of A.

Western has the following policy:

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• At least three full or equivalent courses (18 credit hours) whose published academic level is at or above the year of study:
  • Year 1: three of five full course equivalents at or above the first-year level
  • Year 2: three of five full course equivalents at or above the second-year level
  • Year 3, 4 and additional undergraduate years: three of five full course equivalents at or above the third-year level

U of T has an 'expectation' of the following:

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You are expected to complete studies that correspond with your current year.  For example, if you are applying for admission while registered in the third year of undergraduate studies, you should have at least three third-year or higher courses in your program. If you are in the fourth year of your program, you should be enrolled in a majority of courses at the third- and fourth-year levels.  Please note that this is an expectation rather than a requirement.  It is recognized that at times, students take courses in lower years for various reasons, such as a change in program or to complete subjects of interest or prerequisites that did not fit the academic schedule previously.  If you have information about your academics you feel is important for the Admissions Committee to know, you may explain your individual circumstances using the Academic Explanations Essay within the OMSAS application.

Hope this helps!

[MedicineLCS 352]

The UofC assigns 10% of your application score to something they call: 

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Global assessment of academic merit (10%)

It's certainly possible taking a critical look at course year progression plays a part in that 10%. The UofA is one of the least transparent schools on how they mark applications so we don't really know. 

[tryingtoohard 4]

On 5/6/2020 at 4:15 PM, nothingbutmed said:

UBC doesn't discuss that specifically, but does say this in relation to full-time vs part-time:

I'm not aware of any requirements at U of C or U of A.

Western has the following policy:

U of T has an 'expectation' of the following:

Hope this helps!

That helps a lot, thank you. I’m only applying to UBC, U of A, and U of C, so that is a relief that UBC does not require an applicant to take at least three courses at or above the year level each term. I’m a Biochemistry major, and I have like 6 Chem courses at the 200 level, or 2nd year level, and also at least 4 other Biology and Statistics courses, so I have no way of completing all of them in my 2nd year. I also have any 3rd or 4th year courses for Biochem, and I think it’s only 4 each year, or 2 per semester, that are at the year level or above the year level. Thank you so much for the information though.