U of T Life Sci vs Western Med Sci

[Neurosis1]

Can someone give me their opinion on these two programs? I’m having trouble deciding.

[PequalsMD]

Any other schools/programs? Neither are great for GPA if you're gunning for med and I've heard UofT is a GPA killer by many. If you only applied to these 2 I'd say UWO slightly > UofT. Both produce a lot of med students compared to other schools but that's only because very intelligent people go into either program so it is not an indication of your individual performance/likelihood of great performance, but a survey of the kinds of students that are in these schools.

I did Western Med Sci, you can DM me for details.

[zxcccxz]

Graduating UofT Life Sci this year and starting med in a couple months. I would say the rumors about UofT Life Sci are overblown to some extent. At the UOttawa interview this year, people seemed to be surprised that someone from UofT Life Sci had gotten multiple interviews, but anecdotally, a pretty big chunk of my close friends/acquiantances got into at least one med school this cycle. I can't speak to whether UofT Life Sci is more difficult than other programs just because I've never attended programs at other universities. However, the way I like to think of it is, medicine is a marathon, not a sprint. If you're going to shy away from a challenge and take the easier path for no other reason than it being easier, you're going to find the real challenges that come during medical school and residency much harder to surmount. 

Of course going into a relatively less demanding health sci/kinesiology/nursing program is a strategy that some people use to get a good GPA and make themselves more competitive for med. But this hurts you in the long run IMO. I didn't apply to UofT med, but a friend of mine who did (and got in), recieved a call a few days ago from a current UofT med student as part of the recruitment process. My friend told me the current student said the transition to med was difficult for her because of her Mac Health Sci background. Meanwhile, the dozens of med students I know at UofT med who went through Life Science, basically all say that med school is actually much easier than undergrad for them.

A rigorous life science program also prepares you to do well on the MCAT, where you'll be competing with everyone (including life science students) for high scores (as the exam is designed to reflect a normal distrubution). So idk, all of this really is just my opinion, but I would say don't shy away from UofT Life Sci just because people say it is hard.

[MedAppHelp]

 

15 minutes ago, WuhanClan said:

 Neither are great for GPA if you're gunning for med and I've heard UofT is a GPA killer by many. If you only applied to these 2 I'd say UWO slightly > UofT. Both produce a lot of med students compared to other schools but that's only because very intelligent people go into either program so it is not an indication of your individual performance/likelihood of great performance, but a survey of the kinds of students that are in these schools.

100% Agree. It's possible to get in med school from any program (I just graduated from med sci and I'm an incoming med student in September, as are many of my med sci friends) but neither of these are "easy" programs. That being said I did choose UWO over UofT four years ago and have no regrets. Feel free to message if you have any questions about med sci!