Can I Never Apply to U of T Medical School?

[tryingtoohard]

Hello everyone,

I was just wondering if I can ever apply to U of T med school? I heard we need a full course load to be eligible for wGPA, but I am not sure if that is 4 or 5 courses. I took four courses in each semester of first year. I had four courses for my first semester of second year, and five courses for second semester of second year (if they calculate Winter 2020). I still have third and fourth year left, for which I will take a full course load of five courses each semester. Please let me know, thank you.

[m_jacob_45]

You can still apply but will not be eligible for weighting. They will use your cGPA instead. They require 5 courses per year every year to qualify for weighting.

[HopefulMD786]

If you took at least 28 credits each year between Sept-April, you're eligible for wGPA.

[Artier]

10 hours ago, HopefulMD786 said:

If you took at least 28 credits each year between Sept-April, you're eligible for wGPA.

30 credits (five full course equivalents) from Sept-April is required for wGPA eligibility in my understanding 

[DrOtter]

1 minute ago, Artier said:

30 credits (five full course equivalents) from Sept-April is required for wGPA eligibility in my understanding 

Yeah but some schools have weird course credit allocations like 8 credit thesis, or 4 credit labs, etc. So UofT does allow a 2-credit deviation from that and still maintains wGPA eligibility. Just that this has to be done for every single year for the entirety of undergrad without fail to qualify for wGPA. 

[premed72]

You can also write the academic explanations essay to explain the discrepancy. I think they do take this essay seriously. I had to write one and I do not think i would have gotten an interview if they didnt consider it. However, you need to have a pretty valid explanation for why you didnt have the full course load in the first place.

Goodluck 

[tryingtoohard]

1 hour ago, premed72 said:

You can also write the academic explanations essay to explain the discrepancy. I think they do take this essay seriously. I had to write one and I do not think i would have gotten an interview if they didnt consider it. However, you need to have a pretty valid explanation for why you didnt have the full course load in the first place.

Goodluck 

I do have a valid academic explanations essay, and I can explain why I was not able to maintain a full course load for first year and also for the first semester of second year. Other than that, the rest of my semesters had full course loads of five courses each semester. My GPA in first year was 2.20, and it was 3.90 second year, 4.0 in third year, and 4.0 in fourth year, so they could also tell from my first year GPA that I had an extenuating circumstance in first year. I truly hope I qualify for wGPA for U of T, since my cGPA will be very bad. I am also planning on graduating in four years, so it is not like I wanted to delay my university graduation and take a slow path or anything, I genuinely had an extenuating circumstance for all of first year.

[premed72]

I actually had something similar. My first year GPA was very low with a non full course load. but excelled in the subsequent years with a full course load. If you feel like you can convey a genuine explanation for them, you should definately give it a shot. Great job turning things around in your upper years, that's a big accomplishment. I think its also worth mentioning that you will be fairly competative for other ontario schools (with a good mcat) if you keep up your good grades. However, I would double check with Ottawa, u might need three years of full time studies to be eligible for their wGPA. With your track record and upward GPA trend you can have a good shot with them. But you might need to apply while ur in a 5th year to activate the wGPA. Someone correct me if I'm wrong though!

Bottom line: Dont lose hope on small blimps. Theres always a way to figure it out. 

Cheers 

[tryingtoohard]

56 minutes ago, premed72 said:

I actually had something similar. My first year GPA was very low with a non full course load. but excelled in the subsequent years with a full course load. If you feel like you can convey a genuine explanation for them, you should definately give it a shot. Great job turning things around in your upper years, that's a big accomplishment. I think its also worth mentioning that you will be fairly competative for other ontario schools (with a good mcat) if you keep up your good grades. However, I would double check with Ottawa, u might need three years of full time studies to be eligible for their wGPA. With your track record and upward GPA trend you can have a good shot with them. But you might need to apply while ur in a 5th year to activate the wGPA. Someone correct me if I'm wrong though!

Bottom line: Dont lose hope on small blimps. Theres always a way to figure it out. 

Cheers 

Thank you so much. That is so great that you also turned your GPA around. It was pretty disheartening to know that I won't be eligible for wGPA if I did not take 5 courses each semester since my first year was so bad, but it is great to know that I can write an essay explaining my situation. I am also an Alberta resident so I was planning on applying to U of A, U of C, and UBC, since I would like to stay near my family, however, I also have some family in Toronto so I was thinking of applying to U of T as well. I qualify for wGPA or aGPA for U of A, U of C, and UBC, so I only need to write the essay for U of T. Thanks for letting me know about all of this.