Should i even apply

[BlueMango]

Hi there, 

I'm planning on applying to Canadian medical schools this next cycle with a low gpa from 1st-3rd year (3.7, 3.0 and 3.4) and super high gpa in my fourth and fifth year (4.0s for both).  I just wanted to know what Canadian Medical schools might look down upon the first three years (i went through some really difficult times in 2nd year and attempted to recover in third year) and if i have a shot at getting into medical school even though i didn't do well the first three years.  My mcat score was also above 90th percentile, i worked during my second and third year if that makes any difference as well. The cGPA is overall really bad so i just want to know if i have any chance of getting in and if med schools will even consider my fifth year. 

Thanks in advance :)
 

[offmychestplease]

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[Psych]

Queen's looks at your most recent 2 years of undergrad and Western at your 2 best years so you'll have a 4.0 for them, meaning your chances GPA-wise are excellent. U of T with what you have you probably aren't competitive, but if you're eligible for wGPA (if you took a full course load each year), you might have a shot- and you could also write an academic explanations essay for them where you could explain your difficulties in 2nd and 3rd year. At Mac your cGPA (3.62 if I calculated correctly) isn't great but it isn't horrible- I've seen quite a few applicants get in with GPAs in the 3.6s or even lower, but as offmychestplease said you'd need a high CARS and casper to compensate. I wouldn't say you need 130+ (although it would help), but you'd probably need 128 at the bare minimum + killing casper. Ottawa unfortunately I don't think you'd be eligible as their cut-off is 3.85 for your most recent 3 years of undergrad, and I believe you have a 3.80. OOP schools might also be possible but I don't know as much about their policies.

As for your concerns that schools may "look down" on poor earlier years, you don't need to worry about that. Your GPA will just be calculated with a computer, no one is going to actually look at your grades and not admit you because you had a poor second and third year. All that matters is what your overall GPA is for each school, which as I explained can vary quite a bit between schools.

TL;DR You have a great shot at Queen's and Western, a decent shot at Mac if you do well on CARS and casper, and maybe a shot at Toronto if you're eligible for wGPA

[DrOtter]

Hey just FYI for Ottawa, it's a bit difficult to predict what their cut-off is this coming cycle since they are switching to CGPA for the first time. So while admissions said that they anticipate the cutoff to remain the same, they also said that it might change. So if you can afford it, you could apply to Ottawa as well