Life Advice from the Internet

[Excel-erate Your Breath]

LMAO @ the title

I'll keep this as short as possible, basically I applied to med (only UBC, aiming for NMP that's why) this past cycle, 84% GPA and some decent ECs nothing that blows your mind away but I'll defo be somewhat competitive (most of my experiences apply to the North as well, so lots of stuff went into my rural section of the application). Med is the dream, undoubtedly (and I know this for sure because I doubted it for nearly 3 years, but I'm sure now).

Graduating from my psyc degree this year, and in the worst case scenario of getting rejected from med this cycle, my AGPA will be about 87.5% for future cycles. (Or, if I can pull it off, 89% - I used a conservative estimate to get the 87.5%).

I've done the math, and if I do a 5th year of undergrad (which I literally have no reason to be doing other than boosting GPA), I can get my final AGPA to be 90.5%.

My plan rn is to look for work if I don't get into med, but should I be considering a 5th year of undergrad instead? Specifically I'm aiming to work as something similar to a Mental Health Worker type of job (not something that I could do for a career, but defo nothing to be sniffed at).

My backup plan if med doesn't work out after a couple of tries (I'm not sure what my limit is (maybe 4?), but I do have one somewhere - I don't want to start medical school too late in life I think) is to go into counselling psychology.

I am worried that the upcoming application cycles will be out of my range to be competitive with an 87.5% GPA given that lots of GPAs will be inflated during COVID schooling. It's purely anecdotal stuff rn, but I'm seeing midterm averages way higher than before in all my classes

[frenchpress]

My two cents is that your GPA is perfectly competitive already (assuming you’re IP) and it doesn’t make sense to try and incrementally raise it at the expense of having time to do other things to get more life experience, build your ECs, etc. Get a job you like, one that can help you build skills, maybe even one that could be an alternate career or at least on a career path if you don’t get into Med. Why put your life on hold for another year while you potentially wait? Especially since becoming a more well-rounded person is only likely to increase your NAQ score and competitiveness. 

Edited November 17, 2020 by frenchpress

[Excel-erate Your Breath]

On 11/16/2020 at 5:42 PM, frenchpress said:

My two cents is that your GPA is perfectly competitive already (assuming you’re IP) and it doesn’t make sense to try and incrementally raise it at the expense of having time to do other things to get more life experience, build your ECs, etc. Get a job you like, one that can help you build skills, maybe even one that could be an alternate career or at least on a career path if you don’t get into Med. Why put your life on hold for another year while you potentially wait? Especially since becoming a more well-rounded person is only likely to increase your NAQ score and competitiveness. 

This is my gut feeling as well (and yes I'm IP!) thank you for the feedback!

[marsaturn20]

I agree with @frenchpress. I think you already have a good average for an IP applicant. It might on the lower end for this cycle, but I think you can still have a fighting chance. If ever you need to re-apply next year, I think your AGPA will put you in so much better position. To answer your question, I also don't recommend doing a 5th year! I think being 'out there' to gain more experience is far more enriching than returning to school just to gain another 3%. I know grades matter A LOT when applying to med, but your grades are within the competitive range! Let's see how this year pans out for you, so I'm wishing you all the success for this year's application

[PeanutButter1]

9 hours ago, marsaturn20 said:

I agree with @frenchpress. I think you already have a good average for an IP applicant. It might on the lower end for this cycle, but I think you can still have a fighting chance. If ever you need to re-apply next year, I think your AGPA will put you in so much better position. To answer your question, I also don't recommend doing a 5th year! I think being 'out there' to gain more experience is far more enriching than returning to school just to gain another 3%. I know grades matter A LOT when applying to med, but your grades are within the competitive range! Let's see how this year pans out for you, so I'm wishing you all the success for this year's application

Has ubc posted number of applicants this year? Just wondering how you know it’s on the lower end for this cycle in particular!

[Fast_Layne]

I have a different take from the other commenters. You can build experiences anytime, but GPA is something you can only build right now. If you have a shot to tangibly improve your GPA, I would do it now rather than later. Getting stuff for the NAQ is kind of a blackbox, and it's easier said than done. But improving your GPA is something that's really concrete and will undeniably improve your app.

Good luck deciding!! Just wanted to offer an alternative take

[Excel-erate Your Breath]

2 hours ago, Fast_Layne said:

I have a different take from the other commenters. You can build experiences anytime, but GPA is something you can only build right now. If you have a shot to tangibly improve your GPA, I would do it now rather than later. Getting stuff for the NAQ is kind of a blackbox, and it's easier said than done. But improving your GPA is something that's really concrete and will undeniably improve your app.

Good luck deciding!! Just wanted to offer an alternative take

In true Canadian fashion, I decided "why not both" lmao - I'm going to look for full-time work and enroll in some courses part-time that are part of the Counselling program up here. (Which I'm confident I'll do well in - I really feel like my GPA is only as low as it is because of bad study habits in the beginning of uni, been killing it last year and this year). Then, if I keep being unable to get into med, I can just take the extra 1.5 years (or whatever) to finish my Counselling degree and call it a day.

This was crucial, he must be like Dumbledore, keep a cool head, make sure there were backups - Harry Potter

On 11/19/2020 at 10:00 AM, PeanutButter1 said:

Has ubc posted number of applicants this year? Just wondering how you know it’s on the lower end for this cycle in particular!

I think just based on previous cycles it is safe to assume 84% will be on the low end of average acceptance