To Med or Not to Med

[Elha Q]

So, my first and 2nd year were awfully pathetic because life hit me hard. I’m an Alberta resident and hoping to apply for Alberta schools but open to applying to other provinces as well. 

 

Year 1: 1.2 ( 3 classes each term)

Year 2: 2.9 (4 classes fall, 5 winter) 

Year 2 Spring/Summer: 4.0 (2 classes each term)

Year 3: 3.9 (full term each term, 5 classes each term) 

Year 3 Spring/Summer: 4.0 2 classes each term)

Year 4: 4.0 full term each term, 5 classes each term) 

MCAT: 520 

EC’s: cultural, international, local helping out community, research, employment. 

I don’t know if I should take summer/spring courses for my 4th year, or take an extra year or pursue a Masters. I honestly don’t know if I should just apply and see what happens or go overseas. 
Any guidance would be appreciated. Thank you! 

[Elha Q]

Would honestly appreciate any advice please 

[powdermonkey13]

Where does your GPA end up at for Alberta schools? CARS?

[Elha Q]

@powdermonkey13 

UofA looks all all courses in summer and spring if you take a full course load and they drop your lowest year so my gpa for uofa is: 3.78

for UofC, they only drop worst year and they do NOT look at your summer courses so for Calgary my gpa would be: 3.63 

my CARS is: 128. 

[KitKatCo]

U of C also values ECs very highly, and your CARS score is pretty good.

Did you look into UBC? If anyone with more knowledge about UBC's aGPA policy could chime in, but don't they drop the worst 30 credits from 120 credits or until they reach 90 credits? You would need some English credits though. 

There are 2 Ontarian schools that only look at the 2 last or the 2 strongest years with some extra requirements (I don't recall which... I think Queens and Western???). Those could be a possibility if you match the requirements. 

Edit: Actually I think UBC first drops the winter 2020 credits then drops however many is left of the 30 credits from the lowest  

Edited December 19, 2020 by KitKatCo

[Elha Q]

@KitKatCo Thank you sooo much!! Does UBC drop spring summer credits or only Fall-Winter credits???

[KitKatCo]

34 minutes ago, Elha Q said:

@KitKatCo Thank you sooo much!! Does UBC drop spring summer credits or only Fall-Winter credits???

I didn't apply there so I don't know the details, sorry, but I think spring/summer credits count :). They drop winter 2020, then look at the worst year and start dropping credits from there until they reach the 30 dropped credits or 90 remaining credits. 

[powdermonkey13]

Your CARS is sweet, your GPA is on the lower end (check past reference stats and cut offs). With everyone I speak to, in this position you have 2 choices. Do extra years and bump up your GPA or go out into your community and do something that you are passionate about. Masters and PhD are up to you...again are you passionate to do these? Your life skills and experiences is what makes you stand out from other applicants. The latter is by far more important in my books, but bumping up your GPA can't hurt. Feel free to DM me. 

[pinkneuron]

I can only speak from the Ontario perspective and I think you should definitely look into Queen's and Western!

They look at your best/last two years for GPA, so your 1st and 2nd year grades would literally be irrelevant. 

Your two year GPA+strong MCAT+ECs would make you a competitive applicant for both schools. Queen's admissions is a bit of a blackbox but Western's MCAT cut-off for the previous cycle was BB 126, CP 127, CARS 127 (they didn't look at PS) and GPA cut-off was 3.7.

FYI you wouldn't be disadvantaged at Queen's and Western for being from Alberta, they do not have a quota for Ontario residents (although Western has lower admission requirements for Southern Ontario residents).

You've shown that you're academically capable of medical school through your GPA improvement + MCAT score, but another *VERY* important component of admissions is how you present yourself and how you've demonstrated the "soft" skills that you need as a doctor (basically CanMEDS competencies).

GPA and MCAT do not tell the whole story, so don't be too hard on yourself for your less than perfect GPA. Medical schools have these policies where they use weighted GPAs for a reason: they realize that life gets in the way sometimes, and they're not just looking for perfect, smart students but also ones that are compassionate, resilient, non-judgemental, etc. All you need is for one school to give you a chance. Make sure to reflect about why you want to be a doctor, and what activities you've done to demonstrate to these schools that you'll be a great addition to the field of medicine.