Advice please

[Babyyoda4]

I am in my 4th year and I applied this cycle but I don't know what to if I don't get in. I always thought by the time I got to 4th year I would figure out a back up plan but now that I'm here I'm still not sure what to. Any advice would be appreciated. 

MCAT: 130/126/131/129 I know my CARS score puts me at a disadvantage for a lot of schools 

GPA  yr 1= 3.83, yr 2= 3.9, yr 3= 3.95, Unfortunately a lot of schools wont consider my 3rd year GPA because most of my courses were full year and thanks to COVID the marks dont count. 

Extracurriculars: over 10 years of competitive sports and I'm on one of my universities teams and on recreational teams too,  volunteered as ESL mentor, physio clinic, coaching, part of a student charity club, various part time employment and I used to volunteer at a retirement home and now I work there. 

I am doing research as part of my undergrad thesis and I do like it so I was thinking of doing a masters. However researcher based masters are 2 years so if I wanted to consider applying to  the US, Ireland or Australia my mcat would expire but, at the same time I am not sure if its worth it to apply to these schools because I want to practice in Canada and I don't know if I would get in the first place. I dont think doing a 1 year course based masters would add much to my application and if I do a gap year I dont know what I would do for a year since I cant find alot of jobs that only require a bachelor degree in science. 

Sorry for the long post but any insights would be very helpful. 

 

[poorpremed]

Hi! It is definitely a stressful time. I was in your shoes about a year ago. I am still applying to medical school, but I decided to do a Master's in Public Health! The program I am taking is 4 consecutive terms with a placement. I am really enjoying it so far and it definitely adds to your application. Also, you will be able yo get a good job in the mean time while you apply to medical schools. After I finished my undergrad, I took the MCAT again so my MCAT would be valid for 5 years and I wouldn't have to relearn everything a couple of years after I graduated. That is what I did, so I hope it helps!

[Babyyoda4]

2 hours ago, poorpremed said:

Hi! It is definitely a stressful time. I was in your shoes about a year ago. I am still applying to medical school, but I decided to do a Master's in Public Health! The program I am taking is 4 consecutive terms with a placement. I am really enjoying it so far and it definitely adds to your application. Also, you will be able yo get a good job in the mean time while you apply to medical schools. After I finished my undergrad, I took the MCAT again so my MCAT would be valid for 5 years and I wouldn't have to relearn everything a couple of years after I graduated. That is what I did, so I hope it helps!

Thanks for the reply! A masters in public health is also something I am looking into!