what are my chances at canadian medical schools

[Jerkat]

Appreciate whoever has the time to look at my WAMC
Approaching the end of my master's and feeling anxious about everything - went in hoping to explore some other possible career options besides med but am feeling disillusioned with my ability to do research. Re-considering applying to med

GPA:
Year 1: 0.89
Year 2: 3.38
Year 3: 3.55
Year 4: 3.82
Year 5: 3.85
Years 2-5 were full course loads
cGPA: 3.3
Non-degree year (3.0 credits): 3.87, will count for Queen's last 2-year GPA calc

Schools of Interest: Dal/Queens/Western

MCAT: wrote it once, non-committal, scored pretty average (will completely commit and re-do for 2022 intake)

CASPer: not taken

Education Stage: Finishing up year 2 of a research master's (in biomedical sciences) and will be writing the MCAT afterwards in time for the 2022 intake. I think it'll cumulate in a pub, and a presentation at an international conference

ECs: mostly summers were spent working (sailing coach, then several summers at a camp for children with learning disabilities). got involved in research later (iGEM, then thesis lab, 2 years total). Other ECs I did were for fun and won't add much to my application (sports/interest clubs). Some additional ECs gained from my master's (TAing, some awards, etc.)

[bearded frog]

Obviously 3.3 is a non-starter so look at each school and calculate how their grade adjustment affects you and what GPA that gives you. Otherwise cannot really comment.

[Jerkat]

16 minutes ago, bearded frog said:

Obviously 3.3 is a non-starter so look at each school and calculate how their grade adjustment affects you and what GPA that gives you. Otherwise cannot really comment.

Thanks for the reply @bearded frog! Yea cGPA is terrible, so I've written off schools that look at that. The interest schools I put are the only ones I'm considering, since they look at weighted GPA. My best 2/last 2 GPA hovers at at 3.83, so I'm wondering if that's a realistic "competitive" GPA to get interviews(+MCAT that meets cutoffs). You see a lot of 3.95+ GPAs here and its disheartening to say the least

[neurologist19]

Best bet, do a two years bost-bacc with 4/4 GPA and then apply for school that look at the last two years. Good luck

[Jerkat]

25 minutes ago, neurologist19 said:

Best bet, do a two years bost-bacc with 4/4 GPA and then apply for school that look at the last two years. Good luck

you're kidding right? i don't think canada even has proper post-bacc programs, i'd have to do them in the states. 

[neurologist19]

43 minutes ago, Jerkat said:

you're kidding right? i don't think canada even has proper post-bacc programs, i'd have to do them in the states. 

No actually this is what I am planning to do. A second undergrad at UBC requires you to take like 60 credits. I am not sure but I  guess you don't need to finish your second undergrad. Study for two years full time and them drop out as you already have an undergrad.

[bearded frog]

15 hours ago, Jerkat said:

Thanks for the reply @bearded frog! Yea cGPA is terrible, so I've written off schools that look at that. The interest schools I put are the only ones I'm considering, since they look at weighted GPA. My best 2/last 2 GPA hovers at at 3.83, so I'm wondering if that's a realistic "competitive" GPA to get interviews(+MCAT that meets cutoffs). You see a lot of 3.95+ GPAs here and its disheartening to say the least

It's potentially within range, but you're right in that average GPAs are usually higher, for instance the majority of Mac's class has had cGPA >3.9 in the last 3 years (do other schools publish this data?). One can assume that schools with GPA weighing will have averages with an adjusted GPA that skews higher. Yours is not in rule-out territory but putting all your eggs in one basket for an uphill battle isn't ideal. You get EC points with masters (less than you would think though )+ pub, and working with disadvantaged children, but missing volunteerism and clinically adjacent activities, so I don't know how you stack up in that regard. Who knows, with amazing MCAT/LORs then maybe?

14 hours ago, Jerkat said:

you're kidding right? i don't think canada even has proper post-bacc programs, i'd have to do them in the states. 

The above poster is right that if you really want medicine you're going to have to do something to expand your options and there are schools who will prioritize post-bac years and second undergrad degrees (that can be done in 2 years). You are correct that the US has specific post-bac Special Master's Programs which is like a pre-medical school year and if you do well you can improve your chances, which Canada does not have. That being said you can certainly do ad-hoc post-bac years where you just sign up for courses without declaring a major, I personally did one year like this. Carefully review the GPA adjustment rules for schools and see what your options could be.

I very much understand balking at the idea of more undergrad after 5 years and a master's degree. If medicine was your ultimate goal it would have likely been better to do more undergrad with a thesis research project as opposed to a master's degree - I made the same mistake. Also, I think UBC considers graduate GPA so if you did well look into UBC as an option.