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In need of guidance in regards to pre-med for a current second year University of Victoria student! Is it too late? Would really appreciate your guys input...


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So here goes, I apologize in advance for the long text...

I have never attended University full-time (transferred from college part time as well) due to needing to work full-time during semesters, and pursuing and competing in Mixed martial arts/jiu-jitsu rankings but most importantly due to not knowing what I wanted to do with school if even graduate. When I say part-time I mean one course a semester lol...No excuses, I am just wondering how to pick myself up from the rubble now. I have matured over the years and have began to see things in a different perspective. I am a current second year academic standing student going into my third year for my bachelors of science in Psychology, where I could finish in less than two years( have 10 courses left in the program).

However, I've recently been given the chance to attend full-time for the first time coming this fall and truly believe I can attain a straight A grade average with the right effort and mindset applied. I have only taken 9 courses in total at Uvic over the years as I had transferred from Camosun college into the English program originally at Uvic before switching into Psyc as soon as I enrolled. I am thinking about changing my degree into a combined bio+ psyc degree so that would give me around another two years worth of courses so I could boost my GPA while attending full time. I have recently been interested in the idea of going to med school hoping for a more fulfilling life and career helping others worse off than myself. The obstacle of course is that my grades so far have not been up to par, I will list them below:

PSYC 100A Introductory Psychology 75%  B (Sept- Dec 2016)
PSYC 243 Introduction to Lifespan Development 70%   B- (Jan-April 2017)
PSYC 210 Conceptual Foundations of Psychology 63%  C (May-August 2018) PSYC 260Introduction to Mental Health and Well-Being 66% C+ (Jan- April 2019)
PSYC 251 Introduction to Mind and Brain 67%  C+ (Sept- Dec 2019)
PSYC 23 1Introduction to Social Psychology Covid Pass (Jan-April 2020)                                                                                                                                                                                    BIOL 184 Evolution and Biodiversity 75% B + CSC 100Elementary Computing 88% A (Sept-Dec 2020) BIOL 186Physiology and Cell Biology 65% C+ (Jan-April 2021)

I am really struggling on what my next action should be from here now that I can attend full-time in University and believe I can achieve competitive marks. I also know that some schools for graduate programs (not med school) only look at third- and fourth-year course level (haven't taken any yet) grades so I have thought of a couple different pathways to be more competitive and would love all of your input on this.

  1. I am thinking of switching my degree into a combined biology + psychology dual degree before entering third year (doing this will academically place me in second year standing) that will add about two academic years' worth of courses in order to boost my GPA before entering academic third year standing to make it more competitive. And then hopefully get a great gpa average in the fourth year. The added courses will also help with the MCAT as with the combined degree it requires PHYSICS, CHEMISTRY and BIOLOGY courses to be completed that are not included in my current psychology program. 

  2. Another path I am thinking of doing is if I should finish my B.S. in psych a.s.a.p with a strong GPA in third and fourth year attending full course load per semester and then complete a masters program with a competitive GPA in hopes of being accepted to med school after graduate school.

  3. Or this would be the most drastic, would be to switch universities and essentially start over from scratch.

I've even considered joining the army and serving in order to go through their med program, any tips and feedback would be greatly appreciated. I also have dual citizenship for Canada and the UK but did all my schooling in British Columbia don't know if that's relevant at all for attending med school in UK... What would you do in my position? Thanks guys

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