From Math to Medicine - possible?

[San_Bed]

Hi folks,

I just finished a B.Sc. in Mathematics from UdeM and I'm interested in medicine. I'm targeting schools in Quebec. Here is my situation: 

• GPA: 3.98/4.3
• Work experience: Internships at Amazon and Shopify as a developer + medical secretary during summers
• MCAT: Not taken yet
• EC: Pro bono consulting in technology, helped young girls build a tech start-up and wrote articles about AI in a journal 
• Research: 10 months of research with a professor in computer science

I know I'm not coming from the best undergraduate program. Realistically, what are my chances? Would I have to do another degree before medical school?

Thank you!

[bearded frog]

Nobody cares what your undergrad was in or where you did it, only what your GPA is. What is your GPA on a 4 point scale? Some schools do weighted GPAs, I don't know about Quebec schools, but check each page to see if they have any special math to calculate GPA giving benefits to full course loads, etc. Seems up your ally anyway

[San_Bed]

Thanks for the answer. My GPA would be 3.84/4.0 according to my calculations.

[MDee2B]

2 hours ago, bearded frog said:

Nobody cares what your undergrad was in or where you did it

Not entirely true. OP is targeting Quebec med schools. Some Quebec med schools do give a bonus based on where you did your undergrad (ex OP did theirs at U de M, and accordingly will receive a +0.5 cru bonus should they apply to u de m med). Similarly, some Quebec schools discriminate based on what field you did your undergrad in using various so-called echelon tables. So a 3.98/4.3 gpa doesn’t necessarily carry the same weight at all Quebec schools. McGill is an exception and looks at applicants more like bearded frog says (less discrimination based on what/where you did undergrad). 
 

@San_BedFor the other stats you mentioned (work, MCAT, EC, research), none of these matter at the 3 French schools - they are only considered at McGill. In addition, I believe because you did your undergrad in Quebec, you don’t even need to do the MCAT for McGill.

Best of luck!

[San_Bed]

Thanks @MDee2B! Do you think my GPA is competitive enough to be considered for an interview? From what I saw on this forum, I think I might be on the lower end of the scale, especially for McGill.

[MDee2B]

17 minutes ago, San_Bed said:

Thanks @MDee2B! Do you think my GPA is competitive enough to be considered for an interview? From what I saw on this forum, I think I might be on the lower end of the scale, especially for McGill.

Yes

[Floraelise]

Your gpa is definitively competitive even for McGill.

McGill looks at other things like EC also. I would apply everywhere if I were you!

[elime2.0]

Salut, je ne sais pas si tu parles francais, mais pour les applications aux universités du Québec, tu aurais des chances à McGill et Ulaval. (si tu es un résident du Québec?)

- Premièrement tu n'as pas besoins de faire le MCAT lorsque tu es résident

- Tu devras avoir un excellent Casper (pratique toi et informe toi sur leur site)

- La conversion de ta GPA devrait être dans les 3.88/4 à McGill (pour te donner une idée, j'ai réussis à faire les entrevues avec 3.86)

- Pour les université francophone, ta GPA sera converti en cote de rendement universitaire (CRU), qui devrait te donner environ 32 à Ulaval (https://www.ulaval.ca/sites/default/files/admission/table-des-etalons.pdf) et probablement plus à UdeM.

- Il faut un minimum de 31 pour appliquer à Ulaval et 33 pour UdeM (les deux écoles donnent des bonis de 0,5 sur ta CRU)

[bearded frog]

9 hours ago, MDee2B said:

Not entirely true. OP is targeting Quebec med schools. Some Quebec med schools do give a bonus based on where you did your undergrad (ex OP did theirs at U de M, and accordingly will receive a +0.5 cru bonus should they apply to u de m med). Similarly, some Quebec schools discriminate based on what field you did your undergrad in using various so-called echelon tables. So a 3.98/4.3 gpa doesn’t necessarily carry the same weight at all Quebec schools. McGill is an exception and looks at applicants more like bearded frog says (less discrimination based on what/where you did undergrad). 

Today I learned the francophone medical schools still have archaic admissions practices lol

[jb24]

I think you are very competitive. Some of the best medical students in my class came from less typical premed backgrounds.  

[Ratatarata]

Hello, @San_Bed, were you successful? Were you required to take prerequisite courses in org chem/ bio/ ... in order to be admitted?