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Is it possible to do a two-year undergrad (second undergrad)?


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I really want to know if it is possible to do only two years of second undergrad. I am a CS major and want to do another undergrad taking just the prerequisite courses, I hope two years will do. Is it really possible to apply to medical schools just after two years of the second undergrad? I heard a lot of people here doing two years of second undergrad. I want to know, is it any special undergrad which is two year long? Or do they just take the prerequisite courses, do them in two years and drop out / apply to medical schools?

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Thanks @offmychestplease for your response! I also want to know, that, if I want to do a second undergrad in Health Science or in Biology, then what would be the scenario? I did a quick search about after-degree programs in Canada, but couldn't find after-degree program in life science subjects. So, in that case, do I have to do a full four year undergrad? Or is it possible to apply to medical schools after two years of studying in a second undergrad? 

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No worries. I have heard of people who did their first BSc in a Biological Sciences field and then were able to do a second undergrad in a related field in another field in 2 years due to covering pre-reqs in their first degree (ie 1st degree was Biochem, 2nd degree was microbiology etc). I am not sure if it would be possible to do a second undergrad in 2 years if you don't have a first degree in a related field. You can probably finish in less than 4 years (probably 3 years) but I don't know if it can be done in 2 years.

 Also, as far as I know the 2 year set after-degree programs are for professional programs like nursing, education etc. Each medical school has different rules about when you can apply if you are doing a second undergrad. Some don't care and you can apply right in your first year, some need you to finish it etc. I would look this up/ask where you want to apply.

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I just took pre-requisite courses as a non-degree student because I already had a degree and my grades were good enough for med school applications. I didn't need to be enrolled in a program to do so and all the schools I applied to counted those courses in my GPA calculations. I applied to 5 schools and interviewed at 4 of them.

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13 hours ago, offmychestplease said:

No worries. I have heard of people who did their first BSc in a Biological Sciences field and then were able to do a second undergrad in a related field in another field in 2 years due to covering pre-reqs in their first degree (ie 1st degree was Biochem, 2nd degree was microbiology etc). I am not sure if it would be possible to do a second undergrad in 2 years if you don't have a first degree in a related field. You can probably finish in less than 4 years (probably 3 years) but I don't know if it can be done in 2 years.

 Also, as far as I know the 2 year set after-degree programs are for professional programs like nursing, education etc. Each medical school has different rules about when you can apply if you are doing a second undergrad. Some don't care and you can apply right in your first year, some need you to finish it etc. I would look this up/ask where you want to apply.

Thank you so so much for the information! :D

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8 hours ago, Persephone said:

I just took pre-requisite courses as a non-degree student because I already had a degree and my grades were good enough for med school applications. I didn't need to be enrolled in a program to do so and all the schools I applied to counted those courses in my GPA calculations. I applied to 5 schools and interviewed at 4 of them.

Thanks for your response @Persephone! You are right, I also thought of taking non-degree courses at UBC but I have relatively low CGPA (3.45), and that's why I am thinking about doing a second undergrad. Am I taking the right decision?

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11 hours ago, Angela Tithi said:

Thanks for your response @Persephone! You are right, I also thought of taking non-degree courses at UBC but I have relatively low CGPA (3.45), and that's why I am thinking about doing a second undergrad. Am I taking the right decision?

Take a grade average you think it's reasonable to attain on taking more courses and then do some calculations on how many courses you would need to take at that level of achievement to move your whole cGPA up to a reasonable level to get an interview. I would personally feel best if my cGPA is higher than 3.8, but everyone has a different application with different strengths so you have to make that calculation for yourself. For me, because I did a humanities degree first, it was actually easier when taking science courses to get higher grades than in my undergrad.

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1 hour ago, Persephone said:

Take a grade average you think it's reasonable to attain on taking more courses and then do some calculations on how many courses you would need to take at that level of achievement to move your whole cGPA up to a reasonable level to get an interview. I would personally feel best if my cGPA is higher than 3.8, but everyone has a different application with different strengths so you have to make that calculation for yourself. For me, because I did a humanities degree first, it was actually easier when taking science courses to get higher grades than in my undergrad.

Thank you so much @Persephone! So, I can actually get enrolled in courses as a non-degree student and lift up my cGPA! I was getting confused whether the medical schools consider the non-degree courses GPA or not. Thanks for clearing!

I have few more things to know. From which university have you done your prerequisite courses as a non-degree student? Did you apply to Canadian Medical Schools? Can you please suggest which medical schools in Canada count the non-degree courses GPAs? And also can you please tell us which five medical schools did you apply to and which four of them offered an interview? 

Thank you so much again for your time! 

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57 minutes ago, Angela Tithi said:

Thank you so much @Persephone! So, I can actually get enrolled in courses as a non-degree student and lift up my cGPA! I was getting confused whether the medical schools consider the non-degree courses GPA or not. Thanks for clearing!

I have few more things to know. From which university have you done your prerequisite courses as a non-degree student? Did you apply to Canadian Medical Schools? Can you please suggest which medical schools in Canada count the non-degree courses GPAs? And also can you please tell us which five medical schools did you apply to and which four of them offered an interview? 

Thank you so much again for your time! 

You will want to check with each school you are planning on applying to to see if their rules state anything about needing to complete a full degree for courses to count. When I was applying the main requirement I saw was that some schools (like U of T) would only count courses taken at a full time course load, and their definition of full time was 5 courses per semester and they did not count any summer courses taken. But they didn't need to be part of a degree program. Some schools had similar rules but defined full time as 3 courses per semester at minimum. So just go do some fact finding on the admissions criteria pages of schools you think you'd apply to before you go enrolling in anything!

I did my prerequisites at University of Victoria. I only applied to Canadian medical schools. I interviewed at U of Alberta, UBC, Queens, and McMaster (I also applied to U of Calgary but they didn't interview me).

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10 minutes ago, Persephone said:

You will want to check with each school you are planning on applying to to see if their rules state anything about needing to complete a full degree for courses to count. When I was applying the main requirement I saw was that some schools (like U of T) would only count courses taken at a full time course load, and their definition of full time was 5 courses per semester and they did not count any summer courses taken. But they didn't need to be part of a degree program. Some schools had similar rules but defined full time as 3 courses per semester at minimum. So just go do some fact finding on the admissions criteria pages of schools you think you'd apply to before you go enrolling in anything!

I did my prerequisites at University of Victoria. I only applied to Canadian medical schools. I interviewed at U of Alberta, UBC, Queens, and McMaster (I also applied to U of Calgary but they didn't interview me).

Thanks a ton dear! Yeah, I definitely will go through all the medical school requirements. Thanks again!

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13 hours ago, Persephone said:

You will want to check with each school you are planning on applying to to see if their rules state anything about needing to complete a full degree for courses to count. When I was applying the main requirement I saw was that some schools (like U of T) would only count courses taken at a full time course load, and their definition of full time was 5 courses per semester and they did not count any summer courses taken. But they didn't need to be part of a degree program. Some schools had similar rules but defined full time as 3 courses per semester at minimum. So just go do some fact finding on the admissions criteria pages of schools you think you'd apply to before you go enrolling in anything!

I did my prerequisites at University of Victoria. I only applied to Canadian medical schools. I interviewed at U of Alberta, UBC, Queens, and McMaster (I also applied to U of Calgary but they didn't interview me).

Hey @Persephone! I have another query. Is there any problem if my first undergrad is from an accredited university of Bangladesh? (I obviously know that a PR/Citizenship is required to get into medical school) 

I was actually going through some medical school requirements and found some of them mentioning "undergrad from Canadian universities". So I was thinking if it will cause a problem that I have an undergrad from Bangladeshi university. Would you please share your thoughts on it?

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6 hours ago, Angela Tithi said:

Hey @Persephone! I have another query. Is there any problem if my first undergrad is from an accredited university of Bangladesh? (I obviously know that a PR/Citizenship is required to get into medical school) 

I was actually going through some medical school requirements and found some of them mentioning "undergrad from Canadian universities". So I was thinking if it will cause a problem that I have an undergrad from Bangladeshi university. Would you please share your thoughts on it?

I actually know nothing about that subject unfortunately. It may be worthwhile to email individual school's admissions offices to ask if your degree would be valid for their requirements or not.

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On 8/2/2021 at 5:57 AM, Angela Tithi said:

Hey @Persephone! I have another query. Is there any problem if my first undergrad is from an accredited university of Bangladesh? (I obviously know that a PR/Citizenship is required to get into medical school) 

I was actually going through some medical school requirements and found some of them mentioning "undergrad from Canadian universities". So I was thinking if it will cause a problem that I have an undergrad from Bangladeshi university. Would you please share your thoughts on it?

Each school has its own requirements for foreign transcripts, and many require you have then verified by WES and/or ICES. They typically use these to determine whether the courses meet a necessary standard to be considered Canadian university-level equivalent and whether they fulfill the necessary prerequisites. Look closely at the requirements for each school (all should outline their requirements for international transcipts) you want to apply to, and I would contact them as well. It sucks to spend a bunch of money on apps just to find out you’re missing a key piece. 

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On 7/31/2021 at 5:13 AM, Angela Tithi said:

I really want to know if it is possible to do only two years of second undergrad. I am a CS major and want to do another undergrad taking just the prerequisite courses, I hope two years will do. Is it really possible to apply to medical schools just after two years of the second undergrad? I heard a lot of people here doing two years of second undergrad. I want to know, is it any special undergrad which is two year long? Or do they just take the prerequisite courses, do them in two years and drop out / apply to medical schools?

Hi @Angela Tithi  Yes, it is possible. If you already have a degree (3 or 4 years), you are most likely eligible for some transfer credits when you apply for a second undergrad degree in BA, BSc. Depending on how many transfer credits you get, you may be able to complete a 3 year degree is 2 year or less. Please keep in mind that you will find out about the total transfer credits once you have applied and an offer has been made to you. 

I applied to York - Global Health degree, U of Guelph-BA, Ryerson -BaSc (2 yr). I was offered transfer credits by both Guelph and York to reduce my degree completion time to less than or equal to 2 years. 

You won't find a lot of options if you google for a specific 2 year Undergrad degree other than the ones that have been mentioned in this thread previously. FYI, there may be some specific degree program that may not offer any transfer credits like the Ryerson's 2 year BaSc program.

Hope this helps!

 

 

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