does this hurt my chances - usask

[nervous-system]

Hi everyone. I am applying for sask this upcoming cycle and during my last year I took a lot of 100 level courses as electives. I am now wondering, does this hurt my chances of being accepted? Because on the sask med website it says:

(M) ACADEMIC CONSISTENCY. The Admissions Committee may remove a file for further consideration of admission based on (i) an irregular academic record (e.g., grades declining over time, grades fluctuating over a wide range, excessive junior level courses taken in senior years) or (ii) incongruence between the university academic performance and MCAT results. 

[Bambi]

I would think this impacts negatively upon your chances of acceptance. If you have taken mickey mouse courses so as to do well in easy courses, this does not prepare you for medical school, nor are your grades indicative of your ability to handle the rigours of medical school. You may have been spinning your wheels in this approach. There is no downside to seek clarity from adcoms so you will know your chances and be able to properly plan for the future.

[nervous-system]

12 minutes ago, Bambi said:

I would think this impacts negatively upon your chances of acceptance. If you have taken mickey mouse courses so as to do well in easy courses, this does not prepare you for medical school, nor are your grades indicative of your ability to handle the rigours of medical school. You may have been spinning your wheels in this approach. There is no downside to seek clarity from adcoms so you will know your chances and be able to properly plan for the future.

Just double checked my transcript, it's only my last year so just one senior year with junior courses. would it still be the same?

[Bambi]

Likely the same answer. Imagine, you are adcoms reviewing a transcript and see the final year of an applicant has terrific grades in junior level courses. You would understand in a nano-second the game being played here. Unfortunately, I verily believe you shot yourself in the leg. Apply and see what happens. If rejected, other things being equal, you will understand why.

[indefatigable]

Apply anyway and see what happens.  It's a discretionary call - there's nothing you can do about it at the moment so there's no point in worrying.

If you do get rejected before interview, despite meeting standards, you could inquire and then see if there is any remedy.  

I personally recall that senior (400) level courses could actually be fairly relaxed.  Sophomore (200-) and Junior (300-) were typically significantly harder than Freshman (100-) level courses  

[nervous-system]

33 minutes ago, Bambi said:

Likely the same answer. Imagine, you are adcoms reviewing a transcript and see the final year of an applicant has terrific grades in junior level courses. You would understand in a nano-second the game being played here. Unfortunately, I verily believe you shot yourself in the leg. Apply and see what happens. If rejected, other things being equal, you will understand why.

Do you believe a course-based masters could help? Also wanted to point out that my undergrad was psych so I was only required to take courses up-to 300 level courses for my degree, any 400 level courses weren't a requirement for me to finish my degree. 

[plzhelp]

1 hour ago, indefatigable said:

Apply anyway and see what happens.  It's a discretionary call - there's nothing you can do about it at the moment so there's no point in worrying.

If you do get rejected before interview, despite meeting standards, you could inquire and then see if there is any remedy.  

I personally recall that senior (400) level courses could actually be fairly relaxed.  Sophomore (200-) and Junior (300-) were typically significantly harder than Freshman (100-) level courses  

Wait... does this file review happen before interviews or after?

[indefatigable]

1 hour ago, nervous-system said:

Do you believe a course-based masters could help? Also wanted to point out that my undergrad was psych so I was only required to take courses up-to 300 level courses for my degree, any 400 level courses weren't a requirement for me to finish my degree. 

Only the adcom would know for sure.  If I were to speculate, then I would think if Sask is the only school that you are aiming towards then a Master's could be helpful.  Usually more undergrad is a better option.  

18 minutes ago, plzhelp said:

Wait... does this file review happen before interviews or after?

Only adcoms would know for sure - an early rejection despite meeting other standards would mean the course level was the problem though.  

[Bambi]

18 hours ago, nervous-system said:

Do you believe a course-based masters could help? Also wanted to point out that my undergrad was psych so I was only required to take courses up-to 300 level courses for my degree, any 400 level courses weren't a requirement for me to finish my degree. 

I doubt it. Undergrad results play a critical role. IF your undergrad GPA is considered questionable, you need to address that first in my view.

[strugglingstudent]

I can only speak from anecdotal information but over the years, I have had many friends with these academic "inconsistencies" on their academic records at USask (ie. worse grades in 4th yr compared to yrs 1-3; wide range of grades like half their marks in the 70s whereas the other half are >90; >90 GPA but a <500 MCAT) and I'd say 90% of them got into med school here. It really does not seem like USask actually looked into these much. But to note, this was ranging from 2-6 years ago when Dr. Ziola was still the director of admissions so maybe with the new director, they are now considering these in a more serious manner. Hard to know unless you're part of the admissions committee.

There's nothing you can do to change what your transcript shows for your current undergrad right now so either way, I would not get down over this and there is no use in people trying to "scare" you into not applying. USask has always been one of the more lenient med school applications in the country so there is no harm in applying and just seeing what happens. I would think if you want to do something in the meantime while waiting during the next med application cycle, a course-based MSc would be a good idea. If you show high grades in classes that are a graduate studies level version of the undergrad 400-level classes, that definitely shows academic excellence (and adds to improve your undergrad gpa). Also, if you graduate from the MSc the year of application to med, 3 of your MSc level grades will replace 3 of your worst undergrad grades (if they are higher) so that is also nice to boost your overall gpa. The only way a second undergrad degree would help you is if you finish it (fully graduate) by the year of application to med, as none of the classes get added to your gpa unless you are in the final "graduation" year. 

[nervous-system]

1 hour ago, strugglingstudent said:

I can only speak from anecdotal information but over the years, I have had many friends with these academic "inconsistencies" on their academic records at USask (ie. worse grades in 4th yr compared to yrs 1-3; wide range of grades like half their marks in the 70s whereas the other half are >90; >90 GPA but a <500 MCAT) and I'd say 90% of them got into med school here. It really does not seem like USask actually looked into these much. But to note, this was ranging from 2-6 years ago when Dr. Ziola was still the director of admissions so maybe with the new director, they are now considering these in a more serious manner. Hard to know unless you're part of the admissions committee.

There's nothing you can do to change what your transcript shows for your current undergrad right now so either way, I would not get down over this and there is no use in people trying to "scare" you into not applying. USask has always been one of the more lenient med school applications in the country so there is no harm in applying and just seeing what happens. I would think if you want to do something in the meantime while waiting during the next med application cycle, a course-based MSc would be a good idea. If you show high grades in classes that are a graduate studies level version of the undergrad 400-level classes, that definitely shows academic excellence (and adds to improve your undergrad gpa). Also, if you graduate from the MSc the year of application to med, 3 of your MSc level grades will replace 3 of your worst undergrad grades (if they are higher) so that is also nice to boost your overall gpa. The only way a second undergrad degree would help you is if you finish it (fully graduate) by the year of application to med, as none of the classes get added to your gpa unless you are in the final "graduation" year. 

Thank you for this detailed answer! Really helpful