taking 2 FCE's at the 200 level in 4th year

[Guest bananaboat72]

u of t is my first choice of medical school..but i'm trying to apply widely in any event.

 

i do not have some of the requirements for the american medical schools (1 FCE in english, 1 FCE in upper level chem). i was planning on taking a 200 level english + 200 level chem.

 

next year i will be entering my FOURTH year.

 

when i asked leslie taylor, she said that in fourth year 60% of the courses should correspond to the senior level (meaning 300 level or 400 level).

 

i'm still hesitant to take 2 FCE's at the 200 level in my fourth year. in all honesty, i much rather be taking a 300 level anatomy course. but i'm only doing this to meet the prereqs at other schools.

 

i've recently considered to just drop the 200 level english credit. it will still provide me with a decent number of american schools to apply to. unlike the chemistry, which most schools require a second semester of.

 

do you guys recommend taking the 2 FCE's at the 200 level? i don't like being right on the border of the 60% rule. is it really not as big of an issue as i'm making it out to be?

 

thanks for your advice

[Guest scrubbed]

Hello,

 

My take is that you should faith in the process, though I do understand your concern about being on the border: if the criteria is that 60% of your courses be upper year, and you meet that criteria, then you should be okay.

 

The fact that you are not taking basic 100 level electives supports your decision as well, if they scrutinize specifically what courses you took, though I don't know if U of T does take a look specifically.

 

The big question seems to be, and you alluded to it, is whether you should take these required courses for the US schools, or whether you should take a course that would better prepare you for medicine.

 

Would you be better off dropping the English course, still applying to some US schools, and taking anatomy instead?

 

The answer to that may depend on how competitive do you think that you'll be in Canada, and how many schools in the US would accept your prerequisites.

 

It's tough to know from the details that you provided, but if you would like more analysis from me, which I'd be happy to provide, you could give more information.

 

Best of luck!

[Guest bananaboat72]

i do think i will be more competitive in ontario than in the US...the US is not my first choice, only trying to apply widely.

 

i'm really not conerned with taking anatomy for 'better preparation'. i think i can learn all the anatomy i want to and need to when i'm in medical school. it was more the idea that, my interest level is higher for anatomy than say, an english course. but i'm definately willing to put interest level aside to open up the door to applying more widely.

 

i doubt that chm247/217 and 200-level english would come across as bird courses to U of T.

 

finally, are med schools able to see which courses you are taking in your fourth year? i suppose so if you are mailing your official transcript (course titles would prob be there, without any marks).

[Guest no wai]

As part of your OMSAS application you must fill out the courses you are taking the current year (in progress courses as well as next term's courses).

[Guest hydes79]

finally, are med schools able to see which courses you are taking in your fourth year? i suppose so if you are mailing your official transcript (course titles would prob be there, without any marks).

 

The short answer is yes. When I applied to Ontario medical schools during my fourth year, I had to include all the courses that I was taking in the fall term, and the courses that I was planning to take in the winter term.

[Guest scrubbed]

Hey there,

 

If taking the Enlgish course opens up enough doors for you, then it should be the way to go. The primary question, I suppose, is whether it opens up enough doors to justify taking it?

 

Best of luck with your application.

[Guest dayne67]

Keep in mind that some US med schools (i.e. Wayne State, Albert Einstein, etc.) consider OAC English the equivalent of a full credit of English from university.

 

You might want to ask admissions at different med schools to see if you really need university English (that is provided you have taken OAC English in Ontario).

[Guest bananaboat72]

i was new curriculum, so i would have had 4 U english.

[Guest red like blood]

hey banana boat.. I am in a similar situation to yours at UofT going into 4th yr. I want to take CHM217 and an English course so that I can apply to the US.. (i have taken CHM247 already)..

 

Which ENG course(s) are you planning on taking?

 

let me know what you decide

goodluck! course enrollment is soon!

[Guest red like blood]

Oh and also, I was contemplating taking them in the summer (or atleast some of them...don't think chm217 is offered..) I think they wouldn't count the marks twrds your gpa, but would count it to satisfy prereqs. You may want to consider that.

[Guest turtle]

I'm not sure where you're currently doing your undergrad, but if this is something you're worried about, it's possible that your school may have upper year English courses that don't have any prerequisites.

 

As an example, U of T has a series of courses offered through Vic called "Literary Studies". I took "Literary Studies III" (a 300-level course) as an elective in my 4th year, and I hadn't previously taken any other university level English courses. If you're at U of T, I'd recommend it -- the prof was great & I got to read a lot of great books that I probably would never have picked out on my own...

 

turtle

[Guest red like blood]

yes, I think the OP mentioned he was at UofT (as am I). But that Vic course... would American schools accept it.. since it isn't ENG course code?

[Guest turtle]

i'd like to think that they would, since even though it's a VIC course code at UofT, the exact same course at another school could very easily be classified under "English"...but, well, to be safe, you may want to call up the schools you're planning on applying to and check. honestly, if they didn't accept that though, that would seem ridiculous to me -- it really is just an English course by another name...

[Guest red like blood]

Ok, thanks!

Would you say the course was very difficult? I am ok at writing, but I haven't taken any english courses at Uni, so I am afraid of how harshly they would mark my essays etc.

[Guest turtle]

grr...just wrote up a nice response to that & it disappeared. need to get back to work, but will type it out again later...

 

ok, here's what i think i was going to say...

 

how difficult the course is will likely depend on your own interests & abilities. in my opinion, to do well in this course one would need strong critical reading/thinking, and of course writing skills. when i took the course (um, let's see, about 6 years ago), the entire first semester was spent reading Joyce's Ulysses, and then the second semester reading a series of modern works by authors from a bunch of different countries. personally, i really enjoyed the course (though, i'll admit, i enjoyed the second semester more than the first -- i am not a fan of Ulysses!), but if you're just looking for an easy course to fulfill your english requirement or to boost your gpa, this may not be the course for you. if, however, you're want to push yourself a bit & read some really great novels, short stories & poetry that you may not pick up otherwise, i'd definitely recommend it...

 

hope that helps!

 

turtle