Comment on my pre-med stats

[Sammy Le]

3rd year student in Biochemistry
Canadian university: 
- Old GPA: 3.0/4.0 (at the previous university)
- New GPA: 9.06/10 or 4.0 (at the current university, I transferred)
- MCAT: taking next summer
- CASPER: taking next summer
Extracurricular :
 - Vice-president Pre-med club
 - President + External Executive Cultural club
 - Active member of Chemistry association
 - Chemistry peer tutor 
 - Laboratory teaching assistant
 - Ignite medical case competition: Abstract score 81.81%
Jobs :
 - Part-time : Cashier, etc ( Student part-time jobs)
Volunteering :
 - 60+ hours in the ER of local hospital
 - Cultural community volunteer
Research : 
 - Thesis : next year to graduate
 
I’m aiming for Canadian MD -> Australian MD -> US MD -> US DO
 - Are my stats competitive for each school type in the order above?
 - My old GPA were first year and second year. My new GPA is my third year. So how will that gonna affect the GPA competitiveness? 
 - What should I improve on?
 - I’m considering a Master degree, is it good use of time or should I apply straight to med school?

[robclem21]

I’m aiming for Canadian MD -> Australian MD -> US MD -> US DO
 - Are my stats competitive for each school type in the order above?

Can only comment on Canada since that's where my experience is. As of now you are not competitive just purely based on your GPA and the fact you have not written the MCAT. This limits where you would be able to apply. I would focus on your grades and the MCAT. Your ECs are very standard and probably fall within the middle 80%. I.e. not good enough to get you in purely on ECs but not gonna kill your application. In cases like this it comes down to how well you articulate them and are able to communicate what you've learned/gained from each. (For example nobody cares about an 80% abstract score, because unless you did that particular competition, admissions has no context what that means. But can you talk about scholarly work, obstacles, teamwork, communication, etc. that you gained from that experience).

 - My old GPA were first year and second year. My new GPA is my third year. So how will that gonna affect the GPA competitiveness? 

Some schools will weight towards later years or only consider later years.

 - What should I improve on?

Your grades are the first thing that strike me as weak. 3/4 is not close to competitive for medical school. You need 3.8-3.9+ for most canadian medical schools. I would look into schools that weight GPA to the later years or schools that only look at your last 2 years and focus on those schools. You may also need an additional year of UG to make yourself competitive.

Of course, your MCAT score will be a major factor in where you can apply.

 - I’m considering a Master degree, is it good use of time or should I apply straight to med school?

Never hurts to apply to medical school if you are financially able to. First, you never know what can happen. Second you get good experience going through the application process and the mental exercise of preparing your statements/letters, etc. I think if everything else on your application except your grades are strong, an MSc makes sense, but unless it is what you want to do or will lead you into your backup career, I would not suggest it because it can also be a lot of work.

[Sammy Le]

So for the GPA, I’m now getting straight 3.8 - 4.0. If I am able to maintain this, will that increase my competitiveness somehow?