Guest toBeaDoc Posted July 28, 2004 Report Share Posted July 28, 2004 I've made a decision to go to medical school. Here is my situation. I graduated with BSc (in Actuarial Science, i.e. Financial Mathematics) from UofT 2 years ago, never took any courses in biology/chemistry (other than the ones I took in my native country, but that was a while ago). So, I basically have no formal medical background. I have a career in Actuarial Consulting now, but unfortunately it does not satisfy my needs. My GPA is about 3.3-3.4. I have extensive employment experience, and about to do voluntreering in the hospital. All my life I've been extremely interested in medicine, and was told by people around me that it would fit my personality perfectly. But I never really took that seriously, first of all because of financial and family reasons. Now, I'm ready to give it a serious try. What would you say my chances are of getting into med school? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest thecod Posted July 28, 2004 Report Share Posted July 28, 2004 well, your gpa is too low for every medical school in ontario, except for mcmaster. and even for mcmaster, your gpa is far below the average. but, it would seem that mcmaster is your only chance. i don't believe american schools would accept you because you have no science background. and most canadian schools require the mcat. unless you take some science courses and somehow mangage to boost your gpa, you're unlikely to get accepeted. but, there's always the caribbean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lex Posted July 28, 2004 Report Share Posted July 28, 2004 mcmaster isn't your only choice. there are other schools besides those that make their home in ontario. and like elaine says below, admissions scores are related to trends in grades, not just overall gpa's so you aren't necessarily excluded from any certain school. most schools require some science prerequisite courses; therefore, your best option, in my opinion, is to return to school as an unclassified student for a year (+summer?) to pick up biology, chemistry, organic chem, (and biochem, stats, etc. depending on what schools you want to apply to). alternatively, if you wanted to take a longer route, you could elect to do another undergrad degree. i personally would go the unclassified route and then apply those credits towards a second degree if need be. like cod said, for all schools but two or three in canada, you'll need the mcat as well. there is always the caribbean but if you want to work in canada, do what you need to become eligible for the canadian schools first before you head far south. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Elaine I Posted July 28, 2004 Report Share Posted July 28, 2004 You are eligible to apply to both McMaster and NOMS this year. If your GPA is not even over each of the years (ie: you improved as you went on), you may be eligible for UWO, Queen's and Ottawa, due to their weighting formulas. You would, however, require certain prerequisites for each of these schools. If you are serious about medical school, you could return to university for a second undergrad degree, which would probably take you two years to get, depending upon the major. If you do well those years (3.7), you would then be eligible to apply to UWO, Queen's and Ottawa. You can also request special consideration from U of T for more consideration to be placed on your latter courses. Outside of Ontario, Dalhousie only looks at two years. Calgary grants interviews based on two years as well. I was in a lot worse boat than you when I went back to university. I opted for more undergrad work (including a special year (non-degree), which I'll be doing this year), as opposed to a graduate degree. I do not enjoy research enough to be productive enough to benefit me enough to undo my first attempt at university. However, I knew I was capable of doing well in undergraduate work, which is what I did. You have some difficult decisions to make. If you choose to pursue medicine, your work and life experience will be of great benefit. However, the road will still be long. You need to be committed to the path. If you are, gaining entry to medical school is definitely still possible. Best wishes in your decision making! Elaine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest thecod Posted July 28, 2004 Report Share Posted July 28, 2004 ah, that's right, i forgot noms. but i thought you needed a 4 year degree for that. he only has a 3, i believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Elaine I Posted July 28, 2004 Report Share Posted July 28, 2004 Just one point of clarification - mature applicants can apply to NOMS with only three year degrees (though I'm guessing that an Actuarial Science degree would be a four year degree). Elaine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest thecod Posted July 28, 2004 Report Share Posted July 28, 2004 oh, my mistake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jixe Posted July 28, 2004 Report Share Posted July 28, 2004 Can I ask why the interest in switch from Actuarial Sci? I thought the Actuarial Sci/Financial Insurance sector was and has always been hot. My friends love to boast about obtain their undergraduate ActSci degree, pass 5 out of 8 or 9 exams and being set with a 70k+/year job. To top it off, some big magazine (Forbes?) designated an Actuarial Scientist as being the 2nd best job in the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest toBeaDoc Posted August 3, 2004 Report Share Posted August 3, 2004 Thank you kindly for all your responses. As for Jixe's comments, Jixe is absolutely right. Actuary is one of the top best jobs in the world. I do, indeed, have 5 professional exams and make very close to the number stated. But, i'm not exactly a "happy camper". I know it might sound very "cheesy", but I don't feel like I'm making any difference in anybody's life, or making any contribution. I am kind of disappointed with a business field. I caught myself feeling dissatisfied with what I do, and going to work in general. I'd rather read medical article, research about the topics on the internet, than do business readings. Recently, I had problems with my health, and that's when I've decided that maybe I should consider everybody's comment "you should've been a doctor" seriously. I am not afraid of studying, and studying a lot. In fact, ever since I've been out of university, I still study just as much if not more (for my professional exams, where rate of passing is about 35%). The only difference is that I also have to work full-time at the same time as studying (it's self studying, no courses to take for that). So, here is my story. And it seems from all your responses that my chances of getting into med school are slim. Oh well, i'll give it my best shot, and probably will go and take some of the university courses to get a feel. And realistically speaking, maybe medical professional is not for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest seonagh Posted August 3, 2004 Report Share Posted August 3, 2004 Hey there ToBea, If you do indeed decide that medicine is not for you then... well disregard my comments. I just wanted to let you know that I believe it certainly isn't impossible. I spent a long time doing things that didn't satisfy me because I believed that I had missed the boat. I was a university drop out with some very bad looking "scars" on my two partial years worth of a university transcript. One day it hit me very clearly that I only have one chance at life and that to live it constantly saying "I would have... if only I ...." was too sad to live with. I'm not a success story yet because I have yet to write the MCAT, I've yet to apply and I may indeed never get in. BUT!!! I feel better than I ever have in my life. I know each day why I get up and work harder and harder to be better and better. I'm challenging myself to look at things in a new way and I'm seeing opportunities everywhere around me now. All because I stopped saying I wish and started being able to say I am doing... So I just wanted to say... when you do consider all your options and ask yourself again whether or not medicine is realistic do make sure that your definition of realistic is as broad as it really can be. I for example, thought I was too old to start undergrad at 24, and 26 and 28 but when I changed my mindset I went ahead and started at 30!!. I was scared that I wouldn't do well since I hadn't studied in 12 years and I got a 4.0 GPA last year. I thought we couldn't afford to have me quit my job but we are making it... etc etc. I think that when there is a will there is a way. Seonagh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest marbledust Posted August 3, 2004 Report Share Posted August 3, 2004 While this board is a wonderful source of information, not everything that is written here is always 100% correct however well meaning people are. If you have a sincere interest in medicine try to obtain information regarding admission requirments and statisitics from the schools you are interested. Most have this information posted online. Also try to gain some exposure to the medicial field by volunteering. Don't give up because you read on this board that you don't stand a good chance. It might very well mean that you need to go back to school and take a pile of classes in order to write the MCAT, raise your GPA, and obtain any required or recommended pre-reqs. You may decide that it isn't the right thing for you at this point in your life. Or you might find it is something you feel is worth the time and effort to pursue. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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