question about premeds

[Guest Spencer]

Hey Everyone,

 

Your fave high schooler speaking :b .

 

Anyway, on the topic of SCHOLARSHIPS, I am applying to the University of Toronto National Scholarship program (Can you say overachiever? :eek ) Has anybody ever applied to this scholarship before? I'd just like to know the sort of caliber of students that they are looking for. If you were accepted or know somebody who was PLEASE feel free to give me some details.

 

If it tickles your fancy, here are some OUTRAGEOUS composite profiles of would-be winners for this particular scholarship...

 

www.adm.utoronto.ca/awd/A...ofiles.pdf

 

So much for..."have fun and party it up in high school because high school means nothing" :| . Short of developing a cure for cancer, those students in the above profile will surely become tomorrow's leaders. Heh, if not, they will still get tuition covered for their next four years of undergrad.

 

I'm not a med student...YET...but I think I will respond to this thread just for fun. I have >90% marks. I am VP of the school's social justice council. I am VP of student government. I am head editor of school newspaper. I coach jr. badminton. I am a Venturer Scout and shall be president of that organization next year. I have volunteered 300+ hours in a variety of things annnnnd appear in much of the school's dramatic productions . Too bad its not enough to win me a UT National Scholarship, eh?

 

Well...plz if you have any insight into the application process do tell! Toodles for now

 

Your Fave HS-er

 

Spencer

[Guest moo]

Just a comment on the IQ thing... Geniuses avoid med school by the masses. Why? Because it's not challenging enough for them. Believe it or not, back in undergrad my friends, who were all going for PhDs in math or physics, were actually looking down on my decision to enter medicine. I mean what's challenging about having to memorize the fact that HLA allotype B27 (as opposed to DR2 or DR3 or DR4) is associated with ankylosing spondylitis? Anyway, one of my biggest pet peeves is those people in medicine who think that they are know-it-alls and are the smartest people in the world just because they can rattle off a list of differentials. You are not that smart!

[Guest UWOMED2005]

Often times high school high achievers do great things afterwards. Using my High School as an example (I was just at an alumni reunion,) Adrienne Clarkson was head girl of our High School, won numerous awards, and obviously has gone to accomplish a lot.

 

On the flip side though, there often surprises. . . both good and bad. One of my high school teachers, who had attended this same High School with Peter Jennings once told me the ABC newsanchor was the most non-descript kid in the class. . . but he too has accomplished quite a bit. I mentioned earlier that there were 8 med students at UWO who had attended my High School. To be perfectly honest, I don't think I could have predicted who those 8 would be when I was in High School. . . some of them were a bit of surprise.

 

And on the negative side of things. . . High School high achievers defintely do not always "surely become tomorrow's leaders." The individual I previously mentioned who has disappeared but was last known to be a heroin & crack addict could easily have been Student C in your profiles.

 

I'm not saying ..."have fun and party it up in high school because high school means nothing." While some people did nothing in High School and are now "high achievers," or vice-versa on the whole the people who consistently pulled of solid 80%+ marks doing better than the slackers. And definitely hard and dedication (as well as loving what you are doing) are important no matter what you do. But don't think you're guaranteed success in life just because in High School you had a 97.3% graduating average, were Captain and MVP of the Rugby team, had a starring role in the school play, had the highest scores in the school on science competitions (including one 'team' first place finish Nationally,) did research at the Heart Institute, and Volunteered 250+ hours with the CNIB.

[Guest Steve U of T]

Regarding the question about scholarships, there are plenty of them to go around. When I was applying to undergrad, York gave automatic entrance scholarships to everybody with an average greater than 80%, with an automatic $6000 going to students with 90% entering a science program. I would imagine there are more scholarships for the top students that are awarded after you enroll, although I wouldn't know since I turned down my offer from York. In addition to the U of T Scholarship that Dr. Deelish mentioned, the individual colleges at U of T also offer a lot more money in scholarships. Also, if you qualify for OSAP, there are plenty more scholarships (and bursaries) that you are eligible for.

 

Spencer, a friend of mine was on the selection committee for the U of T National Scholarship a couple of years ago. If I happen to speak with him, I'll try to find out the calibre of the applicants he has reviewed.

 

With regards to IQ, I don't think there's a correlation between IQ and success in life. There are plenty of people with high IQ's who drive a truck for a living, and people with lower IQ's (although still above average, I'm sure) that have a Ph.D. There are many cases where people with a high IQ have difficulty conforming to society, and may do poorly in school and at work. I think a strong work ethic will get you much farther than raw intelligence.

[Guest noncestvrai]

I was trying to be happy and live the life I wanted. I did well but not the best, I worked a bit, I was still dedicated to do well, but I tried to keep a balance, in sports, school, some extracurrics...I actually had a similar approach during university as well, but I needed to work a lot to pay tuition and other expenses. The only scholarships I received were in grad school. I was admitted in med school...an example that you don't need to be a superwoman/man to be admitted in medschool.

 

I do believe like the above poster that hard work and dedication goes a long way, in any discipline i might add.

 

noncestvrai

[Guest chemgirl]

In response to the scholarship question, my experience parallels noncestvrai's. Even though I performed quite decently in high school, I never saw any of these elusive scholarships until grad studies. I got the same Rutherford scholarship that everyone who gets over 80% in Alberta gets (at that time, $800, barely a drop in the hat) and that was the end of things for me. Maybe scholarships have increased since I was in undergrad, maybe I just wasn't competitive enough, but either way, I worked my butt off during undergrad to pay for uni, pulling midnight shifts at the grocery store and getting up at 6 to make it for my 8 am class. :x I think that attests most to the fact that hard work and perseverance will get you where you want to be.

[Guest coastal79]

Chemgirl: gotta love the midnight shifts at the grocery store....I had three years of them.

 

Threads like this are interesting just because people do their best to promote the their own life path. Not necessarily consciously, however, their is a tinge of self-promotion and longing for affirmation in many of these kinds of posts. The high school achievers tell us about the buckets of money available if only you buckle down and go for gold. Those with a less-motivated adolescence (myself included) preach the virtues of doing whatever you feel like because high school, in our opinion, is a time for just that-doing what you feel like.

 

I remember the high achievers in my high school, and I don't really know how much most of them enjoyed high school. Most of them were on the social periphery, often, apparently, trying unsuccessfully to get "in". At the same time, I look back at my own high school career and think of the potential that I wasted. If I hadn't messed around so much I wouldn't have had to work at Safeway 15-20 hours a week to pay for university. That said, I'm happy with who I am and the meandering path I've taken to get here (*agree with me, I did the right thing, my life has been the right one.....:rolleyes ).

 

Ultimately, I suppose it comes down to what you value. Figure out who you are, stay true to who you are, and it all falls into place. Or not - but if it doesn't at least you're going about it the right way (for you).