undergraduate's marking scheme

[Guest archchivalry]

Hello.

 

According to GPA conversion table that

can be found in http://www.ouac.on.ca/omsas/pdf/c_omsas_b.pdf,

some universities mark performance as alphabet, and

some of them as percentage.

 

What is A+ equivalent to? Is it as much as hard as

getting 90?

 

Also, isn't percentage system easier to achieve good mark,

because some of my highschool courses use alphabet marking, and they make it almost impossible to get A+

(which is like 90)

 

I also want to know if there's a site which shows undergrad

school's stastistics for 2004 fall admission.

(Like class size, average entering marks, etc)

 

I want to involve in some volunteer acitivities before I go to university. How can I find opportunity for volunteer/shadowing doctors/ or lab experience?

 

Is the volunteer valid for any years? I mean will it still count in med school even though I did volunteer like 10yrs ago?

 

Also, to get good GPA in univ., (around over 80%), how well

I should do in highschool?(Like top 1%? )

 

Thanks for your reply..I just have tons of questions.

[Guest 0T6]

Wow lotsa questions eh? hehe I felt the same way 2 years ago when I was coming out of HS

 

A+ is over 90, umm from my experience at UofT it's a lot harder to get 90+ in a non science course because there's not always a right or wrong answer in a sociology or philosophy course.

 

In terms of what volunteer experience you can put on med apps, I believe it's anything after 16 years old.

 

And your last question, I don't think there's any correlation. I know people who got into UofT with mid 90s averages and are now just above class averages (around 70%) and I also know people who got an 80 in oac chemistry and now getting mid 90s in undergrad chem. So really it's all about adapting a study style that works for you and helps you prepare. It takes time, if you're lucky the style you use now will work, but it might not so be prepared to make some changes.

 

Best of luck next year

 

PS. Sorry for not answering your other Q's, I wasn't sure of answers

[Guest Lactic Folly]

There won't be any statistics for 2004 fall admission until the classes have been finalized, likely some time after classes begin this fall. However, you can find statistics from previous years by poking around each medical school's website and http://www.acmc.ca .

 

Many continuing care centres and hospitals have volunteer departments that offer positions for high school students, so you can try contacting institutions near you. Volunteering doesn't really "expire," unilke first aid certifications. The quality of the experience is most important - you should be able to describe your exposure to health care, what things you learned/achieved, how this affects your motivations to pursue medicine, etc. Although OMSAS says to list activities done after the age of 16, I'm pretty sure that you can include something started before then that was continued. Commitment reflects favourably as well.