Guest ihatethelsat Posted February 18, 2004 Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 I recently met a person who has a 3.1 GPA, Bio chem major, 30 MCAT. Alberta Resident, some work experience at a MRI clinic, no volunteering. Is there any school in Canada that he would be able to get into? He asked for my advice, but considering I am not a MED potential applicant, its somewhat hard to tell him by the books. Any advice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aneliz Posted February 18, 2004 Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 Very unlikely in Ontario with a GPA of 3.1...most require something around 3.60 + to be competitive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest codloghorn Posted February 18, 2004 Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 nope, MAYBE, and this is a GIANTIC MAYBE, THE BIGGEST MAYBE YOU HAVE EVER SEEN.. A MAYBE THE SIZE OF THE TITANIC he has a possibility of getting in at mcmaster. Even at mcmaster, there is a SLIM chance, maybe if he had SOME volunteering, like at a hospital for the summer or something, but if he has NOTHING at all, then I don't think there is much of a chance. :\ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ihatethelsat Posted February 18, 2004 Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 Thats what I thought... Is there any point in him applying? I would like to say no... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nops Posted February 18, 2004 Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 U of Calgary has a min GPA of 3.0 for Alberta residents. That being said, the avg for accepted applicants is much higher. It doesn't hurt (much) to apply, though. ~$80. and a few hours of typing. B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest soapyslicer Posted February 19, 2004 Report Share Posted February 19, 2004 Slow down everyone..... First of all, many schools take weighted averages so his chances depend on what his transcript is like. He may have had one bad year and then an upward trend. A school like UWO is not possible but Calgary looks at your best two years full-time. There are way too many variables for anyone to say one way or the other. His/her best bet is to do what anyone applying has done. Throughly investigate each school, look at their admitting stats. Look at non-academic as well as academic qualities, volunteering is not everything. Meet with an adviser U of C and get an informed opinion. The list goes on and on. Ultimately, he or she has to take the bull by the horns and decide how strong the interest in med is. soapy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chemgirl Posted February 20, 2004 Report Share Posted February 20, 2004 tell him/her to get out there and volunteer in a medical setting. My GPA is ~3.4 with a 33 MCAT, and I got an interview at Alberta. My worst year is 3.1, my best year is 3.52. These marks aren't very stellar when you look at the other postings across the board. If their grades for the prereqs are considerably higher (my prereq ave is ~3.8-3.9) I would say they have a chance. I got one last year as well, and although I didn't get in, the admissions officer said it was ONLY because of the interview. Apparently Calgary drops you if you do not have two full years with a 3.3 GPA. If this is only one year out of this persons life, and they still have time to take more courses and raise their GPA and prereq GPA, I would say they still have a chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lactic Folly Posted February 20, 2004 Report Share Posted February 20, 2004 chemgirl, did the admissions officer say anything about what it was about the interview, or did she just identify it as the problem? Just wondering hope this year's went well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chemgirl Posted February 21, 2004 Report Share Posted February 21, 2004 Actually, yes LF Marlene was very helpful. She told me all the notes that the interviewers had written down about me so that I knew the specific problems they had with me as a candidate. It really helped me with this years process. I definitely think my interview this year went way better. I think I remember your name fron the UofA boards and you interviewed there this year, so good luck to you as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sarah371 Posted February 21, 2004 Report Share Posted February 21, 2004 Definately possible.....I got in with a 3.1 and 33 MCAT.....Queens looks at your 2 best years....and or your grad school marks.....nothing is ever impossible if you are willing to put the time and effort in......maybe you will have to do a year or two of upgrading but I would not give up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ihatethelsat Posted February 21, 2004 Report Share Posted February 21, 2004 Only wants to apply in Alberta. So my question is, I know GPA/MCAt isnt everything, but why would anyone work hard if they could pass by and get into MS with a subpar GPA and MCAT? You cant even get into a grad MSC with a 3.1! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest klukyboy Posted February 21, 2004 Report Share Posted February 21, 2004 Because while possible, you're odds of admission are SIGNIFICANTLY less if you don't have decent GPA or MCAT or extra curricular. Hard work can convert 1 in 1,000,000 odds into 1 in 1.1 odds. You need to keep in mind that Calgary doesn't have the minimum GPA set at 3.0 because that's all their expecting from their applicants. It's there to allow for the rare, otherwise exceptional applicant who happens to have a slightly lower GPA. From the sounds of it, your friend doesn't sound like he's exceptional on the non-academics side either. No one here is going to say it's impossible, but it does sound like he'd benefit from spending some time improving some of his weak points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest byjude Posted February 23, 2004 Report Share Posted February 23, 2004 McMaster is out of the question, unless your friend happens to be Aboriginal. The 3.0 policy at Mac is a sham. You cannot get into Mac with a 3.0 unless you are Aboriginal. That used to be true, but in the past two years they have switched to a minimum somewhere around 3.5 (seriously, look at the admissions stats from the past 2 years on their website. There is no one below 3.5 since 2001). According to the admissions people, this is an actual policy change to cut down the number of people they need to weed through, but they don't formally tell you this, because it is true that you can still get in with a 3.0... if you're Aboriginal. But definitely.... the overall 3.1 doesn't necessarily mean much, since schools may use weighted averages (eg, Ottawa gives greater weighting the more recent the year), or your best years (eg UWO uses only your last and best). If your friend is from Northern Ontario, or is a francophone or Aboriginal, there are certainly opportunities. If not, if your friend has residency in a province other than Ontario and has a few years better than others... also hopeful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest edmontonuck Posted April 16, 2004 Report Share Posted April 16, 2004 I'm in a similar situation. I'm only in my second year, but my GPA is ~3.2. I still have two years to work on it. However, I do have a fair bit of volunteering under my belt. For example, I've been volunteering for a campus volunteer club (Circle K) since 1st year and will be taking on an executive position next year. There are two other major volunteer organizations that I help out, and some other small things. Advice? Do I have a chance in Canada, or should I go international? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Koppertone Posted April 16, 2004 Report Share Posted April 16, 2004 Well if he already wrote the MCAT then he might as well apply. I'd say his chances of acceptance are slim to none though and he should probably pursue something else along with med school if he has little volunteer work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest moo Posted April 16, 2004 Report Share Posted April 16, 2004 If you want to go international, try US osteopathic schools. If your GPA is 3.2, your chances of making it into a North American MD school are slim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest klukyboy Posted April 16, 2004 Report Share Posted April 16, 2004 edmontonuck, Keep in mind that UofA drops your worst year, so you may not be in as bad shape as you think. By my calculations, my cummulative GPA should have converted into about a 3.3, and with my worst year dropped, I thought it would go up to a 3.4. However, I'm not sure how they decided to calculate it, but they said my C-GPA was 3.6. For prereq GPA, they used my organic chem that I took while in engineering (68% = 1.8) instead of one I took last summer (A = 4.0). This dropped my P-GPA down to a 3.67. Long story short, I've done some volunteering in the past 2 years, I did really well on the MCAT, I impressed them in the interview, and I got an early acceptance last month. A 4.0 helps, but is not the only thing that gets you in. klukyboy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest byjude Posted April 16, 2004 Report Share Posted April 16, 2004 edmontonuck: There's still hope, but you'll have to perform really well over the next two years. Assuming your first two years are both similar in GPA, this will require a strategic approach to improving your marks. Will you be taking courses that interest you better, or better suit your learning style? Dthat o you have problems in your studying style that you know you could change to improve your marks? If you think there is a good reason to expect your marks to improve in the next two years, then there is still a chance you can get an acceptance (or at least an interview!). Some schools (Western, Queens, Dal) will only look at your last (or best) two years. This may require you to apply a year after graduating in order to use your last year, but there's still a chance. Also, doing a graduate degree may lower the GPA expectations some schools hold for your undergraduate years. But this route is no easier than entering from undergrad, and is only advisable if you have a genuine interest in research. Ultimately - all hope is not lost yet for Canadian schools, but you need to start planning how to improve your odds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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