Please help!

[Guest Ahimsa]

Hi Everyone,

 

I seem to be having a serious dilemma and hope someone won’t mind offering some advice.

 

I completed my undergraduate degree on a part-time basis, and unfortunately, my GPA did not meet any of the medical school cut-offs. Since I wasn’t greatly interested in research, I decided not to pursue a Master’s degree, and instead, decided to complete another undergraduate degree (full time) with the aim of improving my GPA, as well as being considered for medical schools that require full-time study (e.g. UWO). Thus, I decided to pursue a Bachelor of Health Sciences program at UWO. However, upon designing my schedule for the next two years (since I already possess a degree, I can complete a four year degree in two years), I was quite alarmed by the workload. In essence, I would have to take a full year biology, chemistry, and stats, as well as several half-courses in science and health sciences. It’s not so much the in-class time I am concerned about (which is, in itself, insane), but the amount of time I would have to spend studying. It basically seems that I would have to be studying every waking hour outside of class (evenings and weekends). Keep in mind that I am a ‘mature’ student, with family responsibilities as well as a part-time job, which makes the whole idea incredibly frightening. Also keep in mind that I have to obtain a pretty high GPA over the next two years as well, and my science background is not very strong (i.e. I don’t even have any grade 12 or OAC sciences).

 

As a result, I have been trying to figure out other options that would help me achieve my goal of studying full time for at least two years, while ensuring that I have the science courses required to write the MCAT, and above all, achieve a stellar GPA. I was thinking that it might be easier to pursue a different degree, something that might be ‘easier’ for me (e.g. Anthropology), with the prerequisite science courses ‘sprinkled in’ sometime over the two years, perhaps, over the summers.

 

I guess what I’m really concerned about is that even though medical schools claim that the choice of undergraduate degree doesn’t matter…does it? To me, the thought of applying with a Health Sciences degree would look much better to a medical school admissions committee than someone with a Social Sciences degree. Can someone provide any insight into this?

 

Finally, I’ve started to question my abilities – if I’m eschewing the fact of taking a full course load of sciences NOW, how could I possibly cope in medical school?!! I keep thinking of McMaster, and the fact that there aren’t any science pre-requisites or MCAT requirement, and this completely baffles me, since other schools have science pre-requisites along with high MCAT scores.

 

Any assistance or advice in this matter would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

Confused, and In Limbo

[Guest moo]

No it does not matter what you major in. Really. I am on my school's interview committee and let me tell you, it's soooooo refreshing to see a mature student who did not major in the health sciences. If you're worried about being at a disadvantage once IN med school, let me tell you that the disadvantage soon fades. Most of what you learn in a lot of undergrad health sciences is useless. For example, bio programs are filled with stuff like botany, ecology, and the like, which are pretty useless classes. Likewise for biochem. Pharmacology may be useful but a lot of the pharm courses are lab courses and a lot of the courses aren't really relevant to med school as well. Anyway, my point is, the disadvantage soon disappears in med school. I myself did math and physics... graduating med school next May. Good luck.

[Guest satsumargirl]

Keep in mind that I am a ‘mature’ student, with family responsibilities as well as a part-time job, which makes the whole idea incredibly frightening.

 

Hey Ahimsa,

 

There was a mature student in my speech program who had 2 school aged kids. She opted to also complete a thesis (which is extra, not required) which meant full classes, clinical work that all the other students did plus the research and writing a thesis. She managed (although I always wondered where she got her energy from, she'd get up at 5:30 to work-out before the kids got up etc...). She also didn't have the support of husband generally, as he had to remain out of town for work (6 hr train ride). So he would come to visit as many weekends as possible. But otherwise she was on her own. And she did well in her coursework.

So, it is possible I suspect with excellent time management skills and kids that understand you need to study.

 

As for the part-time job, I would probably recommend giving that up. That way you can focus on the 2 most important things...school and your family. The idea of living off of loans is probably hard, but if it helps you achieve your goals then maybe it is worth it.

 

Best of luck!

[Guest Ahimsa]

Thank you sooo much for your helpful replies.

 

Unfortunately, there's no way I can not have a part-time job, so I think switching over to a program that would be 'easier' for me might be best. It's encouraging to hear that I don't necessarily have to take a science degree in order to get into, and do well in, med. school.

 

thanks again

 

ahimsa

[Guest ploughboy]

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Hey Ahimsa,

 

As a general rule, med schools don't care what your undergrad degree is. There are people in my class (*my* class - I love saying that!) who have degrees in everything from engineering to art history. I myself did most of a BA following my eng'g degree, in order to get my pre-reqs and make my GPA competitive for med schools.

 

So if you're not keen on the BHS, don't take it just to try and impress the adcoms. They won't be impressed. Take a degree that you can do well in. A high GPA in anth or whatever is much *much* more useful to you than a mediocre GPA in Health Sciences. You'll be kicking yourself if in a couple of years if you graduate with a 3.40 in your BHS, as you will have essentially wasted those years.

 

I would break things down step-wise. When I went back to school, my first and only goal was to get a high GPA in my first four-month term, just to prove to myself that I could do it. So I took fun courses in things that I was interested in (history, psyche), and did really well. Once I did that, it really boosted my confidence. That helped motivate me to carry on, and helped me deal with the times when I was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling going "I'll never get into meds, why the heck am I wasting my time trying?" -- which it sounds like you're doing a little bit of yourself (it's natural, don't worry!)

 

So my advice is to transfer into a degree you think that you'll enjoy. If science isn't your thing, don't even worry about pre-reqs for the first term! Just get into the groove of going to school and studying, and prove to yourself that yes, you belong there and yes, you're going to do just fine. After that you can worry about pre-reqs and MCATs and what-not.

 

One other word of advice...you need to determine why your GPA was below the cut-offs when you were doing school part-time. Did you not like your programme? Party too much? Study skills not up to snuff? Weren't thinking of meds at the time? You don't have to answer that publically here, but you need to understand why you weren't successful the first time around, so that you can make a plan to succeed this time. From experience I can tell you that understanding this will also help you deal with the times that the little voice in your head starts saying: "I'm so duuummb..." Having a good plan lets you tell it:"Shaddup! That was then, and things are different now!"

 

Best of luck!

 

pb

 

 

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[Guest Ahimsa]

Ploughboy,

 

You should be an academic counsellor, if you aren't one already. Thank you so very much for your post. It reaffirmed what I was thinking, and also provided some useful insight. When I saw my schedule for the health sciences program, I wanted to cry. When I looked through the course calendar at the anthro program, I felt exited. And thanks for the advice re starting in smoothly. I have been fretting so much about getting the pre-req's "out of the way" and doing well in them, that it has made the whole idea of going back for another degree unpleasant, and also affected my confidence in my ability to not only go into medicine, but to go back to school altogether. I've already requested the program switch with the university, and am actually looking forward to studying!

 

Thanks again for your words..

 

Ahimsa