Guest Rome1 Posted March 16, 2004 Report Share Posted March 16, 2004 I was wondering on most US med school sites, it lists recommended courses for applicants. Do they give preference to students that have completed these courses? Also, let's say that i am finishing my second semester of orgo chem in the Fall while i am in the process of applying to the schools, would this second semester orgo chem be considered for the full year orgo requirement? I was looking at the Northwestern and it states : 'All applicants are required to have completed at least 3 years of course work at an accredited U.S. or Canadian college'. Does this include the year that you are applying? I am in second year and would like to apply next year to the school. Would this be possible? Rome1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest moo Posted March 16, 2004 Report Share Posted March 16, 2004 As long as you have finished the course by the time you start med school, you'll be fine. I didn't finish several prereq courses while I was applying (I was missing half a semester of bio) and they didn't seem to mind. So yes, you could apply next year and technically get in with just 90 credits under your belt. However, I am gonna warn you that unless your MCAT is above a 36 and your GPA is greater than 3.9, it is VERY difficult to get in with only three years of college (and even then it's still hard). American schools are different from Canadian schools in that while they say you only need three years of college, 99% of people who enter med school in the US have a degree, whereas in Canada, at some schools, only 60-90% have degrees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest medschoolboy Posted March 16, 2004 Report Share Posted March 16, 2004 just to add to the degree issue, i think us schools should be more open to students without a bachelors. and less to ppl with other kind of degrees because i believe that they already have a "spot" in society whether it be a phd or lawyer or whatever. anyways, it'd be nice to see more non bachelors in the states. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rome1 Posted March 19, 2004 Report Share Posted March 19, 2004 Hi guys, Thanks for your responses! moo- i just wanted to clarify with you...it is possible to get into US med schools after third year? Also, it is true that US med schools looks favorably upon Canadian students? I am also interested in applying to some Ohio state school and they require that I have one year of Orgo chem. If i took one sem of orgo this summer and applied to the schools in the fall, and let's just pretend that i got in (hey...i can dream, can't I? :b )... then if i did the other semester of orgo chem next summer before med school...would this work out? Rome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest medschoolboy Posted March 19, 2004 Report Share Posted March 19, 2004 it is possible to get into american med after 3rd year but very very difficult. many schools say that they have a min of 90 credits but i the majority all take 100% bachelors at least. i find this misleading to applicants becauaes if they really want ppl with bachelors then they should just change their requirements. i don't see why 3rd years should be at a disadvantage and require higher standards compared to ppl with bachelors, but the fact is they are. you prob have to publish papers, 37+ mcats, 3.9+gpa, no jks. it's very tough for 3rd years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest marbledust Posted March 20, 2004 Report Share Posted March 20, 2004 j ust to add to the degree issue, i think us schools should be more open to students without a bachelors. and less to ppl with other kind of degrees because i believe that they already have a "spot" in society whether it be a phd or lawyer or whatever. anyways, it'd be nice to see more non bachelors in the states. Sorry but that statment has some bizarre logic in it. Are you suggesting that LESS education would be more desireable in med school applicants? What is this whole "spot in society" stuff :lol ? I commend you for having an opinion and for posting it, and please don't take my comments personally. But to suggest that those with degrees (undergrad, grad, PhD, or professional) should have less preference than non-degree holding students is, well, very strange to me. I have a graduate degree, I didn't feel like I had a "place in society" before going into medicine. I had a job, and I was educated, but that's about it. :b If nothing else, people with more education often (not always) come into medicine better prepared to handle the cirriculmn academically, more mature, and with more life experience than somebody who hasn't yet completed an undergrad degree. Not that I am oppossed to granting admission to second or third year students, I believe there is merit in that. Diversity in medicine is a very good thing. People with undergrad and advanced degrees bring that. This is especially true as more non-science majors are admitted into medicine. If you make it into medicine (if you aren't already), you will understand and appreciate the value of this diversity. Peace:hat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest moo Posted March 21, 2004 Report Share Posted March 21, 2004 moo- i just wanted to clarify with you...it is possible to get into US med schools after third year? Also, it is true that US med schools looks favorably upon Canadian students? I am also interested in applying to some Ohio state school and they require that I have one year of Orgo chem. If i took one sem of orgo this summer and applied to the schools in the fall, and let's just pretend that i got in (hey...i can dream, can't I? )... then if i did the other semester of orgo chem next summer before med school...would this work out? Rome It IS possible, BUT extremely difficult. I don't know of anyone in my class who does not have a bachelors. You can try to get in with only three years, but again, you will need stats that are much higher than people with bachelors. (And the averages at my school are about a 3.7/33 so they're not too low to begin with.) US schools do not "favor" Canadian applicants any more than US citizens/Permanent residents. Most private schools treat Canadians as "out-of-state" (some private schools get state funding so they have to accept a certain percentage of in-state people) while others (public and private) do not accept Canadians, while others like UCSF state they accept Canadians but haven't done so in 6+ years. You'd have to call OSU and inquire about that. Generally if you finish it before matriculating, you should be ok, but the summer before is really cutting it close as a lot of schools start at the beginning of August. (I'm not sure when OSU starts.) Just curious, why OSU? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest daryn Posted March 21, 2004 Report Share Posted March 21, 2004 Just how important are English courses? I know Canadian schools don't care for them. And on the other post: So if their requirements for third year applicants are 3.9+ etc etc, (i.e. VERY high academic standards), does that mean the criteria for fourth year applicants are (significantly) lower? That doesn't make a lot of sense. If you are that good anyway, one extra year in university can't do that much damage to your marks (and others) to lower your GPA from 3.9+ to ...3.6? 3.7? In all I just find the American application process to be more confusing as I go on with my research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest moo Posted March 21, 2004 Report Share Posted March 21, 2004 English courses are not a prerequisite at every school. In Canada, UBC has English as a prereq too, so this isn't just an American thing. (I don't think many US schools have English as a prereq, and for those that do, it's not important to get an A in it, just as long as you get a B or better.) Let's just put it this way, if person A has a degree and a 3.9/35 on the MCAT, while person B has only three years and a 3.9/35 on the MCAT and both person's ECs are similar then person A will be accepted over person B 99 times out of a 100. This doesn't mean that requirements are significantly lower for degree applicants, since over 99% of matriculants have degrees in the first place. No, one year won't really hurt your GPA unless you screw up tremendously. We can debate whether or not one really is more mature after four years of college versus three but the point is, most US schools have made it their policy to accept people with degrees over people without. In fact, I would say that maturity isn't really a reason as to why US schools favor degree applicants over three year applicants. For example, the University of Chicago recently accepted a 12 year old into their MD/PhD program and in my class there are many students who were 20, 21 when they started. Granted, a lot of them were from our 7 year combined BS/MD program but it still kind of illustrates my point. The bottom line is this: Don't apply to US schools if you only have 90 credits unless you have some outstanding stats and something that really stands out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kellyl20 Posted April 17, 2004 Report Share Posted April 17, 2004 Hi Moo: do most US schools require 1 year of calculus for med? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest moo Posted April 18, 2004 Report Share Posted April 18, 2004 Some do, not all. Most of them are the upper tier schools like Harvard. You should check out the latest edition of the MSAR for more details, or contact the schools directly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kellyl20 Posted April 19, 2004 Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 Thanks Moo. Do you iknow if physics credits are needed for the US med schools at all? This seemed not to be the requirement at the few that I looked into. Don't think that it is needed for the Canadian med schools, just for Dental schools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest moo Posted April 19, 2004 Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 Most if not all US schools require physics. You really should take this class to maximize your options. Same thing goes for English, although I think only about 40-60% require English. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kellyl20 Posted April 20, 2004 Report Share Posted April 20, 2004 Hi Moo: Good hear re the English (I like English) and thanks for the tip re Physics. What percentage do you estimate for the full yr Calculus requirement? Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest moo Posted April 20, 2004 Report Share Posted April 20, 2004 From the 2000-2001 MSAR: Schools requiring (n=112) Physics--109 Inorganic chemistry/general chemistry--107 Organic chemistry--108 English--74 Biology--57 Biology or zoology--49 Calculus--19 Humanities--19 College mathematics--17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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