3.5 gpa, BMCO grad, great ec's, no mcat yet... chances?

[CAS]

[edit]...............................

[bustylegs]

Hey Cas:

 

The issue of low GPA VS. chances of getting into medical school is much discussed in this forum and I think the general feeling is that there always is hope.

 

Take myself, for example, my undergrad GPA was a grim 3.3. My low GPA was not due to a hard undergrad program, but solely b/c I was a big slacker and complainer. Yet I made up for it in my Ph.D. by having a decent publication record and enjoying activities and sports I love to do and was accepted into U of T this year. This is NOT to say that everyone with a low GPA should do a grad degree and tough it out. Instead, it's about finding things other than medicine which you love to do and enjoy it.

 

It sounds like you are doing what you love to do, so just keep doing it and learn from your life experiences. Most importantly, don't loose hope and keep applying. Improve your application package by updating your life experiences.

 

Best of luck!

[CAS]

Yeah, well I love research as can be seen by my ec's but in the end, I'm a people's person as this year abroad has taught me. I love working with children and I have pretty much set my sights on medicine (namely pediatrics). Unfortunately, undergrad is over now... so I'm going to aim for a 4.0 GPA in my grad degree and, in the end, if it doesn't work out, I'll probably do a PhD as well (hopefully specialize in computer assisted surgery). Sure, I'll be in school forever but I love learning so that shouldn't be a problem. Nice to hear your story busty, it's very encouraging. So, I guess the key is perseverance for those of us that were either not mature enough to realize that GPA's weren't so important or, more in my case, just suck at mc exams (don't get me started on those though because they are, imo, the worst way of testing someone).

 

It's funny because if you look at my transcript, you can pretty much draw a line down the middle. My degree had a big mix of computing and life sciences courses and all the LISC courses had mc exams whereas CISC had written/problem-based exams. There is a good 15% difference between the two sets of courses.

[CAS]

also, do you guys know how schools take masters grades into consideration?

My gpa basically went like this:

1st year: 3.0

2nd year: 3.2

3rd year: 3.3

4th year: 3.75

 

Soooo... any idea how a good gpa in masters would affect these?

[jgray2]

my undergrad gpa:

1st year: 3.4

2nd year: 3.4

3rd year: 3.1

4th year: 3.4

5th year: 3.9

no masters or phd.

 

i got into u of c.

 

apply anyway. just try hard to sell yourself and you too can get in.

 

as for your question re: masters, that depends on which school you're applying to. some schools give you a blanket increase in your gpa, others will give you a point (ubc) or three (alberta). some schools will include your masters marks in the evaluation of your app, while others won't (sask, man, uwo, queens, mcmaster). always be careful with the master's tho -- it's not a walk in the park either. it's harder/more work than undergrad.

 

---

 

edit: write your mcat and do very well. i just read that you were from ontario. i think you would best be served by doing an additional year of undergrad ("special year") to boost up your marks if you can since you won't have the in-prov advantage like i did. alternatively, do your masters (or special year of undergrad) in alberta to gain in-prov status.

 

as you have similar marks as mine, you may be able to get an oop interview at ubc -- i just barely missed the cutoffs (0.09 pts). however, as you have great extra currics, that might be able to push you beyond the interview cutoff.

[PTstudent]

my undergrad gpa:

1st year: 3.4

2nd year: 3.4

3rd year: 3.1

4th year: 3.4

5th year: 3.9

no masters or phd.

 

i got into u of c.

 

apply anyway. just try hard to sell yourself and you too can get in.

 

as for your question re: masters, that depends on which school you're applying to. some schools give you a blanket increase in your gpa, others will give you a point (ubc) or three (alberta). some schools will include your masters marks in the evaluation of your app, while others won't (sask, man, uwo, queens, mcmaster). always be careful with the master's tho -- it's not a walk in the park either. it's harder/more work than undergrad.

 

 

Hey jgray,

 

Where you from Calagary?

[CAS]

so any ideas on whether a masters is taken into consideration for gpa?

 

as one can tell by what my degree stems from, I'm going to be involved in medicine regardless if I do the PhD stream or the MD stream. The MD stream is really just what I would prefer. So, I'm not doing a masters for the hell of it, it was always a plan of mine anyway.

[jgray2]

looking at just the schools west of quebec and not including u of o (i didn't apply east of ontario):

 

a masters' will give you bonus points at: ubc, alberta, nosm (significant gpa bonus points). they will also take your marks into consideration.

 

a masters' will give you bonus points only at: mac, queens' (if you're just below the cutoffs, they will still interview you).

 

a masters' marks will be reviewed but without any bonus points at: ucalgary, usask (though you will have to include your one year where you got a 3.75 -- still doable), toronto (it seems that the ugrad gpa required to actually get in is much lower if you have a graduate degree provided that you do very well in it).

 

a masters' is useless at: manitoba, uwo.