Non-traditional Applicant-- Need Advice

[Guest bibibab]

Need some advice please...

 

I'm a recent pharmacy grad working full-time in retail. My original plan was to start grad school after I off my loans, but after having working for a while, I changed my mind. Now I want med school.

 

Unfortunately, unlike my other classmates who knew that they wanted to do medicine during undergrad, I focused too much on extra-curricular research. My GPA was @#$^% low: 2.5, 3.6, 3.3, 2.7 (the 2.7 was from the first semester of 4th year only; the 2nd semester of my last year was clinical rotation based on a pass/fail basis). I did several research projects during undergrad and would probably make a good candidate for grad school, but now that I've changed my mind...

 

Now, a little bit about my background:

Before pharmacy, I did 2 years of CEGEP in Quebec (my marks in CEGEP were in the mid-80s, anyone know of any schools that weigh CEGEP marks more heavily than others?) No undergrad experience before pharmacy school.

 

What would be your advice for me? Should I do a masters to improve my overall GPA? Or go back to do 2 years of undergrad in another field? (maybe psychology? other suggestions?) I'm even willing to relocate to do my masters so that I could apply as in-province student in both the new province and my home province. How many med schools count masters GPA anyway? Most schools I've looked at would add 1 point to masters studies instead of counting the masters GPA, whatever that means (?!). My CEGEP and Pharmacy courses have already fulfilled the pre-requisites for most med schools, so as far as pre-req goes, I'll probably have to stick with those marks...

 

Or I could run to some 3rd world country to do volunteer work (McMaster is famous for preferring people with 3rd world experience... but what I'm afraid of is that my GPA would still screw me up after one year in some exotic country). Or should I go volunteer in some remote northern places.....

 

WHAT SHOULD I DO NOW?? :eek

[Guest marie ln]

Hi,

 

My advice is only if you consider to come back in Quebec and do your MD at Laval, Montreal or Sherbrooke.

 

Unlike the rest of the canadian universities ( as far as I know) they consider the program you were in and the level of difficulty. Pharmacy is considered in the 3 hardest program.. so even if your GPA isn't of 4 you're not that far behind.

 

You can check out this website:

www.reg.ulaval.ca/Calcul_Cote_Laval.pdf

 

So you can have an idea of what you have. To give you an idea you need something like 32,9-33 to get in as a university applicant. ( they give you a bonus of 0,5 if you finished your undergrad program).

 

So my advice if you consider coming back in the province is to enter a program who is considered "hard" ( you'll see them on the chart-they give the bigger scores) but that you know you can have really really good grades. You have to choose really well because with a lot of programs even if you have a GPA of 4,3/4,3 it is not enough to give you an interview. I think it's easier to go back at the undergrad level rather than graduate since some universities will not consider your grad results or will ask you to finish before applying.

 

As far as extra-curriculars... it's nice to have someting to say in the interviews.. but grades are really the priority.

 

Hope that helps

[Guest aneliz]

If you are planning to apply in Ontario:

 

1. CEGEP courses are not usually counted at all.

2. Undergrad GPA and MCAT scores are weighted heavily.

 

Your undergrad GPA's are below Ontario cut-offs which are usually ~3.70ish for most schools.

 

Doing graduate work may or may not help you depending on the school you are interested in... you will need to investigate individual schools that you are interested in applying to.

[Guest bibibab]

Merci beaucoup for the info Marie ln and aneliz

 

I'd appreciate responses from more people pleeeeeeeez

 

 

 

 

HEELLLLLLLLLLOOOO???????