getting high marks in grad school

[Guest Agent999]

I was talking to a doctor earlier and she suggested that for those whose undergrad marks isnt so great or competitive enough, because there are always gonna be a new wave of undergrad students every year with better marks than you, it's better to pick up an easy grad course from an easy university and get ur high marks there, or at least a good mark to make urself competitive. Furthermore, since grad students are placed into a different pile (for some medschools), this also brings u into an advantage. Does anyone know of any good grad courses to take or of any school that are not as competitve? (UofT is pretty much out of the question) I did summer research before in respirology, think it's a good idea to pursue that? thanks.

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<username>cloversista</username>

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<title>do i have hope?</title>

<pagetext>Hi everyone. I've recently discovered this website and was wondering what you guys thought my chances of getting into a med-school in ontario were...I seriously slacked my first two years of undergrad and am now doing grad school.

cGPA 3.46

top3: 3.68

top2 : 3.81

MCAT: 10 both sciences, 9 verbal, Q writing

Thanks!

[Guest FungManX]

yeah your application (GPA/MCAT) wise looks pretty good, you've probably got a great chance at one of the universities that looks at the best 2 years

[Guest scrubbed]

Hey there,

 

To use Elaine I's useful summary again

 

Western - require 2 years of 5.0 courses each year; each year must be above the minimum GPA (currently 3.7, but subject to change each year)

 

You need to have completed a four year undergraduate honors degree.

 

In addition, you also need to have a minimum MCAT requirement: for 2005 MCAT

Biological Sciences (BS) - 10

Physical Sciences (PS) - 9

Verbal Reasoning (VR) - 10

Writing Sample (WS) - P

 

Your 9 verbal, then, would not be sufficient for this application cycle. Provided that your best two years are full time, your GPA be sufficient, however.

 

Queens - will calculate GPA based on all courses - if meet minimum (3.66 last year), no problem; if not, will calculate GPA based on most recent 2 years provided each year had a minimum of 3.5 courses each.

 

Queen's MCAT cutoffs for this year were a minimum of 9 in each section and an overall score of 32.

 

Your GPA, but not your MCAT, are sufficient.

 

McMaster - will look at all courses ever taken, regardless of course load

Minimum 3.0 GPA.

No MCAT

 

So here you are good to go.

 

U of T - if not full time (5.0 courses per year) for entire degree, will calculate GPA the same way as Mac

 

The following weighting formulae may be used for students who have taken a full course load (five full credits) for academic credit, during each of their academic years.

 

Students applying after completing two years of university education and during the third year of a university program:

 

Converted average of the two completed years of university.

 

Students who have completed three or more years of a university program:

 

GPA will be calculated eliminating one full course grade per full year of study. Students applying after completion of three years of study will have their lowest 3 full course equivalent grades removed from the GPA calculation, after completion of four years their lowest 4 full course equivalent grades, etc. This calculation is designed to encourage students to take demanding, advanced courses which advance their education during their undergraduate years.

 

Graduate applicants are placed in a special pool.

For more information:

www.facmed.utoronto.ca/En...-Year.html

 

There are no specific requirements for the MCAT, but anything 8 or lower is considered a flag, though people have gotten in.

 

The average GPA of accepted applicants is 3.85, but if you can apply the weighting formula and do well in your graduate studies, you will probably be okay.

 

Ottawa - will calculate weighted GPA of most recent 2 or 3 years; I believe you need 5.0 courses per year, but I'm not sure; the average for non-Ottawa residents/English speaking is quite high (~3.83)

 

(I don't know too much about Ottawa, though I understand they have a weighting formula for GPA as well.)

 

There is no MCAT requirement.

 

Northern - will calculate weighted GPA same as Ottawa, but cut-off is only 3.0; no minimum course load each year; strong emphasis on being from a northern community

 

Candidates must meet the following requirements to apply for admission to the Northern Ontario Medical School:

- A 4 year undergraduate degree*

- Canadian citizen or permanent resident (landed immigrant) status

- An overall OMSAS converted average of 3.00 on the 4.00 scale

*unless applying as a Mature Student

 

How will the GPA be calculated?

The GPA will be calculated by taking the last three years of your four year degree. As well, it will be weighted so that the fourth year marks will count more than the third year which in turn will count more than the second year.

 

There are no course prerequisites for admission

 

The MCAT is not required.

 

 

 

Overall, then, provided your two best years were your most recent years, you should be okay.

 

I'm not sure how graduate courses are considered for Queen's, as I have never been a graduate student. This is something that somebody could post or you could look up.

 

I would recommend writing the MCAT again of you can in order to MCAT cutoff for Queen's.

 

At Queen's, is you meet the cutoffs, you receive an interview, at which time academics are not considered (50% interview, 50% autobiographical sketch/personal information form).

 

Best of luck in your pursuit!

[Guest cloversista]

Thanks everyone, you've been a lot of help!

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<threadtitle>Med School Rankings - what do you think?</threadtitle>

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<username>Platinum84</username>

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<title>Med School Rankings - what do you think?</title>

<pagetext>I have a book by Dr Brett Ferdinand called "The Black Book on Canadian Medical Schools" which has a Gourman Report ranking for each of the medical schools (in addition to other comments)...

 

This book is okay (not too great but if you have some spare cash it wouldn't hurt... I got it for free )... most of the info in the book (but not the rankings and info on each school) can also be found on his website: www.futuredoctor.net/

 

Anyways, what do you think of these Gourman Report rankings for Ontario Med Schools (all rankings out of 5.0):

 

U of T: 4.90

McMaster: 4.74

Queens: 4.68

Ottawa: 4.51

Western: 4.48 (what the??)

 

Based on what I've read and heard in the various forums and from medical students, I would rank them as follows:

1. U of T (great reputation, great profs, excellent hospitals)

2. Western (fantastic clerkship program, solid hospitals)

3. Queens (integrated approach, lacking on clerkship I think)

4. McMaster (could be great for some - but not for me, this is more of a personal thing than anything else)

5. Ottawa (don't know much about Ottawa... besides the fact that all the other medical schools make fun of the bilingual aspect ...)

 

It'd be interesting to hear what others have to say... brief reasons for rankings would be nice too...

 

I'll personally be at one of Western, Queens, or McMaster next year (hopefully!) and so various opinions on these med schools would be nice to hear...

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