What schools don't have GPA cutoffs?

[Guest gesuchtish]

Hi guys,

Please help me out.

My situation is not so good. I am a UBC grad, BC resident with 3.5 GPA(from a hardcore program) but 37 in MCAT. I know Queens, Manitoba and Saska have GPA cutoffs so I guess I can't goto these places.

 

Very unfortunate I'm not a Ontario resident. UBC take GPA much more seriously than MCAT. What schools do I have a shot at ?

 

Thanks

[Guest Jochi1543]

I think U of C and U of A are both pretty flexible. Your GPA is just a part of the algorithm, so it can be balanced out by high MCAT scores.

[Guest jgray2]

you have an amazing chance at ubc if you are inprov.

 

my gpa (oop) was a 3.49 at the time of application. that still fetched me a 21/25 for my academic score. if your situation is similar, then all you need is to be decent on the non academic side in order to score an interview at ubc. really, it's the interview that will make the most difference for you.

 

manitoba's cutoffs may not be an issue for you if you've dropped your lowest courses as is allowed by their special formula. the same can be said with toronto (no oop quota).

[Guest kylerh]

Is the GPA of 3.5 cumulative? MAny schools take your best 2 years or years and schools like U of T drop your worst grade according to how many years of undergrad study you have.

 

Good luck

 

kylerh

[Guest gesuchtish]

Does anyone know about Ontario schools?

[Guest anvah]

gesuchtish

 

I would recommend that you make use of Google actually visited each of the medical schools webpages and found out this information for yourself. There are only around 14 or 15 schools and would take at most 1 hour of your time.

[Guest scrubbed]

Hello,

 

To give you a quick lay of the land.

 

U of T has a minimum GPA of 3.6 to apply. If you've taken a full courseload each year, 30 credits/year or greater at UBC in the winter session, you'd be able to apply the weighting formula where you get to drop one full course equivalent a year (24 credits for a four year degree) in your case. That may put your GPA over the minimum standard. As an undergrad applicant though, your chances are slim, but not impossible, with a ~3.6 GPA.

 

If you have two most recent years above the 3.78 GPA cutoff at Queen's, then you would be eligible for an interview.

 

UWO requires an honours degree, and two years above 3.7 GPA at the time of admission, a new change this year, assuming that the MCAT cutoffs are made.

 

McMaster has a minumum GPA of 3.0 with all courses considered, but, realistically, with the average GPA of accepted applicants at ~3.85, and GPA being a large part of their admissions process, it may be difficult here.

 

Ottawa has a OOP cutoff of about 3.85. They do place more emphasis on your later years, so if your third and fourth year, if they are full time, are in this range, it may be an option.

 

NOSM had an average GPA of inteviewed applicants at around 3.6 with weighting given to later years. You do , however, have ahd demonstrated a strong interest in doing medicine in the north or a rural area, so if you are from a small, northern town this may be an option.

 

If you do a master's degree, a two year degree is required at Ottawa, Queen's, Toronto, and Ottawa are a bit more lenient on the GPA requirement, with greater emphasis placed on your graduate performance.

 

At the end of day, in Canada, you'r best bet would be UBC. If you have a very high verbal and biological score, you may have a shot at Calgary. Their algorithm for setermining OOP interviews is available on their website or in the Calgary forum.

 

Best of luck. Feel free to ask any more questions.

[Guest Jochi1543]

It doesn't seem like Calgary does the algorithm anymore, for IPs, anyway.

[Guest muchdutch]

I'm not sure about the gpa cutoffs for Manitoba, but a friend of mine didn't have the greatest gpa but he rocked the mcat and now he's oging into second year at Manitoba. They weigh the mcat pretty heavily from what I hear so with your 37 you should have a pretty decent shot.

[Guest daryn]

I don't know about the algorithm but I believe that Calgary no longer looks at the best two years pre interview -- instead it will look at the entire GPA.

[Guest scrubbed]

Though the IP requirements have changed, the OOP requirements, apparently, have not.

 

Non-Alberta Residents

The minimum weighted GPA for consideration is 3.60 on a 4.00 when the best two completed full-time years are averaged.

Non-Albertans who meet the minimum GPA requirement are rank-ordered using an algorithm regression formula. The GPA of the best two completed full-time years, along with the verbal reasoning and biological sciences scores on the MCAT are used for this ranking. Last year, 820 non-Albertans applied and the top-ranked 125 applications were reviewed by the admissions committee according to the pre-interview criteria and weighting described below.

Formula: 62.517* (GPA) + 12.122* (MCAT-VR) + 6.757* (MCAT-BS)

(last year, #125 = 449.13)

[Guest ChrisJones]

Hi scrubbed,

 

Thanks very much for the quick run-through... I'm a first time in-province ontario applicant... so just getting familiarized with this stuff.

 

I was confused with Queens... they said 3.68 cumulative GPA cutoff and 3.78 from two recent years. Why do they have both cut-offs? And when they calculate your GPA, do they just use the 2 latest years or will they use all 3 of my years?

 

Just also had a couple quick Q's for anyone who can answer.

- Western GPA comes from last 2, not 3 years. correct?

- 2006 Ottawa GPA cutoff for IN-province was...?

- Lastly, the six schools in ontario, average 2006 GPA of those admitted (not just cut-offs)... anywhere to find that?

 

Thanks so much! I appreciate the help.

 

Cheers!

 

 

<edited to add Queens confusion question>

[Guest scrubbed]

Hi Chris,

 

I was confused with Queens... they said 3.68 cumulative GPA cutoff and 3.78 from two recent years. Why do they have both cut-offs? And when they calculate your GPA, do they just use the 2 latest years or will they use all 3 of my years?

 

From their admissions website,

 

The Cutoffs

 

The cutoffs are based on the applicant pool and so they are subject to change each year.

 

The academic cut-offs for entrance in September 2006 are:

 

Cumulative GPA- 3.68*

 

GPA for the most recent 2 Years - 3.78**

 

MCAT

 

A minimum of 9 on Biological & Physical Sciences; 10 on Verbal Reasoning and O on the Writing Sample; Sum of 32

 

Applicants must have made all of the cutoffs in order to be invited for an interview at Queen's.

 

*The GPA cutoff is based on the cumulative average; that is, all undergraduate courses are included in the calculation of the GPA.

 

**If the applicant does not make the GPA cutoff based on their cumulative average, we will consider as an alternative the last two years of undergraduate study

 

I think it's self explanatory. They may ask for the best two years to help people out who had one bad year. GPA is not considered after the cutoffs.

 

Ottawa's cutoffs were explained in this thread. If you're borderline, you should check out the most recent information, though I don't think it will change much.

 

Applications from candidates to advance in the selection process last year goes as follow:

 

- Applicants who apply to the Consortium National de

formation en santé (CNFS): residents from outside the provinces of Ontario and Québec applying to the French program 3.40/4.00

- Applicants who are sponsored by the Canadian Forces (CF) 3.40/4.00

- Aboriginals 3.40/4.00

- Residents from Ontario and the Outaouais region applying to the French program 3.40/4.00

- Residents from under-serviced areas (as determined by the Faculty) 3.55/4.00

- Residents from the region (Ottawa-Outaouais)3.60/4.00

- Residents from the province of Ontario 3.83/4.00

- Residents from other provinces 3.87/4.00

 

Medsoneday

 

As for Western, from their admissions website

 

Only those terms in which at least five full or equivalent courses (30 credit hours) are taken will be used in the calculation of GPA admission cutoffs.

 

Three full or equivalent senior courses (second year and above) must be included in at least one of the two undergraduate years being used to determine compliance with established GPA cutoffs.

 

The minimum GPA must be met in EACH of the two undergraduate years.

 

Thus, your "best years" can come from your any of your three years, given that you will have a senior year by their criteria. Though GPA and MCAT are considered to an extent post-inerview, it's largely your interview that will make you or break you.

 

For Mac and U of T, the precise information is on their website, but U of T and Mac have about similar average GPAs of about 3.85, with grad applicants catching a break at U of T. Granted, this is just an average, and a decent GPA is helpful, but not sufficient to gain acceptance.

 

NOSM's average GPA for for interviewed applicants was 3.6. Again, the interview is supreme.

 

Best wishes with your application.

[Guest ChrisJones]

Wow, thanks very much for the help. That was very kind of you.

 

Everything is a lot more clear to me now.

[Guest gesuchtish]

Thanks scrubbs,

I'm currently finishing my one year master program. I can't find anything on UT website that says one-yr master doesn't count. The thing is I'm doing a all-course master with no thesis. I guess that hurts.

[Guest GundamDX]

if your gpa is 3.5 AND in province (BC) your best bet is to go for UBC. BC residents have about 50% to get an interview and after that, about 40% chance to get in. That's 20% overall. If you are OOP, it's much tougher because there's only about 10 spots for >100 people (can't recall the exact %) :\