fifth year or masters?

[citrinez]

At queens, would it be better to do a fifth year or to apply with a masters?

[Dante]

well will doing a fifth year get your gpa up to their cutoff? if yes, then forget about doing a masters (you sign away 2-3 years of your life doing something i presume you don't want to be doing!)

 

in case you don't know, meeting the gpa cutoffs at queens puts you ON PAR with everyone else granted an interview... ie 4.0 vs 3.7 cgpa are equivalent for all intents and purposes.

[citrinez]

oh okay great, that helps, because doing a masters seemed like a bit of a waste since i think you can only apply when you are in your second year of the masters program. so that would mean that there is one application cycle that i would miss. Correct me if i'm wrong though...

thanks again

[Dante]

i don't know when you can apply, but you have to complete your masters before you head off to med school. I guess it depends on if it's a research or course based masters... cause if it's research, you could be there for YEARS!

 

and on a side note, i don't know if having a masters gives your application any sort of boost over undergrad applicants... i know some schools do have this, but I don't know the details for anywhere in particular.

[rburgundy]

i don't know when you can apply, but you have to complete your masters before you head off to med school. I guess it depends on if it's a research or course based masters... cause if it's research, you could be there for YEARS!

 

and on a side note, i don't know if having a masters gives your application any sort of boost over undergrad applicants... i know some schools do have this, but I don't know the details for anywhere in particular.

 

Don't think you have to finish grad skule for Queens. Other skules, yes. But I think Queens is an exception.

 

And yes, fifth year is MUCH better for meds then grad school. Especially for Queens.

[daryn]

http://meds.queensu.ca/undergrad/admissions/graduate_students

 

Applicants must have completed their graduate degree by the August 1 prior to the commencement of medical school;

[Dante]

I can't imagine any med. school letting you just drop your grad work whenever you get in. That would piss a lot of supervisors off... doesn't show much commitment on your behalf either...

[Hanni]

I worked on my master's degree during the application process for med school, and ended up passing in my first copy of my thesis on September 1st (3 days before the start of med school). I technically finished this February, showing that you can finish up the end of your degree while in med school. But I wasn't considered a grad student, so I still needed to meet the undergrad cutoffs. For those who want to be considered a grad student, the August 1st deadline must be met.

 

I think that doing the master's helped me even though it didn't affect my official chances of getting in. I was still able to talk about it in my interview, I got a publication out of my work, and I got to do other cool things (volunteer work, teaching, etc) during that time, too.

[brownie99]

I think if you can do a master's you're truly interested, then go for it. If you are simply doing it to up your marks and you have no interest in the subject at hand, then do a 5th year. It will be shorter, easier, and get you to the same place.