GPA requirement for OOP

[Guest Dunes]

Hello all,

 

I'm an OOP applicant (from BC). I haven't applied to an Ontario school yet and was wondering what are the chances of getting in to schools in Ontario with low overall GPA (77% in UBC standards) and low prereq. avg. (72%), but high avg in the last 3 years of school (mid 80's)? Is there a chance of getting to MacMaster and Ottawa (considering one has stellar EXtraCurrs and other experiences)? What if one has high MCAT scores? Do I have a chance with the other Canadian schools other than UBC?

 

Are there better chances of getting into an American Med. school?

 

I'm just trying to weigh my chances of getting and if it's worth paying the huge OMSAS fees.

 

Thank you so much for your response

 

Dunes

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi there,

 

Each of the Ontario schools calculates academic averages in different ways. Given that you've got a strong average over your last three years, you could be competitive at some Ontario schools. For example:

 

1) UofT: if you've taken a full courseload for each of your undergraduate years then you should be able to apply their "dropping" policy, i.e., dropping the lowest mark from each year. That may increase your overall GPA from 77% to something that may be a little more attractive to them.

 

2) UWO: they'll take a look at your best two, full-time years, so it sounds as though you may have a good shot there.

 

3) Ottawa: the last three years are what counts here. If you can jump their out-of-province cut-off then academically, you'll be sound (and you might have a good go at this depending on how high your last year's average is).

 

4) Queen's: they'll look at your last two years if your overall GPA isn't adequate. Again, it sounds as though your last couple of years will be strong and so, you may have a good shot at Queen's, especially if your MCAT scores are high.

 

5) McMaster: although they look at your overall GPA, if you can pull off a great set of answers to their questions, you could remain in good stead for winning an interview.

 

You might wish to construct a spreadsheet for yourself and calculate your averages using each of the school's approaches. Compare those results with those of recently accepted applicants (you should see many of those new statistics today ). That will give you a much better idea of exactly how competitive you may be, but from an initial look, I'd advise you to keep your Ontario options open.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[Guest Dunes]

thanks Kirsteen, that really helps a lot