GPA requirement.

[schnauzr]

My GPA is around 3.8, and I'm in my third year now, and though I'll be applying to both Canadian and American med schools, I'm trying to decide where I have a better shot of getting in.

 

So from my understanding, Canadian med schools require 3.9+ to get in, while American med schools are okay if you have 3.7+? The average GPA for UofT 2007 was 3.9. I mean, what is that. *sigh*

 

So my question is in American med schools, they don't really give TOO much attention to whether you have 4.0 or 3.8 as long as it's above a certain level. They would give more points to 4.0 than, but it's not imperative as in the Canadian system. Do you guys agree?

 

Like in Canada, schools don't seem to care too much about high MCAT marks as long as it's above 30.

 

And do you guys have any tips for getting LOR's? I'm going to ask my past research supervisor for one, but that's basically it. My plan was to get to know more profs in my courses, but it just never materialized. I just never needed to talk to any profs for understanding the materials. But, aye, that's an excuse. Anyway, my third year is over halfway, and if I don't get to know any profs, I'll end up in some deep ****. I don't have any "personal" figure to get it from either. My volunteering has been so here, there, and everywhere that I haven't formed any relationship with nobody. One good thing is that all American med schools seem to require letters from science faculty almost exclusively (not that you can't send other ones), so I could get some LOR by the end of this semester.

 

Do you guys think it's important to include some personal ones? That if you don't include a personal LOR, the percentage of obtaining post-sec. application becomes siginificantly lower?

[KennethToronto]

- Most schools do not screen pre-secondary

- It might feel early, but start doing your research now.

- US medical schools are like Canadian schools - they'll care about the whole package. GPAs, ECs, MCATs. I do get the sense MCATs are weighted more heavily but I have nothing substantiating that.

- You *need* letters from profs. Though you are only in your third year so you can wait till fourth year where you'll surely get to know your professor in seminar courses or supervisor if you're doing a thesis.

- Careful on the assumption most US schools just want letters from science faculty. A few of the schools I applied to specifically wanted "non-science faculty *gulp*"

- You don't need a "personal" figure. I did not include any letters from volunteer coordinators (because I was there to volunteer, not spend it chatting with the coordinator, although I did that too)

[Madz25]

US schools value MCAT more than they value GPA. It's possible to get accepted in the US even if your GPA is lower than 3.7. 3.8+ is plenty. MCAT is what makes the difference. If you want to be accepted to a "good" school you should aim for 35+.

 

For US schools, they care about letters being from profs. If you dont have any personal ones for US schools it's not that big of a deal. Canadian schools look for more variety in references.

[Alastriss]

My GPA is around 3.8, and I'm in my third year now, and though I'll be applying to both Canadian and American med schools, I'm trying to decide where I have a better shot of getting in.

 

So from my understanding, Canadian med schools require 3.9+ to get in, while American med schools are okay if you have 3.7+? The average GPA for UofT 2007 was 3.9. I mean, what is that. *sigh*

 

So my question is in American med schools, they don't really give TOO much attention to whether you have 4.0 or 3.8 as long as it's above a certain level. They would give more points to 4.0 than, but it's not imperative as in the Canadian system. Do you guys agree?

 

Like in Canada, schools don't seem to care too much about high MCAT marks as long as it's above 30.

 

 

And do you guys have any tips for getting LOR's? I'm going to ask my past research supervisor for one, but that's basically it. My plan was to get to know more profs in my courses, but it just never materialized. I just never needed to talk to any profs for understanding the materials. But, aye, that's an excuse. Anyway, my third year is over halfway, and if I don't get to know any profs, I'll end up in some deep ****. I don't have any "personal" figure to get it from either. My volunteering has been so here, there, and everywhere that I haven't formed any relationship with nobody. One good thing is that all American med schools seem to require letters from science faculty almost exclusively (not that you can't send other ones), so I could get some LOR by the end of this semester.

 

Do you guys think it's important to include some personal ones? That if you don't include a personal LOR, the percentage of obtaining post-sec. application becomes siginificantly lower?

 

ok a few things:

- you dont need a 3.9 to get in, and thats the average for UofT WITH the weighting formula, which can significantly boost gpa. That was also last year. This year, with 400 applicants less, it is different.

 

Most schools in the US value the mcat, but be careful because GPA is still important. For exampe, Cornell weighs them equally.

You will also notice that some schools may favor a higher gpa more, May's admissions stats of 3.85ish and an average mcat of 32-33 is different than mount sinai's 34 average mcat but a 3.67ish gpa.

 

Of course certain schools in canada care about high mcat...UMan has a 50% weighting on Mcat, Ur verbal score can make and break you for Ucalgary's algorithm. A better mcat score can increase your chances at McGill and Alberta as well. I'm just saying..don't just AIM for a 10 10 10 thinking anything higher won't do you any good, assuming you want to maximize your chances.

However you are correct in stating that the 'cats are used as a flag/cutoff but that is only at certain schools; at queens a 10 10 10 P is no different than 15 15 15 T and at UT a 9 9 9 N is no different than a 15 15 15 T.

 

 

You ask a relatively tough question. 3.8 vs 4.0: hard to give you a concrete answer that will leave you satisfied. Of course in the states a 4.0 is better, but gpa alone, DIFFERENCE in the level of competitiveness between a 4.0 and a 3.8 IMO is greater in canada than in the states, because your mcat in the states can compensate for it. It's really hard to say, from SDN, seems like its all up to what goes through the ad comm's head.

The MCAT is more important that is pretty true, but that does not mean gpa is nt important. A solid mcat and a crappy gpa can still keep you out of schools similar to how a bad mcat and a good gpa can keep you out.

 

Another thing that makes it hard to measure how much more competitive a 4.0 is compared to a 3.8 is that the gpa variable does not occur in isolation. At this point ECs come into play along with ur ABS.

While the higher the better, If you have a 3.8 gpa and you got rejected then it would most certainly not be on the list of reasons as to why you got rejected.

[schnauzr]

Thanks for all your inputs guys.

 

Yep, after reading your post, I started doing some research on med schools. I had a blast last night, staying up until 5am, going through the school websites. So many schools... It actually doesn't feel so early anymore. You can start applying May or something, right? It's less than six months. I'm relieved to hear that personal LOR's aren't absolutely necessary. So it depends on each school for GPA and MCAT average, eh? But then again, I could never really figure out what the average GPAs really mean. I'm assuming that the GPAs aren't normally distributed, and that few students excelling in EC or research with low GPA bring down the average. I took 4.5 courses in second year, so I can't take off any lower marks for UofT. 400 less students? Did something happen this year? I think I'll aim for American med schools rather than Canadian ones. I want to live near big cities, and that narrows down my choice to only a handful in Canada. UofT and McGill are the only schools I can think of, and I have crappy shots at both. Why didn't I take some French lessons in high school... Aye, it's going to an interesting year.

[Alastriss]

Thanks for all your inputs guys.

 

Yep, after reading your post, I started doing some research on med schools. I had a blast last night, staying up until 5am, going through the school websites. So many schools... It actually doesn't feel so early anymore. You can start applying May or something, right? It's less than six months. I'm relieved to hear that personal LOR's aren't absolutely necessary. So it depends on each school for GPA and MCAT average, eh? But then again, I could never really figure out what the average GPAs really mean. I'm assuming that the GPAs aren't normally distributed, and that few students excelling in EC or research with low GPA bring down the average. I took 4.5 courses in second year, so I can't take off any lower marks for UofT. 400 less students? Did something happen this year? I think I'll aim for American med schools rather than Canadian ones. I want to live near big cities, and that narrows down my choice to only a handful in Canada. UofT and McGill are the only schools I can think of, and I have crappy shots at both. Why didn't I take some French lessons in high school... Aye, it's going to an interesting year.

 

Hey, I believe that you can assume that the GPAs ARE normally distributed, MSAR provides the medians of accepted applicants (not matriculants; this is usually lower or the same) and the school websites have the average gpas, and if you haven't consulted both sources yet you will find they are the same.

 

for UT, yeah, the we just passed the double cohort hump and people know their mcat score before appying, so those who have a 6 or 7 probably didn't bother applying? Its a combination of reasons.

 

Even tho the weighting formual doesn't apply to you..a 3.8 for UT is still definetely worth a shot, and a solid mcat (high 30s) for McGill makes it worth a shot even with the odds stacked high against you.

[Madz25]

400 less students? Did something happen this year?

 

double cohort effect.

[schnauzr]

Hey, I believe that you can assume that the GPAs ARE normally distributed, MSAR provides the medians of accepted applicants (not matriculants; this is usually lower or the same) and the school websites have the average gpas, and if you haven't consulted both sources yet you will find they are the same.

 

LOL, that's great. What an in-depth analysis of the GPA. This means that almost half the accepted students have lower GPA than the average number the schools give out. That's really uplifting.

 

And congrats on your 1000th post, Madz.

[Alastriss]

LOL, that's great. What an in-depth analysis of the GPA. This means that almost half the accepted students have lower GPA than the average number the schools give out. That's really uplifting.

 

And congrats on your 1000th post, Madz.

 

bu thats what schools give out..the average of matriculants.

 

Schools give out an average, not the median, so it may not necessarily mean that half accepted students are lower than the average, however after looking at accepted students from MSAR (which has median and not average) and comparing it to what schools posted on their website, they are not too distant from each other.

 

You originally mentioned that you assumed that GPA is not normally distributed because of certain students with very low gpas but amazing ECs bringing the class average down. I can see your reasoning, but instead of assuming it is not normally distributed it might just end up being a skew in the normal distribution, whether or not its positive or negative..well i have no idea.

 

 

Also keep in mind that students who got accepted with less than the average gpa have other areas of their application that are above average, whether it be ECs, MCAT, or reference letters.