Any advice for a Grad applicant with weak Undergrad stats?

[Endeavour]

Hi guys,

 

 

 

Been watching these boards for a long time, great advice and tips on here. However I have never felt that my undergrad stats were good enough to even post here, but here goes; any advice would be much appreciated, especially from current and former grad applicants who have been successful or not.

 

BTW, I'm in a thesis based program (Biochemistry), I had a few posters but nothing significant, I have 1 paper in progress right now. In undergrad, I did 3 years of research, (no papers) and once again nothing significant except a few posters at random conferences.

 

 

I know that I'm no where in the range of being competitive (GPA wise), but I do have a lot of life experiences to offer. I have been involved with lotz of volunteer activity, local schools, hospitals, nursing homes......just the usual run in the mill.....I have also volunteered overseas for about 2 months.

I was wondering if they also factor in weight on our EC's.

 

 

I'm interested in applying for both the Md and MD/Ph.D stream so please shed some light guys, I just keep getting the idea that my apps will be overlooked due to very poor undergrad marks.

 

Thanks in advice, I really appreciate any advice.

 

cheers :)

[OneDay]

I think you are still good to apply as a grad students. Some schools do give prefernce and/or different cutoff's for grad students.

 

- Toronto would be the best place to apply. As a grad student you only need a gpa of 3.0. And TO has a weighting formula where they drop your lowest 8 courses (if you have taken a full course load). Your MCAT score might be overlooked since it is only one below the 9 cutoff and your other sections are good. And TO wants to see research productivity (posters, papers, conferences and good grad marks) which you seem to have. TO also has an MD/PhD program.

 

- Ottawa also has different selection for grad students. You only need a 3.50 gpa in undergrad, and that is after they apply their weighting formula. They also look at grad performance.

 

- Queens and Western may be out because of the low MCATs, so if you have time before the next application cycle, maybe you should consider rewriting it.

 

- Mac I think has the worst selection methods, it seems pretty random. Interview is based on GPA/ABS, and considering the huge applicant pool, you really need some luck to get into Mac. No preference for grad students unless you have your degree completed (I hate that...what are we supposed to do, finish our degree and wait around doing nothing for another year!)

 

Did you apply this year, or are you planning on applying next year? I am a grad student applying to med school, hoping for at least an interview this year. I think my only chance is toronto.

[daryn]

For U of T, you need to have every single one of your years to be on a full course load to have your worst credits dropped.

 

You have two years over 3.7, so if you can get a better MCAT score, I'd suggest you try Western as well.

 

Also, have you looked into Calgary? They take grad marks into account.

[Endeavour]

Hey guys,

 

 

Thanks a lot for your replies, I appreciate it. Yes I do agree that Toronto and Ottawa are proab realistic places for me, unless I re-write the MCAT again and cross that 10 VR line for any hope at Queens. Well I haven't applied this year yet, so I will start my application beginning next fall. I totally agree with you guys that Mac is the most random place in the world.

 

 

Yes with U of T, i think my GPA stands as it is because during undergraduate I did have 1 out of the 4 years where I had 4.5/5.0 courses, so I just banking more on the Grad marks. I think this message board is great for information and people are extremely helpful towards eachother.

 

OneDay, I really do hope you hear good news this cycle, as I certainly know and understand how you feel, sometimes it seems like we've just been chasing this dream for a while. Please let us all know how the process unfolds for yourself when the letter makes it way to you. If you don't mind me asking, how are your stats like, just to get an indication of what other fellow Grad applicants are like. Thanks again.

 

Cheers,

 

[OneDay]

Hey Endevour,

 

Thanks for the well wishes. I will send you my stats in a PM, so check your inbox.