Oz med schools-Q's that you could answer! come on down (unde

[Guest coastal79]

Hey, this year I got dismally rejected from UBC, for the most part because of a terrible extracurricular score. My marks are ok, which is to say they are good enough to get in, but they are not good enough to make up for the fact that I have done very little volunteering, and my extracurricular activities are rather minimal on the application form.

 

So, I'm applying to about 8 Canadian schools this year, but honestly I don't think I have what it takes to get in for next year. I may get a few interviews, but that's about the best I figure I can do (just to round out the picture I had an A- average in my BA (80-84) which translates anywhere from 3.6-3.7 on different 4pt scales across the country, 34P MCAT, and lots of work experience (but not work for free!)). Anyways, over the last two weeks I've started to consider Australian Medical schools, and I had a couple of questions which I've found answers to, but I was also hoping someone else could expand on. So, I'll put down the Q, what I've found, and hopefully someone can either confirm what I know, or fill in the blanks.

 

1.Are my grades/MCAT score (see above) good enough to get accepted to graduate entry Oz schools? I know the minimums because they're posted on all the websites, and I've heard many people saying that they had low 3 GPAs and 30ish MCATS. However, are the acceptable averages going up every year as more people hear about the programs?

 

2.Ok, number 2-Scholarships, apparently 50% tuition reductions are available at a few schools-what GPA/MCAT scores are needed to qualify? I've seen one person who said that a 35+ MCAT score is needed but I can't remember the GPA he or she listed. Has anyone gotten one of these scholarships. I'm curious about this because I'll give the MCAT another shot next april and actually put a solid study in to get a few more points if it might make the difference.

 

3.Extracurriculars/volunteering-Is this even remotely relevant to Australian schools? The situation I'm faced with is following my girlfriend to where she will be going to school where I will work and volunteer as much as possible to improve my chances of getting into Canadian medical school. But my volunteering cv is so incredibly weak (8months in a hospital...fin) that I don't think I can do enough in 12 months to strengthen my situation substantially vis a vis Canadian schools. So, if I don't need to do it for Oz, why bother? I understand it would show, in an interview, that I am commited to the health care field, if I were volunteering in some health related capacity, so I'll probably do this, but what I'm talking about not doing if I don't have to is devoting most of my free time to volunteering (as opposed to going skiing).

 

Thanks in advance for any help. Please no doom and gloom about the prospects of getting back into Canada when I'm done down under-I'm a travel addict with no hope of recovery and my girlfriend and I had a plan which involved leaving Canada asap and only returning after a decade or so. Also, I'd have no problem working as a family practicioner in a rural area to come back home if I were to so desire. Thanks again,

Cheers!

graham :\

[Guest redshifteffect]

Hey mate,

 

Well first off, your average should be good enough to get you into a school here. I'm probably not the best person to ask because I got in as an undergrad not a postgrad.

 

But the school I'm in offers no scholarships. But I can tell u that the cost of living here is fairly good compared to some place like ireland or UK..but i guess it depends on where and how you can save money.

 

The good thing about studying in Australia as i've said in a lot of posts is that you can choose to stay here (not very easy but not as hard as say migrating to the US). The pay is good ex. 1st year out as an intern you can make up to 70, 000 AUD ...which isn't bad.

 

The workload as a doc here is @#%$ all. North Ami's work way harder (job here as a registrar 9-5) even less...

 

So if you don't get into Canada and you want to come to Aus...i recommend you do it.