So who should take the Masters route to MD?

[Big Baller]

I have heard this from many people that as Canadian Medical Schools only give slight credit for masters, so if you only miss the cuttoff by 0.2-0.3 only then go for the masters or you ll be waisting your precious time. So question to you all: as you know that in 99% of the cases you have to have 3.7 to get into any of the Canadian medical schools, if someone ends up with 3.2 or 3.3 should he or she go for masters to get into medical school?

[AndyDude]

I am thinking of doing another undergrad. Not going the Master's route though accepted at a few places.

[avenir001]

ya with a 3.3, the best thing would be to do 2 extra full-time years, preferably as part of a (2nd) degree.

[Jochi1543]

Yeah, I think a master's is better if you have decent stats. If your stats are bad, it's best to remedy them to some extent by doing some more undergrad work.

[Satsuma]

You should only consider doing a grad degree if you actually want to do a grad degree....otherwise you will be signing up for at least 2 of what could be the most unhappy years of your life.

 

It is fair to say that if you have a poor undergrad GPA (or even decent just doesn`t meet the cut-offs) then a grad degree is no guarantee at helping this. Doing further undergrad studies is the more sure way of improving your undergrad GPA.

 

Every school has a different policy regarding how they deal with applicants who have grad degrees. It would be a good idea to look at each school's policy to see where you would stand.

 

If you already meet the cut-offs grad school can give you really good life experience and academic experience. You may have the opportunity to teach, present at conferences, get published etc. All things that look good on your med school app. But if you aren`t going to meet the minimum GPA requirements at the school you want to go to and they aren`t going to care too much about your grad degree...then they will never even know that you did all those things 'cause it won`t be looked at.

 

Keep in mind also, that most schools that give consideration to grad applicants aren`t evaluating your grad GPA. They are evaluating your grad productivity. It is quite a bit harder to be an outstanding grad student than it is to be an outstanding undergrad imo.

 

Good luck