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Need help with Out of Province Decisions


RCP90

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Hello.

 

This post follows the "what are my chances, where to apply" theme, and sorry if you're getting tired of it and thanks for your patience...

 

I've been out of school for a bit, not knowing exactly what to do with my undergrad degree. I had thought I'd just find work, but I've changed my mind.

 

I'm applying to Medical school this year and will be writing the MCAT this summer, and apply as broadly as is realistic.

 

When I was in undergrad, I was consistent (and consistently lazy) throughout: 3.8 GPA every year, cGPA 3.8. (I worked it out with the OMSAS scale).

 

 

I have two questions:

 

1) Is a 3.8 competitive enough to apply to Med schools? Almost all my friends who were accepted in the past had 3.9+ GPA's? I honestly can't think of a single friend of mine who didn't have >3.9 (How did it get to be so competitive?)

 

2) When I apply to Out Of Province schools, what kind of MCAT do you think I'll need to competitive outside of Ontario, my home province? I don't want to limit myself to McMaster and uOttawa, which I hear don't require the MCAT, but get loads of applications. I think I'll need a very high MCAT to compensate for low GPA relative to what Out of Province schools usually deal with.

 

I've taken a few quick looks at course requirements, and luckily, things worked out that I took a few Arts courses and Maths, so I think I'll have all the weird extra courses some Out of Province schools might need ie) Englishes, Physics Labs, Calculus, weird stuff etc.

 

Any tips on where to apply or what scores I'd need on the MCAT would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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All your answers can be found my searching the forums. I answered your questions below anyway.

 

I have two questions:

 

1) Is a 3.8 competitive enough to apply to Med schools? Almost all my friends who were accepted in the past had 3.9+ GPA's? I honestly can't think of a single friend of mine who didn't have >3.9 (How did it get to be so competitive?)

 

3.8 is competitive enough. I know tons of people with GPAs between 3.7 and 3.9 that are in an Ontario medical school.

 

2) When I apply to Out Of Province schools, what kind of MCAT do you think I'll need to competitive outside of Ontario, my home province? I don't want to limit myself to McMaster and uOttawa, which I hear don't require the MCAT, but get loads of applications. I think I'll need a very high MCAT to compensate for low GPA relative to what Out of Province schools usually deal with.

 

Shoot for a 10-10-10 or better. A lot of schools are picky with writing sample (Alberta and Manitoba come to mind) and a good writing score can really rack up some admission points. Different schools have different formulas. Shoot for the best and work with what you have.

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1) Yes.

 

2) You should aim for 30+ for OOP schools. Dalhousie requires MCAT of 30 minimum (at least 10 in each section, one 9 is allowed but overall score must be 30). For Manitoba, the higher the better because 50% of their admissions score is based on MCAT - I'd say 33+ for Manitoba. If Calgary still uses a formula that includes GPA and MCAT - you need a high verbal score (double digits) to do well. UBC doesnt look at MCAT much. Saskatchewan's cutoff is determined by your average marks (in percent). Competitiveness for Memorial depends on the applicant pool for that year....and I don't know about Alberta.

 

Hope this helps. It's been a few years since I applied so current applicants, please correct me if I'm wrong.

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Thank you Jixie and Madz.

 

I see that with a 3.8, I should aim for a 33+ and try to get a high Verbal and Writing Sample score to be competitive for OOP.

 

I'll check out each OOP school's Admissions webpage to see if they have a formula or further details.

 

Thanks again and if anything does pop into your mind at a later date, please don't hesitate to post!

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3.8 is good enough for sure, but it might limit your chances OOP. That's not to say you don't stand a chance, but the OOP's who get in are few and far between and are generally exceptional applicants.

 

Just aim to do the best you can on the MCAT. 10-10-10-R should meet all schools requirements, but you'll want to aim higher than that, probably 32R+.

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