hspirit Posted May 25, 2008 Report Share Posted May 25, 2008 Hi All, I completed a Bsc. Specialized Honours in Psychology. I attend Wilfred Laurier University during my first year than transferred to York University. As I did not obtain transfer credits for all my courses from first year I took an extra year to complete my degree (5 years to completed a 4 year degree) - also my 2nd year was poor and I managed to fail part 1 chem. My cGPA is 3.0 - however, I did really well in my final year (all A's). I realize that my GPA is extremely low for med school. However, I am more than willing to put in the extra effort to strengthen my application. I am willing to consider med school in UK/Australia (as I'm actually considering moving there permanently). However, if I can get into med school in Canada it would be great since I can stay with my family. My questions is whether it would be a good idea to complete my Masters in Clinical Psychology and to applu or should I consider starting a new degree (e.g., in Kin) complete 2 years with exceptional marks and apply? I feel like there is no point applying with the marks I have now. On a positive note I have a lot of experience working as a research assistant (3 different research; volunteered in 2 additional labs; completed an honours thesis and and independent study). Do I have any chance at considering med school or is it a lost cause Any advice on your part would be much appreciated! Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diabetes dude Posted May 25, 2008 Report Share Posted May 25, 2008 Are you currently in Master's program? Regardless of what you plan to do, I think it would be in your best interest to finish the degree first. The biggest hindrance to your gaining med school admission is your GPA, which can only be rectified by doing a second undergrad degree and enhancing your GPA considerably at this point. Although doing Master's can be beneficial for those whose GPA isn't quite competitive enough or is competitive but needs an extra edge in their application, your cGPA might be too low for even schools that consider grad students separately (U of T, Ottawa). Keep in mind that even if you ace your 2nd degree, your cGPA will not go up by a great margin, thus your best chances are those schools that look at 2 most recent years or 2 best years. If you do well in the first year of your 2nd degree, you can apply to Queen's as they will look at the most recent 2 years (if your MCAT scores meet their cutoff). For Western though, I don't think you can mix GPA from different degrees so they'll only consider marks from your 2nd degree (ie both years of your 2nd degree assuming it's 2 years). Doing well in the 2nd degree will also grant you a decent chance at getting an interview at aforementioned schools that look at grad students as long as you have good research productivity. PM me if you have any further questions. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avenir001 Posted May 25, 2008 Report Share Posted May 25, 2008 ya i'd recommend doing the second degree..u can apply to both queens and western in the 2nd year of your new degree..queens will count the last year of your first degree + first year of your second degree...for western, both years have to be from the same degree but they count the year of application...for western, u have to maintain a full courseload. dal also only considers 2 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thinking Posted May 28, 2008 Report Share Posted May 28, 2008 Sorry for my newbie question but why does he have to do a second degree? If those schools only look at the best 2 years, and he did 5, of which one is straight A's doesn't he have a shot depending on how good the other year is? So one year of straight A's, one year of A-'s, wouldn't that make him a decent candidate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Posted May 28, 2008 Report Share Posted May 28, 2008 you won't get into a Clinical Psych program with a 3.0.... sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avenir001 Posted May 28, 2008 Report Share Posted May 28, 2008 Sorry for my newbie question but why does he have to do a second degree? If those schools only look at the best 2 years, and he did 5, of which one is straight A's doesn't he have a shot depending on how good the other year is? So one year of straight A's, one year of A-'s, wouldn't that make him a decent candidate? well he needs 2 years with 3.7+ for western...i think he only has one..so he could even do a special year and be good to go...for queens, his last 2 yrs need to be 3.78+ and if he doesn't have that, again doing an extra year will help. i suggested the 2nd degree cuz it seemed like he was choosing between that and a masters (which won't really help in this case). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thinking Posted May 28, 2008 Report Share Posted May 28, 2008 Ah, thanks for the info. I'm in a similar situation and I was depending on applying to Western, Dal and Queens for their "best 2" policy. I'm hoping that 2 strong years (3.7+), and all my ECs might overcome my 2 bad years (I'm doing a 5 year undergrad, switched majors.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avenir001 Posted May 28, 2008 Report Share Posted May 28, 2008 western's policy is 'best 2 yrs'...queens is 'last 2 years'...i forgot the details about dal. also, make sure u have 5 full-courses/yr for western (and i think dal)...for queens, 3.5 courses is ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jelly31 Posted May 29, 2008 Report Share Posted May 29, 2008 Well I did a Master's in Psych and that got me into med. It took a little longer, but it was worth it, as I had a lot of growing up to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hspirit Posted May 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2008 you won't get into a Clinical Psych program with a 3.0.... sorry I was looking for a masters program that would accept me based on my last 30 credits since i have an A- (e.g., OISE - as I have much experience working with different research teams and had 2 research that i completed independently + 1 publication on the way (*fingers crossed*) -- I though i had a decent change was i wrong =/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hspirit Posted May 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2008 Thanks everyone for your feedback I really appreciate it =) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sutler Posted May 29, 2008 Report Share Posted May 29, 2008 jelly-- what i gathered from the forum is that a masters doesn't really help you grade wise...how did it help you? (im in a similar situation--- considering a masters) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pathomimi Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 i thought med school would look at your overall performance when they make the decison....don't they look at what courses you took throughout your undergrad years and how you did in each years after your interview? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jelly31 Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 jelly-- what i gathered from the forum is that a masters doesn't really help you grade wise...how did it help you? (im in a similar situation--- considering a masters) My Master's was a non-thesis one, so it gave me some more course work to boost up my GPA. It also gave me some really valuable experiences and I chose to "specialize" in a more medical area. All of this came up in my interview and I'm pretty sure it set me apart from the other applicants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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