graduating...now what?

[pishposh]

So I'm finally graduating after 5 years; yes 5 long years. I took a fifth year because I wanted to complete extra psychology courses as a backup career choice. However, although I did very well in my last year my cGPA is only a 2.76. This is mostly due to the horrible first and second year science marks that I received. My question is, since I have done most of the prereqs for med school already do med schools allow for redo courses? Ultimately I was considering going back to redo some of my science courses and take some other prereqs that I don't already have. I know that I can ace them now because as odd as this may sound I only truly learned how to study in my last two years of university.

 

If I shouldn't go back to university what should I do in order to boost my gpa? Post-bac? Although I would really rather prefer to go back.

 

Any help you be appreciated. I feel as if I am in limbo at the moment!

[pishposh]

Oh so you mean if I do a second degree only my marks from my second degree will count, and the prereqs (and not the marks) will also count?

 

thanks for your help.

[dannyboy]

Oh so you mean if I do a second degree only my marks from my second degree will count, and the prereqs (and not the marks) will also count?

 

thanks for your help.

 

Some schools only look at your last 2 years, etc. As jbm said, you would have to research into the different schools to see how they look at things.

[pishposh]

o.k great! I was also thinking instead of doing a second degree I might just go back for one more year full time since some schools only look at your best 2 full time years.

[AndyDude]

Your extra years should be part of a second undergraduate degree. Continuation of courses related to your current undergrad or taking random courses for the sake of filling credits to boost your GPA will not help.

[jelly31]

Right, you already have the prereqs. There are one or two schools that require you to put the prereq marks into your gpa calcs, but the vast majority do not.

 

DO NOT redo the prereqs unless you failed them.

 

I strongly agree with this. If you did decently in your last 2 years, you still have a shot at getting in to some schools that only look at your best or last 2 full-time years. Have you written the MCAT?

[Fade2Black]

I called McMaster's and U of T's MD admission offices today. Both said that in the case of taking a 2nd undergraduate degree, they will look at your cumulative average from all years of undergrad (that being the first and second degree). Quite frankly, I was a little surprised when I heard this because I will be taking a second degree in a coop program this coming semester. The only benefit U of T mentioned was that they would drop your lowest two courses from each year (if they were full courseload semesters).

[pishposh]

I strongly agree with this. If you did decently in your last 2 years, you still have a shot at getting in to some schools that only look at your best or last 2 full-time years. Have you written the MCAT?

 

 

I'm in the process of studying for the MCAT right now. I write in August!

 

Your extra years should be part of a second undergraduate degree. Continuation of courses related to your current undergrad or taking random courses for the sake of filling credits to boost your GPA will not help.

 

Why will just taking another year after grad (not another degree) NOT help my GPA? Is it because only courses part of a degree are counted in one's gpa for med school (dpepending on the school I'm guessing right?)

 

I called McMaster's and U of T's MD admission offices today. Both said that in the case of taking a 2nd undergraduate degree, they will look at your cumulative average from all years of undergrad (that being the first and second degree). Quite frankly, I was a little surprised when I heard this because I will be taking a second degree in a coop program this coming semester. The only benefit U of T mentioned was that they would drop your lowest two courses from each year (if they were full courseload semesters).

 

Hmm, well thanks for posted what information you found out! I will be e-mailing U of Calgary and UBC to find out what their gpa calculations are like if I were to take a second degree.

 

I'm still not sure what I should do. I don't understand why I can't just take another year after grad to boost my gpa w/o doing another degree. I am going to speak to a counsellor on Friday, hopefully she won't totally destroy my dreams, lol. I've had friends who changed their entire course of studies because of some random counsellor who told them they would never make it! HORRIBLE!

[jelly31]

I know that among other things, UBC looks at the last 30 credits prior to determining who gets selected for an interview - 30 credits of whatever you last took, regardless of if it was a second undergrad or a Master's degree or a combination of the two. After the interview, they look at overall GPA and pre-req marks but it's not clear how much emphasis is placed on these marks.

[avenir001]

^^ last 60 credits, not last 30.

ubc also looks at all courses ever taken in undergrad, no matter how many degrees you have.

overall gpa + last-60 credit gpa make up the AQ which is out of 25.

EC's + autobiographical sketch make up the NAQ which is also out of 25.

if your AQ + NAQ is ~36.5 (ip), you get an interview.

after the interview, they again look at everything, including mcat + pre-req avg.

so bad marks in your academic history will always affect your chances at ubc (unless u use the 10-year rule), but you can make up for poor marks to some extent with exceptional EC's...and ppl have gotten in with 70-something averages.

[pishposh]

^^ last 60 credits, not last 30.

ubc also looks at all courses ever taken in undergrad, no matter how many degrees you have.

overall gpa + last-60 credit gpa make up the AQ which is out of 25.

EC's + autobiographical sketch make up the NAQ which is also out of 25.

if your AQ + NAQ is ~36.5 (ip), you get an interview.

after the interview, they again look at everything, including mcat + pre-req avg.

so bad marks in your academic history will always affect your chances at ubc (unless u use the 10-year rule), but you can make up for poor marks to some extent with exceptional EC's...and ppl have gotten in with 70-something averages.

 

 

really 70 averages? Well that is encouraging. I suppose your EC would have to be AMAZING!-like going to africa or something.

 

thanks!

[classA]

2nd Degree is the way to go if your going to do more undergrad. For my back up plan I was going to take a 5th year of undergrad. But after talking with an academic counselor she said I will be able to register with forth year students but since I will not be in a degree module most of the science classes are restricted at first to forth year students in specific programs. So in the end I would be left with just the scraps and possibly be wasting a year taking classes that are not interesting to me and will not be beneficial.

Nail the MCAT and you might be good with the last 2 years though.But a good GPA is extremely important.

[avenir001]

well if you take a look at the statistics they post on their site, every year about 25% of ubc's entering class has avgs in the 75-80% range and 2-3% in the 70-75% range...obviously they've done something to compensate for their lower grades..it's not any particular thing they're looking for, but some of these people are accomplished athletes, musicians, have shown exceptional leadership, etc...there is just something that stands out...

so ubc has a more holistic approach to admission and doesn't just discard your application if your gpa is below 3.7 or something...(altho your overall avg has to be above 70% to be considered)

but obviously u shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket...in your situation, i would definitely try and have 2 years with 3.7+ (preferably 3.8 or higher) so that i could then apply to the schools that consider last/best 2 years...the best way to do this would be to do another undergrad degree in 2 years..but if you have a good year already, u may just want to do a special year if you can get to register in the courses you want..and not just some left-over crap.

anyway, good luckkk.

[pishposh]

avenir, thanks. Yes my last year I received good marks. I was thinking of just going back for one more year. I am going to talk to a counsellor to see what happens.

 

thanks for the input.

[medisforme]

I know that among other things, UBC looks at the last 30 credits prior to determining who gets selected for an interview - 30 credits of whatever you last took, regardless of if it was a second undergrad or a Master's degree or a combination of the two. After the interview, they look at overall GPA and pre-req marks but it's not clear how much emphasis is placed on these marks.

 

 

Does it matter if you go back to school (as a non-trad) into a non-degree (ie. general studies or something) program to complete med school pre-reqs. everyone is saying you have to take a second degree or something when going back to school.

in my defense it will be obvious from my transcripts that i didn't return to school just to increase my gpa since it has been more or less static throughout my undergrad from year one to the present.

[Halcyon]

what about grad studies?