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FAQ: What are my chances?


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No. A cGPA of 3.76 is not really that bad. People on these boards have quite high GPAs, so others start to think their GPA is too low. Depending on what section the 9 in your MCAT score is from, you'll meet MCAT cutoffs for some/most schools. Also, schools like Toronto, Western, Ottawa, Queens, Calgary, and Saskatchewan use different types of GPA weighting formulas, which will, most likely, give you a higher GPA than 3.76. Just go to the schools' websites for the way they calculate their grades, or use the search function from this site. Based on your GPA and MCAT, Canada is not out of reach for you.

 

exactly, plus improving your MCAT is WAY easier than going to the states.

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(Disclaimer: didn't see many actual "what are my chances" posts/replies in this thread, am I doing this right/in the right forum?)

Just finished 3rd year at mcgill in a science major/minor, would really appreciate some comments on my situation:

1st year: 3.76

2nd year: 3.4

3rd year: 3.88 (both semesters)

Current cum GPA: 3.62 (upward trend, +1.1 in most recent year)

4th year: to be determined, but I will still have an awkward (not high/not low) GPA

 

MCAT: I wrote it last year, unexpectedly voided it, was averaging 30-33 with 10's across the board, hopefully I will do as good if not better this year with more and better preparation. Writing section: I can write well, and I took university courses. Write date is August 21st to give me max preparation, so score release will be very tight with application this cycle.

 

ECs: hospital volunteering in high school, overseas volunteering doing actual clinical work in Philippines with doctors (2008), currently unpaid in MRI related psyc research at the Montreal Neurological Institute measuring stress, eating habits, cortisol levels (2009), shadowed a cardiologist in Canada (2009), rising exec/ president of 2 university sporting clubs (2007-present) not including university fencing team (2008-present), tutor elementary school math & english

 

LORs: 1 from research PI, 1 from english prof (both should be good), and ? one from a close bio prof?

 

My main question is, should I apply this cycle (to Ontario schools)? Any other comments about my chances or what I should do after I graduate (in order to strengthen my reapplication) would be appreciated. Questions are welcome, thanks in advance!

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(Disclaimer: didn't see many actual "what are my chances" posts/replies in this thread, am I doing this right/in the right forum?)

Just finished 3rd year at mcgill in a science major/minor, would really appreciate some comments on my situation:

1st year: 3.76

2nd year: 3.4

3rd year: 3.88 (both semesters)

Current cum GPA: 3.62 (upward trend, +1.1 in most recent year)

4th year: to be determined, but I will still have an awkward (not high/not low) GPA

 

MCAT: I wrote it last year, unexpectedly voided it, was averaging 30-33 with 10's across the board, hopefully I will do as good if not better this year with more and better preparation. Writing section: I can write well, and I took university courses. Write date is August 21st to give me max preparation, so score release will be very tight with application this cycle.

 

ECs: hospital volunteering in high school, overseas volunteering doing actual clinical work in Philippines with doctors (2008), currently unpaid in MRI related psyc research at the Montreal Neurological Institute measuring stress, eating habits, cortisol levels (2009), shadowed a cardiologist in Canada (2009), rising exec/ president of 2 university sporting clubs (2007-present) not including university fencing team (2008-present), tutor elementary school math & english

 

LORs: 1 from research PI, 1 from english prof (both should be good), and ? one from a close bio prof?

 

My main question is, should I apply this cycle (to Ontario schools)? Any other comments about my chances or what I should do after I graduate (in order to strengthen my reapplication) would be appreciated. Questions are welcome, thanks in advance!

 

Disclaimer: I didn't actually read anything you wrote. Maybe you should read the first post.

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(Disclaimer: didn't see many actual "what are my chances" posts/replies in this thread, am I doing this right/in the right forum?)

Just finished 3rd year at mcgill in a science major/minor, would really appreciate some comments on my situation:

1st year: 3.76

2nd year: 3.4

3rd year: 3.88 (both semesters)

Current cum GPA: 3.62 (upward trend, +1.1 in most recent year)

4th year: to be determined, but I will still have an awkward (not high/not low) GPA

 

MCAT: I wrote it last year, unexpectedly voided it, was averaging 30-33 with 10's across the board, hopefully I will do as good if not better this year with more and better preparation. Writing section: I can write well, and I took university courses. Write date is August 21st to give me max preparation, so score release will be very tight with application this cycle.

 

ECs: hospital volunteering in high school, overseas volunteering doing actual clinical work in Philippines with doctors (2008), currently unpaid in MRI related psyc research at the Montreal Neurological Institute measuring stress, eating habits, cortisol levels (2009), shadowed a cardiologist in Canada (2009), rising exec/ president of 2 university sporting clubs (2007-present) not including university fencing team (2008-present), tutor elementary school math & english

 

LORs: 1 from research PI, 1 from english prof (both should be good), and ? one from a close bio prof?

 

My main question is, should I apply this cycle (to Ontario schools)? Any other comments about my chances or what I should do after I graduate (in order to strengthen my reapplication) would be appreciated. Questions are welcome, thanks in advance!

 

I think you can have a strong application this year. Your ECs and LORs seem to be stellar, your GPA is not great, but sufficient. Why not apply and take your chances with some interviews?

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Im really sorry if its a sin to do this but im human:

my gpa for first year is 3.01.. have I ruined my chances?

virtually no EC right now, trying to work on it...

 

Most schools either dont look at, or dont weight heavily on first year marks, so your gpa can turn around to be competitive. However, EC's are important, and all schools look at EC's throughout your educational carreer. OMSAS (Ontario schools) asks for all ECs since you were 16. Get on the ECs. ASAP. Because in the end, all med applicants have a similar high gpa, and comparable MCAT scores. Its the extra stuff that make you stand out from the crowd.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'll just give it a shot :)

 

Just graduated from McGill, here are my stats:

 

cGPA: 3.84

3rd year: 3.84

2nd year: 3.82

1st year: 3.85

 

MCAT: rewriting it September 10th. Got a 31 when I wrote it for the first time (10Bio, 12 Verbal, 9 Physics) but I think with more prep (which I have been working on and am still working on) I can do better

 

Research: 2 years during undergrad in two labs (one at the Montreal Neurological Institute and one in McGill's psych department, wrote two honours theses), one 2nd author pub, another one currently being submitted, 2 conference presentations, peer reviewer for an undergrad research journal and now working for one year full time as clinical research assistant in a lab at one of McGill's major teaching hospitals in an internal medicine subspecialty.

 

ECs: a few sports (not varsity during undergrad, but during high school I finished 1st at state championships and 8th at the national tennis finals of my home country; also former state champion and 2nd place at state championships in ballroom dancing), received an honorary award from my hometown for athletic achievements and was honored by my home state for academic achievements, finished my degree in three years besides taking one semester off to work full-time as a physician assistant in my home town, where I got to assist in many neurosurgical procedures, made my first stitches, took blood, took patient histories, gave vaccines and so on;

 

LoRs: I can get two from PIs and one from the physicians I worked for back home

 

MAIN PROBLEM: I have applied for permanent residence, but probably won't get it until sometime next year, which means I am out of province everywhere.

 

The only schools I can apply to are Dal, McMaster, U of T, and Memorial. Do I have a shot as an OOP student.

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ah, thanks for the explanation.

 

Hm, I think I am gonna call sometime soon and ask out of curiosity. If they say "the only foreigners we admit are the ones who are sponsored by a foreign government" I might as well not spend the money to apply. Thanks for the heads-up :)

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I already posted this in the US forum since I feel like I don't make Canadian cutoffs, but I'll confirm with you guys - some of my friends want me to try Canada, but I doubt my ability to pull that off.

 

I just finished 4th year & i'm taking a victory lap after being rejected by 15 US schools last year (and getting no interviews, although a lot of my secondaries and LORs weren't finished until september / october).

 

cgpa 3.59

(1st yr 3.74

2nd yr 3.57

3rd yr 3.54

4th yr 3.51)

mcat 33Q, breakdown 14-8-Q-11 (is the 8 on VR that much of a problem? i really don't wanna retake the mcat until it expires)

 

 

-3 years ER volunteering

-2 years doing volunteer peer counseling & workshops with my school's sex-ed centre, and I will spend the upcoming year as an exec

-4 years as an amateur electronic music producer .. i've been featured on a few small releases

-Had a few summer jobs such as camp counselor at an oncology camp, and tour guide for grade 7-8 students

-worked as a TA at my school for a 1st year geography course for 1 semester

-research in the geo dept for 1 year on community health / poverty & services available to the public

-about to do an honours thesis on health geography for the upcoming year

 

 

 

Should I even bother applying to Canada? I really don't want to approach my referees again for LORs lol.

 

Thanks for reading, guys!

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I already posted this in the US forum since I feel like I don't make Canadian cutoffs,

 

cgpa 3.59

mcat 33Q, breakdown 14-8-Q-11

 

Unfortunately, like the flowchart at the beginning of this thread indicates, your cGPA is too low for Canada.

 

UWO is best two years above 3.75 (historically). Unfortunately, I just checked the UWO requirements on the OMSAS pdf, and the minimum 3.75 must be met in each of your best two years considered (your 3.74 in first year is just shy of the minimum for interview).

 

The 8 in verbal is a problem for Canada. I would rewrite.

Ottawa, McGill, and NOSM will not require the MCAT; however, the AFMC stats show that the mean GPA for successful applicants at Ottawa and McGill in 07/08 were 3.66 and 3.77, respectively (which actually seems kind of low...I might not be reading these stats well. Also, the 3.77 at McGill was at a time when McGill still required the MCAT).

NOSM has a very heavy bias towards northern and rural applicants. I think McGill also biases Quebec residents--I'm not sure of the details for McGill.

 

 

Overall, if you want to go for it, you're going to have to boost your GPA and your MCAT. Try and see what the school selector spreadsheet at the Student Doctor forums gives you for American schools.

 

 

P.S.: Your ECs sound great.

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  • 2 weeks later...

1st year - 1.52

2nd year - 3.84

3rd year - 3.97

4th year - 3.88

 

MCAT - 34Q

 

I'm going to do a 5th year to bump my cGPA up and I'm thinking of taking the DAT.

 

I'm mostly aiming for Western, Queens and Ottawa med or UofT and Western dental school. I want to do dental school more than med, aside from taking the DAT, is there anything I should do to up my chances?

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For your chances at Dent, check with the Dental forum. Other than that, with your 1st year dropped, I'm pretty sure you know you have good chances. I will say it once again, if your averaged GPA is >3.8, there is no need to ask about your chances. Stop being so insecure and live life!

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to know your chances of getting in you can check out http://www.themsag.com

I ve got the complete edition one and it s really good. it details everything about the pplication and admission for each of the medical schools. how the schools decide who get s a interview, the dfifferent formula for each schoola dn requirements and stats for each school. i recommend it to anyone applying cuz it ll help you apply where you have the greatest chances of admission .http://www.themsag.com

 

+

 

1st post

 

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2007-08-02Spam.jpg

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If you could do another year to bump your cGPA up, you should. You're really close and your MCAT score is great.

 

i asked my science advisor about this. and at mcgill apparently you can't do an extra year to bump your cGPA. they accept 2nd undergrads. but they dont look at credits that exceed 120.

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I'm going into 3rd year...

 

I have a 3.89 and my mcat is: 8VR/10PS/14/BS and N (32N)

 

What schools should I apply to? I feel my mcat is low (need to redo it next summer)...

 

I will apply for UOttawa for sure, but which other ones...my VR is terrible and that sucks for mcmaster

 

thanks guys ;)

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