FAQ: What are my chances?

[Crayzed]

Some schools do not consider summer courses in GPA calculations, so your D+ would be ignored. What are your GPA's without the chem class?

 

The only GPA that changes is my cGPA, which would go from a 3.65 to a 3.75. I didn't include the D+ in any of my other calculations because McMaster is the only school that includes summer courses into the cGPA. I don't believe a cGPA of 3.65 will cut it for McMaster.

[nem90]

Hey guys, just wanted to start off by saying thank you for all the great advice this website provides.

Just like the title says, I'd like to get some feedback on my chances.

cGPA=3.65

Best 2 years: 3.9

UofT weighted formula: 3.87

MCAT: 11/11/11

EC's: Average for the most part, volunteered research for 3 years, lots of shadowing, exec on 2 clubs, fraternity member, sports, etc

My cGPA is unfortunately low due to taking a 6 credit chemistry course in the summer and receiving a D+. (Was still learning the ropes of studying and it was summer ) If I were to retake chemistry, would the new mark replace my old one, or would they simply just use both?

I'm also thinking of applying outside of Ontario, to schools such as UofCalg and Dalhousie.

What do you think my chances are for schools in Ontario or outside of the province?

Thank you!

 

That's a sexy best 2 years you've got, makes that little mistake with the summer course miniscule in comparison.

 

You should stand a really good chance at UWO, Dal and Queens without a doubt. You're definitely in the picture given you perform well on CASPer.

 

Keep in mind Calgary and UBC remove your lowest year in calculating your CGPA.

 

Basically, you have very good chance pretty much everywhere. Apply broadly and you'll see some decent results.

[premedtough]

I think you stand a good shot in the states, and a decent shot in Canada. What is your GPA breakdown, did you do better or worse in your more recent years? Some schools will take your best two/last two, and many use a weighting system. Figure out where the weighting favours you and apply to those places. Probably only grades from your life sciences degree will count and not your diploma. Your MCAT is generally okay, if you had a 10 in VR you'd have a much better shot at Mac, as it is if you rock CASPer you could probably get an interview there.

 

How are your ECs? I think you could get in in Canada but it might take you a couple times. I have a CGPA of 3.59 (but last two years of 3.94) and I got in second try. If you don't mind staying in the States for residency then I'm sure you'll get into an American school as is, if you want to stay in Canada keep trying here. I'm not sure how the "American recognised" school in Poland works, but to the best of my knowledge it is very difficult to get a residency as an international medical graduate, at least in Canada.

 

Hope this was helpful!

 

Edit: If you only have three years, most weighting formulae won't apply (uoft, Ottawa, others?) But I think the schools that look at 2 year GPAs should still count...you'll have to look into this. Also depending where you're a resident will have an effect, for example if you're from Atlantic Canada you're definitely competitive.

 

Thank you so much for your reply!

 

This is the breakdown of my gpa:

Year 1: 3.59

Year 2: 3.75

Year 3: X-Ray Diploma

Year 4: X-Ray Diploma (Clinical Year)

Year 3: 3.93

 

EC and working experience: Research assistant, shadowing doctors, volunteering, lifeguarding and X-Ray technologist (I know I probably need more activities to demonstrate my leadership skills).

 

I am thinking of taking a non-degree program at U of T this year to increase my GPA. Do you think I need to redo my MCAT too? This is the 2nd time I wrote it already. The 1st time I didn't do so great on my verbal (score = 11/7/13 (PS/VR/BS)).

 

I am from Toronto, so my location won't help either =(

 

Thank you again for your help!

[Crayzed]

That's a sexy best 2 years you've got, makes that little mistake with the summer course miniscule in comparison.

 

You should stand a really good chance at UWO, Dal and Queens without a doubt. You're definitely in the picture given you perform well on CASPer.

 

Keep in mind Calgary and UBC remove your lowest year in calculating your CGPA.

 

Basically, you have very good chance pretty much everywhere. Apply broadly and you'll see some decent results.

 

I appreciate the feedback, and I hope you're right about that summer course. By the way, would I be competitive at UofT as well?

Thanks.

[nem90]

I appreciate the feedback, and I hope you're right about that summer course. By the way, would I be competitive at UofT as well?

Thanks.

 

Mac and Manitoba are one of the only schools that look at the summer course, Essentially, you've put yourself in a really competitive position by having the 3.9 in the 2 best years.

 

IMO even U of T looks good for you. They consider a holistic evaluation and you seem to be a well rounded candidate.. GPA may be just below average though.

[stryke22]

I'm going to be applying next cycle to U of T, Mac, Toronto, Queens, NOSM (from a rural community, but not northern) and maybe Dal and Manitoba although I am from ON... can someone chance me!

 

cGPA (Mac, NOSM, Dal?, Manitoba?): 3.80

wGPG (U of T): 3.91

Best/Last two years (Western, Queens): 3.88

SWOMEN status!!

 

10/10/10/Q MCAT

 

ECs: Average... lots of music stuff (piano teaching, tutoring, directing choirs), hospital ER volunteer, shadowing, campus emergency response team, summer work, several awards, no research.

[danisings]

You're welcome!

 

Great thing about your GPA is that there's a clear upward trend which I think will help you! If you're confident you can do well in another non-degree year then go for it, it will certainly help you and make you eligible for weighting at places like UofT and Ottawa. I've seen a lot of people on this site saying it's difficult to do well at UofT, I've never taken courses there so I can't really weigh in on this, but if this is a concern/possibility you could do an extra year at York or Ryerson instead (since you're in Toronto). I basically did this at York although I did actually enroll in a degree program, I just didn't plan on completing it.

 

Personally (take this with a grain of salt, I'm not as experienced as a lot of people on this site), seeing as how you significantly improved since your last MCAT and it's a decent score, I wouldn't risk re-writing and getting a lower score especially in verbal.

 

Depending on the kind of volunteering you did and the duration, your ECs may be a little light. Obviously a long term commitment carries more weight than say, marshalling at the Relay for Life one year. This won't necessarily hurt you, Mac doesn't look at the ABS at all (though I've heard it's important for Queen's). If you end up taking another year of school it wouldn't hurt to diversify your ECs a bit, once again just depending on your existing volunteer experience. Don't forget to include stuff that isn't necessarily med related: music/sports/dance/whatever.

 

I'm from Mississauga so I feel you about not getting geographic preference for basically anywhere. I think you have a decent shot in Canada, you'll have to ace CASPer if you apply at Mac, but this is doable and there's prep material available. This will help you prep for MMIs too since CASPer seemed to me to basically just be a written speed version of MMI. If you don't want to do an extra year to raise your GPA/have to apply more than once you might want to apply to the states, but I don't think you'll need to. If you do, sounds like you'll get in somewhere in the US. I don't know anything about US admissions, but just from other people's posts it seems that for middle tier US schools it's generally much easier to get in than in Canada. Since I think you're not far off being competitive in Canada, personally I wouldn't apply to the USA and definitely wouldn't go to Poland, but that's your call!

 

May the force be with you!

 

 

Thank you so much for your reply!

 

This is the breakdown of my gpa:

Year 1: 3.59

Year 2: 3.75

Year 3: X-Ray Diploma

Year 4: X-Ray Diploma (Clinical Year)

Year 3: 3.93

 

EC and working experience: Research assistant, shadowing doctors, volunteering, lifeguarding and X-Ray technologist (I know I probably need more activities to demonstrate my leadership skills).

 

I am thinking of taking a non-degree program at U of T this year to increase my GPA. Do you think I need to redo my MCAT too? This is the 2nd time I wrote it already. The 1st time I didn't do so great on my verbal (score = 11/7/13 (PS/VR/BS)).

 

I am from Toronto, so my location won't help either =(

 

Thank you again for your help!

[Britlee12]

nice post buddy

[qwerty123456]

Hey guys I am really hoping to get some advice here. I am wanting to apply to most of the western schools (UBC, UofA, UofC, UofS) as well as McMaster and McGill. As an Alberta resident I've sort of written off getting into UBC, McMaster or McGill but I've always wanted to go to those schools so I wanted to try anyways.

 

My GPA break down:

 

1st year: 3.87

2nd year: 3.81

3rd year: 3.86

4th year: ???

 

I wrote my MCAT twice

 

1st: 7, 11, 14, T

2nd: 10, 10, 13

 

(no more writing section )

 

As you can see PS is kind of my downfall and so I worked my ass off to raise that score but sort of sacrified even better scores in other sections. My GPA is littered with A-s, with my worst mark has been a B+ in second year.

 

I've been doing research for the past two years, am in an honors program, and have done a lot of small volunteering/fundraising sort of things (organizing Relay for Life, Cancer Awareness, literacy programs, science camps, domestic violence awareness,...). I didn't have much time to do a lot of larger projects as I have been involved in student governance at my university (~40-50 hrs/week) since my second year. Also have been selling art on the side.

 

Basically wondering what my chances of grabbing an interview are and if it would be worth writing MCAT again as I'm currently registered in an August writing date.

 

Thanks in advance.

[KClubs]

If I major in Finance and take all science pre-reqs, along with MCAT and EC's, will I have an equal shot at Med school as other applicants?

 

Also I've heard that McGill has a program that if you are 1 or 2 years out of highschool, you can still apply with those grades, to get into a premed( I think) program. Anyone know anything about this? I've dug around their website but it hasn't been much help

[future_doc]

If I major in Finance and take all science pre-reqs, along with MCAT and EC's, will I have an equal shot at Med school as other applicants?

 

Why not? There are law graduates and music graduates in medicine. Different schools have varying requirements, e.g., U/A = statistics, etc.

[mddreamer]

Hey guys I am really hoping to get some advice here. I am wanting to apply to most of the western schools (UBC, UofA, UofC, UofS) as well as McMaster and McGill. As an Alberta resident I've sort of written off getting into UBC, McMaster or McGill but I've always wanted to go to those schools so I wanted to try anyways.

 

My GPA break down:

 

1st year: 3.87

2nd year: 3.81

3rd year: 3.86

4th year: ???

 

I wrote my MCAT twice

 

1st: 7, 11, 14, T

2nd: 10, 10, 13

 

(no more writing section )

 

As you can see PS is kind of my downfall and so I worked my ass off to raise that score but sort of sacrified even better scores in other sections. My GPA is littered with A-s, with my worst mark has been a B+ in second year.

 

I've been doing research for the past two years, am in an honors program, and have done a lot of small volunteering/fundraising sort of things (organizing Relay for Life, Cancer Awareness, literacy programs, science camps, domestic violence awareness,...). I didn't have much time to do a lot of larger projects as I have been involved in student governance at my university (~40-50 hrs/week) since my second year. Also have been selling art on the side.

 

Basically wondering what my chances of grabbing an interview are and if it would be worth writing MCAT again as I'm currently registered in an August writing date.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

You probably already have a decent shot at U of A and U of C. For U of A, your GPA is really close to the average for fourth year applicants and your MCAT is above average. Your ECs sound pretty good too. I don't really think it would be that advantageous for you to re-write the MCAT with a 33, except if you were able to get an 11 again in Verbal with a higher overall score than your first one (beneficial for McMaster and Calgary). You may be a better candidate for UBC with a higher MCAT, but people have questioned how much weight they place on the test.

[lovestruck]

Hello!

 

I had gotten some lovely feedback on another thread earlier this month regarding my chances at a few schools. I have now decided which one's I would like to apply to and have finalized a list:p I will be entering my 4th and final year of my BSc Honours in Physiology & Pharmacology.

 

I will be writing MCAT in August and will hopefully get a score of (10PS, 11VS, 11BS) or better.

 

cGPA w/out summer = 3.75

 

1st year GPA = 3.56

2nd year GPA = 3.69

3rd year GPA = 3.99

4th year GPA = Confident I'll get 3.9+

 

UBC (OOP applying for MD/PhD program) - 86%-87%

UofT - wGPA = 3.94

UofC (OOP) - GPA = 3.84

UofA (OOP) - cGPA (UofA Scale) - 3.75

Queen's - Last two years GPA - 3.84

Western (Non-Swomen) - Best two years GPA - 3.84

Ottawa - GPA = 3.82

McMaster - cGPA (Including summer courses) = 3.71

 

EC's:

 

Recreational and competitive sports:

 

Soccer for 15 years - 2 weeks training with semi-pro team in Germany plus other team awards (mostly in highschool/1st year university). Squash, basketball are recreational 5+ years. Freestyle football for 9 years...made a youtube video in highschool.

 

Healthcare:

 

Volunteering in Emergency for 3.5ish years. 2 weeks overseas volunteering in rural and urban centers in 3rd world country. 2 months of clinical research internship in Emergency Med in the States.

 

Leadership:

 

Youth leader for local ethnic group for 1 year. Held a position in a student run organization for one year. Taught a language to kids at a local school as a teacher for 6 years. Been involved/helped organize many fundraisers and lil activities here and there yearly for 4-5 years. Member of local neighbourhood community association as "Parks & Recreation" Coordinator for 3-4 months.

 

Research:

 

One month of volunteer research after 1st year.

Two months of paid research after 2nd year (one abstract/poster presentation, first author, which I could've presented at international conference...decided to spend time with family lol:D )

NSERC going on right now (will be getting 1 paper - 1st author).

Clinical research as mentioned above.

4th year Honours thesis starting in Sept.

 

 

Other lil tidbits:

 

Teaching my self spanish & italian for the past 1 year (Duolingo is awesome:D ).

Play classical east indian instrument mostly recreationally, performed at 2-3 events.

Travelling! A lot!

A few other lil things but probably not enough to warrant putting on a med app. Don't want to come off as padding heehee

 

Sorry for the long post! I know my marks are borderline or perhaps not good enough at most schools. So I'm kinda banking on my EC's to pull me through.

 

Any tips on applying to any of these schools would be appreciated! I know some of you have offered to edit essays and whatnot. I'm so thankful:D

 

My one tip: don't bother at UOttawa. The out of Ottawa GPA cut-off is 3.85 (STRICT) and even those in Ottawa aren't getting interviews with much less than that (official cut-off is around 3.75ish for Ottawa residents). It's the one school you've got slim to none chances at so why waste the $$.

 

You look good for everywhere else. Mac is on the low end since you cGPA is low so you'd need 11+ verbal AND amazing CASPer.

 

BTW great listing of all the info. Everyone asking "what are my chances" should ask the way you did with all the GPA, ECs neatly laid out!

[schmitty]

You are looking in good shape. If you really want MD/PhD, you better make sure your references are STELLAR since you have no MSc, though your research experience is good for your year.

 

I would not apply to UofO (save the $100 or wahtever) since you basically have no chance of an interview with <3.89 GPA.

 

Definitely apply broadly and you have a great shot!

[guptash5]

[deleted for privacy]

[schmitty]

I'd say you have a great shot at U of T - especially if you can get some pubs and 6 great letters for your grad app.

[dontgiveup]

Hello!

 

 

First time poster, long time lurker, just wondering what people's advice for someone with not so great grades.... :S

 

3rd year BC applicant

GPA: approx 82%

 

ECs: kinda average.. piano, swimming, soccer, teaching piano, tutoring, research 2 summers, ER hospital volunteer ~150 hrs, club exec for 2 yrs, shadowing, travel to rural China and visited patients in a rural community clinic for 2 weeks

 

 

 

do i have any chances for ubc? or suggestions to improve my application?

 

Thank you!

[calijello]

Hi folks,

 

I am going into 2nd year in UBC pharmacy, and I want to pursue med.

But I have a lowww overall gpa because my first and second year in science was not so good (~75-76%)

I still have 3 years of pharm to bring my marks up but is it possible to even get an interview with my marks at UBC?

[gjsman]

Hey everyone.

 

Not exactly thrilled about this but I need some advice on what to do with what I have so far. I have completed my third year of university but still have one to go.

 

Year 1: 3.56

Year 2: 3.10

Year 3: 3.69

Year 4: 3.8+ hopefully

 

cGPA: 3.45

AMCAS GPA: 3.57

Best 2 Years: 3.63

UofT: 3.67

Last 2 Years: 3.40

 

MCAT: 12 VR, 10 PS, 10 BS = 32R

 

EC: School clubs, charity committee coordinator, intramurals.

- clinical research assistant, shadowing GI physician

 

I had a lot of trouble adjusting to the work ethic required for university, I kind of coasted through high school with good grades because you don't have to study much as long as you go to class. I also had self-motivation issues but I worked really hard and if it wasn't for a single class, my GPA in 3rd year was looking to be 3.8ish.

 

Anyways, I still really want to pursue Med. Is that still a possibility? And any advice or suggestions are welcome.

 

Should I do a 5th year? Graduate studies? 2nd UG? the US?

 

Thanks so much.

[guptash5]

[deleted for privacy]

[hamham]

Hello!

 

 

First time poster, long time lurker, just wondering what people's advice for someone with not so great grades.... :S

 

3rd year BC applicant

GPA: approx 82%

 

ECs: kinda average.. piano, swimming, soccer, teaching piano, tutoring, research 2 summers, ER hospital volunteer ~150 hrs, club exec for 2 yrs, shadowing, travel to rural China and visited patients in a rural community clinic for 2 weeks

 

do i have any chances for ubc? or suggestions to improve my application?

 

Thank you!

 

Avg GPA for interviewed IP applicants was ~87% in the 2012-2013 cycle.

http://mdprogram.med.ubc.ca/files/2012/12/Interim-Statistics-2012-13-MED-2017.pdf

 

So your GPA is way below average. Plus, you are a third yr applicant, so I'm not sure how significant/diverse your ECs are. Bear in mind that most older applicants have much stronger ECs.

 

I would say apply and hope for the best. If you get the interview, you will need to really ace it to stand a chance of getting an offer. Good luck.

[hamham]

Hi folks,

 

I am going into 2nd year in UBC pharmacy, and I want to pursue med.

But I have a lowww overall gpa because my first and second year in science was not so good (~75-76%)

I still have 3 years of pharm to bring my marks up but is it possible to even get an interview with my marks at UBC?

 

I believe no one has gotten an offer with <80% GPA. Avg GPA for interviewed IP applicant is 87% in the 2012-2013 cycle.

http://mdprogram.med.ubc.ca/files/2012/12/Interim-Statistics-2012-13-MED-2017.pdf

 

You will have to estimate your pharm grades and recalculate your GPA based on them.

[sudomark3]

It look so easy to be a medical student with the help of this chart :confused:

[stryke22]

Oops! Looks like my thread was buried! If anyone could give feedback, that would be greatly appreciated!

 

I'm going to be applying next cycle to U of T, Mac, Toronto, Queens, NOSM (from a rural community, but not northern) and maybe Dal and Manitoba although I am from ON... can someone chance me!

 

cGPA (Mac, NOSM, Dal?, Manitoba?): 3.80

wGPG (U of T): 3.91

Best/Last two years (Western, Queens): 3.88

SWOMEN status!!

 

10/10/10/Q MCAT

 

ECs: Average... lots of music stuff (piano teaching, tutoring, directing choirs), hospital ER volunteer, shadowing, campus emergency response team, summer work, several awards, no research.

[ArchEnemy]

I'm going to be applying next cycle to U of T, Mac, Toronto, Queens, NOSM (from a rural community, but not northern) and maybe Dal and Manitoba although I am from ON... can someone chance me!

 

cGPA (Mac, NOSM, Dal?, Manitoba?): 3.80

wGPG (U of T): 3.91

Best/Last two years (Western, Queens): 3.88

SWOMEN status!!

 

10/10/10/Q MCAT

 

ECs: Average... lots of music stuff (piano teaching, tutoring, directing choirs), hospital ER volunteer, shadowing, campus emergency response team, summer work, several awards, no research.

 

You'll probably get interviews from Queens and Mac (if you do alright on Casper).

 

You have a shot at Toronto. Although your GPA is lower than the average undergrad's GPA, your ECs might make up for that.

 

No idea about NOSM or OOP schools.