The Law Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Does anyone know if the applications of graduate students get reviewed differently? Are there advantages/disasdvantages to this route? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alastriss Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 The courses are lumped in with the undergrad courses you have taken. Depends on the Masters it can be advantageous. A masters in research will be favorable by adcomms in that you are getting research experience, and anything you get out of it (awards, presentations, papers) are going to be a plus. Some people reported that they more than tripled-quadrupled the number of interviews they got by doing an MPH. I don't know if that was the fact that the MPH is great or because they had gotten higher education, but the bottom like is there are +'s to doing a masters. These advantages are not objective like they are in Canada, so don't expect a +0.01 to any formula (like at mcmaster) or being in a different pool (like Ottawa U or U of T) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
token Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Yeah if your GPA is the problem the masters won't help. The ugrad and grad GPAs are calculated separately, but schools will only care about the undergrad. E.g. 3.5 undergrad + 4.0 grad = a 3.5 student. You'd have to do a SMP or post-bacc if numbers are the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Law Posted January 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Well, my US GPA is actually really good. I've just been considering doing it since I doubt I'll get into any place in Canada this year, and I'm not that sure about my application to the states this upcoming June (will see how well I do on my MCAT rewrite!). I wonder if it'll be an asset to have in the application process to the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UserName Posted January 26, 2009 Report Share Posted January 26, 2009 I'm currently in my second year of science-research master's. I'm rewriting the MCAT very soon actually. I plan to drop my application first thing June 1. My undergrad is not good (roughly 3.5) but i need to see if it will increase if I switch to the US grading scale. (OttawaU here) Had my undergrad been something like 3.7 or 3.8 I might have done another year of undergrad to boost it.. But for me it was pretty low and i was presented with a great research opportunity.. so i took it. going through a fifth year of undergrad with uncertainties afterward didn't seem like a good choice. So I'm betting on getting a very good MCAT and hopefully our PNAS publication will make it.. I have been looking at the accepted student stats.. and some universities have quite a large percentage of graduate students. I will actually post my summary results of those Canadian friendly schools later after i write my MCAT on the 30th.. maybe we can discuss which ones you guys really think are research friendly or graduate/mature student friendly (I'm 24) all the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alastriss Posted January 26, 2009 Report Share Posted January 26, 2009 Yeah if your GPA is the problem the masters won't help. The ugrad and grad GPAs are calculated separately, but schools will only care about the undergrad. E.g. 3.5 undergrad + 4.0 grad = a 3.5 student. You'd have to do a SMP or post-bacc if numbers are the problem. whoa token, I thought I read somewhere that grad courses go into the calc of the GPA? I think I read a post about some guy saying that a MSc courses can help boost the sciGPA. I would have to double check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
token Posted January 26, 2009 Report Share Posted January 26, 2009 Yep, I'm pretty sure....I think that's why there aren't that many US med students with MS degrees. A post-bacc works because you're taking undergraduate courses. An SMP is helpful because you're taking classes alongside med students, so adcomms may see that as evidence that despite your GPA, you can handle med school. Of course getting a masters would help far more with the Canadian schools so that route makes more sense if you're trying for both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lll Posted January 28, 2009 Report Share Posted January 28, 2009 Someone's getting to grad school????/....what happened to the lab job in california??? ________ Mazda Familia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvermen85 Posted January 28, 2009 Report Share Posted January 28, 2009 I would stand a chance of getting any interviews from the schools I applied had I not do a grad degree. For me, my grad work is what separated me from all other applicants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UserName Posted January 28, 2009 Report Share Posted January 28, 2009 I would stand a chance .... had I not do a grad degree Please tell me you meant to say "I wouldn't" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvermen85 Posted January 29, 2009 Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 Haha, that's what I was meant to say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
relf Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 I have a masters degree and I'm studying meds in the US...im pretty sure my grad degree didnt help me get to the interview stage...except maybe it boosted my GPA a little...but i think once you get to the interview, it gives you more to talk about...but then again, so does any other life experience...having said that, i think it will help me once i get to applying for residencies...I think I have an advantage by having a research based master's with a publication compared to a post-bac or SMP... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terryann Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 I am supposed to graduate this year...is it worth doing a 5th year to bring up my gpa....do the schools look on the 5th year negatively..help here.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAS Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 do the 5th year... i regret almost all the time that i didn't do a 5th year... sigh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terryann Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 I am at U of T.....but they will not let me take 100 level physics, math in the 5th year which I need to take to apply to med schools in the US... do you think it would work, if I took physics and math at summer school, then just did my regular fifth year ... This year I only applied to Ottawa, Northern and Mac... Plan to do the Mcat in the Fall... Thank you so much...re...doing the fifth year... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAS Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 you could do it during the summer, or you could take it through athabasca i'm surprised they won't let you unless there are exclusions... make sure you're not taking courses that have exclusions... depending on the courses you've already taken/the degree you're in. maybe look into taking a different math course? but yes... def stay on and do that 5th year and absolutely smoke it (3.9+), and you'll be good, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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