Braindrain Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 I was wondering, i am graduating this April , but i wanted to improve my undergraduate GPA. SO i was wondering to come back for an year and take a full course load, taking some prereqs for states and out of ontario Medical schools. BUt my question is that a good idea? or i should rather start a new degree? and apply after 2 years? On a side note, i dont want to Masters, because what i have researched, its not very clear whether having a master is Thanks I apologize if this question has been asked earlier, but i tried to find the post, but was unsuccesful at it. Thank you for your time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbjones Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 That depends on your GPA. If your GPA is quite low then a second degree might be necessary. If you GPA just needs minor tweaking then an extra year would be better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 That depends on your GPA. If your GPA is quite low then a second degree might be necessary. If you GPA just needs minor tweaking then an extra year would be better. I would second that - you would have to provide details as to what your GPA is, and to be complete break it down by year. That should help us answer your question Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Braindrain Posted April 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 GPA: 1st year: really bad approx 2 2ndyear : 3.3 but i took only 8 out of 10 courses 3rd year: 2.98 (organic chemistry destroyed my GPA) 4th year: hoping for 3.75 this year. So yea its cGPA is not great... I wrote MCAT got 10B 10P 7VR P (will be rewriting it again) EC and volunteer wise i am not worried and very confident, its just my marks i need to focus and have a plan in hand. so is it better to come back for an year and in September 2010, or go do a another degree (thinking of Health Sciences at McMaster) and tehn apply after 2 years of undergrad. This is like a big dilemma! and i dont want to do caribbean or US, cuz my parents are retired and live with me so dont want to be with them. Any feedback would be great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwh333 Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 your cGPA is quite low. if you do indeed get a 3.75 this year... you can either work your butt off and do well in your 5th year... then you can use your top two to apply to western or queens... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbjones Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 Unfortunately, your cumulative GPA will bring you down quite a bit. It will be an uphill battle but not an impossible one. As iwh33 said, do well this year and come back and do a 5th year and do your best. If those two years are above the cutoffs for western and queens, along with your rewritten MCAT scores, you will obtain an interview. Further down the road, if you are not accepted after your first attempt at Western and Queens consider doing a 2nd degree as you have mentioned. Which may open more doors to Ottawa and even some OOP schools though not many Ontario students get accepted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velociraptor Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 by the way, if you start another degree, you will not be interviewed by western until you complete that degree like other have mentioned, I would do a 5th year and try to get a 3.8+ gpa also, if you are considering to apply to mcmaster, to get an interview next year, it's 33% each: GPA, MCAT verbal only, and the 5essays questions on the application. And i think the gpa is for all of the previous years. but wait, for the ontario school, we did not have to send in our transcripts for our 4th year... and they only considered the first 3 years (if we apply in our 4th year)... I guess if you want your 5th year marks to be considered, you would have to apply after the 5th year is over, is right everyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skp1187 Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 Hey I'm sorta in the same boat too. I am currently scheduled to graduate this june but I'm thinking I want to do a 5th yr to improve on my gpa (cGPA is 3.65). Most of the courses I would be taking would be higher level sciences courses. However I wouldn't be taking a full course load b/c I would also be doing research and working in the hospital (so prob like 2 or 3 courses per semester). So do you think its wise for me to not graduate this year and continue with a fifth year? If I graduate this June, can I still take courses next year? Would Med schools (calgary or Alberta) look down on this? thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webshy Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 but wait, for the ontario school, we did not have to send in our transcripts for our 4th year... and they only considered the first 3 years (if we apply in our 4th year)... I guess if you want your 5th year marks to be considered, you would have to apply after the 5th year is over, is right everyone? You are correct for Queen's and Dal. They will only use years completed at the time of your application. Western, on the other hand, will grant you a conditional offer based on having one year above their cut-off, provided the year in progress also meets their cut-off. Elaine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 but wait, for the ontario school, we did not have to send in our transcripts for our 4th year... and they only considered the first 3 years (if we apply in our 4th year)... I guess if you want your 5th year marks to be considered, you would have to apply after the 5th year is over, is right everyone? A lot of schools still want to see that fourth year. Western wants to confirm you graduated (even if you are not on conditional status) and so does Toronto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Braindrain Posted April 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 SO it seems like coming for a 5th year wont be bad...given that i kill it... however, other than queens and western wut other canadian medical schools can i possibly apply for with my best 2 years...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwh333 Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 i'm not entirely sure about this, but isn't UofC best two as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkles3288 Posted April 13, 2009 Report Share Posted April 13, 2009 i'm not entirely sure about this, but isn't UofC best two as well? No. They have a section for best 2 years but they look at your entire academc preformance overall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted April 13, 2009 Report Share Posted April 13, 2009 SO it seems like coming for a 5th year wont be bad...given that i kill it... however, other than queens and western wut other canadian medical schools can i possibly apply for with my best 2 years...? If I recall correctly there is U of S, and also Dalhousie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwh333 Posted April 13, 2009 Report Share Posted April 13, 2009 No. They have a section for best 2 years but they look at your entire academc preformance overall so i guess not too much weight is put on the best 2 year section? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stellargellar Posted April 20, 2009 Report Share Posted April 20, 2009 Your GPA is really low. You should study another year to have your GPA high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uvicstudent Posted April 20, 2009 Report Share Posted April 20, 2009 Hey there, If you take an extra undergrad year to boost GPA/achieve full course load requirements, does it matter which courses you take? For instance, do they need to be upper level courses, etc... thanks for any info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbjones Posted April 20, 2009 Report Share Posted April 20, 2009 Hey there, If you take an extra undergrad year to boost GPA/achieve full course load requirements, does it matter which courses you take? For instance, do they need to be upper level courses, etc... thanks for any info Yup same rules apply I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted April 20, 2009 Report Share Posted April 20, 2009 Hey there, If you take an extra undergrad year to boost GPA/achieve full course load requirements, does it matter which courses you take? For instance, do they need to be upper level courses, etc... thanks for any info As dbjones said your pretty much correct! I would mention that Western has some specific guidelines you might want to review, some schools (Toronto etc) will review your entire transcript and mention they are interested in some cohesion in the program (so in theory your 5th year shouldn't be off in left field, should be some logic to it), but within these rules go for the gpa grab for best results best of luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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