Tina_HP Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 I am planning to apply to med school. Right now my GPA is on the low side. For my full time years is ~3.10. I'm not sure if I should starts MSc or should I go to back to undergrad and try to upgrade my marks. Do schools like U of T or Queens accept undegrad courses/degrees taken after finishing MSc (graduate school)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
123coco Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 I would strongly recommend you do another undergrad....nowadays less schools are considering grad students....just a suggestion though! ________ BRAVO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 see PM (10 char) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tina_HP Posted June 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 My questions is this: if I decide to do MSc and then I decide I want to do another undegrad degree to upgrade my GPA, will med schools (U of T, Queens) accept my second undegrad degree which was done after completing MSc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochi1543 Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 My questions is this: if I decide to do MSc and then I decide I want to do another undegrad degree to upgrade my GPA, will med schools (U of T, Queens) accept my second undegrad degree which was done after completing MSc? I'm not sure, but you need to realize the extent of your financial commitment in this situation. Doing an MSc for 2 years will cost you $ since you won't be eligible for the likes of NSERC with your GPA (generally, you can expect to net $10-12,000 from dept sponsorship after tuition is paid, so not enough to live on), and the undergrad will be at least another 2 years where you won't be getting paid anything at all. Unless you're completely dependent on your parents, you're looking at getting yourself into possibly as much as $100K in debt over those minimum 4 years - unless you work full-time, which wouldn't be possible with the MSc and very difficult with undergrad, especially when you're trying to pull off a very high GPA to make yourself competitive. And, of course, there's 4 years lost in the end. And no one guarantees that you will get into med after all that - you could end up trying 2-3 times, if not more. In your situation, you might be better off considering options like the Caribbean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1234 Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 I'm not sure, but you need to realize the extent of your financial commitment in this situation. Doing an MSc for 2 years will cost you $ since you won't be eligible for the likes of NSERC with your GPA (generally, you can expect to net $10-12,000 from dept sponsorship after tuition is paid, so not enough to live on), and the undergrad will be at least another 2 years where you won't be getting paid anything at all. Unless you're completely dependent on your parents, you're looking at getting yourself into possibly as much as $100K in debt over those minimum 4 years - unless you work full-time, which wouldn't be possible with the MSc and very difficult with undergrad, especially when you're trying to pull off a very high GPA to make yourself competitive. And, of course, there's 4 years lost in the end. And no one guarantees that you will get into med after all that - you could end up trying 2-3 times, if not more. In your situation, you might be better off considering options like the Caribbean. I would tend to agree with this evaluation. If you are determined to give it a shot in Canada, you are going to have quite the uphill battle with ~3.1. The best way to approach it is to do another undergraduate degree now. Your primary roadblock is your GPA; thus, it should be your first priority. If you can get it up to a respectable number, you can attempt to apply 2 years from now. If you don't get in, you have a shot at some scholarships so you can earn more during your Masters. Of course, this is all dependent on you getting close to 4.0 in consecutive years. So: 1. 2 years of undergrad + volunteering (3.9 to 4.0 is a must) + getting MD references + MCAT? --> 2. APPLY FOR MED (even for experience) --> 3. Master's Degree (with 4.0 and excellent productivity) with volunteering if you can + write and study for MCAT --> 4. APPLY FOR MED (at this point, this is the best shot you will ever have - there's nothing you can do from this point on that will significantly improve your competitiveness) 5. US Applications and Carribean Med Schools (if this is in fact the path you want to pursue) 6. If not, re-evaluate. There are many fields and careers that are just as rewarding, if not more rewarding than medicine. You just have to allow your mind to experience them objectively. So there you go, your tentative schedule for the next 4-5 years if you decide that you'd like to give meds a shot in Canada. If not, skip down to the latter part of 5 and all of 6. Hope this helps! Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tina_HP Posted June 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 Should I go back and just upgrade the marks in the courses that I did bad by repeating them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochi1543 Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 Should I go back and just upgrade the marks in the courses that I did bad by repeating them? You have to check with individual schools' policies on this. Usually, if you have a failing grade, they will take the new grade, but if it's not failing, it's either the average grade or the first (i.e. worse) grade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 My questions is this: if I decide to do MSc and then I decide I want to do another undegrad degree to upgrade my GPA, will med schools (U of T, Queens) accept my second undegrad degree which was done after completing MSc? In my opinion if you want to take a med school in Ontario you will need a second undergrade for sure, or at least start one. The schools will accept the degree, but many (Toronto in particular since you mention them) will still take your cGPA. With a 3.1 overall currently, even with their drop a course policy, it would be basically impossible to bring that up to what they expect (which sucks ). I don't normally use as strong a statement as that but I don't think I am out of line for Toronto. however a second degree will help you at A LOT of others schools (Queens, Western, NOSM etc). There are a few things though. If I recall you cannot take more undergrad AFTER you do grad work at Ottawa, so doing your masters first will knock out that school from consideration (I believe). Just so there are some alternatives out there, there is possibly of perhaps doing a masters degree in another province perhaps (Say Manitoba). Then you would be in province, and can apply to that school. Since they are heavily MCAT dependent and not GPA dependent it another option, but not without its own risks of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-Stark Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 Do another undergrad, but only if it's an area that provides sufficient education/training for a backup plan. This is not an issue of "not being cut out for medicine", but your GPA means that you are not cut out for medical school admissions. An MSc will not help this, but I would caution against doing another undergrad for the sole purpose of possibly getting in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tina_HP Posted June 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 The reason why my GPA is on the low side is because I was involved in a car accident in my first year which brought my marks down. Also, I moved from one province to another in my second year which I found it stressful and when I started university at my second school my marks dropped due to stress burn out. My dad had two strokes while I was in 1st and 2nd year so support from my parents was very low. My OSAP was denied and my out of province funding was only ~$1000 so I had to work part time while attending university full time in my 2nd and 3rd year. At the same time I was having family issues with my parents and my brother. All these things that happened in my life while I was in university played a factor in bringing my GPA down. Do you think med schools would take this in consideration if I provided proof? If I completed a MSc and I did really well in it, and wrote the MCAT and did really well in it, do you think med schools would take this in consideration? Would med schools consider circumstances that caused my GPA to drop? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-Stark Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 They may take it into consideration, but the fact remains that a 3.1 GPA is inadequate for most med school applications much less acceptances. What were you sessional GPAs like in third and fourth year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tina_HP Posted June 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 My third year GPA was ~3.3. My fourth year GPA was ~3.7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochi1543 Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 Maybe you wanna do a 5th year and, if your MCAT is good, try applying for UWO and Queen's, since they take your last/best 2 years' GPA into consideration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 My third year GPA was ~3.3. My fourth year GPA was ~3.7. I am agreeing with Jochi here but it might come down to the wire as to applying to Western/Queens etc right away. If you compute it what is that 3.7ish GPA exactly? Does it hit the Western 3.75 cut off? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slashsev01 Posted June 15, 2009 Report Share Posted June 15, 2009 id go back... if u can convert a 3.1 into a 3.3-3.4 u will have a decent shot at US schools... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.