grad school advice

[t45f]

hi everyone,

 

i'm looking for advice as to whether or not to pursue graduate studies and then apply for medicine.

 

my stats are as follows: cGPA/OMSAS: 3.96, wGPA at U of T: 4.00, just graduated from 4th year

MCAT: P14, V9, B15, W: R (38R)

I don't think i'll be writing MCATs again since this was the third time that I have written it and my VR scores were lower in the other two sittings.

 

Now that I have graduated from ug, i'm debating as to whether taking the grad route is the better route than a year off. i'm aware that for toronto, grad students are expected to have productivity and gpa is weighted less. my current prospective supervisor suggested that I may have one by the time I submit the grad application. i also have 2 publications from ug but i don't know whether they would be included in that grad assessment.

 

x-curr includes: working with a national youth organization, hospital volunteering, tutoring, recreational sports, newsletter/journal reviewer/editor, wokring with a political party. these stats/sketch were able to get me an interview at Ottawa.

In a year off, I will likely continue these activities in a larger capacity and job shadow a physician and hopefully attend medical rounds. however, i'm afriad of that break in my CV with the year off..

 

thanks for your opinions!

[WaveSense]

lol... (10char)

[AdamP]

apply now (broadly) and work for a year??

 

unless you really enjoy research why put in the extra stress for another two years.

 

38R and 4.0 will be enough my friend.

[Potter]

I agree your stats are great and I'm sure your application this year will get you more interviews!

 

As a graduate student myself, I think you should consider if you really want research to be part of your career or if you just want to do it because you think your application will look better afterwards. If you really do not like research, those 2 years could be quite awful.

 

I'm having a great time in graduate school and I do not regret my decision to go ahead and spend 2 years doing research. Working with a clinician-researcher has really opened my eyes to the opportunities of being physician who also does research.

[GoReds]

I think you can get a similar experience working as a 'research assistant'. We have hired a couple of these students in our lab, where they can still conduct meaningful research, but do not have to go through the difficulties of grad studies.

 

You are only counted out for western really (VR) so I wouldn't change a thing. Sit out for a year and go for it again, there are plenty of ways of getting research experience without committing yourself for multiple years.