boobiman Posted August 21, 2009 Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 Im new here and just want some general advice. This fall I will be entering my second year at McMaster Life Science. First year, I was able to pull of a 3.46 GPA. Ive heard from a lot of people that marks generally go up after first year (specially at mac). My question is that, should I be worried about my first year GPA? or is that sort of GPA typical for a med applicant. Ive read a lot of course reviews for second year courses and people say that they found them easier than first year courses (not sure if this is true for every university). Please give me some advise. oh and ill probably be applying to both american and canadian school when my time comes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewfieMike Posted August 21, 2009 Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 3.46 is not too shabby for a first year GPA. And you're right, most times people go up. You want to be in a good range of at least 3.75+ so keep pushin'. but you're not in trouble yet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madskillz99 Posted August 21, 2009 Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 I would say that's low for a first year GPA...especially if you want to get in after 3 years anywhere..hate to burst your bubble but your looking at entry after 4 years unless you are oustanding everywhere else.... ..and yes marks do go up, certainly General Chem I and II are tough courses at Mac meant to weed people out...but you'll encounter the same if you take Chem 20A3/20B3 or Physics 1B03...I would suggest delaying taking those courses to salvage your GPA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael777 Posted August 21, 2009 Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 Im new here and just want some general advice. This fall I will be entering my second year at McMaster Life Science. First year, I was able to pull of a 3.46 GPA. Ive heard from a lot of people that marks generally go up after first year (specially at mac). My question is that, should I be worried about my first year GPA? or is that sort of GPA typical for a med applicant. Ive read a lot of course reviews for second year courses and people say that they found them easier than first year courses (not sure if this is true for every university). Please give me some advice. oh and ill probably be applying to both american and canadian school when my time comes. Hey boobiman, a 3.46 is a bit low for first year. To even be able to realistically have a chance after 3rd year, you would have to get a 4.0 next year (or there abouts). But you can definitely still have a decent chance applying after 4th year if you clean up the GPA going forward. At Mac, my first year was definitely the hardest, but that's because I had chem courses and I took physics as well. If you left physics AND orgo AND biochem all for second year...then second year is definitely going to be the hardest for you. As far as biochem goes....biochem 2ee3 was pretty easy, but I hear other biochems can be quite challenging. Good luck going forward! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ontariostudent Posted August 21, 2009 Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 uhm i thought first year was the easiest year in university :S im pretty sure the courses become harder as you move on? since in second year, everything is going to be new to you. First year is basically alot of review material from high school. but you can look at it this way too - if you are in biology, you dont have to worry about taking courses outside your interest i.e. physics, calculus in second year... it is mostly going to be biology courses so you tend to do better since you are now interested in the courses. well i do agree with madskillz... chem did bring my gpa down too but what about second year chem courses? everyone warns me about orgo and biochem I can't speak for McMaster because I didn't go there, but my impression is that first year is the most "difficult". By that, I mean that people usually do the worst in first year, and then improve. This is for a number of reasons: a) The transition from high school is hard for people. It takes time to learn how to be independent and to maximize your potential in university. First year courses are often made to weed out the weaker students. This means that they are unnecessarily difficult. Once you get past the intro courses it is assumed that you are capable, so the courses are not so difficult for the sake of being difficult. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boobiman Posted August 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 Hey boobiman, a 3.46 is a bit low for first year. To even be able to realistically have a chance after 3rd year, you would have to get a 4.0 next year (or there abouts). But you can definitely still have a decent chance applying after 4th year if you clean up the GPA going forward. At Mac, my first year was definitely the hardest, but that's because I had chem courses and I took physics as well. If you left physics AND orgo AND biochem all for second year...then second year is definitely going to be the hardest for you. As far as biochem goes....biochem 2ee3 was pretty easy, but I hear other biochems can be quite challenging. Good luck going forward! Im going to be taking physics in second year and im delaying taking orgo until next summer. I dont want to take orgo during the regular schoool period. I have a few bio/life sci courses and lots of electives. So hopefully I can pull of a good GPA. Chem was the reason my GPA was a 3.46. Any applicants out there who got accepted with similar first year grades? What should i be aiming for this year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ontariostudent Posted August 21, 2009 Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 Im going to be taking physics in second year and im delaying taking orgo until next summer. I dont want to take orgo during the regular schoool period. I have a few bio/life sci courses and lots of electives. So hopefully I can pull of a good GPA. Chem was the reason my GPA was a 3.46. Any applicants out there who got accepted with similar first year grades? What should i be aiming for this year? Aim for 4.0 but be prepared to do a bit worse... Orgo is very very different from regular Chem. It takes a lot of hard work but is by no means impossible. I know of someone who got a D the first time he took it, and an A+ the second. The major difference was just the time and effort he put into it. Physics and Orgo are both courses where they will try to weed out students, so you'll have to work extra hard in them if you want to do well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennifer Posted August 21, 2009 Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 You always want to aim high for your first year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ontariostudent Posted August 21, 2009 Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 You always want to aim high for your first year. It's important to aim high always, but first year tends to be a difficult one and is not necessarily indicative of how you'll do later. Anyone know where I can get prostate vitamins? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Microbiodude Posted August 21, 2009 Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 I personally found my first year of university one of my easiest years but it might have been because my study habits didn't require as much of a transition? I'm a very read the book myself and teach myself kind of student so when I got material I had already covered in high school (i.e. the two chems, calc I, physics, etc.) I did relatively well compared to my peers, except for physics but that was because i slacked and got over confident (lesson learned). The biggest thing I find with most students in their upper years is that they are much more efficient with their studying and as such the courses feel easier. In reality many courses you take compound knowledge on each other and if you didn't understand a pre-req course, well it comes back to haunt you. Of course this really depends on what courses you take. I think with Mac Life Sci you get a lot of room for electives so you can take less content heavy courses as well as courses you're actually interested in. In first year you were just given your courses regardless of interest. That may affect your motivation to study, retain the information and your overall performance. My advice to you would be to reflect on if you studied efficiently and where there was room for improvement (i.e. start studying for midterms 2-3 weeks in advance or change how you study if you are a visual v.s. auditory learner). I would recommend going to the Centre for Student Development (CSD) at McMaster. They can really help you with becoming a more effective student. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ontariostudent Posted August 21, 2009 Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 lolllllllllll Oh! Jennifer to the rescue. She must also be having trouble with her prostate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted August 21, 2009 Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 The biggest thing I find with most students in their upper years is that they are much more efficient with their studying and as such the courses feel easier. In reality many courses you take compound knowledge on each other and if you didn't understand a pre-req course, well it comes back to haunt you. My advice to you would be to reflect on if you studied efficiently and where there was room for improvement (i.e. start studying for midterms 2-3 weeks in advance or change how you study if you are a visual v.s. auditory learner). I would recommend going to the Centre for Student Development (CSD) at McMaster. They can really help you with becoming a more effective student. Good luck. ^^ ^^ Listen to this excellent advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prothrombin Posted August 21, 2009 Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 Yeah that's definitely true. 3.46 obviously isn't stellar, but it isn't as bad as people think. The transition from High School to University is huuuuge, and if you hadn't had a strong study system to carry over from high school it will be overwhelming. The good thing is that you've already started the process of developing a study schedule that works for you, and a feel for how the professors and the departments like to make their exams. You should be able to get a 3.7+ GPA in 2nd year and even better in 3rd assuming you keep up with the hard work. Don't stress though, you can always apply to med school after 4th year, which is what a lot of people end up doing anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooty Posted August 21, 2009 Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 3.46 is not good at all and would not help you in any way in admissions. aim for 3.8+ for all years. the people say that a 3.46 is "not too shabby" or "not too bad" may give the kid a false sense of security about his/her situation. of course, getting a low gpa in 1st year isn't going to kill your chances as much as it would if you were in 4th year, but that doesn't mean you should take it easy in earlier years. i'm assuming you want to get in asap and not waste any time dikking around. yes hs to uni is tough, they need better study habits etc. but the fact of the matter is you need a high gpa, solid ECs and mcat. do what you need to do to get those. everyone has a tough transition from hs to uni. the only excuses that adcoms will allow are extenuating circumstances that somehow affected your academic performance. hs to uni transition will not be valid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prothrombin Posted August 21, 2009 Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 3.46 is not good at all and would not help you in any way in admissions. aim for 3.8+ for all years. the people say that a 3.46 is "not too shabby" or "not too bad" may give the kid a false sense of security about his/her situation. of course, getting a low gpa in 1st year isn't going to kill your chances as much as it would if you were in 4th year, but that doesn't mean you should take it easy in earlier years. i'm assuming you want to get in asap and not waste any time dikking around. yes hs to uni is tough, they need better study habits etc. but the fact of the matter is you need a high gpa, solid ECs and mcat. do what you need to do to get those. everyone has a tough transition from hs to uni. the only excuses that adcoms will allow are extenuating circumstances that somehow affected your academic performance. hs to uni transition will not be valid. Like I said, it's not a GPA that will get you into med school, but it's not as if he scored a 2.5. A lot of people get caught up in the Uni hype and lose focus and get bad marks. His GPA shows that at LEAST he has some study abilities and isn't a moron. He still has 2nd 3rd and 4th year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooty Posted August 21, 2009 Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 Like I said, it's not a GPA that will get you into med school, but it's not as if he scored a 2.5. A lot of people get caught up in the Uni hype and lose focus and get bad marks. His GPA shows that at LEAST he has some study abilities and isn't a moron. He still has 2nd 3rd and 4th year. that's fine for this OP in particular. no hope is lost for the him by any means. i was (and am generally) blunt because i don't want the new 1st year students reading this thread thinking it's okay to get a 3.46. you can bounce back from it if it happens, but you should be fighting for the highest grades possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaerieQueen Posted August 23, 2009 Report Share Posted August 23, 2009 Its so good being in Quebec and not have to get through all of this Good luck to you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boobiman Posted August 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2009 thanks every one for the advice, I really appreciate it. Anyone else want to add to this? Or any other advice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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