ukie Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 Hello everyone i am relatively new to this board. So i was hoping somebody could help me. 1)... i would really like to know how can calculate my gpa i go to U of T and we have the 1 credit for full year course or .5 for half year course system. Whether labs are present or not is irrelevant. how do i go about calculating my GPA on AMSAS since i know they look at the hours... 2) When is the best time to apply for US?? Since i see that alot of people are getting their interviews very early in novemeber and even october. And rolling aplications?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emcd Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 Hello everyone i am relatively new to this board.So i was hoping somebody could help me. 1)... i would really like to know how can calculate my gpa i go to U of T and we have the 1 credit for full year course or .5 for half year course system. Whether labs are present or not is irrelevant. how do i go about calculating my GPA on AMSAS since i know they look at the hours... 2) When is the best time to apply for US?? Since i see that alot of people are getting their interviews very early in novemeber and even october. And rolling aplications?? apply as early as possible...when the application opens. i was a little late (had my primary in by end of july and my secondaries by early september) but still got quite a few interviews. the earlier the better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukie Posted December 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 apply as early as possible...when the application opens. i was a little late (had my primary in by end of july and my secondaries by early september) but still got quite a few interviews. the earlier the better! what if i am planning to write my mcat a little later... like in end july or early august?? i was hoping to have the rest of the month for all the aplication process. should i try to finish my aplication before i do my mcat or it really wouldn;t matter since they won;t get my result until september..? Do you have a better chance of getting the interview the earlier you apply?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moo Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 This is why to apply to US schools, it is recommended you take your MCAT in April of the year in which you apply, so as not to delay your application. It's strongly discouraged to take the MCAT in the summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith_015 Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 what if i am planning to write my mcat a little later... like in end july or early august?? i was hoping to have the rest of the month for all the aplication process. should i try to finish my aplication before i do my mcat or it really wouldn;t matter since they won;t get my result until september..?Do you have a better chance of getting the interview the earlier you apply?? You should write the MCAT long before you apply. The US doesn't look to favourably on reapplying so if you submit your app and don't do well on the MCAT (or MCATs if you rewrite), well you've just lost of ton of money and opportunity. You should definitely know that you have a good score before considering applying. I myself was working on both my apps and MCAT at the same time. I froze on my mid-July MCAT and voided it, yet my apps were already submitted. I rewrote mid August, but it definitely set my apps back by at least a month because the score didn't get released for about a month. I remember going home from my voided MCAT with a terrible feeling in my stomach. My score was good being a 33 which I hoped would've been a 36, yet not good enough for some of the schools I had applied to so in the end I wasted some money on them and it definitely sucks getting a string of rejections. Had I applied with a 33 earlier, I probably would've been in a little better shape. I had some limited success with my apps, and I think a large part of that is because my apps didn't get in early enough. I to this date am still waiting to hear from a couple of schools. Bottom line, write the MCAT in spring before AMCAS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukie Posted December 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 I think the difficulty in that is the fact that I don;t finishe my exams until about the mid of may... not sure How i could handle full course load a part time job and studying for an mcat for april. in addition to other extracurricular stuff I understand it is a big disadvantage. but i think i would do better if i wrote in the summer and perhaps get everything ready except the mcat. i already have an MCAT but its less than stellar so i definetly need to re do it. I guess the question i am really asking HOW BIG is the disadvatageÉ I understand that it is to my advantage to do it early, but the reality is that it is not possible without significantly hindering my chances in doing well in my mcat... an other questionÉ do all the school years start in septemberÉ DO you know any schools that start their year in januaryÉ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith_015 Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 I think the difficulty in that is the fact that I don;t finishe my exams until about the mid of may... not sure How i could handle full course load a part time job and studying for an mcat for april. in addition to other extracurricular stuffI understand it is a big disadvantage. but i think i would do better if i wrote in the summer and perhaps get everything ready except the mcat. i already have an MCAT but its less than stellar so i definetly need to re do it. I guess the question i am really asking HOW BIG is the disadvatageÉ I understand that it is to my advantage to do it early, but the reality is that it is not possible without significantly hindering my chances in doing well in my mcat... an other questionÉ do all the school years start in septemberÉ DO you know any schools that start their year in januaryÉ Medicine is all about sacrifices. If you really want the US, then maybe you should forgo working to get the MCAT done and start studying right after your finals. You should consider starting working on VR on the side as that tends to kill many people's MCAT scores. Short term pain for long term gain. Consider too like many of us who have applied have felt: applying for the US is like a full time job. The primary is one pain, finding references is another, filling out secondaries adequately is another. If you short change yourself in order to get it done for the sake of getting it done, then there really isn't a point. Just like the MCAT you should ensure that you can set aside a large adequate amount of time to apply. And going back to my previous reply, this is a reason why you should only apply if you know you have a good score. As far as US schools, they tend to start early-mid August only. If you want a winter or spring start you may have to look at the Caribbean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moo Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 Way back when I was applying I took six courses plus the MCAT so its doable. I worked as well. just look at the MCAT as another course and tackle it. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukie Posted December 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2009 Medicine is all about sacrifices. If you really want the US, then maybe you should forgo working to get the MCAT done and start studying right after your finals. You should consider starting working on VR on the side as that tends to kill many people's MCAT scores. Short term pain for long term gain. Consider too like many of us who have applied have felt: applying for the US is like a full time job. The primary is one pain, finding references is another, filling out secondaries adequately is another. If you short change yourself in order to get it done for the sake of getting it done, then there really isn't a point. Just like the MCAT you should ensure that you can set aside a large adequate amount of time to apply. And going back to my previous reply, this is a reason why you should only apply if you know you have a good score. As far as US schools, they tend to start early-mid August only. If you want a winter or spring start you may have to look at the Caribbean. I wasn;t particularly interested in one starting in january just thought to ask since i heard something about some medschool starting in january. And about the job. I am aware of the sacrifices, But i work in a hospital. And i really enjoy the time i spend there. Plus it is a pivotal part of my application. I don;t think it would be wise to quit in my case. But i;ll see what i can do maybe i raelly should concentrate on parts that perhaps i may find the most challenging to get me ahead... Thanks for your advise guys Merry Christmas!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukie Posted December 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2009 Way back when I was applying I took six courses plus the MCAT so its doable. I worked as well. just look at the MCAT as another course and tackle it. Good luck! Thanks I'll try my best. I guess if everyone insists how important it is to apply early for best odds then i should listen... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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