Pristrom Posted February 20, 2010 Report Share Posted February 20, 2010 Hi all, I'm currently in CEGEP and I'm applying to McGill. What undergraduate program would prepare you well for medicine and is relatively easy to achieve a high cGPA? Any suggestions of specific programs at McGill? How is Microbiology, Immunology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biology and Neuroscience? Please let me know your opinions. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted February 20, 2010 Report Share Posted February 20, 2010 Apply to Concordia as well - I am a straight A student in B. Sc. Exercise Science - Specialization in Clinical Exercise Science. I work very hard to achieve my grades and it is doable, I don't know about McGill. The advantage of this program is that you actually apply your theoretical knowledge with patients in clinical settings, thereby reinforcing your knowledge, developing communication and other professional skills - making you a better candidate and preparing you for another area of healthcare as a backup, e.g., O.P. I also do EMS volunteering at Cote St. Luc. So, I work with emergency pre-hospital trauma patients and also with elderly chronic patients! At McGill, one of our so-called Ivy Leagues, I can only imagine that a high GPA is much more diffficult to achieve. Med school could not care less where you do your UG, it is all about GPA and for McGill, volunteering and ECs too. GL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justletmein Posted February 20, 2010 Report Share Posted February 20, 2010 I disagree. I would not choose Concordia under the pretense that it would be easier to get a good GPA. The bottom line is this (and if you do a SEARCH, you would know this already): Choose a program which suits your interests. Don't forget that if you hate every class you're taking, then you likely won't get very good grades. Med schools accept people from science, arts, music etc.... In fact, an admissions officer once told me that your undergraduate major is not even a factor in your application (However, if you are planning to apply to french schools, it is quite the opposite) Don't get caught up in the rumours that people start about anatomy and cell biology or microbiology/immunology being the best programs to get into med after. If those seem the most interesting to you, then go for it, but know that everybody in your class is going to be gunning for med school (whether they admit it or not) so this creates, in my opinion, an unhealthy atmosphere of cut-throat competition. One word of caution: Biochemistry is known to be one of the toughest programs at mcgill so make sure you know what you're getting yourself into. Best advice is this --> Pick up a McGill course calendar, read through the course summaries and decide what you find most interesting. Then focus your energy on studying hard and rounding out your CV with volunteering, clubs, sports etc that will make you a good overall applicant. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pristrom Posted February 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2010 Thanks for the reply guys. Chemistry, Bio, Biochem and Microbio all look the same to me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justletmein Posted February 20, 2010 Report Share Posted February 20, 2010 Thanks for the reply guys. Chemistry, Bio, Biochem and Microbio all look the same to me! In most of these programs, especially in first year, you will be in the exact same classes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charon Posted February 21, 2010 Report Share Posted February 21, 2010 Med schools accept people from science, arts, music etc.... In fact, an admissions officer once told me that your undergraduate major is not even a factor in your application (However, if you are planning to apply to french schools, it is quite the opposite). What do you mean by this ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justletmein Posted February 21, 2010 Report Share Posted February 21, 2010 What do you mean by this ? At the french schools (namely UdeMontreal, U.Sherbrooke and U.Laval) if you are coming for a bachelor's degree they "adjust" your GPA according to an extremely subjective "difficulty rating" based on your program. An unofficial pdf list has been floating around this forum for years. Basically, if you are in a program that they consider difficult, your 3.5 GPA would give you a CRU of around 36 which is highly competitive. However, a 4.0 in sociology might only translate to a CRU of 32 which is more middle of the pack. So if someone is thinking of applying to those schools, it is in their best interest to choose a program which has a higher difficulty rating. McGill and most other schools in Canada do not use this system. They encourage you to study what you enjoy and while it is obvious that to some degree they are more impressed by a 4.0 in biochem than a 4.0 in leisure science (my favorite concordia program lol), they dont explicitly adjust your mark when they compile your overall score. They also take into account the rest of your application (i.e. letters of reference, autobiography, CV etc.) whereas the other quebec schools could care less (IMO, a very flawed system but I dont make the rules). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charon Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 Some humanities' programs are very easy and definitely don't require to work as much as in biomedical sciences. In my opinion, the correction is ok even if subjective. Thanks for the reply though. I didn't know about the .pdf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cardsman Posted February 24, 2010 Report Share Posted February 24, 2010 take physiology. It's not too brutally hard and you will learn quite a bit of the first year med material already in undergrad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amykey11 Posted March 3, 2010 Report Share Posted March 3, 2010 For McGill, it really doesn't matter what undergraduate you take. They accept students from all the faculties. Just make sure that the undergrad you take, you are interested in. Don't choose an undergrad solely on the basis of getting in med school. Sure, if you take physiology, you'll be prepared beforehand when doing your med classes. But if you hate it, you'll be stuck with it for 3 years. You're more likely to do well in an undergrad that you're interested in. Do it for the right reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirop Posted March 4, 2010 Report Share Posted March 4, 2010 For McGill, it really doesn't matter what undergraduate you take. They accept students from all the faculties. Just make sure that the undergrad you take, you are interested in. Don't choose an undergrad solely on the basis of getting in med school. Sure, if you take physiology, you'll be prepared beforehand when doing your med classes. But if you hate it, you'll be stuck with it for 3 years. You're more likely to do well in an undergrad that you're interested in. Do it for the right reasons. I agree with Amy's point. McGill's admission website clearly states that they don't want you to anticipate the med curriculum but to do an undergrad for your own interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boa Posted March 4, 2010 Report Share Posted March 4, 2010 i would suggest neuroscience. Im currently studying neuro at Concordia (BSc spec). I love that it has a combination of psychology + science so its not boring. I find it more interesting than just focusing on science or just focusing on psyc but thats just my opinion. And i also think that universities prefers if you have a <<diverse>> academic background... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boa Posted March 4, 2010 Report Share Posted March 4, 2010 I agree with Amy's point. McGill's admission website clearly states that they don't want you to anticipate the med curriculum but to do an undergrad for your own interest. i second that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
physmed Posted July 2, 2010 Report Share Posted July 2, 2010 This is a pretty late reply, but I hope its still useful. You shouldn't rule out the non-life science programs (if you're interested in them) solely because you want to go to medical school. You may have to use up some electives for life sci courses, but programs like Math, Physics and CS can provide a perspective on health science not many people have. It also sets you apart from the pack (pure speculation, of course!); think of the admissions officers looking at applications from hundreds of Physiology, Anatomy, Biochem etc majors and occasionally coming across a Math or Physics major . It won't give a huge boost or anything, but it certainly doesn't hurt. (Full disclosure: I'm a Physics major! ) Just to repeat what others have said, it sucks to be stuck in a program for 3 years that you wish you weren't in. University is hard, and its a lot harder if you don't enjoy what you're studying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonsieurB Posted July 3, 2010 Report Share Posted July 3, 2010 I agree with physmed's post. I'm a Math major and will start medicine in August. I don't know if doing CS, physics and math will really set you apart by itself, but small class sizes means that your professors actually know you. And if you play your cards right (for example: research in the summer) you can get kick-ass letters of recommandation. Some biology classes have more than 600 students and it seems to be a lot tougher to get a summer research award (NSERC/USRA or SURA) in these life-science programs. Oh, and math is freakin' awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n00bie Posted July 13, 2010 Report Share Posted July 13, 2010 Physiology IS brutally hard. Not the first year, and you're a CEGEP student anyways so you don't have to do U0. U1 is still manageable, but then you get hit with PHGY 311, and basically U2 is killer. That said, it's pretty much just physiology that's like that at McGill. Easily the hardest major in science. Neuroscience and Pharmacology, if you're interested, are both relatively new majors -- but are great in the sense that they're uber flexible with courses and very accommodating. They also have substantial overlap with physiology courses because physio is such an established and large program. That said, I am in physiology. As much as I hate how difficult the exams are (Type B multiple choice is killer) if you're great at memorizing insane amounts of information and have crazy awesome critical thinking skills ... this basically replaces your first 2 years of medical school. Proof? I just finished U1, and I had no problem doing USMLE practice exam, and I am by no means the top of my class! In summary: Go into a smaller program that is heavily affiliated with physiology and you get really flexible courses to still fill a requirement! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebouque Posted July 13, 2010 Report Share Posted July 13, 2010 Physiology IS brutally hard. Not the first year, and you're a CEGEP student anyways so you don't have to do U0. U1 is still manageable, but then you get hit with PHGY 311, and basically U2 is killer. That said, it's pretty much just physiology that's like that at McGill. Easily the hardest major in science. Neuroscience and Pharmacology, if you're interested, are both relatively new majors -- but are great in the sense that they're uber flexible with courses and very accommodating. They also have substantial overlap with physiology courses because physio is such an established and large program. That said, I am in physiology. As much as I hate how difficult the exams are (Type B multiple choice is killer) if you're great at memorizing insane amounts of information and have crazy awesome critical thinking skills ... this basically replaces your first 2 years of medical school. Proof? I just finished U1, and I had no problem doing USMLE practice exam, and I am by no means the top of my class! In summary: Go into a smaller program that is heavily affiliated with physiology and you get really flexible courses to still fill a requirement! Wow I'm sure that physiology is a great preparation for medicine or for any other scientific program. However I must say that I'm very surprised to hear that you had '' no problem doing USMLE practice exam'' after only 1 year of physio. The USMLE (even step 1) is more and more clinically oriented and so is preclerkship, especially here in Canada. Would you mind giving us some details about that USMLE practice exam that you took and the kind of questions that you encountered? Peace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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