prep during the second undergrad

[Rock Candy]

ok non-trads, lets unite, our next school year is just around the corner.

 

for those that are already in the middle of their second undergrads with med-school in their minds, what have you done to study and prepare and most importantly ACHIEVE those excellent GPA's to make you competitive?

 

i'm starting my second undergraduate degree in september of this year..., mine is a 2 year go and i want to make sure that my two years are full of 4.0's.

 

other than a more focused and mature outlook, i would love to hear what you guys have done to succeed and prepare yourselves for your med school applications.

 

does anyone have any premature ideas of what they'd like to specialize in once they get in?

[Genemo]

lol isnt it too early to think about specilization even before apply?

[nosuperman]

I'm going to be a lot more selfish.

 

With my previous undergrad I worked quite a bit (midnights and weekends) and went above and beyond with my EC's. I made some amazing friends and had some great experiences, but ultimately I fell just shy of a competitive GPA (~3.73). This time around I'm not working at all (student loans ftw) and I feel fine with letting people down (i.e. if they ask me to do something way beyond whatever it is I signed up to do).

 

With my previous undergrad I'd find myself helping people the night before an exam when I still needed to study for myself. Now I'm turning off my phone and working on what I need. I wouldn't fight for grades unless there was a problem with the teachers math or it was blatantly obvious that they messed up.

 

This time around I'm suspending those aspects of my personality. Not to say that I'm gonna be a ****, just that I'm going to make sure that so far as I can help, nothing is going to prevent me from putting my all into my GPA. This is the last shot I'm taking so I'm going to make it count.

 

I've been meeting with profs ahead of time also. Checking out a copy of the course outline or book nice and early (even before taking the class in some cases) so that with every class I know what I'm getting myself into.

 

Overall I'm kind of treating this one more as business. I've given a lot to others and I certainly don't regret it... but I've felt the sting of getting rejected and now its time to make sure I do this all for me

[Rock Candy]

genomo - i agree it's too early to know for sure, but i have some idea on aspects and specializations that i think i would be more suited for than others - and of course, in the 4 years of med school (particularly the last 2 where you get to experience these specializations), my mind can and likely WILL change, i still have a clue to what i enjoy...and i was wondering if other people had any ideas.

 

i'm new to this board, obviously - and overly social lol.

 

nosuperman - good advice. and great for you, either way, to have a fabulous gpa by MOST standards while working weekends and midnights. i'm sure you will rock it this time around.

[nosuperman]

Thanks! And welcome to the board I forgot to address the other question.

 

At this point I'm really attracted to the primary care specialties. I've had a lot of experience with EMS and I love the breadth of IM so EM and IM are looking super attractive. I don't foresee myself going to any of the surg's, ob/gyn since my experience with them to date hasn't meshed with the lifestyle I'd like to someday has. I'm on the fence for a few of the diagnostic residencies so I'm pretty excited to get involved with those and see what they're like.

[Shell]

Hey all,

 

NONTRADS UNITE!!

 

I am starting my second degree as well. Either going to be kinesiology or political science (want kines but having some problems with registration/overrides). I know the mistakes I made in my first undergrad, watching movies upon movies and watching every season of almost every show. Not being focused at all, and spending the rest of my time stressing rather than studying. And now I have an unbelievable amount of regret, which is now motivating me to be more focused then ever.

 

I plan on doing something very similar to nosuperman (awesome plan btw), for every lecture hour I plan to study between 2-3 hours. Staying on top of hw, starting prep for presentations/essays well in advance. I was going to reactivate my cell soon but not going to now, more distractions. People can contact me via email/fb.

 

During my first undergrad, I used to let alot of things slide, sometimes TAs would not tally up marks right and I would let it go saying oh it's just a couple of marks, and wouldnt bother to get things remarked.

 

If all goes according to plan, should be starting med when I'm 26, if it goes really well then 25

 

RockCandy and nosuperman - have you guys taken the MCAT yet or doing it next summer?

[nosuperman]

If all goes according to plan, should be starting med when I'm 26, if it goes really well then 25

 

Same

 

RockCandy and nosuperman - have you guys taken the MCAT yet or doing it next summer?

 

I'm pretty happy with my score but I may rewrite it next summer.

[Rock Candy]

If all goes according to plan, should be starting med when I'm 26, if it goes really well then 25

 

RockCandy and nosuperman - have you guys taken the MCAT yet or doing it next summer?

 

If all goes according to plan for me, I'll be starting med when I am 27. I've already had three years of working (in corporate insurance, no less), under my belt.

 

I have not taken the MCAT yet...my train of thought for this process was an interesting one. I did my original undergrad degree at U of T in European Studies, History and Poly Sci...and I was gearing myself up to do law. After the first few years I found myself saying that I should have focused more on the sciences, however I finished because I had started. After finishing my undergrad, I got a job at a law firm to see what it was like (just in case something sparked some interest to go to law school). I hated it to say the least and got a job in corporate insurance. Enthralling I know. And although it has ample room for growth and the pay is excellent - I am not the personality type that can sit at a desk day in and day out dealing with the same type of thing.

 

I really enjoy a challenge. And throughout my last three years of working it has been a struggle to decide if medicine was something I really wanted to put all my cards into and pursue.

 

Initially I didn't think I could apply for this September and was hoping to do early intake January 2011 or normal intake September 2011, but after talking to the guidance counsellor I found out I could apply for Sept of this year so here I am, starting in a month and a half...I feel out of it - I have to get back into student mode and I know I'm capable of being competitive - I just need to put my head on straight and focus.

 

I'm taking my second undergraduate degree in Medical Anthropology and am hoping to do an undergraduate thesis with the professor that specializes in med anthro. I didn't choose med anthro because I want to go to med school but simply because is the most interesting specialization for me. Biological Anthro would follow.

 

To make a very long story short, and to answer your question - I have not taken my MCAT and am planning to do it next summer. I know my weak points are physical sciences, however I think I will understand the basis of the verbal and written portions quite well.

 

Further - what med school in Ontario (or Canada, or Internationally, if you are inclined) do you think would be a good fit?

 

I hope we can keep in touch throughout the next two years and support each other because I know that it's going to be a climb...but we'll get there!

[Rock Candy]

Oh, and to answer my own question at the beginning...I don't have a lot of interest in primary care, however IM sounds slightly more attractive to me.

 

I'd also like to see what anesthesiology has to offer, and I'd be interested in surgery too.

 

This is all very preliminary though - I know most minds change when we experience what the specialty actually consists of.

 

I'm excited though - September can't come soon enough, I want to start the journey.

[jp.mylittlepwny]

Hey everyone, going into my second year at UWO as a non-traditional student.

 

Finished my first year with a 3.87 GPA, and still trying to fight/beg/bargain/blackmail my prof to pump up one of my grades by 1% so that I can end up with a 3.89 >_<

 

This time around, I pretty much sacrificed the majority of my social life. Probably went out with friends 6 times total during the whole school year, as opposed to every weekend or every other weekend the first time around.

Also, I find that as a non-traditional student living off campus, it is a lot harder to meet new people than when I was living in residence, but it doesn't matter with the bigger picture in mind.

I did work in a lab for 8 hours a day, once a week. I was able to get quite a bit of reading done at the lab since mostly what I was doing was run Western gels

 

To the OP, make sure that your second degree is an Honours degree. For my program at Western, I can complete a degree in 2 years, but it's not an honours degree which will take me 3.

Also I wonder how a 2 year degree would be weighted at schools that don't look at your best two years, but instead use the weighted GPA system.

[Rock Candy]

To the OP, make sure that your second degree is an Honours degree. For my program at Western, I can complete a degree in 2 years, but it's not an honours degree which will take me 3.

Also I wonder how a 2 year degree would be weighted at schools that don't look at your best two years, but instead use the weighted GPA system.

 

 

Hi JP, my second degree is Honours, yes...but due to my transfer credits, its equals out to only be 2 years of studies.

 

I don't think I'd be competitive in the weighted GPA system - I already know for a fact that I wouldn't have a bat's chance in hell at McMaster.

[Caylynn]

I'm starting my second degree this fall, after 4 years of living in Munich, Germany, so needless to say, I'm a lot more mature than during my first undergrad.

 

I've always had good study habits and did well in most of my courses, however, I was in engineering, and a couple of courses brought my GPA down. (One was a machine language programming course, where everyone in the class failed the midterm. The course was not curved and the % weighting of the midterm was not altered. So needless to say, everyone in the course got a lousy mark. *sigh*)

 

My main "issue" with my first undergrad is that I have two years where I did not take a full course load. During my third year, I was very ill, with (at the time) two undiagnosed chronic health problems (now they are well taken care of, but at the time, they were devastating) and ended up needing surgery. I dropped to 4 courses my first semester of third year, then to 1 my second, when I had the surgery.

 

Then fourth year, my husband was sent overseas (he's an officer in the Canadian Forces) on a peacekeeping mission, and that, combined with the fact that we were still working on getting the medications right for the two chronic conditions I was diagnosed with, meant that I only took four courses per semester, on recommendation of my physician and my engineering program counsellor. It worked out for the best - I still managed to graduate at the top of my class from engineering, and win the PEO Gold Medal, but it meant I didn't have a "standard/full" normal course load for my last two years (I took some courses during the summer to ensure I could still graduate and ended up one course short for my minor, but at least I graduated!)

 

My undergrad degree also isn't very "portable" - bio engineering jobs (especially without a Masters) are really confined to areas that have a lot of food or pharmaceutical companies, and, as my husband is in the Canadian Forces, those jobs aren't really in places where they might post us. If I get into med, and the Forces can't accommodate us with a posting where I'm going to school (and then residency), then my husband will retire from the Forces. But until then, we still go where they send us!

 

So, as a back up, I'm doing Dietetics (Nutrition and Food Science), with the plan of becoming a Registered Dietitian if I don't get into meds. It's nice and "portable" - I could work as an RD anywhere the Forces could conceivably send us. I took several nutrition courses during my first undergrad, so I know it's a subject matter that interests me and that I can do well in.

 

Looking at the courses in which I did poorly in my first undergrad, there is a trend: the courses were those without a textbook that were taught by rather poor professors. Back then, I would try to puzzle things out with my fellow students. This time around, I'm not "afraid" to go to office hours, or to try to find other resources to help me if I'm having difficulties grasping certain material. I'm more motivated to do well this time around, and I have more resources available to me.

 

Good luck to all my fellow non-trads!

[Genemo]

genomo - i agree it's too early to know for sure, but i have some idea on aspects and specializations that i think i would be more suited for than others - and of course, in the 4 years of med school (particularly the last 2 where you get to experience these specializations), my mind can and likely WILL change, i still have a clue to what i enjoy...and i was wondering if other people had any ideas.

 

Haha, I was actually teasing you. But it's good to know what you want to do. I seriously have no idea about my specialization if I got in. I am still trying to figure out how to get myself a better GPA next year.

 

Or should I say I don't want to think too far ahead cos things never go as I wish. I end up waiting much more longer than my expectation on a lot of things which I can't even control. Just like Ive been waiting for my permanent residency for a year but I still havent heard anything. And I just decided to postpone my last year course to 2011 because I don't want to pay the ridiculous international tuition. It is my 1st undergrad degree but its gonna take me 7 years to finish, if not postponed again. When my life is full of this kinda thing really I cant let myself expect to much.

[nosuperman]

To the OP, make sure that your second degree is an Honours degree. For my program at Western, I can complete a degree in 2 years, but it's not an honours degree which will take me 3.

Also I wonder how a 2 year degree would be weighted at schools that don't look at your best two years, but instead use the weighted GPA system.

 

Western is letting me do an honours in 2 years since its a double major. The cumulative schools (Mac, UofT, UBC to some extent) will lump a 2, 3 or 4 year second undergrad on top of your first one without anything really changing. For all intents and purposes they basically look at your two degrees as single, 6-8 yr long, degree.

 

UWO and Queens will only see the second degree marks, and I believe this is true of NOSM as well. Ottawa will take the 2 years of the new degree (if its a 2-yr) and the final year of the previous degree for their weighting system. I believe Calgary sees only the new degree (last 2 years) pre-interview and the whole thing post-interview. (*note haven't directly confirmed NOSM and Cal but I've emailed admissions for the others)

 

What are you taking at UWO and how are you finding it so far?

[Shell]

Hey Non-trads!

 

I have been contemplating about Caribbean medical schools alot these past few days. All of my friends are going there and by the time they start their clinicals I will be starting medical school here (if I get in). Everyone I talk to says that even if I do a second undergrad my gpa wont go up that much and will be very difficult to get into medical school in Canada? If I go to the caribbean I would be owing ~ $100,000 extra than what I would if I stayed in Canada.

 

Better to stay here and 'try' or go to the caribbean?