Another Non-Trad Needs Guidance

[Slawbol]

Hello,

 

A lot of helpful people on this forum so hopefully you guys can give me the straight truth. Basically, I want to figure out if I have a realistic shot at U of C Med. Comments, thoughts, guidance entirely welcome!

 

Facts:

Age: 31

I would be considered Albertan In-Province (did high school there)

Did an engineering degree, but overall GPA was only 3.19 (no excuse, just lazy)..almost failed a course as well

Worked a couple of years in engineering

Did an MBA, Dean's List both years, GPA 3.72

Worked in some interesting financial roles

Long-running volunteer work (7 years or so) helping a church each week.

Have yet to write the MCAT

 

And that brings me to today.

 

Hopeless? Hopeful? Somewhere in between? Thanks in advance for insight and guidance.

[astrogirl]

I would say hopeful. The only possible issue is meeting the cut-off. You need to have your best two years over 3.2, and your grad work will only count for one of them. If you have at least one full-time year from your engineering degree where your gpa for the year is over 3.2, then you're okay. I know your gpa is a little on the low side (so is mine - undergrad in physics/astronomy with a 3.3), but Calgary likes non-trads and life experience. Calgary's academic score is not based solely on GPA - no one knows exactly how they figure it out, but they seem to look at your whole academic background consider subjective factors as well (like what kinds of courses you took). You'll need to get a decent MCAT score, but the MCAT only counts for 15%. I feel like I have an okay shot at Calgary (I'm also a non-trad and I'm 28) from all the reading and obsessing I've done about it, and I think your situation is not too different from mine. So I would say take the MCAT and go for it. If you don't get in, you haven't lost anything except a few hundred dollars. Good luck!

[Slawbol]

Thanks for the reply!

 

I actually thought they would consider both years of my MBA but I suppose I was not reading their requirements accurately. I have not looked at my engineering marks in ages so admittedly I don't know if I have a year above 3.2...possibly. Is this dead in the water if indeed I don't have a year above 3.2? Or can that be offset by taking additional pre-med type courses (of which I don't really have any except some chem and physics from engineering)

 

Thanks again, please keep the insight flowing!

[simpy]

Thanks for the reply!

 

I actually thought they would consider both years of my MBA but I suppose I was not reading their requirements accurately. I have not looked at my engineering marks in ages so admittedly I don't know if I have a year above 3.2...possibly. Is this dead in the water if indeed I don't have a year above 3.2? Or can that be offset by taking additional pre-med type courses (of which I don't really have any except some chem and physics from engineering)

 

Thanks again, please keep the insight flowing!

 

It can certainly be offset by taking additional premed type courses. Note that the 3.2 requirement looks at the best 2 full-time years, so you may need to go back to school full-time. In fact this might even be a good strategy - Calgary subjectively gives you a point score for academic performance. Assuming you do well on the MCAT, you would need about a 30/50 to get an interview. Having an extra year or two of good performance will probably go a long way to improving that score.

 

To be honest, what I would do is e-mail the admissions office and try to meet with someone there. They will be able to give you realistic feedback on what you would need to do to gain acceptance. This will help you decide whether you want to go back to school full time.

[astrogirl]

Thanks for the reply!

 

I actually thought they would consider both years of my MBA but I suppose I was not reading their requirements accurately. I have not looked at my engineering marks in ages so admittedly I don't know if I have a year above 3.2...possibly. Is this dead in the water if indeed I don't have a year above 3.2? Or can that be offset by taking additional pre-med type courses (of which I don't really have any except some chem and physics from engineering)

 

Thanks again, please keep the insight flowing!

 

Well, I'm not sure if both of the best two years need to be above 3.2 or just the average of them needs to be above 3.2. If it's the later, then you're good. But it's not really clear, so I would definitely ask them. But it could definitely be offset by taking additional courses, you'd just need to go full-time for a year and get above 3.2. And the grad thing is not very clear at all, but the FAQ document, which is a bit to find on the website, but I have the link bookmarked and it's here: http://www.ucalgary.ca/mdprogram/files/mdprogram/Frequently%20Asked%20Questions.pdf is where it says that your grad work only counts for 1 year. It might have some other potentially helpful info for you. I haven't looked at in a while, so I'm not sure what's all there.

[Slawbol]

Thanks for all of your replies.

 

The way I interpret it is that it is the average of the two years that needs to be at least 3.2, but I should still confirm that. In that case I would be fine.

 

Does anyone know where to find a good breakdown of characteristics of the classes admitted to Calgary med? (e.g. GPA, age, background, additional education etc.). The only thing I saw in the application manual was a very small summary table of mean age and GPA, I think. Anything else? Basically I want to see where the ages lie as well, to see how "odd man out" I would be.

 

Thanks!

[astrogirl]

I'm not sure if there's a detailed age breakdown anywhere, but I'm 28 and hoping to get into Calgary next year (in which case I'll be nearly 29 when I start), and I know a few other people who are applying and who are in their late 20s/early 30s. And my mom knows a guy who graduated from UofC med a few years ago who was in his mid-40s when he started.

[NicMB]

Class of 2012 ranged from age 19 to approx 36 (I think) when we started in Aug 2009.

[simpy]

Thanks for all of your replies.

 

The way I interpret it is that it is the average of the two years that needs to be at least 3.2, but I should still confirm that. In that case I would be fine.

 

Does anyone know where to find a good breakdown of characteristics of the classes admitted to Calgary med? (e.g. GPA, age, background, additional education etc.). The only thing I saw in the application manual was a very small summary table of mean age and GPA, I think. Anything else? Basically I want to see where the ages lie as well, to see how "odd man out" I would be.

 

Thanks!

 

That data isn't available anywhere. But from people I know from this board and from discussions with people at U of C meds, you wouldn't be that odd. You almost certainly wouldn't be the oldest in the class and there would be several other nontrad students (i.e. potentially people like me or astrogirl )

 

If possible, one thing I might suggest to help you would be another year or two of a science undergrad. This would also help for MCAT prep.