Getting into a Canadian Med School chances...from teacher to MD?

[GABA1]

Hi all,

 

It has been a recent headache for me to "figure" out my life lately. I have always wanted to go in Med ever since I started Univ, but with whatever excuse I can put in this sentence, my GPA sucked in my Biochem degree. I ended up with about 2.6GPA out of 4.5 scale, and pretty much extinguished any med school dreams that I had. But after my biochem degree, I did some teaching over seas and completed my B.A with a 3.8GPA, and then went into Education and finished with a 3.8GPA as well. Now I am in the MEd program (which I thought would never happen due to my grades) and is getting a 4.0. Now with my grades higher than before, and reading on the slight glimmer of hope of getting in, I have been reading a lot on the chances of getting in.

 

I haven't written my MCAT yet, but after teaching high school chem and bio for past 4 years, I have actually learned a lot more NOW than before. So I am confident that my MCAT could be decent. My extracurricular activities involved my oversea experience of teaching in Africa, volunteering in latin America and Asia. So aside from my low GPA, I think my added maturity and exposure in diversity will perhaps shed some hope in this long lost dream.

 

So... with all your insight in med schools, what exactly are my chances of getting in? I just found out the Univ that I would apply to as a local student would still take ALL 3 of bachelor degrees grades into their calculation which is still under the acceptance mark.

 

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

[simpy]

Hi all,

 

It has been a recent headache for me to "figure" out my life lately. I have always wanted to go in Med ever since I started Univ, but with whatever excuse I can put in this sentence, my GPA sucked in my Biochem degree. I ended up with about 2.6GPA out of 4.5 scale, and pretty much extinguished any med school dreams that I had. But after my biochem degree, I did some teaching over seas and completed my B.A with a 3.8GPA, and then went into Education and finished with a 3.8GPA as well. Now I am in the MEd program (which I thought would never happen due to my grades) and is getting a 4.0. Now with my grades higher than before, and reading on the slight glimmer of hope of getting in, I have been reading a lot on the chances of getting in.

 

I haven't written my MCAT yet, but after teaching high school chem and bio for past 4 years, I have actually learned a lot more NOW than before. So I am confident that my MCAT could be decent. My extracurricular activities involved my oversea experience of teaching in Africa, volunteering in latin America and Asia. So aside from my low GPA, I think my added maturity and exposure in diversity will perhaps shed some hope in this long lost dream.

 

So... with all your insight in med schools, what exactly are my chances of getting in? I just found out the Univ that I would apply to as a local student would still take ALL 3 of bachelor degrees grades into their calculation which is still under the acceptance mark.

 

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

 

This is going to depend a lot on which province you have residence in.

 

If you are in Ontario, you don't have a chance at any out of province schools which narrows it down.

 

You may have a shot at Queen's, Western, NOSM, McMaster, and Ottawa.

 

Queen's requires that your last two years be above 3.75 or so (out of 4.0). Western requires that your best two years be above 3.70. NOSM only looks at your most recent degree, Ottawa looks at your last three years (a weighted average of them needs to be higher than 3.86 or so). Western gives you a boost if you are from southwestern Ontario, Ottawa cuts you some slack if you are from the Ottawa area. NOSM most people don't have a hope in hell of, but with your overseas and volunteer experience you may be able to convince them that you would be interested in rural medicine.

 

McMaster requires that you have a cumulative GPA above 3.0 out of 4. It looks like you probably have this, but you would need to convert all of your grades to OMSAS to be sure.

 

Your next step is to write the MCAT, you will need to do quite well to get into Western or Queen's.

 

But you definitely have a shot, don't give up hope yet.

[LostLamb]

Call around and look around, because if you are considering applying to Ontario, I am under the impression that these schools do not take B.Ed after-degree program GPAs into consideration.

[GABA1]

thanks for the advice guys.

 

i hope the ont schools take in my BEd grades since that is pretty much my only hope.

i haven't read anything about any excluded degrees but i will contact them nonetheless.

 

thanks

[champ]

Call around and look around, because if you are considering applying to Ontario, I am under the impression that these schools do not take B.Ed after-degree program GPAs into consideration.

 

I think I saw that as well, when I was filling out my app on OMSAS

[nwhyte3]

I'll be honest, you chances of getting in to Canada are virtually 0, unless you attended high school in a province other than Ontario.

 

Honestly your best bet is to do really well on the MCAT and apply strategically to schools in Canada (See their websites under admissions criteria) and apply to 20-30 schools in the States (also be sure that they accept international/Canadian school).

 

Until you write the MCAT there is really nothing to think about. The MCAT is not just about knowing the material its mainly about technique.

 

Unfortunately medical school is all about stats - Undergraduate GPA and MCAT scores. The reality is that even if you do not meet the cutoff in one area the rest of your application is not even looked at.