How about me?

[Robin Hood]

so it has to be a french university to "erase" my cegep grades? and yes, i am from montreal.

 

McGill will not look at your cegep, but you will have to complete a Bachelor.

[Robin Hood]

I've been in the same boat as Pharm. I've had a terrible Cote R in CÉGEP, and really wanted to get into medicine. Except I did a year in medical biology undergrad, and didn't get a competitive first year, and needed As everywhere, and had to forget my dreams of medicine after failing a crucial exam in my third semester. I even retired from college.

 

To all those who screwed at univ, you can still try a second bach and apply to McGill, so it's not all lost.

[future_doc]

And to all those who messed up at Cegep, you can start fresh @ undergrad and do well!

[future_doc]

Anything to report about the program, how is it going?

 

.

[future_doc]

..........

Hey Big Brother and all,

 

yes I am currently enrolled in Exercise Science (AT) at Concordia University. And yes, major program has only 42 core course credits, the rest (I think 48...) are electives. I don't know about the 60% rule. But I don't suggest major since imagine: if you fail to go to med, well, you have just wasted 3 years of your life, and majoring is not gonna make you find a job anywhere.

 

AT or CEP are better though... Choose AT if you are interested in physio or CEP if you are interested in med... I am not interested in either but physio is more interesting so I took physio. (My goal is Pharmacy...)

 

Also, you will notice a huge Francophone population here... It's an English Instution but I'd say at least 80% ppl are francophone...

 

Actually, do good in my program is NOT easy! Prepare to study hard, and practice a lot. I got a C+ in a course, but end up catching up with lots of A+, therefore my GPA is now about 3.9...

 

Second year (I heard) is hardest, since you will be doing internship while going to school. In AT you will be traveling with school's sport team anywhere in Quebec on weekends, so time management is key. (I will soon do the intern..)

 

Also, I heard that in AT, each year, about 100 ppl got in, but at each year's graduation, only about 25ppl finish. Therefore, exercise science is not as easy as you'd think.

 

The CRC to get into the program has been rising each year, last year, I saw it was 25, but I asked the academic advisor, he said the average CRC of all students who got in last year was around 28... But no worries, I got in with a 24. something. So I was on the edge.

 

Good luck BigBrother!

 

 

To finish, I have a question, according to you, in a program like Exercise Science (very related to physio), what GPA do I need to be called to the Test Psychometrique for pharmacy at UdeM? (gimme an approximation, what I will be aiming for)

[Capucine]

You don't need to up every post about exercises science future_doc Especially since there is many other options available

[future_doc]

^ ?? ......

[Citan]

To all those who screwed at univ, you can still try a second bach and apply to McGill, so it's not all lost.

 

In my humble opinion, if you screwed up in CÉGEP AND University, then you are wasting your precious time by doing a second bachelor's. What exactly makes you think you'd do it right on your second undergrad when you couldn't pull it off in your past two chances? No matter how hard you try, you are bound to repeat the same mistakes. It would be the equivalent of a student doing a third undergrad. A total waste of time. This is for this reason that every year that you do in university will get accounted when you apply to french medical schools.

 

Some students, such as myself, will never have straight As no matter how much they work their butts off. Doesn't matter if they study Biology in their first degree and Maths in their second, they will never be great students, and, as such, will never realize their dreams. It was a brutal, painful and particularly depressing lesson to learn, but this is the way of life. That's exactly why I retired.

 

There are other opportunities for such students to study in medical-related degrees such as Physician Assistant and Podiatric Medicine, but they need to forget about medicine itself. It's a lost cause.

 

Second chances do exist. Third chances, never.

[Robin Hood]

In my humble opinion, if you screwed up in CÉGEP AND University, then you are wasting your precious time by doing a second bachelor's. What exactly makes you think you'd do it right on your second undergrad when you couldn't pull it off in your past two chances? No matter how hard you try, you are bound to repeat the same mistakes. It would be the equivalent of a student doing a third undergrad. A total waste of time. This is for this reason that every year that you do in university will get accounted when you apply to french medical schools.

 

Some students, such as myself, will never have straight As no matter how much they work their butts off. Doesn't matter if they study Biology in their first degree and Maths in their second, they will never be great students, and, as such, will never realize their dreams. It was a brutal, painful and particularly depressing lesson to learn, but this is the way of life. That's exactly why I retired.

 

There are other opportunities for such students to study in medical-related degrees such as Physician Assistant and Podiatric Medicine, but they need to forget about medicine itself. It's a lost cause.

 

Second chances do exist. Third chances, never.

 

I mostly agree with this, but there are students like me who can probably get straight As but who'se circumpstances prevented them (like an undiagnosed pathology, etc.). Now if it turns out that I can't get straight As, then atleast I would have been given the chance. Then, I may consider stuff like OT or OD (if I manage to get past my fear of eyes). Also, has I got bad grades in university, even if it was due to extenuing circumpstances, I wouldn't have even be able to get into OT because all my grades would be looked at (maybe McGill would have forgiven me, but not the others).

I understand those who can't get straight As, it's painful and such, but that's how's life. They should try for what's reachable for them, and there are stuff other than medicine that allow you to diagnose and prescribe (some DPM could be a good thing to settle with).

[Citan]

I mostly agree with this, but there are students like me who can probably get straight As but who'se circumpstances prevented them (like an undiagnosed pathology, etc.). Now if it turns out that I can't get straight As, then atleast I would have been given the chance. Then, I may consider stuff like OT or OD (if I manage to get past my fear of eyes). Also, has I got bad grades in university, even if it was due to extenuing circumpstances, I wouldn't have even be able to get into OT because all my grades would be looked at (maybe McGill would have forgiven me, but not the others).

I understand those who can't get straight As, it's painful and such, but that's how's life. They should try for what's reachable for them, and there are stuff other than medicine that allow you to diagnose and prescribe (some DPM could be a good thing to settle with).

 

I too have had to deal with ADHD, but I wasn't diagnosed until many years later. I also had to deal with severe anxiety issues (was physically and psychologically abused by my "beloved" mother as as child for many years, being taken as target in school and high school because I'm not the smartest kid, the most built or don't look the best, because I had tics (moderate Tourette) etc...), meaning that exams and labs were a nightmare for me (not to mention being the subject of mockery by my fellow students for it.)

 

By the time I came to realize my mental health issues, it was way too late as it's been 6 years since I'd done my undergrad and flopped it (not flop it, but rather not get the straights A I deserved). Had I been diagnosed before starting my degree, things might have been different.

 

You still have a shot at Ottawa or McGill. But my dream was to become a vet (I'm the biggest introvert in the world, but I love animals and medicine), and not a single vet school in the world will drop the marks of the first degree or look at the last 3 -4 years of undergrad. Even if, by some miracle, I'd pull straight As for my second degree, my overall GPA would still be unable to compete against the highly competitive applicants from CÉGEP and Undergrads with straight As in their first try.

 

In the end, it's crystal clear: Only privileged people go to medical schools and/or veterinary medicine schools(Not necessarily from a rich family, but people who are smart and had a normal life as children).

[Robin Hood]

I too have had to deal with ADHD, but I wasn't diagnosed until many years later. I also had to deal with severe anxiety issues (was physically and psychologically abused by my "beloved" mother as as child for many years, being taken as target in school and high school because I'm not the smartest kid, the most built or don't look the best, because I had tics (moderate Tourette) etc...), meaning that exams and labs were a nightmare for me (not to mention being the subject of mockery by my fellow students for it.)

 

By the time I came to realize my mental health issues, it was way too late as it's been 6 years since I'd done my undergrad and flopped it (not flop it, but rather not get the straights A I deserved). Had I been diagnosed before starting my degree, things might have been different.

 

You still have a shot at Ottawa or McGill. But my dream was to become a vet (I'm the biggest introvert in the world, but I love animals and medicine), and not a single vet school in the world will drop the marks of the first degree or look at the last 3 -4 years of undergrad. Even if, by some miracle, I'd pull straight As for my second degree, my overall GPA would still be unable to compete against the highly competitive applicants from CÉGEP and Undergrads with straight As in their first try.

 

In the end, it's crystal clear: Only privileged people go to medical schools and/or veterinary medicine schools(Not necessarily from a rich family, but people who are smart and had a normal life as children).

 

Yes, life is not fair, but we have to deal with it. And yes, UdeM sucks with looking at everying, it's ironic how McGill, the most prestigious Quebec university, forgivs you. Laval forgives repeated courses, that could help come people. But you said you like DPM, isn't it reachable?

Vet admission in Canada really sucks, you're very limited, some schools accept only people from their province, and the OVC allows you only 3 applications.

[Robin Hood]

Only lucky people can get into med school. These who say, if you want, you can, are being delusional and/or fooling themeselves.

[smthg]

In the end, it's crystal clear: Only privileged people go to medical schools and/or veterinary medicine schools(Not necessarily from a rich family, but people who are smart and had a normal life as children).

 

I agree with the smart/hardworking/genetically wired not to have a learning disability thing because, let's face it, in Canada, you have to have really good grades to even begin to hope to enter a med school.

 

But the normal life as children? No. I'm sure lots of people overcame difficult obstacles that maybe gave them the desire to pursue med (maybe less vet) or that made them who they are today and someone who will be a great physician. Some experiences that may not come across to us difficult might have been a difficult time for someone out there. It's all a matter of perception. And life is unfair yes. Sometimes, even a bad event once in your life and your dreams are kaput.

 

But, all in all, it's kind of normal "priviledged" people go to med/vet school because of the quotas that make something like going to med school a priviledge. It's a meritocracy more or less, with med schools trying to be more just for everyone. The French schools have an idea of justice that's translated by putting everyone on the same stand, whereas English schools try to accomodate. Both approaches are great, depending on which side of the fence you're standing on.... There will always be problems, but each school tries to be the fairest to their applicants

[future_doc]

Those who have not had a normal childhood for whatever reason, abuse, poverty, disabilities or something else - have a much greater load on their shoulders and it is not fair. Life is not fair. Unfortunately, it is very much a lottery. Some families nurture their children, encourage them to believe in themselves and these kids know they can conquer the world; whereas those severely disadvantaged only have themselves as a resource with no nurturing. And then, in the third world, too many children die at birth or within 5 years, are sexually abused, become child soldiers, have AIDS, no education, no access to medical care and barely enough food to live.