macdoc Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 Hi, I did 3 years full time and 1 year part time undergraduate study major in computer since a few years ago (2001-2005). Right now, I'm trying to finish my degree by distance ed at Athabasca. Previous credits are transferred to Athabasca. My GPA for those course done many years ago are not good, just little above 2.0. I had a lot issues back then. Finally I can concentrate on my study now. I have 36 credits to complete at Athabasca to finish my degree. Should I take more course for another year to improve my GPA? Or should I graduate and do a 2nd degree? Any suggestion is appropriated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudphud Posted February 3, 2011 Report Share Posted February 3, 2011 So the reality is that if you have a GPA hovering just above 2.0, than you probably going to have to do a second undergrad to bump up your GPA. I don't know of any medical school that has minimum cutoffs that your current GPA would make. If I were in this situation, I would probably finish off what you've started (at least get the degree), and then start another one, that includes all your prereqs (i.e. biology or something similar). Do well in that undergrad and you might have a shot at applying before you're even finished. You may even start now by building your EC portfolio (if you haven't already) so when it comes to applying you're a well rounded applicant. Don't give up though, I knew a guy who dropped out of engineering after 2 years with an abysmal GPA, worked in construction for a few years, than restarted a biology degree. He didn't take the traditional route to med school but he got there eventually. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slashsev Posted February 17, 2011 Report Share Posted February 17, 2011 jus go international....with the time you save it will be worth it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simpy Posted February 18, 2011 Report Share Posted February 18, 2011 Hi,I did 3 years full time and 1 year part time undergraduate study major in computer since a few years ago (2001-2005). Right now, I'm trying to finish my degree by distance ed at Athabasca. Previous credits are transferred to Athabasca. My GPA for those course done many years ago are not good, just little above 2.0. I had a lot issues back then. Finally I can concentrate on my study now. I have 36 credits to complete at Athabasca to finish my degree. Should I take more course for another year to improve my GPA? Or should I graduate and do a 2nd degree? Any suggestion is appropriated. Hi Macdoc, I am in a similar situation. My first four years were from 2000-2004 and I had a GPA just above 2.0. I have since returned to school, have written the MCATs and have done well on both. The short answer is that Slashsev is correct. Although you may not be competitive for international schools at this point and will need to do some extra time. Now the long answer. First, you need to decide if medicine is truly right for you. You are facing a nearly Sisyphean task. One that might not pay off no matter how hard you push. You should be absolutely certain in your goal to be a doctor. I really cannot stress this enough. Do you have experience in a medical setting? If not, get it. Second, you will not be able to apply to most schools in Canada. Unless you are in-province, your only options are Ottawa, Queen's, Western, possibly Calgary, and Northern. Northern is a very long shot unless you are from a rural background. Queen's and Western require you to have MCAT scores that are unattainable for most people. Ottawa requires you to do three more years, and get above a 3.85 average (well, it's weighted, but the point is you need to do extremely well). So in other words, your options are only real options if you can do exceptionally well in school and/or on the MCAT. You will need to do this over a period of at least two more years (three for Ottawa). This is why international schools may be a better idea. You will have to grind for several years to have even a small chance of becoming a doctor here. If you go overseas you will pay more - probably over $100,000 more over the course of your degree - but you will have those extra several years of earnings potential in which to earn it back. As for your choice now, I would head over to the international forum and ask the question. They'll have some specific answers for you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slashsev01 Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 honestly...do even waste your time...jus do internation..there are many schools that will accept you the way u are.....it will be a fresh start.....but you will have to work hard....ie anything is hard now a days... you will study medical related stuff/more interesting..and no more bs from physics or chem for the mcat the money is NOT an issue...100K can be made up within/less than 5 years of full paid salary work...it is an investment...like owening a tim hortons dont be like 90% of the people here who are wasting away trying to get into a canadian-monoply medical system...it is a broken down load of **** that is going to get worse...the more people that leave this country for oppertunities elsewere the better... that is my 2 cents..dont make the mistake of everyone else (incl me) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slashsev01 Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 honestly...do even waste your time...jus do internation..there are many schools that will accept you the way u are.....it will be a fresh start.....but you will have to work hard....ie anything is hard now a days... you will study medical related stuff/more interesting..and no more bs from physics or chem for the mcat the money is NOT an issue...100K can be made up within/less than 5 years of full paid salary work...it is an investment...like owening a tim hortons dont be like 90% of the people here who are wasting away trying to get into a canadian-monoply medical system...it is a broken down load of **** that is going to get worse...the more people that leave this country for oppertunities elsewere the better... that is my 2 cents..dont make the mistake of everyone else (incl me) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slashsev01 Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 honestly...do even waste your time...jus do internation..there are many schools that will accept you the way u are.....it will be a fresh start.....but you will have to work hard....ie anything is hard now a days... you will study medical related stuff/more interesting..and no more bs from physics or chem for the mcat the money is NOT an issue...100K can be made up within/less than 5 years of full paid salary work...it is an investment...like owening a tim hortons dont be like 90% of the people here who are wasting away trying to get into a canadian-monoply medical system...it is a broken down load of **** that is going to get worse...the more people that leave this country for oppertunities elsewere the better... that is my 2 cents..dont make the mistake of everyone else (incl me) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slashsev01 Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 honestly...do even waste your time...jus do internation..there are many schools that will accept you the way u are.....it will be a fresh start.....but you will have to work hard....ie anything is hard now a days... you will study medical related stuff/more interesting..and no more bs from physics or chem for the mcat the money is NOT an issue...100K can be made up within/less than 5 years of full paid salary work...it is an investment...like owening a tim hortons dont be like 90% of the people here who are wasting away trying to get into a canadian-monoply medical system...it is a broken down load of **** that is going to get worse...the more people that leave this country for oppertunities elsewere the better... that is my 2 cents..dont make the mistake of everyone else (incl me) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mashmetoo Posted February 20, 2011 Report Share Posted February 20, 2011 honestly...do even waste your time...jus do internation..there are many schools that will accept you the way u are.....it will be a fresh start.....but you will have to work hard....ie anything is hard now a days... you will study medical related stuff/more interesting..and no more bs from physics or chem for the mcat the money is NOT an issue...100K can be made up within/less than 5 years of full paid salary work...it is an investment...like owening a tim hortons dont be like 90% of the people here who are wasting away trying to get into a canadian-monoply medical system...it is a broken down load of **** that is going to get worse...the more people that leave this country for oppertunities elsewere the better... that is my 2 cents..dont make the mistake of everyone else (incl me) Having been through the Canadian application system, it is total bs. I agree with this assessment.... Another undergrad degree takes too long... doesn't guarantee you'll end up in a Canadian school, and you'll end up spending another x numbers of years in undergrad, and no where near medicine... Instead of keep paying the price of the first screwed up undergrad, I'd just cut my losses, go international. the other issue is your age.. I'd assume you are in your late 20s by now... My question is.. are you really willing to waste your golden 20s in undergrad?... You live only once you know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooty Posted February 20, 2011 Report Share Posted February 20, 2011 honestly...do even waste your time...jus do internation..there are many schools that will accept you the way u are.....it will be a fresh start.....but you will have to work hard....ie anything is hard now a days... you will study medical related stuff/more interesting..and no more bs from physics or chem for the mcat the money is NOT an issue...100K can be made up within/less than 5 years of full paid salary work...it is an investment...like owening a tim hortons dont be like 90% of the people here who are wasting away trying to get into a canadian-monoply medical system...it is a broken down load of **** that is going to get worse...the more people that leave this country for oppertunities elsewere the better... that is my 2 cents..dont make the mistake of everyone else (incl me) Having been through the Canadian application system, it is total bs. I agree with this assessment.... Another undergrad degree takes too long... doesn't guarantee you'll end up in a Canadian school, and you'll end up spending another x numbers of years in undergrad, and no where near medicine... Instead of keep paying the price of the first screwed up undergrad, I'd just cut my losses, go international. the other issue is your age.. I'd assume you are in your late 20s by now... My question is.. are you really willing to waste your golden 20s in undergrad?... You live only once you know OP would have a tough time coming back though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarathonRunner Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 Having been through the Canadian application system, it is total bs. I agree with this assessment.... Another undergrad degree takes too long... doesn't guarantee you'll end up in a Canadian school, and you'll end up spending another x numbers of years in undergrad, and no where near medicine... Instead of keep paying the price of the first screwed up undergrad, I'd just cut my losses, go international. the other issue is your age.. I'd assume you are in your late 20s by now... My question is.. are you really willing to waste your golden 20s in undergrad?... You live only once you know Wow. Just wow. It kind of scares me that you plan to be a doctor. You know there are people of all ages studying in undergrad? Golden 20s? I'm sorry, but the 20s are just the beginning of adult life. They are certainly not "wasted" by spending them at university, if it sets you up for something you will enjoy for the rest of your life. There's nothing wrong with being in your 30s, 40s, or even older, and studying in an undergraduate program at university. So please, get off your high horse and realize there are people of all ages studying at the undergraduate level. There are also people of all ages in med school, including people in their 30s and 40s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mashmetoo Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 I'm assuming YOU are one of those people who are in their 30s-40s and studying in undergrad? Well, excuse me! Of course there's nothing wrong with people studying undergrad in their 30s-40s, I don't oppose any of that, and I don't think it's a "waste of time" if someone in their 30s-40s made a commitment to learn and get an education for whatever reason. The OP was looking for honest feedback, and spending one's 20s doing a second undergrad to cover up for a basically "failed" first undregrad, while getting absolutely no where closer to med school (other than getting closer in theory), and spending one's youth doing that seems like a bad bargain - don't you think?. It is simply as brutally honest as that. As for being concerned about my becoming a doctor, why don't you get off YOUR high horse and not judge someone by 1 post, geez Pot calling kettle black much? Ought to be more concerned with getting yourself into med school, and not be so worried about what a random poster on a web forum is doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyK Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 You only need your two best full time years to be competitive for a couple of universities: For comparative purposes and to show an upward trend. For as many doomsday stories there are out there about medicine, there are those who succeed. You don't usually here about them here though Mature students (and I mean mature) often have great life experience which most universities value. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyK Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 You only need your two best full time years to be competitive for a couple of universities: For comparative purposes and to show an upward trend. For as many doomsday stories there are out there about medicine, there are those who succeed. You don't usually here about them here though Mature students (and I mean mature) often have great life experience which most universities value. Good luck! You don't often hear about the mature students who succeed on this forum, I meant. Great resource though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarathonRunner Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 I'm assuming YOU are one of those people who are in their 30s-40s and studying in undergrad? Well, excuse me! Of course there's nothing wrong with people studying undergrad in their 30s-40s, I don't oppose any of that, and I don't think it's a "waste of time" if someone in their 30s-40s made a commitment to learn and get an education for whatever reason. The OP was looking for honest feedback, and spending one's 20s doing a second undergrad to cover up for a basically "failed" first undregrad, while getting absolutely no where closer to med school (other than getting closer in theory), and spending one's youth doing that seems like a bad bargain - don't you think?. It is simply as brutally honest as that. As for being concerned about my becoming a doctor, why don't you get off YOUR high horse and not judge someone by 1 post, geez Pot calling kettle black much? Ought to be more concerned with getting yourself into med school, and not be so worried about what a random poster on a web forum is doing. I am non-trad, but I happen to be a grad student. One of MY best students, last semester, however, was a pre-med in her 30s, and she certainly had no regrets that she was doing a second undergrad. Last I heard, she had at least one med school interview at a Canadian university. Based on her performance in the class I taught, she would make a wonderful, compassionate doctor. Personally, I don't think education is ever a waste, which is one of the reasons I have a problem with your statement that this person shouldn't waste their "golden 20s" in undegrad. I don't think, myself, that they would be wasting anything. There is a great deal of life beyond your 20s, and thinking of them as "golden" is a touch naive. As for myself, my future career is well in hand. I have been accepted to my dream school and the future looks bright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mashmetoo Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 I am non-trad, but I happen to be a grad student. One of MY best students, last semester, however, was a pre-med in her 30s, and she certainly had no regrets that she was doing a second undergrad. Last I heard, she had at least one med school interview at a Canadian university. Based on her performance in the class I taught, she would make a wonderful, compassionate doctor. Personally, I don't think education is ever a waste, which is one of the reasons I have a problem with your statement that this person shouldn't waste their "golden 20s" in undegrad. I don't think, myself, that they would be wasting anything. There is a great deal of life beyond your 20s, and thinking of them as "golden" is a touch naive. As for myself, my future career is well in hand. I have been accepted to my dream school and the future looks bright. Well, I'm happy for you and your friend, I really am I did my undergrad at UofT, and the amount of grad students (in their 30s, 40s, even a few 50s), trying to get into med school by doing a Masters/PhD is dime a dozen. Whether most of these people get into med school in the end or not, it's probably pretty low. You can see how I grew pretty cynical in that kind of environment. I wasn't trying to be be offensive by the age references. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylamonkey Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 the other issue is your age.. I'd assume you are in your late 20s by now... My question is.. are you really willing to waste your golden 20s in undergrad?... You live only once you know Not trying to get into he middle of an argument here, but I'm a non-trad BECAUSE I didn't waste my younger years in school. I was a running coach and a trainer, and while I didn't get to make a lot of money I managed to race all over North America (ultramarathons and adventure races) and traveled the world. I'm torn between another undergrad and heading to the US. I have a diverse education, and I would love another degree, but I'm ready for med school. Talk it out, you guys, I'll bet you have a lot more in common than you realize. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slashsev01 Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 Well, I'm happy for you and your friend, I really am I did my undergrad at UofT, and the amount of grad students (in their 30s, 40s, even a few 50s), trying to get into med school by doing a Masters/PhD is dime a dozen. Whether most of these people get into med school in the end or not, it's probably pretty low. You can see how I grew pretty cynical in that kind of environment. I wasn't trying to be be offensive by the age references. I hear you!!! i cannot agree with you more...i got uft undergrad and grad..iam 100% in backing u up with all those comments..... iam actually suprised...i was waiting for a bashing of my post..hummm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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