Nowa Posted February 14, 2011 Report Share Posted February 14, 2011 Hi everyone ..so I just finished my BA and have no science background hence I am planning on going back to school for med pre-reqs. I took bio, chem, math 30 pure and math 31 in highschool and scored between 85-90 in my courses. My concern is that I have have not looked at any science courses for four years. What have others done to re-fresh there memory? How much will I be expected to know from highschool for first year university courses? I currently go to the u of a and am thinking of going there for sciences but the u of a is notorious for having a killer science program(i.e very hard and very competitive students) would i be better off to go to macewan or rdc for a couple years then transfer back to the u of a? basically i'm a little scared that i will be to rusty on the sciences to do well my first year. My cumulative GPA for my first degree is looking to be about a 3.3 which is also concerning? Is it possible that I still have a shot a medicine if i rock my second degree? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medtech Posted February 14, 2011 Report Share Posted February 14, 2011 3.3 in an arts program isn't bad at all. Infact it's not bad for med schools since your in Alberta. U of C's IP cutoff is 3.0. but obviously it's on the low side. 3.7 is usually the minimum to be competitive. If you rock that second degree, you should have no problem. Have you written the MCATs? Because know all that bio, chem and physics on the MCATs is a start to get that science background back. Second of all, first year science courses do start with high school stuff during the first semester. So you should be fine. From what I've read, if you really apply your self, med school is definelty in your future Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarathonRunner Posted February 14, 2011 Report Share Posted February 14, 2011 I've had really good science profs at u of a (bio and chem) but the classes are huge and the labs are, well, meh. Even though I've done well with the curve (A+ in all my science courses) I still hate it. I hate having no idea where I stand until I get my final mark (although some profs do post the distributions for midterms and assignments, you still have no idea where you stand due to the lab components, etc.). I've even seen some students trying to sabotage others, by giving them wrong answers, etc., just so they can do better on the curve. Can you tell I really hate the curve? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloh Posted February 15, 2011 Report Share Posted February 15, 2011 Keep in mind that you will really only be competitive (AB schools) if you score a 4.0 in your second degree and if it is stretched out over 4 years. That will bring you to an average of 3.65 - which is ok for uofc, and really stretching it for uofA. Your best shots are actually 2 year schools in Ontario. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simpy Posted February 15, 2011 Report Share Posted February 15, 2011 Hi everyone ..so I just finished my BA and have no science background hence I am planning on going back to school for med pre-reqs. I took bio, chem, math 30 pure and math 31 in highschool and scored between 85-90 in my courses. My concern is that I have have not looked at any science courses for four years. What have others done to re-fresh there memory? How much will I be expected to know from highschool for first year university courses? I currently go to the u of a and am thinking of going there for sciences but the u of a is notorious for having a killer science program(i.e very hard and very competitive students) would i be better off to go to macewan or rdc for a couple years then transfer back to the u of a? basically i'm a little scared that i will be to rusty on the sciences to do well my first year. My cumulative GPA for my first degree is looking to be about a 3.3 which is also concerning? Is it possible that I still have a shot a medicine if i rock my second degree? Yes, it is still possible for you to get into medicine if you rock your second degree. But I think at this point you have to really question if it's what you want. When I finished my arts degree, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. It's a scary feeling and I know it can be easy to decide on a major career path and declare that "THIS is the one for me!" I guess my question is that is your desire to pursue medicine actually what you are passionate about? What has driven you to make this decision? If medicine is your passion, why did you enter an arts program in the first place? You don't have to share the answers with us, but just make sure you are being very honest with yourself when answering these questions. I only mention this because the path to medicine in Canada is very difficult. It's exponentially more so when you have a set of marks that will hold you back. You should be absolutely certain that medicine is what you want to do. If you don't have a very strong drive to enter medicine, you may struggle when you have to balance an exceptionally strong GPA with solid extracurriculars. You may lose heart if you get a 9 on your verbal MCAT and lose the opportunity to interview at two of the schools you have the best shot at. On the other hand, if medicine is truly your dream these will just be speedbumps on the way to your goal. You can surmount them and push yourself even harder. So it's definitely possible. But just be absolutely certain that this is what you want. If you're not sure right now, that's totally ok - take a year off; work, volunteer, travel, and take the time to explore other options. Taking this time to develop away from school will usually clarify what it is you really want to do. It did for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nowa Posted February 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2011 Hey I totally hear you about making sure that medicine is what you actaully want to do. When i graduated highschool I was 17 and knew that I was going on to post-secondary. I didn't really question why I was going I just knew that I loved school and wanted to continue with my eduction. Hence I looked online at majors and decided that political science was the most interesting because I associated this major with social justice and humanitarian work. I have always been involved in volunteer work not just to look good but because I have really enjoyed working with the people and organizations that are tied to social issues. Anyway I was happly going along taking classes and then this year I realized that I was in my last year and needed to find away to tie the things I enjoyed into some type of career so I made a list. 1.) I love learning how things work 2.) I am most comfortable when I understand how things work. This is big for me as I become really annoyed when I don't have the knowledge needed to do something. 3.) I like talking to people especially kids 4.) This is kind of twisted but I love being the person that people turn to when they are paniced because I like knowing that they trust me to help them through the storm. 5.) While I enjoyed my arts degree I realized that I want to study something that has a more pratical application. 6.) I want to work in a rural town in which I am a important part of the community. 7.) I like to be in leadership roles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astrogirl Posted February 15, 2011 Report Share Posted February 15, 2011 I got an interview at the UofC this year (IP) with about a 3.0 gpa in my undergrad degree (I do also have grad work, though). You just have to have your best 2 years above 3.2 and then no one really knows how they calculate the academic score. If you're worried about not doing well in the science courses, one thing you can do is get some textbooks ahead of time and review a bit. You might also want to look into doing them at Athabasca - I took a math course from Ath one summer because I needed it for a class in the fall and it hadn't fit into my schedule the winter before, and I actually did better in it than in any math class before or since. I really like distance ed because you can do things at your own pace. You can go quickly through the stuff that's easier for you and spend more time on the stuff that's hard for you. It sounds like you won't regret taking the extra science courses even if you never get into med (not saying you won't, though!), so I think you should just go for it and do your best and see what happens! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simpy Posted February 15, 2011 Report Share Posted February 15, 2011 Anyway I was happly going along taking classes and then this year I realized that I was in my last year and needed to find away to tie the things I enjoyed into some type of career so I made a list.1.) I love learning how things work 2.) I am most comfortable when I understand how things work. This is big for me as I become really annoyed when I don't have the knowledge needed to do something. 3.) I like talking to people especially kids 4.) This is kind of twisted but I love being the person that people turn to when they are paniced because I like knowing that they trust me to help them through the storm. 5.) While I enjoyed my arts degree I realized that I want to study something that has a more pratical application. 6.) I want to work in a rural town in which I am a important part of the community. 7.) I like to be in leadership roles. I strongly believe that no education is a waste and even if I don't get into med the years I spent studying science will still be worth while for me. For me it will be better to say that I tried to get into med then to say that I never tried and my back up plan will be to become a highschool bio teacher. on the up side my grades are in a upward trend 3. 08 3.14 3.4 so far this year 3.6 hoping to bring it up with the winter semester. Fair enough, glad you have thought critically about the issues and that medicine ties in with what it is you want to do. I think in the next little bit you might be benefited by trying to engage with the career to see if it stokes your passion. Do so by volunteering in clinical settings or by trying to shadow. If you do enjoy it, your drive will be all the stronger - and so will your chances of getting in. The trick will really be maintaining a high GPA doing a second undergrad. You will also need to do at least two more years (probably three or four) of this. During this time, you will need to maintain a 3.8+ GPA. It's going to be extremely challenging, particularly your first year back. You didn't mention whether you had physics, which many first years find difficult especially without having taken it in 12th grade. The good news is, this would probably be the most challenging year you face. You will need to balance what will be a very difficult course load with some meaningful extracurriculars. If you can do so and maintain a 3.8 GPA (without losing your sanity), then you have the academic skills and drive to go the rest of the way. The following two or three years would be progressively easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slashsev Posted February 17, 2011 Report Share Posted February 17, 2011 you dont need any sciences classes for med in canada... there are many schools you can apply to no mcat, no pre reqs... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarathonRunner Posted February 17, 2011 Report Share Posted February 17, 2011 you dont need any sciences classes for med in canada... there are many schools you can apply to no mcat, no pre reqs... There are indeed some schools with no pre-req requirements, but there are also plenty of schools that do require some basic science pre-reqs. In order to increase the chances of getting into medical school, which is extremely competitive in Canada, it is wise to apply to as many schools as possible. Thus, having the pre-reqs for the schools that require them, especially when IP for those schools, is generally a good idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.