your high school grades?

[kawalac]

I finished with a 50 in grade 12 physics and ended up with a 15 on the Physical Sciences section on the MCAT. As many others have alluded to, motivation is key.

[Dr.Gosling]

lucky for us we had a bar, Chinese buffet, and an A&W down the street.

Awesome to hear your story, Para D... I'm proud to be in the same med class as you!

Did you happen to go to Queen E??

[apache]

ex-slackers for the win! hehe, im gonna track u down next yr...

 

Wow, thanks man, I thought people would be more scornful of ex-slackers.

 

I went to Beaverbrook in cowtown.

[RaVen777]

I had an 83% in high school if I remember correctly. Didn't do well enough on the provincial exams to get the provincial scholarship. Even lost the honour roll in the last semester of Gr. 12! I was interested in girls, skateboarding and video games back then.... Surprised I did as well as I did! I had some good friends who kept me in check.

 

University was a whole different beast. I am so thankful I buckled down and worked my ass off all 4 years. Actually, now that I think about it, I'm glad I didn't stress out too much in high school. Besides getting accepted into university, High school means very little towards getting into medicine. I had some fun when I was 15,16,17.

[Asta]

I am not sure what my average was in high school. I did really well early in high school, then completely stopped caring and stopped going to class. This got me some F's. I dropped out in grade 12.

 

When I went back to high school after a few years, I got marks in the high 90's for those classes. So my high school transcripts are an awkward mix of very high and very low marks.

 

Unfortunately, that is sort of what my university transcripts are like as well.

[apache]

thats what my high school transcripts looked like, except my school was smart enough to just drop me out of classes i was failing (for funding, iuno). my university transcripts were pretty much straight a's with a b+ here or there

 

I am not sure what my average was in high school. I did really well early in high school, then completely stopped caring and stopped going to class. This got me some F's.

[Addy K]

I was a disaster in high school, I never went. I had 200 class absences in one semester, got suspended multiple times, when I graduated I did not have any academic level courses except for bio. I actually failed CALM (Alberta) and only got passed it with work experience as a replacement. I would rather do anything than go to class and lucky for us we had a bar, Chinese buffet, and an A&W down the street. We would all (my friends) skip and hang out at one of the former (depending on time of day) and discuss what we thought at the time were deep philosophical issues. I took almost every option track and I would usually end up with a 50% if I promised not to come back the next year. I used to go to gym class drunk all the time because it was in the afternoon, it was hilarious, except for that time we went for a 5km run.......shutter.

All I ever wanted to do was be in the army so I thought high school was a waste of my precious time. However, when I decided that I wanted to do other things later in life I repeated all of the academic classes for grade 11 and 12 (sciences, math, English) by distance learning and college upgrading/university prep. I rocked out on those courses and got into university competitively rather than as a mature student.

Before you ask, no I don’t regret any of it. The truth is I wasn’t ready for it at the time, and although I “wasted” a lot of time repeating things I should have done right the first time, it is probably better for me to have taken the courses later in life and closer to when I started university. High school is a poor indicator of intelligence or academic capabilities anyway. Any monkey can be whipped into memorizing a few facts and doing some basic mathematical operations. I think that’s why there are so many threads about first year university students whining that there grades have gone down, but that’s another topic.

Anyway here is me bragging unnecessarily:

- Just graduated honors imin and infect with a 4.0 in the last 2 years, and completed the degree in 3

- 2 Heritage summer studentships

- 1 NSERC (didn’t apply this year)

- won research prize last year out of 200 summer students (mostly med students)

- accepted for grad school in 3 out of 3 departments I applied to

- got in

 

Moral of the story: The slackers who you all despised in high school weren’t necessarily stupid; we just had other priorities at the time. Anyone is capable of doing this; it just takes the right frame of mind and the desire to do it. GL everyone.

 

You remind me of myself in high school, even your thinking. I thought high school was such a waste of time and anyone could do it, just sit there and do the work and get the marks. I found it really boring and monotonous so I found other ways to occupy myself - mainly hanging out with friends and playing games . It was sad because many of my high school teachers thought I would go nowhere in life and were really discouraging. It just made me hate school more. I think I had 49% going into my Stats exam in grade 12 and I remember my teacher asking me if I plan to go to University. I only applied to UofT & Mac and ended up going to UofT. My teachers and even my friends were surprised I got into a university - I remember having thoughts that I would be a dreaded "super senior".I think my high school average was around high 70's/low 80's despite not doing any real work. I had really smart friends who all ended up going into Engineering at UofT so I would just do assignments with them and coast rest of the time.

 

I never imagined ending up where I am now in high school, but when you find something you genuinely enjoy and are passionate about, it makes a big difference. For me this was medicine, and I didn't realize it until after 1st year, which was the turning point in my grades. I pretty much averaged 85-90 after 1st year and finished with a 3.7. If I could, I would change the entire structure of high school and the way teaching is done. It really caters to only certain learning styles/personalities, and the rest are deemed incapable, which is a damn shame. At least there is some headway in the States, for those interested check this out:

[aaronjw]

As someome 16 years removed from University and going back to school to pursue my passion i've had to do a lot of relearning im preparation for the journey i am embarkimg on.

 

For my Kin prpgram i need a 12U physics which i never took because i had no interest in science when i was younger. So now that i am taking physics, i've had to try amd remember all the math. Youtube video's are how i am able to get up to speed quicker than with just books alone. Then i discovered the khanacademy and thimgs really took off. Its a wonderful site and i am vety thankful for their videos.

 

I was the same way in high school. If it wasnt for athletics i probably would have dropped out because like you amd Para D i felt it a waste of my time and looking back i realized i felt that way because teaching was done to a learning style that didnt suite me and because i was the odd man out, i couldnt get more extensive help from teachers because there wasnt time and we had no money for tutors.

 

Great TED talk. Thanks for posting it.

You remind me of myself in high school, even your thinking. I thought high school was such a waste of time and anyone could do it, just sit there and do the work and get the marks. I found it really boring and monotonous so I found other ways to occupy myself - mainly hanging out with friends and playing games . It was sad because many of my high school teachers thought I would go nowhere in life and were really discouraging. It just made me hate school more. I think I had 49% going into my Stats exam in grade 12 and I remember my teacher asking me if I plan to go to University. I only applied to UofT & Mac and ended up going to UofT. My teachers and even my friends were surprised I got into a university - I remember having thoughts that I would be a dreaded "super senior".I think my high school average was around high 70's/low 80's despite not doing any real work. I had really smart friends who all ended up going into Engineering at UofT so I would just do assignments with them and coast rest of the time.

 

I never imagined ending up where I am now in high school, but when you find something you genuinely enjoy and are passionate about, it makes a big difference. For me this was medicine, and I didn't realize it until after 1st year, which was the turning point in my grades. I pretty much averaged 85-90 after 1st year and finished with a 3.7. If I could, I would change the entire structure of high school and the way teaching is done. It really caters to only certain learning styles/personalities, and the rest are deemed incapable, which is a damn shame. At least there is some headway in the States, for those interested check this out:

[Tea (with dinosaurs)]

I was pretty nerdy in high school. Final average was somewhere in the 90s, was the class valedictorian, although I went to a sad little school so that's not saying much... but my diploma exams in grade 12 were all above 90%.

 

I pretty much continued that into university. I dropped a little bit in my first semester of first year, but brought my grades back up from second semester on. I hope my reputation as a non-ex-slacker doesn't hurt my chances of getting into med

[hking03]

It's funny, I woudn't look back and consider myself a slacker in high school, but I definitely didn't work as hard as I could. I relied a lot on natural abilities... I studied, but not that hard. My best friend was the valedictorian and won a full ride scholarship to sfu becuase of his marks. He put in hours upon hours of studying (to the point of staying home on friday and saturday night to study so that he could also study on sunday)... I think he looks back at his high school years and regrets how hard he worked. He ended up losing that scholarship after his first year due to his drop in gpa. His study methods for high school did not cross over into university and he wasted a lot of extra time studying ineffectively. He managed to get into Law school in the states, but would have preferred to stay in Canada if he could have.

 

I finished high school with about an 87% average (my friend was around 94 I think). Had a good time, but could have worked harder for sure. I don't regret how my high school years went, but I do wish I would have gone to a college closer to my house for the first couple of years... the trek out to UBC was just stupid and I spent thousands of extra dollars when I could have gotten the same thing from the college down the street.

 

I was probably around the top 10% in my graduating class... I volunteer at my old high school and was talking with my old high school counsellor and a former teacher who is now a VP and they both remarked that they didn't think I would ever be able to get into medicine. I was a little taken aback by their thoughts on the matter, especially considering these are the people who supposedly shaped my mind... this was also a couple of days after I interviewed at UBC so it planted a seed of doubt in my mind for about 3 months.

[apache]

i still remember a defining comment by one of my math teachers that i didn't belong in ib math 10 with students like x,y, and z who were clearly better or something of the sort (maybe he was right, i had 58, lol), that's always kinda stuck in head, so i dropped out of ib slacked the **** out hs, killed university and finished way ahead of x,y, and z. i also had a social 30 teacher who was a completely absurd guy, but who was like ur really talented etc. and the mark i got in his class and in english scraped me into university. my sort of disdain for the first comment and sincere appreciation of the second guy kind of propelled me through my first couple years of university with really high marks so i guess teachers, both good and bad, as well as other a-hole students who are like what are you doing in university can actually be really big influence or motivation, for better or worse. i guess in the end you learn (or at least i did) that the only person's opinion about your ability that matters is yourself.

 

I was probably around the top 10% in my graduating class... I volunteer at my old high school and was talking with my old high school counsellor and a former teacher who is now a VP and they both remarked that they didn't think I would ever be able to get into medicine. I was a little taken aback by their thoughts on the matter, especially considering these are the people who supposedly shaped my mind... this was also a couple of days after I interviewed at UBC so it planted a seed of doubt in my mind for about 3 months.

[MarathonRunner]

I did high school in Ontario back when we still had grade 13/OAC (yes, I'm old ). My OAC marks were all in the 95-98 range (I had 7 OAC credits: two maths, three sciences, English, French). I won the Governor General's Bronze Medal for graduating at the top of my class, won the math and science awards, and a bunch of extra-curricular awards as well. I went to a pretty large Catholic high school that was well known for its academics.

 

I was not popular at all, but had a small group of good friends. I was super-involved in school activities as well as with Girl Guides (as a Pathfinder, Ranger, and Junior Leader). I was in band, stage band, choir, school play (acting 3 years, doing makeup and stage stuff the two years I didn't get a part in the play), library club, gaming club (yes, I'm a geek), environmental club, editor of the grade 13 pages my last year in high school, tutor in math, improv team member (performing at the NAC in Ottawa for the improv games was an incredible experience!), and probably some other things I'm forgetting.

 

I was very much a "goodie two shoes" - studied long and hard as I originally wanted to be a veterinarian (until I worked in a vet's office one summer as a co-op student and found that although I loved watching surgery and could handle all the messy stuff like stool samples, I couldn't stand seeing animals being put to sleep).

 

I had a great time in high school - I studied and worked hard, but I was also involved in so many different activities in school that I really enjoyed. My good study habits stood me well in university as I maintained a 4.0 GPA my first two years, then had some health problems in third year that resulted in a couple of Bs as well as a less-than-full-courseload (as well as having to have surgery that year). I still ended up graduating at the top of my class for my faculty for my undergraduate degree. One thing that helped me with the transition to university was staying in the "quiet area" in residence - it meant I was surrounded with other students who were generally there to study. We still had fun - we would go out dancing or partying on a Friday or Saturday, but we didn't go crazy every night and we didn't get stupid drunk every week. We had fun, but we also studied.

[Chantalle47]

Now I feel kind of sad that I don't have an ex-slacker story to tell.

 

I had something like a 95% average in high school... I came in second for the highest average in the school, and then I was so upset because I was a little keener who had my heart set on being valedictorian. I was a very high anxiety person back then

 

But it did help me get a full scholarship to undergrad, which was awesome. And since then I learned to relax a little and I pulled off a 3.95, or so, depending on what scale you use.

[anxious_101]

I coasted through high school with low-mid 80s in most classes every year. I was huge slacker. When I got to U of T for undergrad, my marks actually went up, primarily because I started to enjoy the courses I was taking rather than the spoon-fed courses in high school. I did the LMP, lab medicine and pathobiology, program and managed to get mostly high 80s and low 90s throughout undergrad. So it's definitely possible to do better in university than in high school.

[Jaybird]

I probably skipped more class in grade 12 then I attended...heh.

[Hockey_whiz]

high school i relied on "talent" to get me 90s, didn't know the definition of a strong work ethic. I remember finishing chem30 with a 98% average without studying for the diploma. brought this same work ethic/attitude into university and my gpa got absolutely destroyed in my first year. valedictorian in my year got accepted into med after 3 years and the runner-up valedictorian got into med after 4 years of university.

[preppy038]

79% Average in public school.

 

And my marks started going up during highschool but still around mid 80s during grades 9 and 10.

 

I wanted to go to Ivy league schools for undergrad so I started studying during gr 11 and 12 but still did horribly on English (70~80%?)

 

But my sciences and maths were at the top, grade 11 and 12 AP courses ~94% average I think.

 

In our grade 12 AP biology class we had a group of 20 students who were all extremely smart (gifted/enriched individuals). I really enjoyed it since we all helped each other in getting the best grade possible (I really hope med school is like that too ).

 

A handful of the classmates got into med school after 3rd year of uni they were an exceptional bunch

[mm88]

I had a low 80 some in HS. 39 in IB.

 

high 70s/low 80s in undergrad. Definitely got into med by luck.

[inspiring-curmudgeon]

i still remember a defining comment by one of my math teachers that i didn't belong in ib math 10 with students like x,y, and z who were clearly better or something of the sort (maybe he was right, i had 58, lol), that's always kinda stuck in head, so i dropped out of ib slacked the **** out hs, killed university and finished way ahead of x,y, and z. i also had a social 30 teacher who was a completely absurd guy, but who was like ur really talented etc. and the mark i got in his class and in english scraped me into university. my sort of disdain for the first comment and sincere appreciation of the second guy kind of propelled me through my first couple years of university with really high marks so i guess teachers, both good and bad, as well as other a-hole students who are like what are you doing in university can actually be really big influence or motivation, for better or worse. i guess in the end you learn (or at least i did) that the only person's opinion about your ability that matters is yourself.

 

I had an experience like this. My grade 10 English teacher called my mother and said it would be better if I transferred into college-level english instead of being in the academic stream. I ended up staying in University English, but with another teacher. I got a 12 on VR and T on my writing sample with little effort, and now I'll be starting meds in the fall (after my 3rd year). It's sad to think that teachers like these will be labelling kids for the rest of their lives, and telling them what they can and cannot do.

[docmm]

Graduated at the top of my class in HS with a ~96 average. Did very, very well first year of my undergrad and had a pretty rough second year but that seems be the trend in my program (biopsych). Going to be doing some damage control next year and fourth year

[questforstarfish]

Grade 12 rough marks- 55% in math, dropped chem twice, 65% in bio, 80% in English, 70% in social studies, 90s in my electives. I had NO interest in school, NO study skills and really did not give two ****s as long as I could graduate and maybe become an LPN one day...

 

I upgraded with straight A's this year though (amazing what a difference a couple more years of maturity and concrete goals will make!) and have A's in all of the few courses I've done toward my degree so far. Kids, it's all about motivation!

[apache]

i always like to hear stories like this! nice job! i couldn't agree more, motivation, motivation, motivation!

 

Grade 12 rough marks- 55% in math, dropped chem twice, 65% in bio, 80% in English, 70% in social studies, 90s in my electives. I had NO interest in school, NO study skills and really did not give two ****s as long as I could graduate and maybe become an LPN one day...

 

I upgraded with straight A's this year though (amazing what a difference a couple more years of maturity and concrete goals will make!) and have A's in all of the few courses I've done toward my degree so far. Kids, it's all about motivation!

[Jamone]

I got 90's in high school with little to no effort. I figured that as long as my grades were above, say, 75, I would be fine for whatever I might want to do in the future, and I probably would've worked harder if I wasn't able to coast so easily. In university I worked way harder because I wasn't so certain about what kind of grades I could get by with, especially if I wanted to do something like meds, and my grades were pretty much steady from high school.

[Emma15]

My average was always around 87-93 in high school but 1st year university was a rude awakening!!!

[DOC_Ma]

Low 90s in high school

similar in uni

 

difference being almost no work done in high school, but busted my behind off in uni.