Prereq completion

[Guest avisee]

Does anyone know when prereqs must be completed by in order to be eligible to apply? Is it before applying? By the end of the school year? Or is it possible to complete a prerequisite course in the summer after the application cycle (assuming it is complete before med school commences)? Do they still invite people for interviews even if they apparently do not have all the prerequisite courses listed on their transcripts??

[Guest dandalex]

From the McGill admission's page, you won't find information relating to the specific date but a broad statement:

 

A. Before making application for this program you should ensure that you have either completed the following entrance requirements or will have completed them by the end of the 2004-2005 academic year.

 

Therefore it is mentionned is that all mandatory prereq (Bachelors' degree and other classes) should be completed before entering medicine. But what would apply to you is the 2004-2005 (I modified the year because the site has not be updated for this year) academic year statement. That should technically encompass all prereq classes as well, but the following is mentionned specifically in the section for the Bachelors degree :

 

Successful candidates must be in receipt of the Bachelor's degree by the time of registration for the first year of the medical curriculum

 

So it is difficult to know if the A. Statement relates only to the bachelors part of the prereq since it is not mentionned in the class prereq part.

 

Still, prereq-wise, considering McGill doesn't care that much for your background (science or otherwise) I think they should be completed before entering (they might not be completed by the interview date). But if you go that route, you would have to send an attached letter saying that during the last semester you are completing so and so class.

 

 

For the summer cycle question, it might be possible since some univirsities have cycles of a month to two months for summer, so you may still have time to send a transcript. But in my opinion, such a situation should be discussed with the admission office.

 

I personnally would get them out of the way before doing my MCAT.

 

As for wheter or not they would interview you...well let's just say that they interview and accept people below the cut-off points, so I don't imagine they would make such a fuss.

 

I am under the impression that you want to apply this year and either have done or will do the MCAT this coming August and want to complete your prereqs before the 2005-2006 registration.

 

If you are in that situation and your MCAT scores are strong, and the rest of your application is competitive, I don't think they would mind much.

 

Hope it helps, if you're still uncertain, write back!

 

McGill admission people are really cool and easy-going, if you want to bug them with your questions go ahead you won't regret it.

 

In the end, if you're not sure about your application, just send it in, with the short explanatory note about the prereq and hope for the best. For 60$, I think its worth it, when you consider some people who didn't apply because their MCAT was 29 and then I met people who interviewed with a 28 MCAT...(when the cut off is 30 and the average for 160 students is 30.47...something's amiss...)

 

Cheers,

AlexH

[Guest jbish]

A friend in my class got her bachelor's in fall 2003 (two months after our med1 classes had commenced) as she had to take a summer class to have enough credits to graduate. This class was not a prereq...but it just goes to show you people get in and bend the rules a lot.

[Guest avisee]

Thanks for the informative responses! However, while I could see McGill bending the requirements in terms of MCAT and bachelors completion dates (especially for Quebec residents), I'm not sure if prereq courses also fit in this boat. I guess my situation may be a bit unique since I already have my bachelors and would have to take the orgo on the side while working on my masters. With the grad courses I'll be doing, I would seriously prefer to take orgo in the spring (and I know there are options out there to fit it in by June or July).

 

I'd like to apply to McGill this year, but I'd rather not have to do the orgo if I can avoid it. I'm applying to other schools that don't require it, but I've always wanted to go to McGill, so I'm going to give it a shot anyway. As an out of province applicant, I don't have great odds of getting an interview, so it would be nice if I could apply and find out whether or not I'd be granted an interview before going to the trouble of taking that second semester of orgo.

 

I've contacted admissions with an email, so hopefully they'll have a more formal response when they get around to it, but I appreciate your thoughts & wisdom.

[Guest Ian Wong]

Floating to the top...

 

Ian