LarryW21 Posted August 20, 2011 Report Share Posted August 20, 2011 Hey guys, So this is basically my story. I was always pretty good with sciences in high school but my real passion was with music. Unfortunately, I have really traditional Chinese parents who don't really support the arts as a career (and they were paying for my education) so I chose a Life Science Program at University of Toronto. Basically first semester, I was really depressed about missing out on music and angry at my parents so I absolutely BOMBED my evaluations. I smartened up the second half a little and I ended up with a ~2.9 GPA. During that summer, I knew I had to do something drastic so I ended up reading a good portion of the second-year textbooks and gaining back my momentum from my earlier high school days. I worked my ass off second year and achieved a perfect 4.0 GPA. I'm now due to take the MCAT in a couple of weeks and I'm really not sure what I can do to better my chances. If say, in perfect, ideal conditions, I score high on the MCAT and get perfect 4.0's in my upper years, I think my CGPA will be around ~3.7. How are those chances? And if say, things don't go as planned, would taking a fifth year help my GPA? What are some other options? I am greatly ashamed of my previous attitude and am now honestly willing to go to any medical school in Canada, States, UK or even the Caribbean. Your help is greatly appreciated, - Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frozenarbitor Posted August 20, 2011 Report Share Posted August 20, 2011 Don't worry Larry. You will have a decent chance if you perform well on the MCAT and in your upper years. Quite a few schools in Canada realize that some students significantly underperform academically during a part of their undergraduate study due to various reasons. These schools usually adopt a weighted or drop-your-worst-year formula in consideration of such factors. There are a few schools (Calgary and Alberta for example) that will take out your worst year when they calculate your GPA. There are also schools that will take your best two years as your GPA (i think Queens? not sure). UofT use a weighted formula that allows you to drop some of your worst courses if you take full course load throughout undergrad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted August 20, 2011 Report Share Posted August 20, 2011 Larry, you will be fine! And your parents did not realize that all paths - any path - leads to medicine and threy should have allowed you to follow your passion that also leads to medicine. There is no reason to feel ashamed or badly, if anything, it is your parents who seriously screwed up, not you. Just move forward and remember, in life, things happen. GL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychoswim Posted August 20, 2011 Report Share Posted August 20, 2011 Just one question for you - do you really want to become a doctor, or is your real passion still music? If it's the former, then I don't see why you wouldn't be able to make it. Just work hard in your remaining years and get a good MCAT score Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charmer08 Posted August 20, 2011 Report Share Posted August 20, 2011 Just one question for you - do you really want to become a doctor, or is your real passion still music? If it's the former, then I don't see why you wouldn't be able to make it. Just work hard in your remaining years and get a good MCAT score music is a hobby not a career Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiceWine Posted August 20, 2011 Report Share Posted August 20, 2011 music is a hobby not a career OP: keep up the good marks, get a great mcat socre, and explain in your autobiography why the first year gpa was on the lower side. It'll actually make you stand out from other applicants. haha but seriously music can be a career. music is a profession too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychoswim Posted August 20, 2011 Report Share Posted August 20, 2011 music is a hobby not a career Depends for who OP was talking about how his parents didn't really support arts as a career, so I'm just asking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shikimate Posted August 20, 2011 Report Share Posted August 20, 2011 Wow the OP sounded exactly like myself 4 years back except I preferred music as more of a hobby and science as more of a career. Don't worry, OP, you still have plenty of chances in Canada. 2 year GPA schools will work in your favour: Queens, UWO, Dal, Sask. 3 year GPA schools will also work for you: Alberta, Ottawa. Weighing formulas will help you out at UofT and Manitoba. With good VR Mac and Calgary is still doable. See, that's 10 schools right there that can still work for you, no need to worry, just do well on the MCAT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corie Posted August 20, 2011 Report Share Posted August 20, 2011 Larry, your doing really well. I'm amazed at how you have bounced back so strong. You will have other chances to explore music throughout your life and I hope you realized that your parents love you and wanted the best for you. However, atleast 3 of my peers in my class gained entry with performance music degrees. If you would like to make yourself more competitive, I suggest spending some time volunteering, not JUST to buff the CV but more importantly to discover what it means to be a physician and to develop certain characteristics/the personality of the ideal physician (your efforts will show during the interview). I bombed my high school years but smartened up after getting refused in my first university application. Remember its your choices now that determines what you will become tomorrow, not what has happened in the past. Feel free to PM me if you have any concerns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryW21 Posted August 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2011 Thank all you guys so much! I feel a lot better now and more confident about my chances! I was getting discouraged so much to the point where I was even questioning the point of writing the MCAT. Just one question for you - do you really want to become a doctor, or is your real passion still music? If it's the former, then I don't see why you wouldn't be able to make it. Just work hard in your remaining years and get a good MCAT score Well, my passion is still music, but I'm treating it more as a... well hobby is not the right word... but more as a non-career activity. I'm still play in an Orchestra and a brass band and still play piano by myself. But I've also developed a liking (not a passion) for medicine as well. music is a hobby not a career Ha, well true in many cases but (trying not to sound braggy or anything) I've been playing piano since the age of 4 and I've won several awards over the years. I also took up trombone in middle school and played previously in the Toronto Youth Wind Orchestra. Both my high school music teacher and my private piano/trombone instructors suggested it as a career, but my parents wouldn't compromise. Larry, your doing really well. I'm amazed at how you have bounced back so strong. You will have other chances to explore music throughout your life and I hope you realized that your parents love you and wanted the best for you. However, at least 3 of my peers in my class gained entry with performance music degrees. If you would like to make yourself more competitive, I suggest spending some time volunteering, not JUST to buff the CV but more importantly to discover what it means to be a physician and to develop certain characteristics/the personality of the ideal physician (your efforts will show during the interview). I bombed my high school years but smartened up after getting refused in my first university application. Remember its your choices now that determines what you will become tomorrow, not what has happened in the past. Feel free to PM me if you have any concerns. Aww... shucks. If I knew that you could gain entry with a music degree two years ago... well let's say things would be a lot better right now. And my dad works as an oncologist at Credit Valley Hospital so I could probably apply for a volunteering position there. Thank you for your offer of help, I shall PM you in the future if anything arises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garret9 Posted August 20, 2011 Report Share Posted August 20, 2011 I'm in a very similar situation... except lil different. I played music professionally (toured/recorded/albums/etc) while trying to do school because it would make my parents happy. I had horrible GPA. Now I'm in school for myself, completely different GPA then before. It can get overwhelming when you look at everything you have to overcome. Just take it one step at a time. You obviously did well by just concentrating on second year, just keep at it! And remember being musical can help us. A lot of schools appreciate diversity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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