brickwall Posted September 5, 2011 Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 Hello everyone, I have an electrical engineering undergraduate degree (3.3 GPA) and am currently half-way through my a master's program in the same discipline. I have recently had a revelation that I want to go to med school but my GPA is currently too low to be accepted for almost all med schools in North America. I have some ideas (i.e. second bachelor's) but I wanted to get your opinions on the matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted September 5, 2011 Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 sounds right in an area of interest where you can excel academically,while you get in ECs/volunteering and prepare for MCAT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brickwall Posted September 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2011 sounds right in an area of interest where you can excel academically,while you get in ECs/volunteering and prepare for MCAT. Different med. schools have different policies on second degrees (I know UWO has some strict policy regarding course selection for second degree-ers)... do you think if I went for a bio degree I could cover the spread in one shot? I want to know how plausible this really is... has anyone gone down this route successfully? I'd very much like to hear your story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karma Posted September 6, 2011 Report Share Posted September 6, 2011 There are a couple of engineers in my class. But a 3.3 GPA seems kind of low... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted September 6, 2011 Report Share Posted September 6, 2011 That is the reason for second undergrad degree. OP would need an academic advisor to determine his options in two years of study. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brickwall Posted September 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2011 Do you think if I ace my pre-reqs and rock my MCAT (>32) I could be competitive without having to go through another four years? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylamonkey Posted September 8, 2011 Report Share Posted September 8, 2011 Do you think if I ace my pre-reqs and rock my MCAT (>32) I could be competitive without having to go through another four years? I would give you a 5% chance. So no. I have a 33R MCAT and a 3.1GPA, and only am expecting a 50% chance at an interview. Maybe. And that's only because I have a serious upward trend in my grades (eg. a 30% average from one year, in 1999, to a 90% average from last year). And I also have IP status at several relatively lenient western schools. If you want to be competitive for med, you must do a second degree. BUT you have to be really careful. I would also suggest taking time off between school and going back to school. You need to do a little soul-searching. It will be 10x harder for you to get into med than anyone entering university straight from high school. You need to figure out how long you are willing to do this for, what grades and courseload you need to maintain, and if you even WANT to be in 1st yr bio courses with 18-yr-olds who have a better chance of getting into med after 3 yrs than you do. You haven't told us where you are IP- because that makes a difference too! If you want to PM me and ask questions, feel free. Especially if you have specific questions about 2nd degrees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keepontrying Posted September 9, 2011 Report Share Posted September 9, 2011 Your profile is similar to mine in terms of GPA and graduate applicant status. However, your resume better look crazy to outcompete the undergrad keeners out there if you don't want to do a 2nd undergrad. A nice MCAT score alone won't cut it in Canada unfortunately. Like Kyla said, you should take sometime to decide if med is for you. Why the sudden desire for med? I'm not saying it's wrong to have a career change - and in your case, biomed engineering might actually be what you want - but you need to realistically weigh your chances and if you are willing to go through all these hurdles to overcome your gpa. UofT loves grad applicants so you can take a look at that, but you must demonstrate research productivity and some outstanding achievements to standout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brickwall Posted September 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2011 Thanks for the replies guys. Kayla, why would you say it is 10x harder for 2nd degree-ers to get into med? Also, I am IP in Ontario and I appreciate your generous offer to ask you questions via PM Keepontrying, I've been interested in going into med for a while now, I just started taking it seriously very recently due to some special circumstances recently in my life. For now, I feel like I could do it without the time off. I also want to make it clear that I am not opposed to going to med schools in the US if I have a chance at some decent schools over there. Not only that, I'm seriously considering doing my second undergrad at a US school nearby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keepontrying Posted September 9, 2011 Report Share Posted September 9, 2011 Med schools in US will be somewhat tougher to get in because of your gpa. And when you say decent schools, I suppose that means mid to top tier ones. Top tiers are out of the question because they are looking for 3.7+ gpa, high MCAT, and good research productivity. Mid-tiers will be tough for you too, so you're realistically looking at low-tier IF your MCAT score is decent. Second undergrad will benefit you the most at this point for both Canadian and US schools IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerena Posted September 9, 2011 Report Share Posted September 9, 2011 Hey guys, Excuse me if I'm wrong... but what about UT? Don't they highly value research experience, and if you have a master's, the minimum GPA is much lower. As long as you have the research experience (e.g. master's degree, publications, etc.), my understanding was that it could compensate for a "weak" GPA. Let me know if I've misunderstood this, though. With zee facts to prove me wrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brickwall Posted September 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2011 Med schools in US will be somewhat tougher to get in because of your gpa. And when you say decent schools, I suppose that means mid to top tier ones. Top tiers are out of the question because they are looking for 3.7+ gpa, high MCAT, and good research productivity. Mid-tiers will be tough for you too, so you're realistically looking at low-tier IF your MCAT score is decent. Are you talking about my chances as of now (with 1 undergrad; 3.3 cGPA) or after I take a second undergrad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andie Posted September 9, 2011 Report Share Posted September 9, 2011 It totally is possible for you to get into medicine, but unless you do amazing in your master's with some big publications, you will likely have to do a second undergrad degree. Second degrees will take 2-3 years to complete. The GPA cutoff to apply to most schools is at least a 3.6 (competitive GPAs are 3.8+), except at Mac (3.0 cutoff) and UofT (3.0 cutoff for grad students). You also need to write the MCAT and do well. For UofT, most grad students have at least a 3.5 GPA to be competitive. See my post in the non-trad success stories. I came out of engineering with a 3.2 GPA, did a master's and then a second undergrad and finally got in. It is possible, but it will take work. Good luck! http://premed101.com/forums/showpost.php?p=617153&postcount=136 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keepontrying Posted September 9, 2011 Report Share Posted September 9, 2011 Are you talking about my chances as of now (with 1 undergrad; 3.3 cGPA) or after I take a second undergrad? Yes as of now. If you do well in your second undergrad (by taking alot of science courses too, say in Integrated Science program), that will look favourable to US adcom. It's basically what they call as "post-bacc", which many applicants in US do to prove their academic capability aside from a good MCAT score. I know engineering is pretty damn hard and a 3.3 is certainly respectable, but unfortunately med school wouldn't view it like that because they can't discriminate against other disciplines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylamonkey Posted September 9, 2011 Report Share Posted September 9, 2011 Hey guys, Excuse me if I'm wrong... but what about UT? Don't they highly value research experience, and if you have a master's, the minimum GPA is much lower. As long as you have the research experience (e.g. master's degree, publications, etc.), my understanding was that it could compensate for a "weak" GPA. Let me know if I've misunderstood this, though. With zee facts to prove me wrong I don't have facts. Sorry. They do seem to value research, but to be honest I'm not sure if it can make up for a 3.3. OP- the 10x comment, well, I guess that's a personal feeling I have. Again, it's a feeling, not facts. I say it because you are NOT starting from a level playing field with all the other 1st yrs out there who are just starting out. You are starting with a set of bad marks (although yours aren't terrible) that have to be "diluted" before you can be on a level playing field. They start out with a clean slate, and even if you get a 4.0 GPA in your 1st yr, you will only b raising your overall GPA by about 0.15-ish. The same 1st yr, 18-yr-old, will have a 4.0GPA at the end of that 1st yr. You also have few ECs, by your own estimation. Some schools (again, I think this might be a rumour) that look at ECs as being significant throughout your adult life, as this is an indication of community invovement that is not speciafically of the "I wanna get into med" motivation. The 10x harder comment. On a personal level, it's what I've been saying for a long, long time. Ever since I started down this road, in fact. What I neglected to do was play the game 10x harder, so while I've put in the work, I have no interviews. I guess I used to say it, but I didn't really believe it. I believe it now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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