should I apply this year?

[Guest Tal]

So I was hoping to get some of the great advice this board is famous for

(also, if anyone out there thinks I can in anyway help them, don't hesitate to ask!)

I just finished my 2nd year in Bio-med at Guelph. Sadly I did not do as well as I could have in my first year and as a result my cumulative average is just shy of 3.7 (although my 2nd year cumulitive if about a 3.9). Anywho, I'm only 19 and I really was thinking of applying in october to Western and U of T (U of T being where I really want to go). (All depending on how my mcats go this august). My parents aren't so shure about this idea (costs quite some money you know!), but I just really want to see if I can get in this year. If I don't get in I'll be applying after 3rd year to those two plus Queens and Dal (where I don't really want to go, but if I get in who's complaining).

Anyway, what do you think my chances are? What do you think of my idea? (I'd be really interested in hearing from aneliz since you're from Guelph too and applied to U of T and Western, I think I read in another thread). Oh yah, my extra curriculars are pretty good.

Thanks everybody! And good luck to all!

[Guest U of O med]

You're 19... going into your 3rd year.

 

I have one question for you: what's the rush?

 

On the flip side of that, if you have all the prerequisites, the grades, the MCAT scores (although not needed at U of O, HAHAHA), then apply away!

 

I am totally against "fast tracking" into a career, but if you feel like you are ready (talk about it with your family) then put your head down and plow your way through the admissions process!

 

Good luck!

[Guest aneliz]

Tal,

 

Congrats on your second year marks. I applied to both Western and UofT this year. (Only those two). I have interviewed at both of them. Looking at your second year marks, you will definitely get an interview at Western (as long as you meet the MCAT cut-offs). Western is very formulaic-no essays, they don't care about references or extra-currics to get an interview. If you have the cut-off marks and MCAT's you have an interview there, if you don't then there is no chance for you even if you do have a nobel prize in your autobiographic sketch! Western also ONLY looks at your best year in determining if you meet the GPA cut-off. A 3.9 will more than cut it, in the past couple of years it has been about 3.6ish.

 

As for Toronto, they will use both of your years (the 3.7 and the 3.9 and average them together using some kind of formula - it escapes me right now but I know that it is on the OMSAS site somewhere). This will likely give you a GPA of around 3.8ish which is probably competitive but who really knows with Toronto. (Check out the wailing and gnashing in the Toronto forum in the locked discussion entitled "May 10-13"). So if you write a good essay and have good references then you probably have a decent shot at Toronto as well.

 

And now for a little story entitled "Why I didn't apply last year". Last year I was in third year and contemplated applying just like you are now. So I thought and thought and thought and never did. Why? Because I asked myself if I was really ready to go to med school. Did I really know that this was IT? You are determining the rest of your life if you go to med school and I wasn't convinced that I was ready for that last year. I also asked myself "If I do get in at the end of third year (by some stroke of luck) am I ready to leave Guelph, to walk away from a degree that I am two semesters away from completing? And the answer was no. I was not ready to leave Guelph. I didn't want to abandon my undergrad degree and not finish. I didn't want to leave my friends here and I wasn't entirely convinced yet that I wanted to begin 'the rest of my life' yet. In the grand scheme of things, what is another year of undergrad? Once you go to med school you will never come back to undergrad. I wanted to make sure that it really was what I wanted. I knew that my marks were competitive and, if I did apply I likely had a decent chance. I wasn't prepared to deal with getting in last year so I didn't apply.

 

However, one of my friends did apply. She decided fairly late in September to apply just to Toronto. She filled out her application at the last minute, she wrote the essay the night before it was due and handed it in. And, she got in! One application to a med school in her life and she got in. So then she had to decide if she was actually going to go. She decided to go because she couldn't gamble that she would get in again if she turned it down and then reapplied. She walked away from the biomed program after third year with nadda and it was a tough decision to make. Remember that a 'practice' application may lead to an actual acceptance before you are ready to go and this leaves you with an incredibly difficult decision to make!

 

My advice to you is to really think about this. You are definitely competitive if your MCAT goes well. Make sure that you could live with the immediate outcome of applying. Are you definitely sure? Are you ready to leave Guelph? In my opinion it would be better to wait (especially because you are so young!). Do something fun, take some electives. Make sure medicine is definitely the right decision for you.

 

I only applied to Western and Toronto because I feel that they are the two schools that are best suited to my learning style and interests. I did not apply to schools were I would not really want to go. If you don't want to go there, why apply? You might get in and then what are you going to do? I can't picture spending four plus years of my life in misery just so that I can get an MD. Go where you will be happy. If I had applied to all five Ontario schools and got into all five I would still pick Western as my top choice. By not applying to all five schools, I am not decreasing my chance of getting into Western. (Confused by my logic??? My housemates are!) So, think hard, evaluate where all of the different options may lead you and decide what will make you happy. That is all you can really hope for in life is to be happy. Good Luck Tal!

[Guest Tal]

Thanks for your replys U of O Med and aneliz (Your responses are always so through aneliz, thank you for taking that time!)

My cumulitive average for my two years is almost 3.7 (not just for my 1st year, although I wish...)

Anyway though, I think I really do have to think about this more. I was trying to make the decision based on if I have a chance of getting in or not, there's definitly a lot more to consider.

I never really thought I was rushing a career, just that med school sounds more interesting than the 4th year of my undergrad degree (which will be mostly my honours research and I'm hoping to do research the summer after 3rd year anyway), and I just want to always keep things interesting! However, I would be interested in knowing what you thought of your 4th year aneliz (sorry to bother you again), keeping in mind I took pathology this year. And now I am wondering if I could leave Guelph so soon.

Thanks again!

[Guest Jase133]

I totally disagree with this whole "Are you ready?" type of self-evaluation. If you are sure that medicine is what you want and know that there is a 70% chance you'll end up in this career, why not go ahead with it?

 

The people I've talked to who had the marks and the MCAT scores and who've consistently said, "Oh yeah, I'm just waiting to see if I'm ready...blah blah," were always interested in medicine anyway... Why waste the time when you know (in your heart) that in the end you'll end up at the same conclusion? If you don't get in, just think of it as a practice run. If you do, then good.

 

I certainly know how many times I've told people I'm still thinking whether I am "ready" for it simply because it is the "acceptable" answer. However, in my heart I know that I am too insistent on this goal to really budge.

 

Hope this helps.

[Guest aneliz]

Jase, to everyone their own eh?? I have no doubt that you know in your heart that you want medicine. If this is true then by all means, go for it. It is just that some of us are sometimes less sure. There are days when I *know* that it is what I want and there are other days when I feel utter panic at 'sealing my fate forever' and closing the door on other possible options. Life is far too complicated and their are far too many completely life altering decisions to be made! My only point was that you should fully evaluate the consequences of any decision before you make it. The only way to know for sure that medicine is what you want is to explore the other options.

 

Tal, every year of undergrad is better than the last. First year sucks. Big time. The courses are huge, the material is largely review, you have little choice in what you take and you are constantly scrambling to keep your head above water. Second year is little better. It is pretty much the same except the material is no longer review. Third year *is* better. The classes are smaller, you get to take more of what you are interested in and you have fully adjusted to university. Fourth year is great. I loved my fourth year. I took the courses that I wanted and only one of my classes had more than 50 people in it. (It was a second year philosophy elective). You have a much different relationship with profs and TA's by fourth year. They are genuinely interested in getting to know the fourth year students and helping them in any way possible. All my profs knew me by name this year and it was not because I went out of my way to be noticed. TA's are also much different in fourth year. They are a lot more involved with the students and many really care what you think of the course. They are often willing to spend extra time giving you hints about grad school applications, NSERC forms etc. Overall it was a very enjoyable experience. Definitely my best year at university. Don't discount fourth year until you try it! It is in no way comparable to life in first and second year! Of course if you really HATE research it could be a bit of a drag given the emphasis on the research project.

[Guest Tal]

Thanks for the replys and opinions. They are really helping my to put things into perspective.

Just out of curiosity, what was your 4th year research on aneliz?

I have some more to think about now, but I'll concentrate on my mcats for now. Oh, the decisions! I know, I know, that's life