muhgel Posted December 30, 2011 Report Share Posted December 30, 2011 Hi guys, after yet another disappointing year of application I am scratching my head off trying to plan my next move, and was hoping that someone could share some insight/shed some light on my case? Bullet points to keep the long story short: - first undergrad finished in 2008, cGPA 3.67, McGill (dietetics) - OttawaU wGPA 3.75(?), Calgary 3.71, Alberta 3.77, UBC 31.93 of 50 - Masters of Public Health finished in 2010, course-based curriculum, but pass/fail only (therefore has no bearing to med school app) - been working in health services (patient safety/performance measures) research since 2010, pay is well and provides good opportunity to network/research. no real job security, but contract renewed for the third year - taking a couple of postgrad epidemiology courses here and there @ Ottawa U for work (and for fun) - about 50K in debt after 6 years of university - rejected without interview by UBC x 3 years, academic score fair but NAQ was an epic fail - rejected by Calgary and likely will be rejected by Alberta, Toronto, Queen's, McGill, McMaster, Ottawa, Manitoba as well - IP (Ontario and BC), Ottawa residency - unsure - concurrent with full time work, volunteer at nursing home (love) and taking French - other NAQ includes (previous years): dietetics internship, research lab (albeit very temporarily), academic awards+, half-marathons - research output: included as the last authors in a few presentations at international conferences (patient safety, not bench science) - MCAT: epic fail, even with Princeton course. will restudy/retake in May. aiming for 32+ (knowing my capabilities) Given the above, I wonder what's the best move for 2012 - I was toying with the idea of returning to school, to do an accelerated RN program. However, I absolutely do not want to be another 20K in debt for school, unless it provides some kind of guarantee for medical school. I will consider spending another 6-8k on school for another full-time year, however I am not sure what to study! Alternatively, might perhaps be willing to move to Alberta or New Brunswick or Quebec to work/study. Full-time work plus French lessons plus MCAT precludes many non-academic activities. I have tried to contact a few academics in town (Ottawa) to see if I would find someone to volunteer with, but no luck so far. Maybe I should try again in second half of 2012 when things are quieter? In summary: Love: frontline clinical work, hospitals, bench science But: 50K in debt, not getting any younger Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated - Happy holidays Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simpy Posted December 30, 2011 Report Share Posted December 30, 2011 Your GPA isn't awful. I don't see there being any point in doing more undergrad unless you want a career out of it. An accelerated RN program isn't a bad idea, but only do it if you would be happy as an RN. Those programs tend to be fairly difficult and some (if not most) of the courses are pass/fail so it's not going to boost your GPA much. Seems like your weakest links are your MCAT and ECs. To be honest, if I were you I'd get a full time job to clear your debt and spend your evenings/weekends studying for the MCAT and doing ECs. You will really need to boost both to get into meds (you could have a 35+ on your MCAT and still not be very competitive if your EC's are really "epic fail"). So work on both. Best of luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mashmetoo Posted December 30, 2011 Report Share Posted December 30, 2011 USDO school - DO class of 2017. With your stats, shouldn't be a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehumanmacbook Posted December 30, 2011 Report Share Posted December 30, 2011 I would really second on the ECs and research. Not too sure why you are including as last author...but at least you published. Maybe move to Alberta, but if you're not getting in with IP in BC because of NAQ, really bump up the ECs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylamonkey Posted December 30, 2011 Report Share Posted December 30, 2011 Rewrite your NAQs. As a mature applicant to UBC, I did that and jumped 4+ points (about 9 points on the new scale). Get someone to go over what you can rephrase. Move to AB- I can second that. I hasn't worked for me yet, but fingers crossed. I am actually in YT, and it's fantastic. It was only -18 today and felt crisp and lovely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mashmetoo Posted December 30, 2011 Report Share Posted December 30, 2011 Rewrite your NAQs. As a mature applicant to UBC, I did that and jumped 4+ points (about 9 points on the new scale). Get someone to go over what you can rephrase. Move to AB- I can second that. I hasn't worked for me yet, but fingers crossed. I am actually in YT, and it's fantastic. It was only -18 today and felt crisp and lovely. it was a high of +27 degrees celcius in LA today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muhgel Posted December 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2011 Rewrite your NAQs. As a mature applicant to UBC, I did that and jumped 4+ points (about 9 points on the new scale). Get someone to go over what you can rephrase. Move to AB- I can second that. I hasn't worked for me yet, but fingers crossed. I am actually in YT, and it's fantastic. It was only -18 today and felt crisp and lovely. Hi Kyla, I actually have been following your story and I did thought about the NT and Yukon! At the end, it's like what I said, I have quite a significant amount of student loan debt, and it wouldn't be wise to walk off a full-time job and incur more debt to relocate. That said, I'm looking forward to paying down a significant portion of my debt this year. I find the money issue is like the elephant in the room, for "older" applicants at least. I would really second on the ECs and research. Not too sure why you are including as last author...but at least you published. Maybe move to Alberta, but if you're not getting in with IP in BC because of NAQ, really bump up the ECs. Hi HumanMacBook, I was included in the last author because I was involved in preparing the publications, abstracts, and the presentations when accepted. It's not bench science like I said, we don't really follow the Vancouver style citation. If we were, I would have been first or second authors haha! An accelerated RN program isn't a bad idea, but only do it if you would be happy as an RN. Those programs tend to be fairly difficult and some (if not most) of the courses are pass/fail so it's not going to boost your GPA much. Seems like your weakest links are your MCAT and ECs. To be honest, if I were you I'd get a full time job to clear your debt and spend your evenings/weekends studying for the MCAT and doing ECs. You will really need to boost both to get into meds (you could have a 35+ on your MCAT and still not be very competitive if your EC's are really "epic fail"). So work on both. Thanks Simpy - that was my concern too re: pass/fail course. Thanks for confirming that with me. I agree that it would be wise to clear my debt asap. in this kind of fiscal environment i feel blessed to be gainfully employed ... MCAT in first half of the year, EC in the second half. Who knows, maybe I should skip a year before reapplying? USDO school - DO class of 2017. With your stats, shouldn't be a problem. Call me shortsighted, but paying 40k + per year to become a doctor would be my very last resort... but thanks Mashmetoo, I am now curious to explore DO vs MD. Thanks very much guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anxious_101 Posted December 30, 2011 Report Share Posted December 30, 2011 I admire your perseverance. My cGPA was actually just 0.1 higher than yours and I managed to get accepted to all Ontario schools - which is generally considered the hardest to get into in Canada. So I really don't think GPA is holding you back. So doing a second undergrad may not be time well spent. I think getting involved with a few (yes, just a few) longer term commitments with ECs/volunteer activities that show your growth and commitment to medicine will go a long way to helping you. Get a balanced MCAT score as well so that you don't close the door to any school. Aim for solid 11+ scores (doable with effort) in each section and your chances improve greatly over improving your GPA with a second undergrad. Good luck! Edit: Calculate your wGPA for U of T - you can drop your lowest 4.0 credits which helps a lot (I went from a cGPA of 3.77 to wGPA of 3.88 at U of T). And U of T loves grad students which helps you. Again, focus on MCAT and a few good ECs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 PA Program Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nasket Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 PA Program Intrigued that you suggest this. It's a 24 month commitment with an irregular course load. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 Seems to be a good fit to explore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloh Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 Get a job in AB in your line of work. There's no reason why you couldn't find a similar job there (and it'll likely pay more than what you make now). Then pick a few ECs, stick to them and keep applying. You have a good shot in AB as an IP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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