mh1314 Posted January 9, 2012 Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 Hi everyone, I want to start off by saying thanks to all of you who have shared your experience on this forum. Your stories are inspiring and provide a sense of direction. My background: - Designated CA, studied accounting in undergrad and have a Master of Accounting - Wanted to become a doctor since elementary school, but due to immaturity and loss of focus (wanted to continue a relationship and was attracted by job security), did not enroll in a program that would allow me to take the science pre requisites - cGPA 3.43, Queen's and Western's 3.5, UT 3.62, Master degree GPA 3.64 - EC very lacking: volunteered at hospital in high school, shadowed on the Board of a community health center for 8 months - Not confident to get better than average reference from university professors I really want to try pursuing this dream, but am wondering whether a 2nd degree is a good idea. Would you give me some advice? From this board, I have read the advice to take the MCAT first to gauge whether I have the ability to get good grades in a 2nd undergrad. Assuming I can get 32Q+ on MCAT (this is just the best case scenario, as I respect the difficulty of the MCAT, especially for someone who haven't studied science since high school), and get more involved in the community, would you still recommend a 2nd undergrad? Lastly, would my university's career centre give me advice, or should I contact the different school's admission committee / admission office? Thank you for your advice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovestruck Posted January 9, 2012 Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 Even with a 32Q+ MCAT, your GPA is not high enough for almost all schools. You need minimum 3.7 for Queens and Western (in last 2 years/best 2 years respectively). Also, a high MCAT score won't make up for lack of extracurriculars. Med school applications consist of a tripod: GPA, MCAT and extrcurriculars. If you have the time/money, go back to undergrad and get 3.8+ GPA. Take the MCAT in the summer. Even if you get a great score, you will need to redo the undergrad, as most schools have around a 3.7 minimum GPA cut-off. U of T does allow 3.0 GPA's for graduate students. I don't know how they would assess an accounting masters as they usually look at research productivity, which in science consists of numbers of publications, conferences, ref letters, etc. You would also need quite strong reference letters for the U of T grad review. I would take to the different schools admission offices. Your own school will most likely know very little about the policies for other schools and may not provide the most accurate advice in terms of what courses to take, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloh Posted January 9, 2012 Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 Long story short is that your GPA is not very competitive, so I'll simplify this. If you forget about the details, you'd still have to go back to school and do a second undergraduate degree and do well. Are you willing to do that? P.S. Maybe if you were to get IP status in AB, UofC might give you a chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mh1314 Posted January 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 Wow. Thank you for the quick response!! I am willing and prepared to do a 2nd undergraduate degree. I wanted to ask the question because I read the advice of making sure you really need a 2nd undergrad before enrolling. The only concern I have is whether I can average 3.8 (I certainly will try), due to the low GPA in my first undergrad. This concern is what drives me to consider writing the MCAT first to gauge whether I have the academic ability to do well in science. Would you recommend I spend a year to study for the MCAT first before applying for a 2nd undergrad? Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovestruck Posted January 9, 2012 Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 For Queens and Western they look at last 2 years (for Queens, while Western looks at best 2 years). So if you do 2 years and they are 3.8+ you have met teh GPA cut-off for those schools. BUT you still need the MCAT and volunteering, since meeting the GPA cut-off is absolutely useless unless you also meet MCAT cut-offs and have solid volunteer activities. Writing the MCAT will not be the best guage of if you can do well in science. The subjects covered are only first year level and the test is set up much differently then undergrad science tests. If I were you, study for the MCAT and write it in July or August 2012. Then in Septmeber 2012, enroll for undergrad and get some extracurriculars. You won't need a year for the MCAT. Feb-July should be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mh1314 Posted January 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 Thanks, lovestruck. I was planning to take one year with MCAT because work takes up the majority of my time from January to June, and mostly because I haven't taken any science course since 2004 and I want to do well in MCAT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovestruck Posted January 9, 2012 Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 You can write the MCAT multiple times with no penalty at Canadian schools. I would try to write it this year in the summer. Study after work. I've known many people that have worked 9-5 either at jobs or doing grad degrees and written the MCAT and done well. Just study a little everyday for a long period of time! If you do bad, then follow your plan and rewrite it when you have the year off. If you do well on the MCAT you write this summer, then you would be able to start your 2nd undergrad sooner and get to meds sooner. There is no harm in writing it twice! If you look around the forums, there have been many people with rusty science background or no science background that have written the MCAT and done well. The prep books are excellent for teaching yourself and you can also enroll in MCAT courses if you can afford it (they have nighttime ones for people that work as well). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mh1314 Posted January 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 I didn't know they won't frown upon multiple writes, especially when scores on the earlier ones aren't as good. Thank you for this info! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovestruck Posted January 9, 2012 Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 In the US they don't like rewrites. In Canada, it doesn't matter as much. There is a limit to how many times you can write the MCAT (I think 4?) before you need to submit proof that you are still applying to meds and not just writing it for fun I believe. Schools take your most recent score, so even if your older scores are better, the most recent one is used in most schools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mh1314 Posted January 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 Thanks, lovestruck. Yours and bloh's advice are great help. Best of luck in your endeavor! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jschende Posted March 31, 2012 Report Share Posted March 31, 2012 Hi everyone, I want to start off by saying thanks to all of you who have shared your experience on this forum. Your stories are inspiring and provide a sense of direction. My background: - Designated CA, studied accounting in undergrad and have a Master of Accounting - Wanted to become a doctor since elementary school, but due to immaturity and loss of focus (wanted to continue a relationship and was attracted by job security), did not enroll in a program that would allow me to take the science pre requisites - cGPA 3.43, Queen's and Western's 3.5, UT 3.62, Master degree GPA 3.64 - EC very lacking: volunteered at hospital in high school, shadowed on the Board of a community health center for 8 months - Not confident to get better than average reference from university professors I really want to try pursuing this dream, but am wondering whether a 2nd degree is a good idea. Would you give me some advice? From this board, I have read the advice to take the MCAT first to gauge whether I have the ability to get good grades in a 2nd undergrad. Assuming I can get 32Q+ on MCAT (this is just the best case scenario, as I respect the difficulty of the MCAT, especially for someone who haven't studied science since high school), and get more involved in the community, would you still recommend a 2nd undergrad? Lastly, would my university's career centre give me advice, or should I contact the different school's admission committee / admission office? Thank you for your advice! Hi! I'm very interested in learning of your reasons for the switch. I've been applying to medicine for 2 years now and will be pursuing the CA designation if I am not successful this year. What sort of advice can you give to someone who is thinking about getting into the career? Thank you so much, J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasiunut Posted April 1, 2012 Report Share Posted April 1, 2012 Hey, I too am a CA and had worked for one of the Big 4 and have decided to pursue the medicine route...after working as a CA for 5 years, I came to a point where I realized how much I disliked my job and thought about what I really wanted to do. I kept coming back to medicine. So I quit my job back in October, enrolled in some Life Science pre-reqs (U of T requires 2 full-year Life Science courses), started volunteering and studying for the MCAT. Anyway, one thing I did is that I actually sought the advice of a professional. I met with a consultant who used to be on the ad com of Mac med school and asked him to evaluate my chances, because I didn't want to waste time pursuing something I had no chance for. He said I have A chance, but not a great chance - and my GPA from undergrad is better than yours (cGPA is 3.65, UofT is 3.75, Westerm is 3.85) and I have some decent ECs. However, don't think the MCAT will be that easy. As someone who last too science in HS, I'm finding the MCAT to be EXTREMELY hard, in fact, I'm finding it to be the hardest part of this journey (and I had straight 90s in both Bio & physics in HS). I've taken the Princeton Review prep course and I've met people with decent GPAs with SCIENCE backgrounds and they are HOPING for a 30+, not to mention a 32. If you really want to know where you stand, then take a free practice MCAT on the AAMC website. But I don't mean to be discouraging...I'm just trying to warn you because I tried, at first, to "do it all" (working, studying etc) and realized it would take me several years to get close to applying...if you're interested, I have a blog about the process: http://mdorbust.blogspot.ca/ Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mh1314 Posted May 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2012 Hi! I'm very interested in learning of your reasons for the switch. I've been applying to medicine for 2 years now and will be pursuing the CA designation if I am not successful this year. What sort of advice can you give to someone who is thinking about getting into the career? Thank you so much, J Hi J, Sorry for the late reply. I missed your reply until now. - May I ask the reason why you are considering the switch? Are you contemplating a permanent switch, or a temporary one while you continue to apply to med schools? Just wondering how adcom would view this if it's the latter. - Have you thought about why accounting interests you? Not so much interest, but what kind of role would give you personal and professional satisfaction? The type of role can change during the course of your career, but perhaps now is a good time to explore what types of roles you would be happy in, through talking to accountants, reading online. The reason why I want to switch is because I want to spend my life directly dealing with people's physical well-being. I feel very helpless when I see people in pain and not knowing how I can help (I understand that there are times doctors feel this way). There are times when I receive praise at work, but nothing satisfies me as much as seeing a senior home resident eat more because I was patient and peel off the skin of grapes, for example. There were days where, after a day of work on the weekend, I would take a walk inside a hospital just to observe. Seeing parents worrying at Sick Kids Hospital, for example, made me think how much it would mean to me to be on the other side providing care. Naive as this might sound, this is my raw feeling. Anyways, once you have made the decision to switch, here is the CA designation process: - In order to qualify to write the CA exams, you need certain prerequisites (more info here). In terms of work experience, CA can now train at non-public accounting firms, but the space for these are still limited and thus most CA students still train at public accounting firms. While it is not difficult to get a position at these firms (certainly not as nearly as hard as getting admitted into med school), it is not easy. The Big 4's recruiting season starts in the summer and ends around October, which is when interviews happen. Some of my peers did not start out in accounting, so getting hired is possible, but would require attending recruiting events and having decent undergrad grades. - To become designated, you would need to spend 36 months at a training office. If you go the traditional route and work at a public accounting firm, you will spend 12 months in audit. The hours are longer than 9-5 at most firms, but the point I want to make that during busy season, you would have little time to explore other interests of yours (e.g. study for the MCAT, do volunteer work). It's possible but it would require a lot of discipline and being efficient during work hours. Best of luck regardless which endeavor you decide to undertake. My only advice is to do some research, talk to people and those you care about, decide on a path, focus and go for it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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