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Are you a Yorkie Premed? (York Premed Discussion)


charmer08

Are you a Yorkie?  

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  1. 1. Are you a Yorkie?

    • Yes
      124
    • No
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Hey guys, I wanted to get all your opinion on a matter. Especially some of the upper year students who have applied to medical school.

 

Do you guys think there is a bias towards students from western, mac and uoft that get into med schools? If you look at any medical school class, there is only like 1-2 student from yorku, wherehas like 40% are from mac, 30% from UofT, 25% from western.

Can anyone explain to me why this is and if the upper years who have been successful at getting into med school can weigh in on this. I'd appreciate all your opinions.

 

Thanks,

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Hey guys, I wanted to get all your opinion on a matter. Especially some of the upper year students who have applied to medical school.

 

Do you guys think there is a bias towards students from western, mac and uoft that get into med schools? If you look at any medical school class, there is only like 1-2 student from yorku, wherehas like 40% are from mac, 30% from UofT, 25% from western.

Can anyone explain to me why this is and if the upper years who have been successful at getting into med school can weigh in on this. I'd appreciate all your opinions.

 

Thanks,

York's appeal: close to home

 

Mac/western/uoft's appeal: I'll let you figure that one out.

i.e. the overachievers tend to not go to york, unless it's too tempting to pass up living rent free. Also york gives you tons of money if you have good high school marks, but not the other schools. 

 

The "bias" is bs, I know 5 people from my program that got into medicine in Canada this year. 

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Hey guys, I wanted to get all your opinion on a matter. Especially some of the upper year students who have applied to medical school.

 

Do you guys think there is a bias towards students from western, mac and uoft that get into med schools? If you look at any medical school class, there is only like 1-2 student from yorku, wherehas like 40% are from mac, 30% from UofT, 25% from western.

Can anyone explain to me why this is and if the upper years who have been successful at getting into med school can weigh in on this. I'd appreciate all your opinions.

 

Thanks,

 

There's no stated bias but I do think you're limited in opportunities at York which can affect your application. It's hard to go recognized and compete for limited spots/roles when you're surrounded by so many students in classes of 500+. 

 

Having gone through it all, I would wager that there seems to be a very VERY small unspoken bias... but it shouldn't really affect you if your application is strong. It most likely would only affect students who are borderline but they'd likely get in after another application cycle. In general, I found my classmates at York who were gunning for med to be a bit unrealistic so I wasn't surprised that not many of them were able to secure interviews (low GPAs, limited ECs, poor MCAT, etc.). However, many of my friends who WERE realistic and competitive were able to get in even after 3rd year. So even if there is a slight bias, it's unlikely it matters.

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York's appeal: close to home

 

Mac/western/uoft's appeal: I'll let you figure that one out.

i.e. the overachievers tend to not go to york, unless it's too tempting to pass up living rent free. Also york gives you tons of money if you have good high school marks, but not the other schools. 

 

The "bias" is bs, I know 5 people from my program that got into medicine in Canada this year. 

5 people only? Don't you think that's a bit less?

5 people into 6 Ontario university, That's like 1 yorku student in every entering class of a med school. Isn't that a bit too low?1

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There's no stated bias but I do think you're limited in opportunities at York which can affect your application. It's hard to go recognized and compete for limited spots/roles when you're surrounded by so many students in classes of 500+. 

 

Having gone through it all, I would wager that there seems to be a very VERY small unspoken bias... but it shouldn't really affect you if your application is strong. It most likely would only affect students who are borderline but they'd likely get in after another application cycle. In general, I found my classmates at York who were gunning for med to be a bit unrealistic so I wasn't surprised that not many of them were able to secure interviews (low GPAs, limited ECs, poor MCAT, etc.). However, many of my friends who WERE realistic and competitive were able to get in even after 3rd year. So even if there is a slight bias, it's unlikely it matters.

I think it's pretty much impossible to get recognized at yorku as an undergrad, period. Not having a med school at yorku really hurts us because the profs here are conducting basic research on animals and only a small portion of the profs are conducting research that is actually applicable to humans. 

 

can you outline what a competitive application is in your opinion? Are we talking 3.90 Omsas GPA, 11-11-11 on mcat (western's out of the picture with this cut-off).

basically, do you guys think if a YorkU applicant with 3.90 GPA and a 11-11-11 mcat should be getting into medical school in Canada? Have you guys heard of stories when yorku students with these stats not getting in? 

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I think it's pretty much impossible to get recognized at yorku as an undergrad, period. Not having a med school at yorku really hurts us because the profs here are conducting basic research on animals and only a small portion of the profs are conducting research that is actually applicable to humans. 

 

can you outline what a competitive application is in your opinion? Are we talking 3.90 Omsas GPA, 11-11-11 on mcat (western's out of the picture with this cut-off).

basically, do you guys think if a YorkU applicant with 3.90 GPA and a 11-11-11 mcat should be getting into medical school in Canada? Have you guys heard of stories when yorku students with these stats not getting in? 

 

Check out kine profs if you want to do medically related research. There are some great ones but they may not be the easiest to get along with. A few are also affiliated with hospitals. Just do your research on them.

 

A competitive application really depends on the school you're applying to and what they look for, not the university you did your UG at. I just found it difficult to be super involved at York and quality research experience was hard to come by. My friends who attended other unis all seemed to have these great opportunities thrown at them lol :S

 

Also many ppl with 3.90 and 11-11-11 MCAT don't get in, regardless of if they went to York or not. Part of the system is honestly luck. If you want it bad enough and work for it though, you have a good chance of getting in, even if it takes you a few extra tries.

 

If you want to be super competitive at ALL schools: 3.95+, balanced 90th percentile MCAT, diverse long term ECs that show what you're passionate about (think outside of just hospital voluteering, research assisting, student council), and good essay writing. But even this isn't a guarantee for anything. I've seen ppl with 4.00 GPAs get rejected, ppl with piss poor GPAs get accepted, etc. Applying is an experience and journey which you learn from to help you improve for the next time. :)

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5 people only? Don't you think that's a bit less?

5 people into 6 Ontario university, That's like 1 yorku student in every entering class of a med school. Isn't that a bit too low?1

Lol no my program is kinda small and not too many people bothered applying. All the people I expected to get interviews did.

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I know a York student with an ~3.9 GPA, with a  9-10-9 MCAT, who got into a Canadian Medical school. I know several York students who got into decent schools in the US, with <3.9 GPA's, and Sub 33 MCAT's. I know a York student who got into NYU Med (Top 20 USA). There may be a bias against York students, but with decent EC's, GPA, and MCAT, it is definitely not insurmountable. Focus on getting the highest GPA, highest MCAT, and best EC's, and don't worry about this bias, if it exists. If the aforementioned hypothetical student with a 3.90 GPA and 11-11-11 MCAT isn't getting in, it's likely due to his/her interview skills or EC's. 

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redtriangle.gif AP MODR 1770 Cr=6.00 B Term:Y Techniques of Persuasion

redtriangle.gif HH PSYC 1010 Cr=6.00 H Term:Y Introduction to Psychology

redtriangle.gif SC BIOL 1000 Cr=3.00 C Term:F Biology I

redtriangle.gif SC BIOL 1001 Cr=3.00 M Term:W Biology II

redtriangle.gif SC MATH 1505 Cr=6.00 G Term:Y Math. for the Life and Social Sciences

redtriangle.gif AP SOSC 1510 Cr=6.00 A Term:Y The Future of Work

 

 

Now these are the courses that I picked (I edited it)

 

Is it ok to take chem 1000 and chem 1001 in summer, I heard its a tough course/

And What about physics? Can i take it in second year with orgo?  

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As someone who has recently taken the course, I suggest you take it with Marina Saccon for Chem 1000. She is a new prof and recently got her Ph.D (like in 2014 or something) and grab her tests. Chances are she does not have enough of them accumulated so far to make diversify the questions on her future tests very significantly. I had her for Chem 1000 and one of my friends who has her in Chem 1000 right now says that the tests that I gave him were almost identical to the ones he got.

 

Take her for the easy and lenient tests as she's still finding her place in teaching as a professor so she doesn't have too big of an idea on how stringent she should be on her evaluations. Abuse this while you can lol. The downside with her is that her classes are very dry. A lot of the times she will be like "So does anyone know what the first step should be?" and nobody answers probably because a very small portion of the class do the reading and questions prior to the class so they are completely clueless and its just an awkward silence for 1-2 minutes. She mostly reads off the slides so it's not the end of the world if you miss lecture. Also, another downside is that she's very attractive, like I think she is in her 30's or something like that haha. A lot of my friends would simply go to class to stare at her ass and oogle her for an hour and a half. If thats the kind of stuff that bothers you (having hot profs distract you so you can't study) then take her section and attend Pietro's class. Pietro generally moves faster than the other first year chemistry profs and often his tests usually cover material that other sections don't at the time that they take the test. So for example, Test 1, Pietro's class will do whatever it is that all of the other sections have covered and some extra stuff from the upcoming sections which you would be tested on in Test 2. Good way to stay ahead in Saccon's class without actually forcing yourself to read ahead. Pietro's pace will just carry you to do your readings ahead of time and you'll be more than prepared for Saccon's class.

 

As for the content itself, I agree with Falling, not a difficult class, just practice. Understand the concept, not the question. Anyone with half a brain can re-arrange equations to solve for the missing variable. It takes a person with 2 halves to understand the correct concepts and principles to apply to each word problem and then solve it. Often times, setting up your equations and principles is the most difficult part of any question and solving it is just something that comes with practice. If you keep a good study schedule up for the course, by the time the exam rolls by, you'll barely have to do any studying. I remember I studied literally the day before the exam and got an 85 on the exam. 

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Is it ok to take chem 1000 and chem 1001 in summer, I heard its a tough course/

And What about physics? Can i take it in second year with orgo? 

 

Taking chem 1000 and 1001 during the summer may be a bit of a problem.  They're both offered as SU courses so you'd have to take them both simultaneously.  Although chem 1000 isn't actually a prereq for chem 1001, it would definitely be tougher to go through chem 1001 without having taken chem 1000 beforehand.  I took them both during the year and didn't find them nearly as bad as people said.  Do the old tests and lots of textbook problems, and make sure you actually understand things, and that you're not just remembering what to do for each "type" of question (I made that mistake when I took chem 1000).

 

Also, I have a question about physics.  I'm enrolled in PHYS 1420 right now as many people recommended it over 1410 and 1010, but I was wondering, would this course be a suitable pre-req for most American med schools?  Or would 1410 or 1010 be needed to fulfill the physics prereq for most American schools?

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Hey everyone! 

 

I was a YorkU student who is going to UofT med next year. I got accepted out of my third year. As you all know, tuition is very expensive and I need to make some money on the side. Thus, I am offering different services such as OMSAS application review, tutoring, interview prep, general consultation sessions etc. Here is a link to my kijiji ad: http://www.kijiji.ca/v-travel-vacations/city-of-toronto/services-for-york-u-students-who-want-to-get-into-medical-school/1083986503?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

 

Message me if interested! The official email I use is in the ad 

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I can't decide if I should take microbio or immuno. 

 

Benefits of Immuno: no lab, more free time

Cons: lecture is at 7pm, i'll have a 9 hour break on those days and can't go home during that time. 

 

Benefits of Micro: no 9 hour break, seems interesting

cons: seems like a lot of work, 3 hours+ of labs each week.

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Does anyone know any Kine profs that are willing to write Letter of Recommendations to students that did well in their course (but never really talked to them)? Should I just mass email, I heard professors have an obligation to write LORs but is this true? I'm not sure what the proper etiquette is for asking, has anyone gotten an LOR like this?

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I can't decide if I should take microbio or immuno. 

 

Benefits of Immuno: no lab, more free time

Cons: lecture is at 7pm, i'll have a 9 hour break on those days and can't go home during that time. 

 

Benefits of Micro: no 9 hour break, seems interesting

cons: seems like a lot of work, 3 hours+ of labs each week.

Immuno is one hell of a course, it's probably the heaviest class I took in my undergrad. Micro, on the other hand is light on the textbook work, but the labs and associated assignments are really annoying. I definitely enjoyed immuno a lot more, but it pretty much consumed my life haha

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Immuno is one hell of a course, it's probably the heaviest class I took in my undergrad. Micro, on the other hand is light on the textbook work, but the labs and associated assignments are really annoying. I definitely enjoyed immuno a lot more, but it pretty much consumed my life haha

 

So I have to choose between two crappy options? 

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