University of Calgary Second Degree

[EngrGuy]

Hey,

 

 

I was curious if there are any restrictions on the extra courses after completion? I know that they will only drop 1 year no matter how many extra years you do; but does it have to be part of another undergraduate degree in order to count? Or is just another year fine? What about the level of courses? Do they need to be 3rd / 4th year?

 

Thanks in advance,

J

 

 

University of Calgary's policy has changed as of this application cycle:

 

Their format is now similar to U of A's calculation, where you can drop one year if you have completed at least four. This holds true for second/third/more undergrad degrees... so if you have 4 years, you can drop one; if you have 8 years, you can still only drop one, etc.

 

As for grad degrees, the entire cumulative GPA for that degree is treated as the average GPA for "one year" -- so if you have a 4-year undergrad and a masters, you drop the worst year (probably from your undergrad), and your GPA overall is your 3 best years from UG + your overall GPA from your masters. Note that you have to be finished your masters to have that "year" included in your GPA calculation, although you don't have to be finished your program to apply.

 

I would direct you to the 2011-2012 Applicant Manual (see page 6 for minimum requirements and page 11 for some examples), and the admissions blog.

 

To quote page 6 of the applicant manual:

"If the applicant is in the final year of their undergraduate degree or beyond, we will eliminate either the worst full-time year or the worst semester. Applicants with a completed graduate degree will have their overall GPA from their graduate program used as equivalent to one year of undergraduate GPA for the purposes of this calculation." (bolding mine)

[hanet]

I don't believe your additional year has to be part of another undergrad, no.

 

I also don't think they specify restrictions on courses, but keep in mind that Calgary does a "subjective assessment" of your academic profile. I think they will probably notice if you pad your GPA-boost year with first year courses exclusively. I would go for courses that you know you can do well in, but not a bunch of Soci 201, Anth 203, Engl 231, foundation-type courses. Impress them with how well you can do with some tougher material.

 

See the Applicant Manual in my post that you quoted

[EngrGuy]

haha yeh I've been flipping through the manual but I wasn't sure if somebody had actual experience with that (sorry about the non-credit quote).

 

I was thinking of taking 3rd and 4th year health promotion etc courses (since I'm an engineering major) but I also don't have any of the chemistry / organic chemistry / microbiology / biochemistry courses. So I'm not sure if it would impress them more to take all their "Recommended courses" or to take 3rd and 4th year health sciences courses.

 

Thanks again,

Joey

[EngrGuy]

to answer my own question....

 

I'm afraid there is no "right" answer to the question you are asking. As you know from our Applicant Manual, we have no required courses (just recommended ones) and 10% of your application score is assigned to a subjective assessment of your academic background.

 

The recommended courses are based on what we feel gives a student a good head-start in working through the course material required for the MD Program. Certainly it is possible to complete the program having no prior knowledge of chemistry, biology etc, but that makes the learning curve much steeper than it otherwise would be. If you feel you are weak in those subjects then it might be a good idea for you to take them.

 

As to whether first or second year courses would be looked on more positively than others, that is down to the individual assessor. Should your file make the first cut it will be assessed by four independent reviewers each having their own opinions. They are trying to answer the question "to what extent does this applicant demonstrate evidence of the academic skill necessary to master the material within the MD curriculum?"

and will base their decision on your entire academic record including MCAT scores. I know this doesn't really answer your question, but as I mentioned above - there is no "right" answer.

 

I hope this helps.

 

John Milne

Office of Admissions & Student Affairs

Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary