Fbhawk Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 Hey all, I'm new here but I have been lurking around in premed101 for about a year or 2. some background about me I'm applying to an undergrad program as a 105D student which basically means im not a high school student nor am I mature student either.. it's slightly complicated but basically i have done college before and decided to do a career change to medicine. I'm really passionate about Kinesiology and I really LOVE the UofT environment and program despite hearing the horror stories I'm super motivated to do whatever it takes. I spoke with UofT and they told me I had a good chance of getting in, which takes me to the next step.. One of the most important factor of my success is I know I cannot live at home. For two reasons, 1. I live an hr away (spending 2 hrs travelling is too much time wasted!) 2. I'm much more motivated when I live without my family, Ive done this before and i've seen the difference, i've pulled 16-19 hr days of just work and then following my passion in kin related activities, i used to work 6 times a week and still made time to do everything including cooking proper food. but when i live at home i struggle to do even an hr's worth of work. Now knowing OSAP, their policy is not provide for any living expenses at all if my Mum lives within 40 Km and I was considering work (obviously not 6 times a week) while still doing all the things it takes to achieve a high gpa as well as EC's required for med school..but logically i feel this maybe crazy from all the experiences I read on here. keep in mind I'm also an athlete and I have commitments to maintain that part of me as well (someone also told me i could include my athletic work as part of my EC as well but i wasn't sure). anyways all insights are welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nasket Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 Although many people would discourage you from working during your ugrad degree, I don't see anything wrong with it. Each person is different and if you think that you could truly manage your time well, go for it! Most students here would have done a fair bit of part-time employment and volunteering during their ugrad and ended up being successful. Just realize that GPA is primary and many times a 5 or 8 hour shift, paying >$15 may be tempting enough to put off your study plans. But, don't do it! Student debt is a trivial matter at this stage, considering that with a good GPA, you would have prospects in the future that will payout a lot more than part-time jobs during ugrad. Sorry if I did not answer your questions, but just some points to consider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fbhawk Posted February 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 Although many people would discourage you from working during your ugrad degree, I don't see anything wrong with it. Each person is different and if you think that you could truly manage your time well, go for it! Most students here would have done a fair bit of part-time employment and volunteering during their ugrad and ended up being successful. Just realize that GPA is primary and many times a 5 or 8 hour shift, paying >$15 may be tempting enough to put off your study plans. But, don't do it! Student debt is a trivial matter at this stage, considering that with a good GPA, you would have prospects in the future that will payout a lot more than part-time jobs during ugrad. Sorry if I did not answer your questions, but just some points to consider. Thank you, while this is true and I did consider them, my problem is I cannot find funding to live away from home unless i go to a university far away which breaks up all the contacts i had planned to work with or do research while in toronto and also complicates my situation as a 105D student. Is there perhaps another way to get funding? I know living at home would be suicide for my gpa as well, my folks don't exactly have an encouraging mentality and i'd rather live with a roomate or something and focus on getting things done and fully immerse myself in my goals than deal with drama. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seeking1 Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 OP, if you're going to work during undergrad, make sure it is not for more than 10-15 hours a week. I find with most people that once you get above that, you start cutting into your studying, which was the whole reason you went to university in the first place and is what you're paying for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minion Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 If you are looking at Kinesiology, why not Waterloo? Kin department at loo has some world renowned professors and some of them actually teach. It also seems that if you go to Waterloo, OSAP will cover the expenses. As a bonus, there is also coop if you really want to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medhopeful64 Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 Thank you, while this is true and I did consider them, my problem is I cannot find funding to live away from home unless i go to a university far away which breaks up all the contacts i had planned to work with or do research while in toronto and also complicates my situation as a 105D student. Is there perhaps another way to get funding? I know living at home would be suicide for my gpa as well, my folks don't exactly have an encouraging mentality and i'd rather live with a roomate or something and focus on getting things done and fully immerse myself in my goals than deal with drama. While I agree with you that living at home with family can be distracting, you should keep in mind that a roommate can be equally, if not more, distracting as well. I'm not sure what kinds of contacts you've made at UofT, but you can get great research opportunities at other universities too. Have you considered looking at other universities? Not trying to discourage you or anything, but its something you might want to consider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooty Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 No one here can really give you an optimal answer. If you want medicine, GPA and MCAT are far far more important than ECs. You'll need to adjust your EC commitments as you go. Maximize your ECs but never put your grades at risk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McMarauder Posted February 24, 2012 Report Share Posted February 24, 2012 Hey all, I'm new here but I have been lurking around in premed101 for about a year or 2. some background about me I'm applying to an undergrad program as a 105D student which basically means im not a high school student nor am I mature student either.. it's slightly complicated but basically i have done college before and decided to do a career change to medicine. I'm really passionate about Kinesiology and I really LOVE the UofT environment and program despite hearing the horror stories I'm super motivated to do whatever it takes. I've known many people who did phys ed/kin at UofT, and from what I've been told, it's a different atmosphere from the faculty of arts & science and the rest of the University. It's a small program so you may not be subjected to the same grade profiles and people aren't very competitive. I've met a few PHE students that took life sci courses and they said that those were significantly harder than their PHE courses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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