eastboundanddown Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 So I've been reading a number of posts about deliberating grad school, second degree options and what not. I'm at the cross-roads, and I'm not sure what I should be doing next. Here's my story: Graduating this April from a 5 year double major honours co-op program. 1st year GPA: 3.21 2nd year GPA: 3.45 3rd year GPA: 3.78 (9 courses, needed to take a course through correspondence due to a conflict with a course required for co-op admission) estimated 4th year GPA: 3.86 (I only have grades from one term, due to co-op and thesis terms) Overall, I think my final cGPA will be around 3.64 ECs are strong Re-writing my MCAT this summer after a 29O I'm not sure if I should continue with grad school, complete a second degree, or consider doing starting my back-up career in law enforcement. It goes without saying that being a physician is my dream job, which is why I'm having a hard time "giving up". In hindsight, I should have avoided co-op programs since some of my best grades won't be included in the calculation for GPA with some schools (UWO). It seemed like the best choice at the time to gain a flavour of various working environments. Through co-op I also know what it means to be a grad student (I worked as a research assistant for 1yr which also included my thesis project). My supervisor was absolutely fantastic and has offered to supervise me once more as a masters student. I also enjoyed becoming somewhat of an expert on my thesis topic. I'm just not sure how much a masters will help me get into med school given my GPA. I've also applied to a 1 year Global Health Masters (course based). Is there a disadvantage to this sort of program vs. a thesis based masters when it comes to med admissions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 I cannot see there is any disadvantage to the Masters program you have under consideration. I assume this is not your Plan B, rather law enforcement is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastboundanddown Posted March 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 Sorry, I read over my post and I'm not very clear. I'm worried about the opportunity cost of pursing a Master's with a very average cGPA in the hopes of maybe getting an interview 2 years from now vs. starting a career as a police officer. In the end I would obviously be happier working as a physician, but I feel I need to be realistic. This is definitely been the most stressful term of my university career as a try and figure out my game plan for the next couple years. Grad school seems like it is probably the way to go but I'm a little scared of getting "trapped" for more than 2 yrs. Not to mention the tremendous amount of work it entails on very little pay. I'm kind of just rambling but it helps to communicate my thoughts lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastboundanddown Posted March 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 I'd Also like to know what people think about doing a second undergrad given my GPA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Henderson Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 You're on the verge of having a GPA that will get you looked at, so its a pretty big risk to go for a second undergrad IMO- its a ton of work, with no assurances of working. A Master's degree doesn't offer an assurance either, and is also a lot of work, but it turns your marginal GPA into something that may border on competitive for certain schools. Queen's and Toronto in particular, if you can bring the MCAT up to snuff for the former. McMaster can also work if you do well in VR and on CASPER. I wouldn't recommend a Master's degree to anyone who didn't enjoy research but since you've experienced it and enjoyed it, there are perks: -Research looks great on an application and many schools highly value it -You'll get great references if you work hard and build good relationships (I certainly did) -You have another option as a fallback, and you'll be more competitive in the job market with an Master's degree than with a Bachelor's degree alone What province are you from? That can have bearing. I'm just assuming you're from Ontario since you mentioned UWO. If it doesn't work out after the Master's and you want to do something else, its 2 years gone, but a lot of experience gained. Plus then you can become a police officer and still continue applying to medicine if you want- best of both worlds! That's my two cents anyways Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastboundanddown Posted March 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 Thanks so much for your reply! I am indeed from Ontario (I'm actually SWOMEN so I'm pretty bummed that my co-op program made me ineligible for UWO. Masters does seem like the way to go from here. I'll have to decide really soon, my former supervisor would like to know by mid april and I've received some flattering e-mails from other potential supervisors. Only thing is, I'm kind of leaning towards doing the 1 yr. Global Health Masters and McMaster if I get accepted. Not sure if this is a better choice though given that I likely won't be getting any publications out of it. If I were not accepted post-Masters being a Police officer in the meantime would be amazing! I'm a little scared that they would not hire me though if they knew I was going to keep on applying to medicine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Henderson Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 Thanks so much for your reply! I am indeed from Ontario (I'm actually SWOMEN so I'm pretty bummed that my co-op program made me ineligible for UWO. Masters does seem like the way to go from here. I'll have to decide really soon, my former supervisor would like to know by mid april and I've received some flattering e-mails from other potential supervisors. Only thing is, I'm kind of leaning towards doing the 1 yr. Global Health Masters and McMaster if I get accepted. Not sure if this is a better choice though given that I likely won't be getting any publications out of it. If I were not accepted post-Masters being a Police officer in the meantime would be amazing! I'm a little scared that they would not hire me though if they knew I was going to keep on applying to medicine. I'm not familiar with the Health Science Master's you've mentioned so I can't comment on how it would set you up for applications outside of that it would qualify you for the lower cut-off at Queen's (3.0 instead of the floating UGrad GPA cut), and would award you the bonus points at schools like Mac and NOSM. U of T has a lower cut for Grad applicants too, but they are interested in productive, research-based graduate degrees (as far as I know). The other thing to keep in mind is that a course-based Master's is going to be more like undergrad and less like the research that you've mentioned you enjoy. Also consider the job-related outcomes of each option, i.e. what's the plan with the health science master's? Does a research based master's set you up with better references/publications/experiences in general? In terms of your worry about police being hesitant to hire you because of your pursuit of medicine- its up to you whether or not you reveal your intention. In addition I don't really see it as any different than applying for another job while working at your current job. Interviews can be scheduled to work with your schedule, etc. It could be done. You're doing what most of us here would recommend: pursue the dream but maintain a viable back-up plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BluePin Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 So I've been reading a number of posts about deliberating grad school, second degree options and what not. I'm at the cross-roads, and I'm not sure what I should be doing next. Here's my story: Graduating this April from a 5 year double major honours co-op program. 1st year GPA: 3.21 2nd year GPA: 3.45 3rd year GPA: 3.78 (9 courses, needed to take a course through correspondence due to a conflict with a course required for co-op admission) estimated 4th year GPA: 3.86 (I only have grades from one term, due to co-op and thesis terms) Overall, I think my final cGPA will be around 3.64 ECs are strong Re-writing my MCAT this summer after a 29O I'm not sure if I should continue with grad school, complete a second degree, or consider doing starting my back-up career in law enforcement. It goes without saying that being a physician is my dream job, which is why I'm having a hard time "giving up". In hindsight, I should have avoided co-op programs since some of my best grades won't be included in the calculation for GPA with some schools (UWO). It seemed like the best choice at the time to gain a flavour of various working environments. Through co-op I also know what it means to be a grad student (I worked as a research assistant for 1yr which also included my thesis project). My supervisor was absolutely fantastic and has offered to supervise me once more as a masters student. I also enjoyed becoming somewhat of an expert on my thesis topic. I'm just not sure how much a masters will help me get into med school given my GPA. I've also applied to a 1 year Global Health Masters (course based). Is there a disadvantage to this sort of program vs. a thesis based masters when it comes to med admissions? I've got no special insight into the admissions process; I'm just another (older) applicant trying to get in. For what it is worth, here's how I would approach it: Spend a little time researching the admissions criteria for all the schools. This will give you a concrete idea of which schools you might have a chance at right now, which schools would be a possibility if you moved to their province, and for which schools you might benefit from completing a 5th year, 2nd degree, or masters. Once you have that framework, I'd consider which of the various options will best move you forward in your life in general (not just in the medical school applications process) and try to balance moving forward in your life, while increasing your chances for admission. Then you might want to also consider if there are any options that you might want to pursue at some point, but which would be easier to pursue right now. For example, if you conclude that the best way to improve you application would be a 5th year, but the masters or law enforcement work options would be more progressive for your life overall-- you might want to consider that going back to school to complete another year of undergraduate studies will likely be more difficult as time goes on, so it might be better to just buckle down and get it over with. Would either the masters or further undergraduate schooling help with the law enforcement work? Not necessarily now, but maybe in the future, if you wanted to move into more managerial or policy roles... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Fresh_Underwear Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 I'm no expert, but I do know a good friend of mine who completed 2 years of M.Sc at U of T and ended up applying for RCMP. For him, mark wasn't that great and his publication record is not outstanding. Remember that getting into grad school is not a good way to kill time before getting into medicine. I have personally seen plenty of excellent grad students with M.Sc rejected without interviews. In the end, I think it was a combination of mark, research productivity and lack of time to study for the MCAT that convinced him that medicine was not the way forward. It was far too competitive for him to wade through many more years of (possible) futile effort for something that he doesn't believe is achievable within his mean. Plus, going into law enforcement was one of his dream job (beside doctor of course), so that's what he is doing now. So your experience reminded me of his. In my honest opinion, your chance of getting into med school is 50-50 depending on your MCAT. If it's a stellar MCAT, then you may have a shot at UWO, U of T and Mac. You also might have a good chance with Ottawa. Queen's I'm not too sure since you need to meet their cut off and I don't think you do with your GPA. If I were you, I would consider giving it a shot. If medicine is so important to you that you are not willing to let go of this "dream", then why not give it your all and give it a shot. I personally think that 2 years is nothing in comparison to a life-time of regret. The only thing I would consider doing is prepare for both at the same time so that you have a backup in case on fell through. I wouldn't worry too much about publications because I personally know a friend whom got into U of T last year from doing Public Health (Epidemiology) and she didn't have any publications either from a 2 years program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
preppy038 Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 So I've been reading a number of posts about deliberating grad school, second degree options and what not. I'm at the cross-roads, and I'm not sure what I should be doing next. Here's my story: Graduating this April from a 5 year double major honours co-op program. 1st year GPA: 3.21 2nd year GPA: 3.45 3rd year GPA: 3.78 (9 courses, needed to take a course through correspondence due to a conflict with a course required for co-op admission) estimated 4th year GPA: 3.86 (I only have grades from one term, due to co-op and thesis terms) Overall, I think my final cGPA will be around 3.64 ECs are strong Re-writing my MCAT this summer after a 29O I'm not sure if I should continue with grad school, complete a second degree, or consider doing starting my back-up career in law enforcement. It goes without saying that being a physician is my dream job, which is why I'm having a hard time "giving up". In hindsight, I should have avoided co-op programs since some of my best grades won't be included in the calculation for GPA with some schools (UWO). It seemed like the best choice at the time to gain a flavour of various working environments. Through co-op I also know what it means to be a grad student (I worked as a research assistant for 1yr which also included my thesis project). My supervisor was absolutely fantastic and has offered to supervise me once more as a masters student. I also enjoyed becoming somewhat of an expert on my thesis topic. I'm just not sure how much a masters will help me get into med school given my GPA. I've also applied to a 1 year Global Health Masters (course based). Is there a disadvantage to this sort of program vs. a thesis based masters when it comes to med admissions? I say, study better for the MCATs and get a pretty decent grade (>34). If you manage getting >40 (relatively even throughout) with a high VR. You probably have a decent chance at schools across the border. Also, how about taking an extra year to boost up your marks? The last 2 years marks seem to be okay for UWO (although I don't know what courses UWO would take out since you did co-op). If you did another year and did really well (4.0) it could boost your chance at UWO greatly (because you're also SWOMEN). In the short-term, I think it might be worth giving another year in undergrad to see if you can boost your marks. With the boosted marks and a better MCAT score, you might have a chance at UWO or other schools (like Queen's). If that doesn't work out, then you might want to consider grad school work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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