UK undergrad degree

[Ruby1210]

Hello,

I completed my undergrad at Cambridge Univ in the Uk, and received a 2:1. I've had this assessed by WES and unfortunately it comes out as pretty low.....a 3.2 GPA, even though this is considered to be a good degree overseas! Is there any point in even applying to med school? I've since completed a MSc and PhD in Ontario.

Thanks for any advice!

[jojoluvsu2]

You're limited to McMaster and NOSM in Ontario for GPA cutoffs. If you don't have any northern Ontario connections NOSM is very unlikely. Apply to McMaster, see what happens! You'll get a 4% boost for having done both an masters and a PhD.

 

Have you written the MCAT? You'll need a good verbal score for McM and a lot of the rest depends on Casper.

 

Otherwise you'll need a second UG to make the cutoffs for the other Ontario med schools. I'm not sure about schools in other provinces.

[kpm]

You also meet the cut-off for U of T graduate applicants, which is 3.00. I think you should apply to U of T because they put greater emphasis on research and have a supplemental application for students who have completed a graduate degree.

 

That being said, my undergrad GPA was 3.0, and I did a grad degree. I applied broadly in Canada and to a few US schools, but was rejected from all.

[filter105]

Must have been an amazing experience studying at Cambridge and all!!!! Why not medicine in UK? people write UKCAT and if they sufficient $ wiggle room, they go to UK.

 

Ireland might be something to consider giving prestige of your degree.

 

Canada's little notorious with GPA, but... yes U of C, MAC, Queen's, NOSM are all possibilities.

[Ruby1210]

Thank everyone for these ideas.

I did consider the Uk, but am already pretty settled in Ontario...husband, two kids, and am 34, and we're not really in a situation where we could make a big move, especially financially, so am hoping to find a way to make it work here. It seems that I could give a couple of places a shot like Mac and U of T but may need to consider a 2nd UG. I am writing the MCAT this summer, and have pretty good research productivity (10 first author papers, CIHR/SSHRC grants, a couple of research awards), but the GPA is really the problem. When I finished at Cambridge my primary supervisor there wrote a letter for my grad school applications saying he felt my degree was equivalent to about a 3.7 GPA in Canada (prior to Cambridge he was a prof at Western for 10 years), so I can include this letter, but Mac relies solely on the WES assessment. U of T said they would consider the letter, so I guess I will have to try and see!