2nd - degree business

[flamesfan11]

Hi,

 

School: UofA

 

Undergrad

1st yr: 2.8

2nd yr: 2.9

3rd yr: 3.0

4th yr: 3.6

 

2nd degree

1st yr: 4.0

2nd yr: 3.94

 

 

To keep it short, I managed to dig myself in a big hole during undergrad. My first 3 years were absolute disasters. Like many of you here, I lacked direction in what I wanted to do in life. Many of you here probably know how hard it is to stay focussed without a specific goal set in mind. After 4 months of summer break and a lot of reflecting on my weaknesses as a student (and roughly 100hrs of shadowing a physician, volunteering at the hospital, etc) I came to the conclusion that I wanted to become a doctor (Yes, yes, I know you have heard that a million times). I went in to my last year of undergrad (Physical Sciences major) with a new sense of determination.

 

My last year consisted of some higher level biochemistry and biology (mixed in with some senior level Psychology for my minor). I took these because I wanted to prove to myself that I was capable of doing well. I managed to get a 3.6 with nothing lower than an A- in my science courses (ironically the art courses I took lowered my GPA). I fell short of my goal (4.0) and was somewhat disappointed in myself. That year flew by quickly and I didn't really have a second plan made up in my mind. I also didn't know about premed101 so I wasn't able to find the best solution at the time.

 

The only thing I applied for was Accounting because it was one of the few second degrees I had heard of. I took a few business courses during undergrad and they were relatively easy. Throughout business I took some pre-reqs (was missing Physics + upgraded inorganic chem) for Medicine as I still had a glimmer of hope and managed to do well in those too. I surprisingly managed to pull off a near 4.0 at the end of my degree.

 

MCAT scores:

VR 11,

BS 9,

PS 12,

WS R.

 

ECs: lots (and diverse) dating back to 1st year undergrad

 

 

Question: Will I have a good shot at 2nd degree schools? I searched the forums and found there were a few. Sask would be prime for me as they only look at the 2nd degree but I'm not sure if they would accept accounting as a legitimate degree (I emailed them - still waiting for a response).

 

Thanks,

 

Phil

[melanopsin]

Phil, you look to be in great shape. Your verbal seems to make the cut off for 2 year schools in ontario and I think with your 4th year (first degree) + last 2 years (2nd degree) you would be competitive for ottawa. Don't quote me on ottawa because I haven't actually calculated your 3 year average. Schools will not discrimate against you because you majored in accounting. You already did one science degree and you have all the pre reqs+ MCAT completed to be competetive.

 

BTW, where did you do your second degree? Was it also at UofA or did you move? Also, was your accounting major actually easier than the science degree? I'm going to do a non science 2nd degree after I finish up my current science degree here in a few weeks. Its good to read stories like yours as they are similar to myself. Thanks.

[flamesfan11]

Phil, you look to be in great shape. Your verbal seems to make the cut off for 2 year schools in ontario and I think with your 4th year (first degree) + last 2 years (2nd degree) you would be competitive for ottawa. Don't quote me on ottawa because I haven't actually calculated your 3 year average. Schools will not discrimate against you because you majored in accounting. You already did one science degree and you have all the pre reqs+ MCAT completed to be competetive.

 

BTW, where did you do your second degree? Was it also at UofA or did you move? Also, was your accounting major actually easier than the science degree? I'm going to do a non science 2nd degree after I finish up my current science degree here in a few weeks. Its good to read stories like yours as they are similar to myself. Thanks.

 

 

I havent calculated my GPA through OSMAS but I know for a fact that it will be lowered (A/A+ = 4.0 at the UofA). I will look into Ottawa though - thanks for the heads up. I was also looking into Dalhousie and McGill.

 

I think the higher level biochem I took was harder than the majority of the Acctg courses I took. With that said, they are two different kinds of "hard" in my opinion. Science required more critical thinking skills whereas the Acctg courses I took were more systematic but required more attention to detail.

 

Yup - Accounting (Bachelor of Commerce) at the UofA.

 

In hindsight I dont think this 2nd degree was that bad of a choice. It provides some pretty good job security for the time being (despite it not being what I really enjoy doing) that allows me to pay off some student loans. It was also full-time (30 credits/year) requiring no practicum/CO-OP and was a bit easier than other second degrees like Nursing (imo).

[whereswaldo]

May I ask how you were able to do an accounting degree in 2 years? How did you have the credits for the first 2 years if you did your first degree in physical sciences?

[flamesfan11]

May I ask how you were able to do an accounting degree in 2 years? How did you have the credits for the first 2 years if you did your first degree in physical sciences?

 

The program was only two years in total (its normally 4 years). In short, I only had to do courses that were required for my major (accounting) and didn't have to do too many extraneous business options. There were only 4 required + 1 optional acctg courses which can be easily completed in 2/2.5 years.

 

I'm a little confused with your second question. Do you mean how did I have the credits (Pre-reqs?) for business? There were only a few (Econ, math, stats, english) I took all in the first year of undergrad.

 

Refer to:

 

http://www.business.ualberta.ca/Programs/BachelorOfCommerce/ProspectiveStudents/BcomAfterDegree.aspx

[Ekylo]

The program was only two years in total (its normally 4 years). In short, I only had to do courses that were required for my major (accounting) and didn't have to do too many extraneous business options. There were only 4 required + 1 optional acctg courses which can be easily completed in 2/2.5 years.

 

I'm a little confused with your second question. Do you mean how did I have the credits (Pre-reqs?) for business? There were only a few (Econ, math, stats, english) I took all in the first year of undergrad.

 

Refer to:

 

http://www.business.ualberta.ca/Programs/BachelorOfCommerce/ProspectiveStudents/BcomAfterDegree.aspx

 

I haven't seen this program before. No doubt, accounting is a handy skill! Thanks for sharing .

 

Out of curiosity, is the BCom AD program still considered 'a 4 year degree' by medical schools? I recall that only grades from programs leading to a four year bachelors degree count.

[simpy]

Hi,

Question: Will I have a good shot at 2nd degree schools? I searched the forums and found there were a few. Sask would be prime for me as they only look at the 2nd degree but I'm not sure if they would accept accounting as a legitimate degree (I emailed them - still waiting for a response).

 

Thanks,

 

Phil

 

Hey Phil,

 

So you're going to want to calculate your OMSAS GPA, it actually will make a fairly big difference.

 

The "second degree" schools are Dalhousie, NOSM, and McGill. While I would apply to all of those schools, to be honest your chances aren't great because of the limited number of spaces available to OOP (Dal/McGill) or non-rural students (NOSM). Still worth a shot but I wouldn't count on them.

 

You have much better chances at Queen's/Ottawa. I would add Western to the list, but unfortunately the biological sciences MCAT cutoff for them has been 10 over the last few years. I'd still apply, but that cutoff is unlikely to come down.

 

Ottawa has that 3-year weighted average. You'll need to convert your marks to OMSAS but I think it's going to be extremely close. You're from Alberta, right? So your weighted GPA needs to be 3.87 or above (and that's 3x last year + 2x the year before + 1x two years before). That's OMSAS though... So I'm not sure if you'll make it or not.

 

That leaves Queen's, which is going to come down to letters of reference and your extracurriculars. Make sure to spend a lot of time getting good references and working on your ECs to maximize your chance here.

 

Anyway, I'd still apply to all the schools I listed above, just make sure to spend the most time on Queen's and Ottawa (the latter if you make that 3.87 cut).

 

Also... it might be worth thinking about rewriting the MCAT. I would only do it if you're confident you could repeat your performance on your other sections, but getting an increased score and meeting Western's cutoffs would make a big difference in terms of your chances...

[flamesfan11]

Hey Phil,

 

So you're going to want to calculate your OMSAS GPA, it actually will make a fairly big difference.

 

The "second degree" schools are Dalhousie, NOSM, and McGill. While I would apply to all of those schools, to be honest your chances aren't great because of the limited number of spaces available to OOP (Dal/McGill) or non-rural students (NOSM). Still worth a shot but I wouldn't count on them.

 

You have much better chances at Queen's/Ottawa. I would add Western to the list, but unfortunately the biological sciences MCAT cutoff for them has been 10 over the last few years. I'd still apply, but that cutoff is unlikely to come down.

 

Ottawa has that 3-year weighted average. You'll need to convert your marks to OMSAS but I think it's going to be extremely close. You're from Alberta, right? So your weighted GPA needs to be 3.87 or above (and that's 3x last year + 2x the year before + 1x two years before). That's OMSAS though... So I'm not sure if you'll make it or not.

 

That leaves Queen's, which is going to come down to letters of reference and your extracurriculars. Make sure to spend a lot of time getting good references and working on your ECs to maximize your chance here.

 

Anyway, I'd still apply to all the schools I listed above, just make sure to spend the most time on Queen's and Ottawa (the latter if you make that 3.87 cut).

 

Also... it might be worth thinking about rewriting the MCAT. I would only do it if you're confident you could repeat your performance on your other sections, but getting an increased score and meeting Western's cutoffs would make a big difference in terms of your chances...

 

Thanks for all the helpful information.

 

I calculated my GPA through OMSAS and it came out to 3.82 (if I did it correctly) for Ottawa which unfortunately puts me below the 3.87 cut-off. I don't mind rewriting the MCAT as I did it not too long ago anyways but I'll consider it over the summer.

 

Do you have any tips with Saskatchewan? I guess I should start looking into DO in the states or perhaps international schools. However, my GPA is pretty horrible for US as they tend to look at everything.

[wisdom1234]

how did you get a chance to do a job shadowing? was it through a network? I tried to find one too but it's extremely hard.

[whereswaldo]

Why can't he get into UWO medicine?

[future_doc]

For Ottawa, make sure you have or get the chem prerequisites.