Ultra-abyssal marks 13 years ago

[chickendodu]

hello:)

 

I went to university 13 years ago, got few personal problems and at that time didnt give a damn about studies...blabla...

 

Total: about 10 courses taken, 4 of them are fails and the rest are B's and C's.

 

I want to return to school.

 

Do I have to forget med school?

 

If no, do you think that with an undergrad with excellent marks I could realistically apply to some med school in Québec, Canada or elsewhere? or it would take more years to "bury" my bad marks?

[BruceWayne]

If you're already in your thirties, you'll be in your mid-40s by the time you finish everything. Assuming 13 years ago you were 18 (started Uni straight from HS), you're ~31 right now. Add 4 years of undergrad, ~2-3 years of rejections (average is 2.7 times to apply before one gets in), 4 years of med school, and 2-6 years of residency, you'll be 41 (minimum) - 48+ years old. Is it really worth it?

[Birdy]

So you did ten courses, or roughly the equivalent of your first year, would that be correct? At my school, all courses are 1 semester, so a full course load is ten/yr, so I may be wrong. At most schools, if I'm remembering right, credits towards a degree expire after 7-10 years, but med schools (except for Calgary, which lets you exclude credits from >10 years ago) will still count hem.

 

Anyway, if you go back to university and pursue a degree and get competitive marks, which I imagine you'd have to start from scratch, you can begin applying after your second year. Many schools take your most recent two years or your best two years. Schools that count all undergrad courses ever taken would be out, though.

 

It's not out of the question at all, I don't think. You could begin med school in as little as three years from when you start your UG, two schools (Calgary and Mac) are only three years, and a family medicine residency is 2-3 years, so you could be a practicing physician before you turned 40 if you work hard at getting the grades you need and have a bit of luck.

[Robin Hood]

hello:)

 

I went to university 13 years ago, got few personal problems and at that time didnt give a damn about studies...blabla...

 

Total: about 10 courses taken, 4 of them are fails and the rest are B's and C's.

 

I want to return to school.

 

Do I have to forget med school?

 

If no, do you think that with an undergrad with excellent marks I could realistically apply to some med school in Québec, Canada or elsewhere? or it would take more years to "bury" my bad marks?

 

If you are anglophone, take the MCAT and do another undergrad, because Quebec is out (except for McGill).

[Der Kaiser]

If you're already in your thirties, you'll be in your mid-40s by the time you finish everything. Assuming 13 years ago you were 18 (started Uni straight from HS), you're ~31 right now. Add 4 years of undergrad, ~2-3 years of rejections (average is 2.7 times to apply before one gets in), 4 years of med school, and 2-6 years of residency, you'll be 41 (minimum) - 48+ years old. Is it really worth it?

 

I totally forgot that life ends after the age of 40. Damn, only 9 years left!

[Birdy]

If you're already in your thirties, you'll be in your mid-40s by the time you finish everything. Assuming 13 years ago you were 18 (started Uni straight from HS), you're ~31 right now. Add 4 years of undergrad, ~2-3 years of rejections (average is 2.7 times to apply before one gets in), 4 years of med school, and 2-6 years of residency, you'll be 41 (minimum) - 48+ years old. Is it really worth it?

 

Physicians typically work much longer than people in other professions. A close family friend finished her FM residency in her 40s, and doesn't regret it at all.

[markov79]

If you're already in your thirties, you'll be in your mid-40s by the time you finish everything. Assuming 13 years ago you were 18 (started Uni straight from HS), you're ~31 right now. Add 4 years of undergrad, ~2-3 years of rejections (average is 2.7 times to apply before one gets in), 4 years of med school, and 2-6 years of residency, you'll be 41 (minimum) - 48+ years old. Is it really worth it?

 

I totally forgot that life ends after the age of 40. Damn, only 9 years left!

 

yep.... past few years, ubc has had anywhere from 2-6% of their class be 33+, aka anywhere from 3-13 people (http://mdprogram.med.ubc.ca/files/2012/02/MED_2015.pdf). canada has 17 med schools, minus, as RB said, quebec, i guess? ubc is a relatively big class, though. still... definitely wouldn't rule it out.

[aaronjw]

If you're already in your thirties, you'll be in your mid-40s by the time you finish everything. Assuming 13 years ago you were 18 (started Uni straight from HS), you're ~31 right now. Add 4 years of undergrad, ~2-3 years of rejections (average is 2.7 times to apply before one gets in), 4 years of med school, and 2-6 years of residency, you'll be 41 (minimum) - 48+ years old. Is it really worth it?

 

Please do tell us what the definition of something being 'really worth it' is.

[rmorelan]

Physicians typically work much longer than people in other professions. A close family friend finished her FM residency in her 40s, and doesn't regret it at all.

 

that is one of the reasons I chose medicine. I don't like the concept of completely retiring - slowing down maybe sure but out and out stopping just is so against my personality I couldn't imagine doing it unless I had no choice.

[Slashsev]

DOs have grad replacement policy in the us of a

 

 

Might wanna check that out

[Slashsev]

Grade.......,.

[ondansetron]

From university of Calgary medicine ,Dr. Ian Walkers(From admissions) blog, this should be very interesting for you:

 

"We also made another interesting decision. We have decided to implement a “10 year Exclusion Rule” by which applicants can chose to exclude from the GPA calculation any credits done more than 10 years prior to the application deadline. It won’t be automatic, but if the applicant choses that option, he or she will need to qualify based on work done in the last 10 years. In other words, you would need two full time years with a qualifying GPA during those 10 years. I doubt this will be invoked often, but for the dozen or so people a year who can’t seem to get out from under a poor, but remote, undergrad performance, this will likely be good news."

 

"It seems that I was not quite clear in how I described the new 10 year rule. A few things need to be made clear about this. The most important is why we are doing this. We are not trying to simply “go easy” on older applicants. What we are always concerned about, though, is whether there are people out there who are systematically excluded from eligibility for applying for reasons that are not defensible vis a vis what we are trying to achieve as an institution. One such group of people is older applicants who took some time to find their “academic groove”. If you went off to U at 18, were bright, but maybe not entirely sure what you wanted to do in life, and consequently did poorly, you might have come away from a University degree with a 2.0 GPA. Subsequently, you find yourself unsatisfied with your career and go back to school to pursue something you enjoy. You do very well. But with a 2.0 GPA over 4 years, on our current system you would need to do 5 straight years with a GPA of 4.0 or very close to it even to reach the 3.2 overall threshold. While we certainly need to see evidence of academic strength in order to consider you for the MD program, we don’t need 5 years of 4.0.

 

Also, to clarify a few minor points:

 

1. The exclusion will be an “all or none” thing – you cannot pick and chose between your >10 year old academic years. If you invoke the rule, we calculate your GPA purely based on what you have done in the last 10 years.

 

2. If you have not done two full time years of 24 credits Sept-April in the last 10 years, then you do not qualify to apply on the basis of your recent academics, and cannot invoke the 10 year rule.

 

3. Your entire academic performance will be considered in the subjective review, so you still need to submit transcripts for all post secondary work, including that done >10 years ago. This is important, because if you did poorly in a science degree >10 years ago, subsequently did something well in something totally unrelated, it may be that your past performance was circumstantial, or it may be that you just struggle with science. People in this situation could expect the committee members to look very carefully at their MCAT performance and their performance on any science courses done in the last 10 years."

 

here's a link to the actual blog:

http://mdadmissions.ucalgaryblogs.ca/page/2/

[Nasket]

From university of Calgary medicine ,Dr. Ian Walkers(From admissions) blog, this should be very interesting for you:

 

here's a link to the actual blog:

http://mdadmissions.ucalgaryblogs.ca/page/2/

 

This will not unfortunately work for the OP. The applicant needs 2 years that would meet the GPA requirement, and unfortunately based on OP's claim, he/she did not have the best marks.

 

Due to this, the only viable option available is starting Ugrad all over again.

 

Best of luck! Age is just a number!

[kylamonkey]

This will not unfortunately work for the OP. The applicant needs 2 years that would meet the GPA requirement, and unfortunately based on OP's claim, he/she did not have the best marks.

 

Due to this, the only viable option available is starting Ugrad all over again.

 

Best of luck! Age is just a number!

 

I think the OP was planning on going back regardless. Those of us with marks like those know that we still need to prove ourselves, it's just that diluting those old bad marks is so incredibly difficult mathematically that it's really just stupid.

 

To the OP- I have similar marks to you from 1998-99. I have figured out all the schools and determined how to best plan my education to best apply. I've moved to the Yukon (this makes me IP for Calgary) and will be very pleased to take advantage of their 10-year rule next year. Please PM me (after May 31st- I've got the MCAT) and I'd be happy to chat.

 

Also, to the poster who was insinuating that older people shouldn't apply:

I guess since I'm ancient at age 32 that I should give up my idea of being the only doctor willing to go live in Faro/CrowsnestPass/Greenwood. I guess you're going to move to a town of 1000 people and not gun for being a radiologist in Toronto? Thought so.

[ondansetron]

Yeah I am assuming that the person is willing to do whatever it takes to maximize their chances to get into med. In this case, going to AB/Calgary/edmonton and taking two years of undergrad would be a great way to apply.

[BruceWayne]

Sorry for being a realist?

 

This is the equivalent of telling a child he can be the President, an NHL/NBA superstar etc. when he grows up.

[ondansetron]

Sorry for being a realist?

 

This is the equivalent of telling a child he can be the President, an NHL/NBA superstar etc. when he grows up.

 

You need to brush up on your statistics. Also if you're not going to provide any constructive feedback, then keep your useless comments to yourself because they aren't helping anyone here.

[rmorelan]

Sorry for being a realist?

 

This is the equivalent of telling a child he can be the President, an NHL/NBA superstar etc. when he grows up.

 

ha - Why not tell them that? After all how do you know they cannot (someone has to get to those positions)? The number of time people told me I couldn't do something is roughly equal the number of times I did it anyway The best part about reaching for the stars and missing is you still end up way better off than those that didn't try at all.

 

But I think your originally question is a valid one - is it worth it? That is a personal question that only the OP can answer following the outline you gave (which isn't unrealistic). Very valid question! For some the answer is really no and that is completely, completely fine. For others it is yes. One thing is true though disregarding disaster - one day you will older. Do you want to be an older person who is a doctor, or one that isn't and is something else? How much would the difference between the two matter to you?

 

For me that was a no brainer but that is just me One year away from graduation it still is (just first assisting on a emerge c section for twins who went off the rails - we got them in time and all is well. Med students get to answer the question "what did you do today?" with stuff like that - I am having a blast!)

[Der Kaiser]

The best part about reaching for the stars and missing is you still end up way better off than those that didn't try at all.

 

Awesome. So true too.

[Looktoabove]

I think there are many of us in similar situations and slowly it seems it is our turn, there are many inspiring stories that start off similar to yours. I myself am trying to fix things that happened many years ago, I have regrets but as more time passes and I think down the road my biggest regret will be not trying to persue my dreams (if this is really what you want to do, many people find other satisfying things which are respectable), but your decision should not be based on thinking this is impossible and not trying, I hope it works out for everyone, just takes some time unfortunately.

[BruceWayne]

Honestly, I never said not to pursue medicine because you're "old," but I personally would want to be starting a family at that time, not studying medicine 24/7. Med school is hard and a LOT of work, more work than undergrad, which in itself is a ton of work if you're trying to get into Med school. And there's a difference in trying to get into Med school at 31 after completing Ugrad and knowing where you stand than starting the entire process from scratch at that age. But apparently being a realist = being a troll, right?

[LostLamb]

If you're already in your thirties, you'll be in your mid-40s by the time you finish everything. Assuming 13 years ago you were 18 (started Uni straight from HS), you're ~31 right now. Add 4 years of undergrad, ~2-3 years of rejections (average is 2.7 times to apply before one gets in), 4 years of med school, and 2-6 years of residency, you'll be 41 (minimum) - 48+ years old. Is it really worth it?

 

I am already in my 30s.

I have tons of student debt.

I don't have the perfect GPA/MCAT/EC list.

I applied multiple times before I got accepted.

I moved across the country to make this happen.

 

Was it worth it?

 

YES.

[itimebomb2]

Options:

1) Consider whether you TRULY want to be a doctor. Honestly, I'm 24 and a year away from finishing medical school and hardly a day goes by that I don't think about how awesome my life would be if I wasn't in medicine. After a little while, the glitz and glamour of being in medicine wears off. Do you know what it feels like to work 26-36 hour shifts, every 4 days? In summary, it sucks. Of course, there is a light at the end of the tunnel if you are only interested in easier specialties like family med.

 

2) All that said, I still think being a doctor is awesome. I love the challenge. I derive great personal satisfaction from accomplishment. However, I am an A-type person and always have been.

 

3) If you still want to be a doctor but want to skip some of the headaches of getting in in Canada, lots of international med schools will take you if you can fork up the right amount of money. Truthfully, these schools aren't as good, but they aren't terrible either. You probably won't find it easy to get back into Canada, but being a doctor in Latin America is probably just as good (not being sarcastic here).

 

Hope that helps.

[BruceWayne]

I am 32, I have a 1 year old daughter and have just finished my first year of med. 5 years ago I didn't have any grade 12 classes at an academic level. Right now I am looking at my honors degree which I completed in 3 years before starting med last year as I sit in the house my wife, who I married before starting undergrad, and I own. My close friends in my class include 2 single moms, one 34 the other 47, another 33yo dude like me and a smattering of 29, 28, and 27 year old people some starting a family and others waiting till later.

 

You are not a realist, you don't appear to know anything about anything, and your comments, as well as yourself, are unwelcome on the non-trad forum as you don't appear to be a grad/mature student. Kindly disappear little boy.

 

Difference is, the OP still has to do an undergrad.

[Birdy]

Difference is, the OP still has to do an undergrad.

 

So what? 3-4 years is nothing in the grand scheme of things.