allartsnoscience Posted January 15, 2013 Report Share Posted January 15, 2013 Hi everyone, I am a fourth year student at McGill. I will be graduating this May with a double major in English Literature and Political Science. Although I have taken none - as in ZERO - sciences while at McGill, I developed an interest in pursuing medicine last summer which, as of yet, has not gone away. My plan is to take med school pre-reqs next year at either Ryerson or York, as they are close to my home. I chose not to take sciences this year, just in case I a) hate them or fail them. Considering my level of uncertainty, I figure it is best to graduate with a solid B.A., then give sciences a shot, rather than mess up any chance I have now of going for law of journalism in the future. My stats: Double major: English Literature & Political Science CGPA: 3.77/4.0 (does that count as a 3.8, or 3.7?) NO SCIENCES AS OF YET. Is my plan worth pursuing? Do I stand a chance at getting into a medical school in Canada, given my transcript's lack of science credits? And will medical schools accept continuing studies courses from York or Ryerson as pre-requisites, given that they are taken outside of a degree program? Thanks so much. I look forward to hearing what everyone has to say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted January 15, 2013 Report Share Posted January 15, 2013 Look into taking them at Cegep! IF you do so without a full course load as a part time student, you will become IP in Quebrec, thereby greatly enhancing your chances at McGill which will not require MCAT, saving you from a major hurdle. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allartsnoscience Posted January 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 CEGEP is a possibility, but I'd rather leave Quebec after I graduate and focus on getting into Ontario schools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 CEGEP is a possibility, but I'd rather leave Quebec after I graduate and focus on getting into Ontario schools. Ok, well for many of the Ontario schools you are going to need the MCAT which will have obviously science content. some schools have prereqs - although to be honest there isn't an many as people make it out to be. Western has none, Mac has none (and only the VR section of the MCAT - which as an arts student you should do well on), Toronto has 2 life science credits, Queens as one bio, one physical science - only Ottawa is something that cannot be done in a relatively short time as it need biochem/organic chem. If I were you I would start by writing the MCAT relatively soon, only do and ace the VR section and start applying to Mac while planning on getting the prereqs/mcat scores you need for the other schools. You may be able to get in faster than you think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 CEGEP is a possibility, but I'd rather leave Quebec after I graduate and focus on getting into Ontario schools. Cegep allows you to both pursue med in Ontario schools while becoming In Province in Quebec as a non fulltime student. You can kill two birds with one stone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
futureGP Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 Hi everyone, I am a fourth year student at McGill. I will be graduating this May with a double major in English Literature and Political Science. Although I have taken none - as in ZERO - sciences while at McGill, I developed an interest in pursuing medicine last summer which, as of yet, has not gone away. My plan is to take med school pre-reqs next year at either Ryerson or York, as they are close to my home. I chose not to take sciences this year, just in case I a) hate them or fail them. Considering my level of uncertainty, I figure it is best to graduate with a solid B.A., then give sciences a shot, rather than mess up any chance I have now of going for law of journalism in the future. My stats: Double major: English Literature & Political Science CGPA: 3.77/4.0 (does that count as a 3.8, or 3.7?) NO SCIENCES AS OF YET. Is my plan worth pursuing? Do I stand a chance at getting into a medical school in Canada, given my transcript's lack of science credits? And will medical schools accept continuing studies courses from York or Ryerson as pre-requisites, given that they are taken outside of a degree program? Thanks so much. I look forward to hearing what everyone has to say. If getting into medicine is a goal, moving to alberta for 1 year and taking classes will give you a great chance at UofA and UofC 3.77 counts as 3.77 no more, no less You might as well try and see how you do with the sciences. As long as you have the prereqs, schools don't care what your major was during ugrad. I think you need to ask individuals schools about continuing studies courses. Also, rmorelan's advice is solid. McMaster doesn't have a hard prereq so as long as you own MCAT vr (which you probably will as an arts grad), you can apply and see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprinkles Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 Just a heads up that the rough translation of averages does not work...I'm not sure if you know this or not. I had an A- average in my school and thought I was set (a solid 3.7) which made me get my hopes up. I figured there can't be much difference in GPA when it comes to school calculate or OMSAS calculated. Turns out, my ACTUAL calculated GPA using OMSAS was much lower than a 3.7 because these things are calculated different. Just thought I should give you a heads up, but if you are already aware of this then ignore my post and carry on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allartsnoscience Posted January 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 Just a heads up that the rough translation of averages does not work...I'm not sure if you know this or not. I had an A- average in my school and thought I was set (a solid 3.7) which made me get my hopes up. I figured there can't be much difference in GPA when it comes to school calculate or OMSAS calculated. Turns out, my ACTUAL calculated GPA using OMSAS was much lower than a 3.7 because these things are calculated different. Just thought I should give you a heads up, but if you are already aware of this then ignore my post and carry on I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure all McGill grades "line up" with OMSAS grades. 4.0 system with an A as 4.0, an A- as 3.7, etc. So my GPA should remain a 3.77 for OMSAS as well, no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprinkles Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure all McGill grades "line up" with OMSAS grades. 4.0 system with an A as 4.0, an A- as 3.7, etc. So my GPA should remain a 3.77 for OMSAS as well, no? no idea! I dont know how McGuill Calculates GPAs just thought I would mention it though. Maybe you could compare the 'chart' for your school to OMSAS and if everything is exact same then you should be good to go! Please do report because now I'm interested to know lol I didn't think any school's system would be the same as OMSAS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure all McGill grades "line up" with OMSAS grades. 4.0 system with an A as 4.0, an A- as 3.7, etc. So my GPA should remain a 3.77 for OMSAS as well, no? yeah that is true - no A+ at McGill etc. As long as you are computing your grades per school. From Mac in particular it is easy as you just take every course (we keep harping on Mac just because of the no science requirements + VR only on the MCAT). For many of the other schools you should computer your last 2 years, best two years, check out TO policy on dropping courses, Ottawa's wGPA etc, etc. Just to get the full Ontario picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
futureGP Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 no idea! I dont know how McGuill Calculates GPAs just thought I would mention it though. Maybe you could compare the 'chart' for your school to OMSAS and if everything is exact same then you should be good to go! Please do report because now I'm interested to know lol I didn't think any school's system would be the same as OMSAS that's how it works. A = 4.0 A- = 3.7 B+ = 3.3 B = 3 B- = 2.7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savac Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 that's how it works. A = 4.0 A- = 3.7 B+ = 3.3 B = 3 B- = 2.7 Wow, I just confirmed this on OMSAS. Very interesting. Column 8: http://www.ouac.on.ca/docs/omsas/c_omsas_b.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 Wow, I just confirmed this on OMSAS. Very interesting. Column 8: http://www.ouac.on.ca/docs/omsas/c_omsas_b.pdf Yeah it is just that there is no A+ at that school. Pretty rare to use something other than column 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprinkles Posted January 17, 2013 Report Share Posted January 17, 2013 oh wow! thats pretty cool. So McGill students dont have to go through the tedious task of converting grades! You learn something new every day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apache Posted January 17, 2013 Report Share Posted January 17, 2013 well i did my first around 2 years in arts, with minimal hs science... and if you work hard, i think youll be ok... remember, multiple skill sets are an advantage in law and journalism, even if you go that route Hi everyone, I am a fourth year student at McGill. I will be graduating this May with a double major in English Literature and Political Science. Although I have taken none - as in ZERO - sciences while at McGill, I developed an interest in pursuing medicine last summer which, as of yet, has not gone away. My plan is to take med school pre-reqs next year at either Ryerson or York, as they are close to my home. I chose not to take sciences this year, just in case I a) hate them or fail them. Considering my level of uncertainty, I figure it is best to graduate with a solid B.A., then give sciences a shot, rather than mess up any chance I have now of going for law of journalism in the future. My stats: Double major: English Literature & Political Science CGPA: 3.77/4.0 (does that count as a 3.8, or 3.7?) NO SCIENCES AS OF YET. Is my plan worth pursuing? Do I stand a chance at getting into a medical school in Canada, given my transcript's lack of science credits? And will medical schools accept continuing studies courses from York or Ryerson as pre-requisites, given that they are taken outside of a degree program? Thanks so much. I look forward to hearing what everyone has to say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apache Posted January 17, 2013 Report Share Posted January 17, 2013 and those bums take like 3 oop stuents... like seriously, i try when thereès like a small chance, but mcgill was just like, yeah right, they prob take 20 full ride future harvard students and draw them out of a hate, lol Look into taking them at Cegep! IF you do so without a full course load as a part time student, you will become IP in Quebrec, thereby greatly enhancing your chances at McGill which will not require MCAT, saving you from a major hurdle. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted January 17, 2013 Report Share Posted January 17, 2013 and those bums take like 3 oop students.../QUOTE] 8 or 9 OOP students, 3 non-trads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted January 17, 2013 Report Share Posted January 17, 2013 multiple skill sets are an advantage in law and journalism So true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allartsnoscience Posted January 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2013 But my GPA as of now isn't very high in comparison to other applicants to med school. Is it competitive enough to squeeze by? I will of course try to land all As next year, during my year of sciences. I'm banking on the fact that I am a different sort of applicant - they might find my major interesting/diverse. Here's hoping, anyway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apache Posted January 17, 2013 Report Share Posted January 17, 2013 or marketing, or anything that can be applied to numerous thing, lol... ditto with doctors who go into politics, english, french, public speaking, being engaing,body language, connecting to the audience emotionally without drifting to dr. land... law is pretty insane with medicine too, even for public health, since it's an interdisciplinary effort, and even though epi's are giving you best pop practice outcomes, knowing med and law, or having those soft skills and selling it politically is what does it, even networking to get cash behind you... honestly, i wish they trained doctors to lobby better, but the selection criteria often selects for personalities who aren't necessarily convincing (not all, some are great, but some don't realize that you're not talking to md's or presenting a study, you're selling a product (health services subsystem etc. and selling something sometimes means leaving out clinical validity and what now... esp say if donors are wealthy businessman, who shares ends, but different motives... he wants to hear how your goal, which you're pitching for your reasons, will help him, and if if its feel good, you can throw in the bonus of saving childrens lives after you mention the millions in profit or whatever it is businessdude, or mla, or premeir wants out of the deal. theory of mind, come on, even the aspies in the room can learn it pretty well , lol So true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apache Posted January 17, 2013 Report Share Posted January 17, 2013 hehe, i have the most ****ed degree in history, it'll now be 1 course from the 4 year ba/bsc But my GPA as of now isn't very high in comparison to other applicants to med school. Is it competitive enough to squeeze by? I will of course try to land all As next year, during my year of sciences. I'm banking on the fact that I am a different sort of applicant - they might find my major interesting/diverse. Here's hoping, anyway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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