Back up option + Raising GPA?

[freedom25]

Hi,

 

I just completed an Honors BSc in Psychology. My transcript has a clear upward trend but in my third year I have a handful of 1st and 2nd level psych courses (I transferred). My last two years have been great (GPA: 3.8 with full course loads), but I'm missing a few pre-reqs: organic chem and physics. I took Intro chem in first year but just managed to pass, so I'm considering retaking that (any advice?). My first three years weren't too good, grades were low to mediocre and I didn't maintain full course loads. That's a lil bit of my background. I should mention that I have a good portfolio going in terms of my ECs and life experience. Now to my future plans:

 

Would doing a 2 yr Masters in Counselling Psych be a reasonable plan? This way, I would be able to maintain a good gpa, get a research project going, complete my pre-med course requirements, and write my MCAT. In the case that med school doesn't work out, I would continue my graduate study in psych. How does this look to med school adcoms? I do love psychology, and hope to be a psychiatrist one day, so this seems like something that's viable for me personally, as opposed to doing a masters in biomed or something of that sort. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

If you have other options or suggestions on how I could raise my GPA or enhance my application, that would be great as well.

 

Thanks!

[cleverusername]

You can apply to Western and Queens provided you meet the MCAT cutoffs right now. They'll auto grant an interview at Western if you meet the cutoffs. Queens I think is more holistic these days though. Grad school won't boost your application much for med at most places.

[G.I.Geoff]

I think you have a decent plan, but keep in mind where you SHOULD apply with your background.

 

Can you be more specific with your GPA? (1st year=3.?.....)

 

UofT and Queens look at all your FULL-TIME, UNDERGRAD years of uni, and calculate your GPA from those.

 

The undergrad part is important to keep in mind. Graduate classes mean NOTHING for Ontario and Quebec medschools (don't know about the rest). Some schools will give boosts for COMPLETED degrees however. Mac gives a 0.01 for Master's and 0.02 for PhD. NOSM gives a huge boost of 0.2 for a M or PhD.

 

Look around and send LOTS of emails before you make a decision. I was always very surprised at how much info admissions offices will divulge when you call/send emails. A lot of info isn't posted online, but isn't kept all that hush hush.

 

Good luck!

[cleverusername]

I think you have a decent plan, but keep in mind where you SHOULD apply with your background.

 

Can you be more specific with your GPA? (1st year=3.?.....)

 

UofT and Queens look at all your FULL-TIME, UNDERGRAD years of uni, and calculate your GPA from those.

 

The undergrad part is important to keep in mind. Graduate classes mean NOTHING for Ontario and Quebec medschools (don't know about the rest). Some schools will give boosts for COMPLETED degrees however. Mac gives a 0.01 for Master's and 0.02 for PhD. NOSM gives a huge boost of 0.2 for a M or PhD.

 

Look around and send LOTS of emails before you make a decision. I was always very surprised at how much info admissions offices will divulge when you call/send emails. A lot of info isn't posted online, but isn't kept all that hush hush.

 

Good luck!

 

From my understanding, Queens looks at 4 years, and if you don't make the cutoff, they look at your most recent 2 years.

[freedom25]

I think you have a decent plan, but keep in mind where you SHOULD apply with your background.

 

Can you be more specific with your GPA? (1st year=3.?.....)

 

UofT and Queens look at all your FULL-TIME, UNDERGRAD years of uni, and calculate your GPA from those.

 

The undergrad part is important to keep in mind. Graduate classes mean NOTHING for Ontario and Quebec medschools (don't know about the rest). Some schools will give boosts for COMPLETED degrees however. Mac gives a 0.01 for Master's and 0.02 for PhD. NOSM gives a huge boost of 0.2 for a M or PhD.

 

Look around and send LOTS of emails before you make a decision. I was always very surprised at how much info admissions offices will divulge when you call/send emails. A lot of info isn't posted online, but isn't kept all that hush hush.

 

Good luck!

 

 

Thank you for your reply.

Here's a break down of my cGPA from year to year (including summer semesters):

1st year: 2.74 (4.5 credits)

2nd year: 2.38 (3 credits)

3rd year: 2.67 (1.5 credits)

4th year: 3.83 (5 credits)

5th year: 3.88 (5 credits)

 

My total cGPA is 3.35.

cGPA for last two years is 3.86.

*Note: I withdrew from a total of 3.0 credits in my undergrad (0.5 in first year summer and 2.5 in my 3rd year).

 

What do you think? What school would be my best shot in terms of applying?

 

Instead of pursuing a masters, what else can I do to enhance my academic criteria? Do you think I should attempt to raise my GPA even more or are there alternative options I can pursue to make up for it? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

[Exocytosis]

For years 4 and 5, did you have 5.0 credits between September and April? (ignoring your summer courses).

[G.I.Geoff]

Hmmm, because your full-time student status seems inconsistent, I'm not sure how medschools will calculate your grade. You have at least 3 years of full-time university (I assume one class is 0.5 credits), so you satisfy that requirement.

 

I think Queens for example, will take only your full-time years, and ignore part-time. And it's true that one of the ways they calculate your GPA is by looking at your last two full-time years, so your years 4 and 5 would give you a really strong GPA.

 

Other than Queens I'm really not sure. I suggest sending emails to/calling medschools to find out how they would calculate your specific GPA. Unfortunately, I think most schools would bulk all your years together, so a second undergrad might be the easiest/best way to change/increase your GPA.

[freedom25]

For years 4 and 5, did you have 5.0 credits between September and April? (ignoring your summer courses).

 

Yes, I didn't take summer school in Years 4 and 5.

[freedom25]

Hmmm, because your full-time student status seems inconsistent, I'm not sure how medschools will calculate your grade. You have at least 3 years of full-time university (I assume one class is 0.5 credits), so you satisfy that requirement.

 

I think Queens for example, will take only your full-time years, and ignore part-time. And it's true that one of the ways they calculate your GPA is by looking at your last two full-time years, so your years 4 and 5 would give you a really strong GPA.

 

Other than Queens I'm really not sure. I suggest sending emails to/calling medschools to find out how they would calculate your specific GPA. Unfortunately, I think most schools would bulk all your years together, so a second undergrad might be the easiest/best way to change/increase your GPA.

 

Does Queens have a certain guideline in terms of considering courses taken in the best two years? This is because in my fourth year I took 2 first year courses and a handful of second year courses (because I was transferring programs).

 

Thanks for your reply. I'll definitely contact the schools for more information.

[Legion]

Queen looks at your last 2 years (since that GPA is higher than your cGPA). Queens doesn't care about course-load. As long as you are taking at least 3 courses/semester, you are considered full-time. They also don't care about the course levels. But it is a good idea to limit the number of 1st & 2nd years courses in your upper years so that you don't run into problems for other med schools such as Western.

 

I suggest you read each med school's webpage yourself and Email their admissions if you have any questions. I've noticed quite a bit of misinformation on this forum lately.

[frenziedmalady]

Does Queens have a certain guideline in terms of considering courses taken in the best two years? This is because in my fourth year I took 2 first year courses and a handful of second year courses (because I was transferring programs).

 

Thanks for your reply. I'll definitely contact the schools for more information.

 

You might get flagged by Western. They look at your last 2 years and it looks like you have taken quite a bit of lower year courses (?). How many 2nd and 1st year courses did you take on your 4th and 5th year? You should have taken 6 3rd or 4th year courses out of 10 to be considered at Western.

[freedom25]

You might get flagged by Western. They look at your last 2 years and it looks like you have taken quite a bit of lower year courses (?). How many 2nd and 1st year courses did you take on your 4th and 5th year? You should have taken 6 3rd or 4th year courses out of 10 to be considered at Western.

 

I took only 3 third level courses in my 4th year but all 3rd/4th year ones in my 5th year. If they require 6 per year atleast...that's 12/20 courses for the last two years. If I see it that way, I've taken 13/20 of my last two year courses at the 3rd+ level. Will this suffice?

[frenziedmalady]

I took only 3 third level courses in my 4th year but all 3rd/4th year ones in my 5th year. If they require 6 per year atleast...that's 12/20 courses for the last two years. If I see it that way, I've taken 13/20 of my last two year courses at the 3rd+ level. Will this suffice?

 

Sorry I really don't know the definitive answer to that.

[Exocytosis]

I took only 3 third level courses in my 4th year but all 3rd/4th year ones in my 5th year. If they require 6 per year atleast...that's 12/20 courses for the last two years. If I see it that way, I've taken 13/20 of my last two year courses at the 3rd+ level. Will this suffice?

 

Sadly, you need 6/10 in each individual year, not 12/20 over all.