Engineer Posted February 5, 2013 Report Share Posted February 5, 2013 Hello, I am a waterloo engineer currently in 4th year pursuing medical school. Waterloo is unique because of co-op. I have strong grades, great work experience for an engineer (mostly co-ops in silicon valley) and have been volunteering at hospital for the past few months. I've done a bit of research on campus and am involved with some other clubs. I've got a few questions that I was hoping I could get help with. 1) For western which takes the two best years in terms of gpa, how are those years selected especially when every year is broken up into two 4 month chucks that are never adjacent (except in 4th year)? 2) Work reports are required for graduation and they are simply a marked report completed after most co-op terms that describe the work done during the term. They do appear on the transcript however are not included in GPA or average. Also the weighting is much less than a usual course, work report is weighted 0.13 vs a 4th month course weighted 0.5. The reason I ask is because I have one very poor work report mark that is stressing me out. I missed the submission date and handed it in the following term and this resulted in a 38%. There are 5 actual full courses in the term where this took place (actually 6 but one is pass/fail). Will I have to enter this grade on the OMSAS application? and will it be included in my applying GPA? I understand that schools will see it and may have a question or two but my main concern is that it will bring my 3.95 term GPA down significantly if factored in. Will any schools incorporate it? 3) How do med schools view experience at silicon valley technology companies. I understand that they have little in common but there would definitely be some cross over. Thanks in advance for your help, Engineer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted February 5, 2013 Report Share Posted February 5, 2013 1) they would combine terms to create "virtual years" where possible. In your case combining 1A and 1B into a single year for instance. You definitely need to contact the office for specifics to be completely sure for your particular case what exactly they will do 2) Western takes your best 5.0 credits for any particular year. Since you would have at least 5.0 credits in year prior to considering the reports, that report wouldn't be considered at all. On top of that Western considers you best two years solely so there is another reason (although less definite) that it can be ignored even if the first point wasn't true (which it is). 3) ECs are not evaluated directly - your experience will count though and what you learned through the interview. In my experience work historical can be a powerful asset (really helped me I think). Hello, I am a waterloo engineer currently in 4th year pursuing medical school. Waterloo is unique because of co-op. I have strong grades, great work experience for an engineer (mostly co-ops in silicon valley) and have been volunteering at hospital for the past few months. I've done a bit of research on campus and am involved with some other clubs. I've got a few questions that I was hoping I could get help with. 1) For western which takes the two best years in terms of gpa, how are those years selected especially when every year is broken up into two 4 month chucks that are never adjacent (except in 4th year)? 2) Work reports are required for graduation and they are simply a marked report completed after most co-op terms that describe the work done during the term. They do appear on the transcript however are not included in GPA or average. Also the weighting is much less than a usual course, work report is weighted 0.13 vs a 4th month course weighted 0.5. The reason I ask is because I have one very poor work report mark that is stressing me out. I missed the submission date and handed it in the following term and this resulted in a 38%. There are 5 actual full courses in the term where this took place (actually 6 but one is pass/fail). Will I have to enter this grade on the OMSAS application? and will it be included in my applying GPA? I understand that schools will see it and may have a question or two but my main concern is that it will bring my 3.95 term GPA down significantly if factored in. Will any schools incorporate it? 3) How do med schools view experience at silicon valley technology companies. I understand that they have little in common but there would definitely be some cross over. Thanks in advance for your help, Engineer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Engineer Posted February 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2013 Great, thanks for the quick reply! Any insight on how other Ontario/Canadian medical schools would view the work term marks? Thanks again -Engineer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted February 5, 2013 Report Share Posted February 5, 2013 Great, thanks for the quick reply! Any insight on how other Ontario/Canadian medical schools would view the work term marks? Thanks again -Engineer depends on the school - probably easiest if you break down your GPA for us by year to make things quicker if you can Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KCA Posted February 6, 2013 Report Share Posted February 6, 2013 depends on the school - probably easiest if you break down your GPA for us by year to make things quicker if you can As a waterloo alumni, I would just like to show my support!!!! OP you have amazing GPA for someone from engineering backgrounds! Have your wrote the MCAT yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorsscareme Posted February 7, 2013 Report Share Posted February 7, 2013 As a waterloo alumni, I would just like to show my support!!!! OP you have amazing GPA for someone from engineering backgrounds! Have your wrote the MCAT yet? OMG I totally know who you are! I guessed it from the information that you gave away here + your username. Yes I'm a stalker, lol. I usually just lurk in this forum but I even made a username to say hello to you. Go me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KCA Posted February 7, 2013 Report Share Posted February 7, 2013 OMG I totally know who you are! I guessed it from the information that you gave away here + your username. Yes I'm a stalker, lol. I usually just lurk in this forum but I even made a username to say hello to you. Go me. Even though you say doctors scare you... You have just effectively creeped me out............... If you know me from my info... That's not so creepy. But my username? That is creepy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorsscareme Posted February 7, 2013 Report Share Posted February 7, 2013 Even though you say doctors scare you... You have just effectively creeped me out............... If you know me from my info... That's not so creepy. But my username? That is creepy. Haha actually... I thought I knew you (I know one super smart Waterloo engineer who went to Toronto med) then I realized from your previous posts that you probably don't go to Toronto. So actually, I retract what I said earlier. I don't know you! Nonetheless, I creeped you out for a few hours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoheyoh Posted February 8, 2013 Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 Just wondering how many pre-reqs you managed to fit within your 4 years? I too am in a simillar situation to yours, but not as far along as you(going to 3rd yr). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tberry3 Posted February 8, 2013 Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 Just wondering how many pre-reqs you managed to fit within your 4 years? I too am in a simillar situation to yours, but not as far along as you(going to 3rd yr). I took engineering at Western (so, not exactly the same situation) but I basically had no room for any electives and still ended up being able to apply to 4 schools. Here's what I used for each of them, hopefully this is helpful: Western - no prerequisites Mac - no prerequisites Queen's - looking at their website it looks like they may have actually removed their prereqs... can anyone confirm? UofT - need two full credits in life science and one in social science. However, the definitions of these are a bit wider than you might think. I used a few biomedical engineering/medical biophysics courses to fill the life science requirement (Psych 1000 also counts, and I knew lots of engineers who took that). Then for social science, lots of engineering-specific courses counted: business for engineers, engineering ethics, communications. I actually didn't know I was able to apply to UofT until the last minute because I didn't think my courses fit the criteria, but I checked with the admissions office and it was good news. So you may find yourself in a similar situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted February 11, 2013 Report Share Posted February 11, 2013 Yeah people are always overestimating the Ontario Prereqs. They just aren't that many of them for most schools. I mean to max out your odds you do need to do some loop jumping (for Ottawa in particular) but for most places there just aren't that many. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Journey Man Posted February 11, 2013 Report Share Posted February 11, 2013 Hello, I am a waterloo engineer currently in 4th year pursuing medical school. Waterloo is unique because of co-op. I have strong grades, great work experience for an engineer (mostly co-ops in silicon valley) and have been volunteering at hospital for the past few months. I've done a bit of research on campus and am involved with some other clubs. I've got a few questions that I was hoping I could get help with. My question would be why the hell would you want to become an MD when you have so much going for you already. When you get into medical school, you will be back at the bottom. None of your experiences, internships will matter. Are you willing to throw all that away before exploring what this engineering path will bring you? IMO, leave the debt, stress, and years of difficulty and moving around alone for a while. Being an Engineer from Waterloo with your internships makes you a hot commodity. Explore that for a while, work on cool projects, do something innovative. Go live in Silicon Valley for while, it will great. If you still feel like becoming an MD after all that, then come back and do it. It will always be there. But if you give up all your opportunities now, you wont get them back i guarantee it. Only go after the MD now if you absolutely hate everything about your field and can't imagine yourself working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KCA Posted February 12, 2013 Report Share Posted February 12, 2013 Haha actually... I thought I knew you (I know one super smart Waterloo engineer who went to Toronto med) then I realized from your previous posts that you probably don't go to Toronto. So actually, I retract what I said earlier. I don't know you! Nonetheless, I creeped you out for a few hours Are you think of someone from the 2015 class? If so, I might know who you're talking about LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NLengr Posted February 12, 2013 Report Share Posted February 12, 2013 I took engineering at Western (so, not exactly the same situation) but I basically had no room for any electives and still ended up being able to apply to 4 schools. Here's what I used for each of them, hopefully this is helpful: Western - no prerequisites Mac - no prerequisites Queen's - looking at their website it looks like they may have actually removed their prereqs... can anyone confirm? UofT - need two full credits in life science and one in social science. However, the definitions of these are a bit wider than you might think. I used a few biomedical engineering/medical biophysics courses to fill the life science requirement (Psych 1000 also counts, and I knew lots of engineers who took that). Then for social science, lots of engineering-specific courses counted: business for engineers, engineering ethics, communications. I actually didn't know I was able to apply to UofT until the last minute because I didn't think my courses fit the criteria, but I checked with the admissions office and it was good news. So you may find yourself in a similar situation. I did engineering too and met the criteria for MUN, Dal and Calgary in addition to the above. As for work terms, as far as I could tell, most schools ignored them and calculated GPA based on my academic classes only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAMFtastic Posted February 14, 2013 Report Share Posted February 14, 2013 I did engineering too and met the criteria for MUN, Dal and Calgary in addition to the above. As for work terms, as far as I could tell, most schools ignored them and calculated GPA based on my academic classes only. If I remember correctly you only need two first year english courses to apply to MUN. If work terms are on a Pass/Fail basis they will not be counted. Good Luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NLengr Posted February 14, 2013 Report Share Posted February 14, 2013 If I remember correctly you only need two first year english courses to apply to MUN. If work terms are on a Pass/Fail basis they will not be counted. Good Luck That's correct for MUN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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