Jump to content
Premed 101 Forums

Canadian Medical Schools and Summer Courses

creampuffs563

Recommended Posts

creampuffs563 Newbie

creampuffs563

Posted
Posted

Hi everyone!

 

I am currently in my second year of undergrad, and will begin my third year in September. Please take the time to read my post - I am very confused by everything.

 

Can anyone give me some information as to which medical schools count summer courses and which don't? I'm having a hard time finding this info on the medical school websites.

 

What I know so far:

 

Western Ontario - Doesn't count summer courses

UT?????

Queens?????

University of Alberta?????

U of Calgary?????

Ottawa University - Doesn't count summer courses

UBC - Counts summer courses

 

Also, what are my chances of getting into any of the med schools with my stats:

 

GPA weighted for U of T: 3.83, weighted - (on the low side, since I am OOP)

 

One last question: Can anyone get into Western's med school without an honours degree, but just a regular bachelor's degree?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Preptime Newbie

Preptime

Posted
Posted
UWO requires honors degree or equivalent, meaning you qualify to go for a Masters.

 

I believe U/O will count a summer course, if, for example, you need one more course to make your total courses for the year a full course load.

 

 

This is false.

 

 

A full-time academic year where the equivalent of four (4) full-year courses is taken is accepted and counted in the WGPA calculation only if the missing course/credit is completed either as an additional course within another academic year or as a summer course. Individual courses taken during a summer session are accepted for the credit value in this instance however the mark obtained is not counted in the calculation of the WGPA.

 

 

http://www.med.uottawa.ca/students/MD/Admissions/eng/eligibility_criteria.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites
dtravo Newbie

dtravo

Posted
Posted
Hi everyone!

 

GPA weighted for U of T: 3.83 (predicted, after dropping 13 credits from my first two years at university) - (on the low side, since I am OOP)

 

Note that UofT will only drop the credits as long as you've had a full course load in all years and only if you're applying after your third year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
BurstFracture Newbie

BurstFracture

Posted
Posted
Wow, thanks for the replies everyone! The info has been really helpful.

 

My school runs on a 30-credit full course load system.

 

A breakdown of my grades:

 

First year: GPA = 3.83, 34 credits

First year summer: 3.95, 6 credits

Second year GPA: 3.75, 34 credits

 

I'm most familiar with the admissions processes of UofC, Queen's, and Western, so I'll offer my insight on those three medical programs. :)

 

UofC requires at least 24 credits/year for that year to be considered full-time, they will count ALL full-time years, but will drop your lowest year if you have more than two. If you are out of province (OOP) you need at least an 11 VR AND >3.80 GPA to undergo full file review. If this is your position, your GPA isn't currently high enough (depending on how you calculated it, refer to OMSAS if applicable), so you'd need to get >3.8 in your third year (assume >3.9 to be competitive). For in province (IP) applicants there is no VR restriction, but you need >3.2 GPA to undergo full file review. Due to the changes in the OOP requirements there are no currently applicable statistics, but the admission averages for last cycles IP applicants are as follows:

3.73 GPA, 10 VR

Sources: [link] [link]

 

Queen's requires that you complete 90 credits by the end of the academic year that you apply in. They will calculate your GPA in one of two ways, using your cumulative GPA or the MOST RECENT two years (60 credits). Essentially if you meet their cut-off (varies year to year) for the cGPA they'll use that, if you don't, then they'll use your 2yGPA. Queen's does not post official statistics, but assume that you need >3.7 cGPA or >3.85 2yGPA.

Sources: [link][link]

 

Western, as mentioned before, only requires a four year degree for this upcoming cycle (in place of an honours degree). You have to have 30 credits/year, must be graduating, or already graduated, by the end of the year that you apply, and have 3 full-courses that are appropriate for your year of study or higher (i.e. you took six sophomore/junior/senior courses in your sophomore year, six junior/senior courses in your junior year, etc.). Western calculates your GPA based on the BEST two years, their website used to say that you need >3.7 in EACH year to be consider, but since they removed that information, assume that the cut-off will now vary year to year and will likely be higher due to more eligible applicants (read: no more honours requirements). If I were to guess, I'd say Western's cut-offs will be similar or higher than Queen's this cycle. It appears Western also removed their minimum cut-offs for the MCAT as well, so assume that'll vary, and you likely need >10 in each section to be competitive (hopefully you got that 37 by having 12/13/12, not some horrendous 15/15/7 combination).

Sources: [link][link]

 

So, in summary, you probably need a higher GPA for these three school, but your MCAT is great. Hope this helps! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
10wattbulb Newbie

10wattbulb

Posted
Posted

Do the harder prerequisite courses during the summer (if you hate physics but need it to apply to McGill, for instance, take it during the summer). My understanding is that most med schools are interested in how well you do when you're full-time, so most of them will disregard the grades you obtained during the summer when you were part-time.

 

Taking the more difficult courses during the summer as a part-time student may also enable you to get much better grades in those courses that you normally find difficult (this could help you in the cases where the med school does end up counting your summer course grades in the avg).

 

But it's preferable to stay full-time during the fall & winter semesters and take the standard 5 courses/semester!

 

2nd Question: Regardless about what Western wants, I strongly advise you to do an honours degree; this allows you to apply much more broadly!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
futureGP Apprentice

futureGP

Posted
Posted

2nd Question: Regardless about what Western wants, I strongly advise you to do an honours degree; this allows you to apply much more broadly!

 

 

if there really difference between honors vs normal BSc if they're both 4 years long?

 

from my understanding it's just a historical term from the days we had OACs. i thought most schools outside of ontario just give plain old 4-year BSc (maybe im assuming :S cuz that's how it is in the states)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
10wattbulb Newbie

10wattbulb

Posted
Posted
if there really difference between honors vs normal BSc if they're both 4 years long?

 

from my understanding it's just a historical term from the days we had OACs. i thought most schools outside of ontario just give plain old 4-year BSc (maybe im assuming :S cuz that's how it is in the states)

 

In Ontario, most 4-year undergrad degrees tend to be Honours Bachelor's degrees, while 3-year undergrad degrees are called General Bachelor's degrees. There may be some 4-year degrees that are NOT Honour's degrees, but they are rare.

 

I think you're fine if you do a Bachelor's degree that is 4 years in length (but maybe not if you do a 3 year one).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MCATMountain Newbie

MCATMountain

Posted
Posted
I'm most familiar with the admissions processes of UofC, Queen's, and Western, so I'll offer my insight on those three medical programs. :)

 

UofC requires at least 24 credits/year for that year to be considered full-time, they will count ALL full-time years, but will drop your lowest year if you have more than two. If you are out of province (OOP) you need at least an 11 VR AND >3.80 GPA to undergo full file review. If this is your position, your GPA isn't currently high enough (depending on how you calculated it, refer to OMSAS if applicable), so you'd need to get >3.8 in your third year (assume >3.9 to be competitive). For in province (IP) applicants there is no VR restriction, but you need >3.2 GPA to undergo full file review. Due to the changes in the OOP requirements there are no currently applicable statistics, but the admission averages for last cycles IP applicants are as follows:

3.73 GPA, 10 VR

Sources: [link] [link]

 

Queen's requires that you complete 90 credits by the end of the academic year that you apply in. They will calculate your GPA in one of two ways, using your cumulative GPA or the MOST RECENT two years (60 credits). Essentially if you meet their cut-off (varies year to year) for the cGPA they'll use that, if you don't, then they'll use your 2yGPA. Queen's does not post official statistics, but assume that you need >3.7 cGPA or >3.85 2yGPA.

Sources: [link][link]

 

Western, as mentioned before, only requires a four year degree for this upcoming cycle (in place of an honours degree). You have to have 30 credits/year, must be graduating, or already graduated, by the end of the year that you apply, and have 3 full-courses that are appropriate for your year of study or higher (i.e. you took six sophomore/junior/senior courses in your sophomore year, six junior/senior courses in your junior year, etc.). Western calculates your GPA based on the BEST two years, their website used to say that you need >3.7 in EACH year to be consider, but since they removed that information, assume that the cut-off will now vary year to year and will likely be higher due to more eligible applicants (read: no more honours requirements). If I were to guess, I'd say Western's cut-offs will be similar or higher than Queen's this cycle. It appears Western also removed their minimum cut-offs for the MCAT as well, so assume that'll vary, and you likely need >10 in each section to be competitive (hopefully you got that 37 by having 12/13/12, not some horrendous 15/15/7 combination).

Sources: [link][link]

 

So, in summary, you probably need a higher GPA for these three school, but your MCAT is great. Hope this helps! :)

 

Hey where did western remove the gpa requirements and MCAT? http://www.schulich.uwo.ca/admissions/medicine/requirements

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
creampuffs563 Newbie

creampuffs563

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thank you for your answers, everyone! They have been really helpful.

 

UPDATE: Due to certain reasons, my GPA has gone up. My overall GPA including my summer courses is 3.82, and without my summer courses is 3.82. I am OOP for both Alberta and Ontario.

 

Also, my ECs include research, club stuff, hospital volunteering, musical instruments, and sports. What are my chances of getting in a school like U of Calgary or Queens?

 

Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
WtsupDoc? Newbie

WtsupDoc?

Posted
Posted

What is your MCAT?

 

Also, especially for a school like Queens, forum members are limited in their ability to predict your chances of "getting in." We can assess you on your probability of getting an interview... but then it's up to your interview performance and not your numbers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...