Not A Resident Of Any Province, Med Application Strategy?

[hui.wang6]

Hi everyone! I am a first year McGill student who will double major in Computer Science and Biology next year. As a BC student who moved to Quebec for McGill, I now qualify for neither BC nor Quebec status, unless I live in Quebec for a year without a full-time course load. So I wonder which Canadian universities are the most welcoming to out-of-province applicants?

 

I know this will be difficult: my first choice is McGill, second UBC, third Toronto. Suppose I aim for these med schools as an out-of-province applicant, with what GPA (near 4 I know) and MCAT (mainly wondering about this one) will I be competitive?

 

Finally, should I focus more on amazing extra-curricular and research, or focus more on GPA and MCAT? Which one goes when I reach a point where I cannot maintain both?

 

I would appreciate any response, and thanks in advance!

[JohnGrisham]

As long as you dont give up your BC care card, you are still IP for UBC.

Even if you transferred that to another province, you can just get that back pretty easy later.

 

[JohnGrisham]

You always focus on GPA first,  that is much harder to fix than improving your non-academics. You could be an Olympian, but if you don't have a competitive GPA, then its tough luck in Canada.

[bruhh]

As said, you should still be considered a resident of BC as long as you can maintain your Care Card. Follow up to see what the rules are exactly so you know whether you're a resident or not. 

If you're a res for BC, then great. Work a lot on your EC's and GPA. MCAT is NOT included in the pre-interview formula (it is factored in after the interview, however). So I would definitely put major focus on EC's and GPA for BC. 

 

For Quebec - being OOP will put you at a huge disadvantage as OOP applicants are very unfavoured. I would highly suggest taking a year off upon graduation to gain that residency status (if you don't get into med school by then). 

 

For Ontario - Queen's doesn't have a geographical preference. In order to get into Queen's you have to meet the GPA cut off of 3.70 and the MCAT cut off which is usually around 32. Having a higher GPA/MCAT will not help you after you meet the cut-off, but you MUST have great EC's to get an interview. Meeting Cut-offs is not sufficient.

 

Western does prefer SWOMEN applicants who live in very specific areas around London but the majority of applicants are non-SWOMEN anyway so you won't be at much of a disadvantage. To get an interview, get a 3.7+ GPA and meet the MCAT cut off (Cut off for old-mcat was 12BS/11VR/9PS). EC's won't matter for pre-interview selection.

 

UofT - doesn't have geographical preference either. You'll want to have a 3.9+ GPA and ample research experience + stellar EC's. MCAT is cut off based again.

Mac - They have massive IP preference. You'll need a very high VR, high GPA, and great CASPer to get in. The average for ONTARIO applicants was 3.83 GPA and 11VR so you'll definitely need to beat that as an OOP.

 

Ottawa - no MCAT but find out what applicant pool you will be put in. Different geographical regions have different GPA cut offs/averages. You'll definitely need to have a 3.8+ GPA for ottawa though. EC's need to be stellar as well.

 

PM me for other school's info if interested. 

[_ _]

As said, you should still be considered a resident of BC as long as you can maintain your Care Card. Follow up to see what the rules are exactly so you know whether you're a resident or not. 

If you're a res for BC, then great. Work a lot on your EC's and GPA. MCAT is NOT included in the pre-interview formula (it is factored in after the interview, however). So I would definitely put major focus on EC's and GPA for BC. 

 

For Quebec - being OOP will put you at a huge disadvantage as OOP applicants are very unfavoured. I would highly suggest taking a year off upon graduation to gain that residency status (if you don't get into med school by then). 

 

For Ontario - Queen's doesn't have a geographical preference. In order to get into Queen's you have to meet the GPA cut off of 3.70 and the MCAT cut off which is usually around 32. Having a higher GPA/MCAT will not help you after you meet the cut-off, but you MUST have great EC's to get an interview. Meeting Cut-offs is not sufficient.

 

Western does prefer SWOMEN applicants who live in very specific areas around London but the majority of applicants are non-SWOMEN anyway so you won't be at much of a disadvantage. To get an interview, get a 3.7+ GPA and meet the MCAT cut off (Cut off for old-mcat was 12BS/11VR/9PS). EC's won't matter for pre-interview selection.

 

UofT - doesn't have geographical preference either. You'll want to have a 3.9+ GPA and ample research experience + stellar EC's. MCAT is cut off based again.

Mac - They have massive IP preference. You'll need a very high VR, high GPA, and great CASPer to get in. The average for ONTARIO applicants was 3.83 GPA and 11VR so you'll definitely need to beat that as an OOP.

 

Ottawa - no MCAT but find out what applicant pool you will be put in. Different geographical regions have different GPA cut offs/averages. You'll definitely need to have a 3.8+ GPA for ottawa though. EC's need to be stellar as well.

 

PM me for other school's info if interested. 

You forgot the east coast!

But unless you are a resident, Dal and MUN are pretty tough with limited OOP seats. But the MCAT cutoffs are low if that is the issue and everything else is great