Guest tea Posted February 13, 2003 Report Share Posted February 13, 2003 i hope you can help me. here's my story... I came to canada mid-highschool. Somehow, i managed to get straight to UBC science (it was a miracle for me, considering that i didn't have that much time to learn english) Anyway, first year was fine, As and Bs. 2nd and 3rd year, i fell ill and didn't do so well academically. didn't flunk anything but lots of Cs and Ds. Stubborn as a bull, i forged right through my illness, didn't ask for any special considerations etc. etc. Anyway, i bounced back 4th year and got back to A and Bs again. Took another year of unclassified studies and still A and Bs. for the past 7 years since undergrad, i've been working in the medical fields. I lead teams of physicians and nurses and dentists and other volunteers to Vietnam to provide medical care for the poor etc.... Now through my works with these physicians and with the patients, i want to be a medical doctor. my questions: is there anyway to pull my gpa up so at least i could get my application past those cutoffs?? i don't mind going back to school... but what should i major in? do they allow me to get another BSc or should i try a BA or even masters?? ( i dunno if my gpa is high enough for grad school ) too many c and ds in 2nd and 3 rd year. :\ ps. my major was biochem/ medical genetics. i'd appreciate any comments and suggestions. thanks so much. tea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UWOMED2005 Posted February 13, 2003 Report Share Posted February 13, 2003 Try calculating your OMSAS GPA. . . you might find you are in fact above the cutoffs for Queen's and Western. OMSAS GPA: A+ = 4.0 A = 3.9 A- = 3.7 B+ = 3.3 B = 3.0 B- = 2.7 If you're over the cutoffs, it's just a matter of writing the MCAT next April or August and you can apply. You'll need to review all your 1st and 2nd year bio and chem courses, as well as High School Physics. Also, I'd DEFINITELY put in an application to Mac with your background. Sounds like exactly the kind of thing they look for. . . one of the Mac moderators could probably comment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chieka101 Posted February 13, 2003 Report Share Posted February 13, 2003 In addition to what UWOMED2005's said, you can also consider doing a "special year", ie. one year of university year to boost your GPA. I know that this year UWO's only looking at two undergrad years to determine your GPA; I'm sure you have at least one decent year in your undergrad degree, so doing another year should put you in good shape. ---Edit: did you say you already did a special year?------- And I'd definitely consider Mac. They like students with life experience; they don't require the MCAT; and the minimum GPA requirement is 3.0 on the OMSAS scale. That's a B, I believe, which should make you more than eligible. Lastly, check the "Low grades in undergrad" link in the Premed FAQ section: Here's the link pub125.ezboard.com/fpreme...ID=8.topic Take care, C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jmh2005 Posted February 13, 2003 Report Share Posted February 13, 2003 Tea, There are several people in my class who were in the same boat as you...you should read the admissions info stuff on the Mac website to see if the program appeals to you. However, just because the cut off is a bit lower than any other school, we had over 3600 applications this year for 138 spots, it is very competitive (and there are really only a fraction of people who are accepted below a 3.3)...but...if you can demonstrate clearly your reasons for wanting to be a physician, show that you know lots about our program and can demonstrate how your experiences have prepared you and made you who you are today, I think that you could potentially make yourself a very attractive candidate... Best of luck, J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tea Posted February 13, 2003 Report Share Posted February 13, 2003 i finally sat down and started to calculate my averages.... unfortunately, the C and D really pulled my gpa down. 2.98 actually. :o i'm determined to a physician now than ever. Should i enroll and get another undergrad degree? or should i attempt to get a MHA or something? merci beaucoup....... tea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jmh2005 Posted February 13, 2003 Report Share Posted February 13, 2003 Tea, If you are interested in Mac, all the info you need is in the following link... www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/mdprog/ Basically, you will need to do more undergrad work to improve your average. If you do grad work, each full year of grad work will count towards your cumulative GPA, but you will only receive the MEDIAN GPA of the applicant pool of that year for each year of grad study. So, it will likely be best to stick with undergrad studies. You must have a minimum of 3.00 to apply, but they will take summer work into account as well. Go to the website, they have a great Q and A section which should help out. Best of luck, J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tirisa Posted February 13, 2003 Report Share Posted February 13, 2003 Hi Tea, Your GPA is sooo close to the 3.0 that you would need to apply to MAC. The GPA that you calculated -- if it's based on UWOMEDS scale -- is likely an estimate of what you can expect your true GPA to be, since it could be slightly more or less depending on where you did your undergrad courses and also on whether the courses were full year or half year courses. So, if you got your better marks on some of your full year courses, and if the lower marks were on more of the half courses, then your GPA may actually be over 3.00. I recall seeing a more precise GPA scale somewhere, which may give you a better estimate... maybe it was only during the application process. Does anyone else have other info re: GPA calculations for Tea?? Best of luck though, T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UWOMED2005 Posted February 13, 2003 Report Share Posted February 13, 2003 Yeah, I'd try recalculating. Here's a link to the OMSAS conversion tables: www.ouac.on.ca/omsas/pdf/conversion.pdf Also, check what your best GPA is for each of your TWO BEST years - it might be good enough for UWO (3.7 this year, 3.60 and 3.65 in past years.) Good Luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sil Posted February 13, 2003 Report Share Posted February 13, 2003 Hello Tea: I was in similar position to yours 4 years ago now, my average was only good enough for Mac (and to tell you the truth there are so many applicants to Mac that I did not want to limit my chances to only one school). So, I went back and did some more undergrad (3 more years). If you really like research I woud go for it. However, if you started to do a second undergrad you could improve your chances to: Mac (reach the 3.0 GPA) Western (they look only at your second undergrad once you have reachded the 3rd year of second undergrad) Queens (believe they only look at two most recent years) Saskatchewasn (also they look at 2 most recent or is it two best years? I always forget) Ottawa (only looks at your last 3 years, with a weighting formula to increase the value of most recent years, the only problem is that the average for OOP is a bit high) There are many options and if I were you I would contact all Canadian schools to see how each calculates GPA as I did not research all of them before applying. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sally2001 Posted February 13, 2003 Report Share Posted February 13, 2003 tea, regarding your grad vs another undergrad decision, it might be a good idea to check with whatever school you are considering for graduate work, if you're gpa is high enough to get in. sorry for that convoluted sentence. what i mean is, if you're gpa isn't high enough (yet) to get into grad school, then your decision is much easier - go for another undergrad. i say this because the bar is being raised wrt grad school. it used to be a mid-b, then a b+, a-, and some faculties require a averages just because there are so many applicants now. plus, from reading this board, it seems that a masters isn't really a sure bet at increasing your chances, rather it limits the number of schools that you can apply to (canadian). ie a grad degree will not benefit you at all at western, maybe some other schools. at ottawa u, if you have a grad degree with all a's in your coursework, you could be considered IF you're undergrad gpa (according to their calculation) is > 3.3. at u of t, undergrad still has to be > 3.0 or 3.6 ? anyway, the details are still a little fuzzy for me. best of luck to you, you can do it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tea Posted February 14, 2003 Report Share Posted February 14, 2003 wow... thanks everyone. my gpa's so close yet...so far!! I'll recalculate the average to see if it would make the 3 points needed. If not, i'll just go back to undergrad. Afterall, it did take 11 attempts and 10 bankruptcies for me to make it to canada. what's a few years eh?? i guess my biggest mistake was not asking for help when i needed it. :\ Does anyone have a cure for "stubborness"? (is there such an English word??). tea anyone?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kosmo14 Posted February 14, 2003 Report Share Posted February 14, 2003 USask might be an option for you as we only look at your 2 best years. Therefore those 2 years of A's and B's will be the only ones looked at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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