University of Waterloo

[Guest aditiarora]

The question is directed to anyone out there who got into

medicine from University of Waterloo:

 

I am thinking of taking Honors Science undergrad program

at University of Waterloo. How many years of education

in this program is generally sufficient to do well in MCAT

and interviews? I am hoping I can manage to maintain

a GPA anywhere from mid to high eighties. Would that

be good enough?

 

Just looking forward to hearing the views of any Univ of

Waterloo alumni that went to (or are currently in) a medical

school.

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

aditi

[Guest Nightrider]

Well, I'm not a med student yet, but I hope to be soon!

 

I am a current UW student in Honours Pre-Optometry/Pre-Health, but I will be switching my program to Honours Science at the end of this term (to avoid some pre-reqs that I REALLY REALLY don't want to take). I am just finishing my 3rd year now. I wrote the MCAT after 2nd year (this past August) and did very well. I found that the basic sciences I had taken in 1st and 2nd year were great preparation for the MCAT, and I only needed a basic brush-up on most subjects before I wrote it.

 

I am just heading into interviews now, and hope that I will do well!

 

A GPA in the mid to high 80s is definitely attainable if you work hard (but beware the multiple choice tests!).

 

Good luck with your university apps!

 

Just one word of warning...I love science, and have taken lots of electives that I really enjoy (French, music, history, etc.)...but if I had to do it over again, I probably would have applied to kinesiology, because it's much more applied ( I just find it more relevant than abstract science sometimes).

[Guest Head Dawg]

First of all, great choice of schools aditiarora! I am finishing 3rd year at UW (along with Nightrider) and I also feel that UW has been more than capable at preparing me for both the MCAT and application to med school. I initially started out in the Science and Business program (taking mostly chemistry and physics) but switched to honours science for the start of 3rd year. I did this mostly to free up my schedule to take anything I want (currently lots of biology and kin/health classes)

 

I too wrote the MCAT after second year. Unfortunately, because of coop, I was also in school during the summer and didn't have much time to prepare for the August writing of the test. However, I held my own in the science portions of the test - it was only the writing section that let me down. If I have to write it again - and I hope not to - this is where I'll focus a little more.

 

As for your question about GPA, keeping a mid to high 80 is certainly possible. I've had 87 from my very first term until now, and I definitely don't devote ALL my time to schoolwork. This is more than sufficient to meet any GPA cut-offs.

 

So, good luck with your school selection, and I hope to see you in September at UW. (actually, I hope I'm in medicine somewhere, but you know what I mean!)