Some Advice

[Guest OU812]

Hello

 

My situation. I graduated with a Psych/Business degree low GPA 2.82 (Working full time, helping out my parents financially, paying for my sister's schooling and mine etc.)

 

However my last 2 full year equivalent is 3.7

and my last three full year equivelent is 3.65

The problem is that I did my degree part-time, each year was part-time so I don't think any of the good years will count.

 

Now my question is if I start a second degree to get all the science courses and get full time years, will my first degree count? Which schools will be more forgiving of my low GPA? Which schools if any would be willing to allow me to apply after two years of the new degree, even if the degree is not finished (for example Calgary?, Queen's?)?

 

Basically I was wondering what my best course of action should be at this point given my situation and my willingness to start another degree.

 

Secondly what kind of extra cirric stuff have people been involved in? I know s couple of friends that were accepted to Mac this year, and they did absolutely nothing at all outside of school, they never volunteered or had even held a part-time job or joined any school clubs. I was shocked:eek , I thought Mac really stressed outside activities. Their GPA's were really high though. Any advice on this topic would help as well.

 

Thanks alot everyone

 

Take Care

[Guest Sil]

I did a second degree. Saskatchewan, Queens, Western and Ottawa are good to go if you start a new degree. I suggest you apply during your third year of your new degree. It is possible just work hard

[Guest HP]

Calgary will let you apply after a minimum of two full time years of study, so yes, you can get in well before the degree would be finished. I would check Calgary's site however (http://www.med.ucalgary.ca) about their policy for calculating GPA (ie, if they would still look at your previous work).

 

Don't know much about many other schools (I live in Cow-Town), but I'm sure some others will be able to help you.

[Guest steak]

Hi OU812,

 

I'm in the same boat, having to do a 2nd undergrad to be able to apply. My first was full-time but marks were not good. It wasn't until I was in my master's program that I seriously started considering med, but grad marks are effectively ignored at almost all med schools.

 

Check with the school where you did your first undergrad - you won't likely have to do the full 3 or 4 years to get a second one - particularly if your marks were good the first time around. Both my UG degrees will be from UW, and the second one will only take two (academic) years to complete - they gave me 7.5 credits (15 courses) in transfer credits.

 

Several med schools only look at 2 or 3 of your best full time years, regardless of what degree they were counted towards; some look at your most recent, and then your next best, some look at all courses you've ever taken. The most likely scenario is that if you find a school that counts your good part-time courses, they will likely also want to count your earlier, not-so-good marks.

 

Do well on a full-time basis the second time around and you won't have any problems from a GPA perspective.

 

Good luck!