Finish All Grad Requirements By August 1St Rule

[grad1315]

Not sure how to get around the August 1st deadline for finishing grad requirements. Let me know if you have any input 

[oshaku]

I've heard that they used to allow people to defend after med schools start, med schools are being tighter and tighter with their deadline. I'm also experiencing the same kind of thing.  Honestly, the best thing for you to do is to find a sympathetic person on the med admissions committee to give you a few more days.  If you can push your defense earlier, that'd be the best.

 

Just out of curiosity, how would Western find out when your defense is? 

[grad1315]

Your supervisor has to send a letter saying that everything will be completed, but I don't think they have a way to find out the defence date.  Your final transcript will show the date of the final submission of your thesis to the university though, and when you send your transcript in later, that is the date they will see. 

[jmatt1122]

Your supervisor has to send a letter saying that everything will be completed, but I don't think they have a way to find out the defence date.  Your final transcript will show the date of the final submission of your thesis to the university though, and when you send your transcript in later, that is the date they will see. 

 

My official advice: move your defence to comply with deadlines.

 

My unofficial advice: ask your supervisor to write a letter saying you'll be done by the deadline.

 

You can try calling to see if they'll be flexible by a few days, I guess. Worse that can happen is they'll say no and you proceed with either of the above options. We definitely had people in my class who defended beyond December... but I have heard they might be cracking down on it.

 

Best of luck!

[swimbly]

I can't believe this. My committee says there's no chance of me finishing anywhere near August. I finally get in and now it's gone.

[sleeping_sickness]

there's always the option of quitting your grad degree.

 

but seriously, we had people in our class (McGill) finishing grad degrees through first year. I really don't understand why this would be an issue. if anything it attests to the strength of your time management skills. 

[swimbly]

there's always the option of quitting your grad degree.

 

but seriously, we had people in our class (McGill) finishing grad degrees through first year. I really don't understand why this would be an issue. if anything it attests to the strength of your time management skills. 

The acceptance is conditional on the grad degree, so I quitting isn't an option. I'm not sure I follow, do you mean finishing grad degrees in the first year of grad school or first year of med school?

[sleeping_sickness]

finishing grad degrees in the first year of medical school. 

[ploughboy]

They may have tightened up on this in the last few years, but when I was going through I had classmates defending theses well into October and November of first year meds.  Back then the folks in admissions were pretty reasonable, especially once you were accepted and in the program.  Remember, they want you as much as you want them. 

 

Now things may have changed in the office, but in any case it would probably be wise to talk to somebody in admissions at some point about your situation.

 

Another approach would be: "better to ask for forgiveness than permission".  I don't know how wise that would be in this situation.

[swimbly]

Well, called Western and they said that they won't be flexible. They said in past years it's caused problems for students trying to start med school and finish their masters simultaneously. Awesome.

[uwopremed]

Well, called Western and they said that they won't be flexible. They said in past years it's caused problems for students trying to start med school and finish their masters simultaneously. Awesome.

 

You can always reapply - cutoffs probably won't change for one more year and you'd probably stand a decent chance second time around.  Otherwise it just sucks, and you'll always have that story of how you almost became a doctor.  Life is harsh sometimes.  Seriously though - try to get a thesis committee to get a defence very late july.  Thesis requirements for masters are entirely unlike those for phds...

[SpasticMegacolon]

If you have written your thesis at this point, I don't see why you can't get finished. I'm defending my PhD at like the VERY end of July, and will just barely make it in time. The main obstacles are finishing your thesis, and making sure you can get your committee together for a defence.

 

Even if you have sort of only partly written your thesis, it is possible to bang out something passable reasonably quickly. Remember (and maybe remind your committee) the objective is not to have a good thesis, it is to have a finished one. Scheduling a defence is pretty reasonable these days because you can always Skype in unavailable committee members.

 

My advice is to write a thesis (unless you already have) and give it to your supervisor. Sometimes people don't know what they want until you show it to them, so it could change your supervisor's (and thus committee's) mind. The worst that can happen is that they say no, and you are back to where you are right now.

 

Good luck dude, I feel the frustration. Hopefully it works out.

[swimbly]

Indeed, I'm just gonna have to go ham over the next couple months and make it happen. Thanks for the support guys!

[swimbly]

Is this the first year that they have this August 1 deadline or have they always had that requirement?