Is my chances of getting into med school screwed for life ?

[Guest nanyangview]

Hi guys, this is my first post here so please be nice to me. This is my story below:

 

I just finished high school with a load of credits which includes science (bio and chem), math (calculus only), history, geography, management studies and some social science course. My high school average was great, a 90% in total.

 

For the math course in high school, I did not do that good the first time, so I took it again in the summer which is very intensive and got a 91% in it.

 

My family moved around a lot throughout the world so that messed up my education when I was younger. My math skills aren’t that bright but after that summer school, I kinda started to like math. My biggest interest is science - biology. I also used to be the top science student in my junior years. When I first came to Canada from Singapore, I changed several high schools and that also had a negative effect on me. I NOW REALLY HATED MYSELF for not working hard enough in math while I was in high school.

 

I really wanted to go into the medical field and become a pediatrician, helping the underprivileged children in remote areas. I loved working with little kids and it has been my trait for years. I volunteered at Day Care center, tutoring, peer counseling, and councilor at summer camps since when I was in grade 7. Even during my last year of high school, I had many grade nine friends and even organized a HTML programming workshop for them. My job experience also includes employment with Hewlett-Packard Canada as a sales representative. Absolutely loved that job where I get to interact with customers everyday.

 

Now I am in college (first year University of Toronto Coop Managment), I am also in total despair and depression. I selected business as my major but my inner voice constantly tells me that I should go into the medical field.

 

MY BIGGEST OBSTACLE is my “average math skills” and chemistry marks in high school. I should be fine biology but seeing how brutal the chemistry and math intensive those courses are, it has caused a great setback to me. I don’t know what I should do, thus I am here asking for help. I understand that there are pre-med requirements before you can apply to med schools. But in my current business program, there is absolutely no room for me to take any science courses. My program requires 20 Full year equivalent credit to graduate. Even if I do try to squeeze in chemistry or bio, I will probably die bad and end up with 30 hours of class/week. I thought about several plans:

 

1) Keep whatever course I have this semester, do well in them and drop all of next semester’s courses and go back to high school, retake basic chem and math to rebuild my foundation and reapply to college again into a different major.

2) Change to a major which offers me more free time with less credit requirement, so I can study and practice math + chem constantly on my own for the next 3 years, and when I graduate from that major, take all the pre-med courses and then apply to the med schools.

If my first semester’s GPA get messed up, does that mean it is then end of my dream?

 

I know this is a long and somewhat confusing post, and I thank you for spending your time to read it. Please share your opinions and give me some advice about what I should do or I am totally screwed for life?

[Guest peachy]

I don't think there's any reason why your chances of getting into med school are "screwed for life", and actually don't really understand why you would think that.

 

What reason do you have to continue in business? Do you like it? If you don't, then switch into something you do like! If you do like it, then keep going, and figure out how to fit in the prereqs somehow, either through summer school, by spreading out your degree over five years, or by doing an extra year after you degree. The most important thing about your degree (wrt med school admission) is to get good grades - not what you studied.

 

As to the math, there's really no reason to go back to high school. U of T will have the resources for you to catch up to what you need to take first year courses. Check out the PUMP program, in particular. It's a non-credit course offered at U of T to get your math skills up to the point where you can take university-level courses.

 

Good luck!

[Guest 007]

Hi!

You said at the beginning of your post that you took both calculus and chemistry in high school. Were these grade 12/OAC credits? If so, you should be absolutely fine to start right on into the university courses. If not, like peachy said, there are often non-credit programs available to help you get prepared. Many MANY people totally change their major after first year university. If the switch is going to involve switching faculties (I'm not sure if it does in your case), then just contact the faculty you're interested in switching into and I'm sure they can help you with your options and forming a plan. You shouldn't have to drop this year completely and go back to highschool at all.

 

On another note, I found that first year calculus was pretty different from high school in that it was much more problem solving based....you may even find this easier after doing some business courses. Also, all of the basic principles they essentially retaught as we went along. I found first year chemistry to be almost a complete review of my OAC course with the exception of one new topic. So my point is, that you may not need the remedial help you think you do since there is no real jump in knowledge required. There are also lots of resources available to help students enrolled in these courses in terms of understanding and keeping up with the material.

 

I would suggest not to do anything drastic until you talk to someone in the department or faculty you're interested in switching into (if as peachy said, you do want to switch). They will be able to give you much more information specific to your school and situation.

 

A lousy first year GPA isn't the end of the world either. Lots of schools out there only look at your last 2 or 3 years of marks, so if you do a 4 year degree, then that first year is not even considered.

 

Good luck!

007

[Guest not rex morgan]

Great academic advice already. I just wanted to touch on another point you brought up. You talked about depression in two different places. Some people use the term flippantly, and some really mean it. I encourage you to take some time for yourself to reflect on your mood, whether you still find joy in life, if you've noticed changes in your sleep, apetite, interests, motivation...and talk to your doctor about it. It's easy to stop taking care of yourself when you are so goal-driven, but eventually, self-neglect catches up to you.

[Guest nanyangview]

hi guys, thanks alot for the replies.

right now i am in UofT's COOP managment program and I absolutely hated accounting to my veins. It is taking up 99% of all my study time. I am thinking of switching to another program called International development Studies. It is good program and i get to be assigned to a third world countries to help them with their economics and environmental issues. I might even look great on my med school application. I BELIEVE IN HELPING people and that is Y i aspire to be a Pediatric

 

I am thinking of going back to HS to rebuild my @#%$ math and chemistry foundation so that i will be competent enough to handle the university course. what do you guys think?

 

It is almost half past the first semester, do you think i still have a chance in Canada's COMPETITVE med school or there is no path left?

[Guest purine5]

hey there~

I am doing first yr science program in UT and seeking for major in life sci next yr.

 

even though I did (really??) well in CHM and Calculus in highschool, first yr CHM courseload is pretty much high. Labs, tutorials, quizzes mb i am not used to with such a huge courseload, but I got nice prof. so CHM class is pretty much enjoyable.

I took my CHM quite long time ago, so

I forgot most of stuff

but don't think about going back to highschool,

I think it won't help since the topic they deal with is kind of different. What U need is a basic brief info on CHM