Guest Madulla Posted November 5, 2003 Report Share Posted November 5, 2003 Heya all, I am one of those older students who basically fudged their first couple years of university, left school to work for awhile and decided in my late 20's that I wanted to enter med school. The fact that many Canadian med schools consider your best two years rather then your entire record has encouraged me to keep going however, at times I am still daunted by my early record. The fact is I REALLY fudged my first two years, my grades were pitiful, I'm embarrased to admit I even failed a couple courses and I have quite a few withdrawals. Obviously things have changed and I am working hard to have three solid years of full time study with a GPA around 3.70 to 3.80. However, is it really possible to redeem yourself after making such a mess early on? When schools take your entire record into consideration, do they really think "hey here's a person that has obviously matured and has potential in this field"? I would love some advice on how I could improve my application to demonstrate that I would be an excellent med student. As I mentioned before I have lots of full time work experience, some volunteering (but not oodles) and I am completing an honors BSc. in biology to acquire some research experience. Thanks all! Maddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest marbledust Posted November 5, 2003 Report Share Posted November 5, 2003 Hi Maddy, The answer is yes! It is possible to redeem yourself academically. Without going into too much detail, I managed to save myself from the brink of academic disaster. My undergrad transcript is literally all over the place. I have a couple of F's, far more W's than I would like to admit, and I left school for a while to work fulltime before returning to study. Oh yeah...I also changed my major numerous times. I have the distinction of achieving both A's and F's in the same semester. Bad grades don't have to mean the end of the dream, they just mean you have to work harder and maybe put in another year or two (or three in my case:) ) to put together a solide application package. Of course it depends on what school you are planning to apply to, as they differ somewhat on what part of your academic record they consider for admissions purposes. I would advise researching each school you are interested in to find out if your best two years or your whole record is considered. If you can put together two very good years, do well on the MCAT, and have a decent extracirrucular backgound/resume, anything is possible. Another possibility to consider is to look at some graduate work after your undergrad is done. That will bolster your application at some schools. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sharibean Posted November 5, 2003 Report Share Posted November 5, 2003 My story is similar to yours, except I am only in my second year of undergrad. For a number of reasons, I sucked academically last year. My marks ranged from a *ahem* 36 (yes, %) to an 82, so I've been pretty all over the place too. Anyway, I was at U Waterloo last year and I left with a 65 average. I know that does not reflect my true ability - there are so many reasons why I did so poorly last year. This year, so far (at Mac), has been very different. I have 3 marks over 90 and 2 over 85 and I've realized that if I want to be a doctor badly enough, then I will be one. I will not give up; I refuse. This is too important to me. I have no doubt that you will redeem yourself! As long as you keep at it and DON'T EVER QUIT! Good luck! shari Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Madulla Posted November 5, 2003 Report Share Posted November 5, 2003 Thanks guys, I really appreciate the responses. I'm determined to keep trying until I get in. I'm glad to know I'm not the only person in this position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Elliott Posted November 5, 2003 Report Share Posted November 5, 2003 Maddy, I am in THE EXACT same boat... I am only in my first year though of my return after a two year break working in the corporate world. I have two years after HS where I got everything from A's to D's and even some F's. What you mentioned about taking the best two years is also what keeps me going. I hope to "redeem" myself by showing the admissions committee that I have matured a lot in that time off and that I just hadn't found my passion. Keep on truck'in. Maybe all us "redeemers" should form some sort of alliance. Cheers to redeeming yourself! Elliott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Madulla Posted November 5, 2003 Report Share Posted November 5, 2003 Maybe we could ask Ian to start a new discussion forum for "non-traditional" pre-med students. From all the stats I've read, the vast majority of med students are those who have attended 4-5 traditional undergraduate years in their early 20's. However, it seems that the amount of non-traditional students applying to med school has increased substantially in recent years. Basically it would apply to anyone who falls outside the "norm" such as redeemers, mid-life career changers, parents and so forth. That way the same questions aren't appearing on the main forum every few weeks and getting lost. Information on how to calculate AGPA or WGPA's, success stories, advice and so forth. Maddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Elliott Posted November 6, 2003 Report Share Posted November 6, 2003 That's interesting you mention that because I went out to the kitchen to make myself some lunch after I posted that and thought "hmmmmmmmm...., maybe Ian could make a forum for people who aren't your 'run of the mill' med-school applicants..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ian Wong Posted November 6, 2003 Report Share Posted November 6, 2003 Hi guys, The question has come up in the past before, but I've resisted the idea of splitting off a separate forum for the non-traditional students. The major reason being that I'm trying to minimize the total number of forums so that you don't have to scroll down forever and ever to find the most appropriate forum. I think a lot of the difficulty in finding past threads (hence leading people to ask the same question on a fairly regular basis), is that EZBoard doesn't currently have a good search engine for searching the old threads. They are currently working on a new database which should allow this, however. I'm hopeful that when that technology comes online, that you'll be able to use that search feature to find the threads you need, rather than categorizing them into lots of different subforums. After all, much of the advice that a 38 year old premed student would find helpful is also useful for the 23 year old applicant as well. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Madulla Posted November 6, 2003 Report Share Posted November 6, 2003 That's totally understandable Ian, since the message board is so large already. I'm glad to hear that ezboard is updating their search engine finally. It's so frustrating searching through one forum at a time that I resort to searching manually...uck. :\ Maddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Elliott Posted November 6, 2003 Report Share Posted November 6, 2003 Glad to see that at least it has been considered an option previously. Thanks for your attention to the matter anyway! Cheers, Elliott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nops Posted December 5, 2003 Report Share Posted December 5, 2003 Just found this thread, and was happy to see it. I am in the same boat, but worse. I went into university without any kind of work ethic or discipline and ended up floating though classes, not attending (labs, classes, and even midterms and finals in the worst instance). I was booted after three years, with less than two years in credits, and a declinging GPA that hit 1.04 in my final year. I joined the military and have been working for twelve years since. I got married, I now have four kids (9.5, 8, 4.5, 2.5) and was lucky enough to be sponsored to return to school by my employer to finish my degree, after putting in lots of hours part-time to chip away at a degree. For twelve months I took classes, overloading in Summer, Fall and Winter sessions to finish my degree requirements. In Sep-Apr 01/02 I took 6 half-year courses for a GPA of 3.9, and Sep-Apr 02/03 I took 12 for a GPA of 3.79. My problem is, that by definition, not a single school will accept me unless they give me special consideration. Special consideration to view my 01/02 credits as a normal full year (because I was employed full-time still), or to not pay any attention to my credits from more than a decade ago. :\ Calgary and Ottawa both consider 4 full year courses acceptable, and Dal says they will consider less than full in unusual circumstances. I have applied to U of C, U of A, Dal, U of O, and Queen's. I now live in NB, so I'm OOP for U of A, U of O (U of C considers all military members to be Albertans for the sake of residency). I was hoping that U of A might show some mercy to me because it was the school that punted me in 1990, and the school where I graduated with distinction this year, but such luck. They ruled me ineligible last week. Hang in there and stay positive. Despite my uphill climb, and the extra baggage of my extremely poor grades from years ago, I still feel I'll end up in med school. I'm guessing Dal will be my best chance, and if I'll know if I get an interview by 19 Dec. Either a Merry or not-so-Merry Christmas! As an aside, I managed a 13-10-9-Q on the MCAT in August and have lots of leadership/ work experience, and a lot of volunteer work (though little in a medical setting) over the years. Good luck to all. Bil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Elaine I Posted December 5, 2003 Report Share Posted December 5, 2003 Hi Bil, Yes, I have a similar story... Fortunately, my employer is giving me the time to go to school full time this year, and next. I'm counting on those schools that only look at the two best / most recent years... Please keep us posted, and let us know if any of the schools you applied to will consider your year with 3.0 courses (I have one of those too - my first year back to university after my hiatus.). Although they won't be accepting their first class until 2005, you might want to check out Northern Ontario Medical School (http://www.normed.ca). At the bottom of the page for Admissions FAQs, they have posted the draft for the mature student policy. It sounds like you will qualify to apply under that policy. Actually, many "non-traditional" applicants will qualify, since all they require is an age of greater than 27 or 5 years of post-university work experience. That being said, I hope that you are successful with your application for this year! Elaine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nops Posted December 5, 2003 Report Share Posted December 5, 2003 Thanks Elaine! I'm hoping someone in an admissions office somewhere ses the 'big picture' and at least interviews me. I'll keep you posted. If it doesn't work out for this year, I'll definitely look into the NOMS for next. Bil PS - Your employer wouldn't be the CF would it? Your sponsorship program sounds familiar . . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Elaine I Posted December 5, 2003 Report Share Posted December 5, 2003 Hi Bil, Thanks! I look forward to hearing how you make out. No, I'm not employed by the CF. I'm a paramedic with the City of Toronto. I was allowed to work extra shifts all summer, and bank the hours. Thus, I've only worked 2 days a week this term (or less, as I've accumulated a bit more banked time as lieu, and taken it all off), while still being classified (and paid) as a full time employee. (Our contract does not allow for part-time employees.) I've been granted a 3 month LOA leading up to the MCAT, so that I'll have adequate time to prepare. For next year, I will probably bank hours over the summer plus use vacation time to take additional shifts off. I'm really fortunate that I have such a flexible employer! Initially, I was really hesitant to request a modified schedule to get more education to eventually leave, but they've been really supportive! Best wishes! I look forward to hearing how you make out. Elaine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mtws Posted December 7, 2003 Report Share Posted December 7, 2003 Bil, Just wondering if you're applying to MMTP? You didn't mention it in yout posts... Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nops Posted December 7, 2003 Report Share Posted December 7, 2003 Matt, I am applying MMTP. I'm in Fredericton NB, so I was happy to see an MOU with Dal; they're my best bet. I applied to Ottawa naturally, for the same reason. Bil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest CH146 Posted December 10, 2003 Report Share Posted December 10, 2003 Nops, As far as I can tell - you're so money except for one thing... You're from Holland - isn't that weird?! R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nops Posted December 10, 2003 Report Share Posted December 10, 2003 Hey R, My money is on you . . . and people from Holland aren't wierd . . . we just like orange. Bil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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