Mature / Non Trad

[ebby]

This has been very resourceful and have been trying to find those in the same boat as me.

I completed my BSc in Physiotherapy in 1999 internationally. I have been working towards my MCAT from last year.

My GPA (as per WES) is ~3.3

 

Question: are my grades / GPA too old to be considered for med school application? Do I have to do another degree to be 'up to date' with my studies? I have all the pre reqs: Physics, Chemistry, Bio (high school), Anat, Physiology, Psych, Socio, Neuro & Cardio  (BSc) however will they be accepted since i did all of this years ago?

 

Can I apply right now with the past grades / studies or would it be mandatory that I do another degree to bring my studies to a more recent date?

 

Thanks all for the help.

[ebby]

BTW....am applying in Ontario.

[Fresh fry]

http://fhs.mcmaster.ca/mdprog/academic_requirements.html

 

http://fhs.mcmaster.ca/mdprog/credentialling_grades.html

 

I haven't come across a situation where someones grades/GPA were "too old" to be considered and I had a friend who applied (and was accepted) based on a degree completed ~16 years before. That being said I am a little dated on my admissions policies but a quick look at McMaster shows that they do not have any restrictions indicated wrt when courses were completed.

 

I normally don't like to simply direct people to contact the schools they wish to apply too but I think in this situation there are just too many extenuating circumstances to give you a solid answer (age of classes, international, etc). Appologies and good luck. 

[indefatigable]

In general, there is no limit on the ages of grades.  If the gpa conversion is accurate though, acceptance to McMaster (and med school) will be an uphill battle, since 3.3 is usually considered to be below the competitive range for med school.  With a near perfect cars on the mcat there may be a shot at McMaster  Although some of the courses you've taken would be applicable in medicine, in general especially in Ontario there are really few prereqs needed (beyond Bio and chem) to actually be accepted.  Hope this helps - and good luck.

[medhope15]

Ontario doesn't (at this time) have restrictions on when courses were done.

McGill I think requires them to be done within the past 10 years.

Not sure about other schools.

 

Things to note:

1. GPA of 3.3 - your only honest shot in Canada is at Mac since a high verbal MCAT score + a high CASPER can make up for the low GPA (but you would need to rock the verbal and casper). Don't waste money on other schools. GPA is King in Ontario and even a perfect MCAT with a 3.3 will eliminate you from most schools. I really think 3.3 GPA is just too low for Ontario. Again, the schools don't care about your extensive life/work experience even if you wrote 20 research papers and cured a disease. They want to see the high grades.

2. Some lower tier American schools might consider you if you have a very high MCAT (40+) and apply early (as soon as AMCAS opens).

3. If you have ties to the North or are Aboriginal you might have a shot at NOSM if you rock the MCAT and write good essays.

4. Look at all the schools carefully as some will have preferences for local / regional residents (e.g. Western - prefers people from London / southwest ontario; NOSM - prefers people from North).

 

At this point, your only salvation will be getting the highest mark possible on the MCAT.

Remember that university is much different than it was back in 1999 (I'm older and do some teaching and see the changes), it is much much easier to obtain higher grades these days, and most med applicants will have GPAs over 3.8 in each year of studies.

If you are set on Canada and set on medicine (even if it means 1-2 more years before you can make a strong application), other things to consider could include going back to school to take extra courses to boost GPA (remember the cGPA is a total of every single course you have EVER taken, so your new coursework will need to be basically 4.0s to pull up that 3.3), consider relocating somewhere in Canada to gain in-province or regional advantages for that school. Otherwise, consider international schools (UK, Ireland, USA, Carib).

 

Good luck!

[FeministKilljoy]

NOSM doesn't require an MCAT exam.

[Edict]

This has been very resourceful and have been trying to find those in the same boat as me.

I completed my BSc in Physiotherapy in 1999 internationally. I have been working towards my MCAT from last year.

My GPA (as per WES) is ~3.3

 

Question: are my grades / GPA too old to be considered for med school application? Do I have to do another degree to be 'up to date' with my studies? I have all the pre reqs: Physics, Chemistry, Bio (high school), Anat, Physiology, Psych, Socio, Neuro & Cardio  (BSc) however will they be accepted since i did all of this years ago?

 

Can I apply right now with the past grades / studies or would it be mandatory that I do another degree to bring my studies to a more recent date?

 

Thanks all for the help.

 

with McMaster, they don't require any pre-reqs and I don't believe that those grades are too old to be considered, however i'm not very sure you will be competitive with that GPA without a very high verbal score on the MCAT and a very good CASPer test. 

 

If you are serious about getting into medical school in Ontario, you very likely would need to do another undergraduate degree unfortunately.  

 

For you, I strongly don't recommend going outside of Canada for medical school. 

[ebby]

Thank you all for the input and advice. This has really helped me see things better. Mac is the only way I guess. Gonna start on my CARS!

Thanks again everyone.