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Hello everyone, 

 

I'm going to be applying to university in the fall of this year. I wanted to ask everyone if they could give me input if they happened to be part of any program on this list. And please answer percent of people that ended up in med school, gpa inflation, university gpa system (is it 90+ a 4.0), support systems in place like tutoring, etc. 

 

I also want ask if you could suggest any scholarships based on my extra curriculars.

 

So here are my marks/ec's 

 

Projected Marks: 93%-95%

 

Program applying to: 

 

-Western University (with scholars elective): Biomedical Science, Life science, Health Science

-McMaster Health Science: Health Science, Life Science 

-Waterloo: Cap (Unsure because it is only 2 year undergrad I can't apply to any med school, forcing me to finish pharm and going into med from non-traditional route)

-Guelph: Life Science 

-UofT: Life Science (Vics/Trinity)

 

Ec's 

School biology club president 

School science council 

Music Council (for 1 year)

Church Mentoring for 3 years

Samaritans Purse-Operation Christmas Child for 5 years 

 

Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Lab Assistant (180+ hours) 

Medical Translator 

Hospital Telethon Fundraiser 

 

-Currently Conducting clinical research at a hospital in Toronto (300+ hours)

-2 Papers being pending publication (Unsure of impact factor)

 

I want to stay in Toronto to continue research but I am worried about getting my gpa destroyed, however, it will save me a lot of money. My first choice is currently western biomedical science w scholars elective, however I heard it was terribly difficult from Macleans article "gamble for MD". On the other hand, 27% of western biome make it to med school. 

 

I also think Western increased  the number of spots for biomed. It was previously 1350 for Biomed, Science, and food and nutrition combined. However, Food and nutrition got moved to the colleges and biomed and science get 700 ish spots each. 

 

Please give me some guidance!

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Not destroying GPA is far more important than saving money! That answers one of your questions.

 

I don't know the programs, but encourage you to take a program that interests you as you will likely be more motivated and do better. When I was in undergrad, I treated my academics professionally, was always studying, writing assignments, reviewing, etc and I was a straight A student. I also was exhausted at the end of each semester. Should you have a s.o., you want someone independent, not needy, not clingy, someone who is supportive and understands your priority is academics.

 

The only important attribute you bring from h.s. is a strong work ethic, h.s. grades are not a predictor of academic success in university.

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  • 2 months later...

Hello everyone! I am an international student and I'm looking forward to study in canadian universities in Fall 2017.I find very interesting the research part of human diseases and their treatments that's why I'm deciding to study Biomedical Science BSc.I have applied at some universities for this undergraduate program (Ryerson University,Waterloo,University of Ottawa).I have applied for Life Science (Biology) at McMaster too.I am not interested to enter Medicine in the future.I would really appreciate if you could answer the questions below:

-Which is the best university for Biomed Science?(If you have any other university to suggest please tell me)
-Which university is more prestigue in teaching quality,research and increases the chance of employment?
-As I said I'm not interested to enter Medicine in the future,I just want to study Biomed Science.I am worried about the fact that most of the students in Canada choose this program to pursue Medicine and some of them say that this degree is useless if you don't go to medicine.Should I consider Biomed Science?Will I have a lot of opportunities to get employed?Or should I consider an alternative program similar to Biomed Science?
-Will I get accepted in above universities?(I have an Average 9.9 out of 10 that is almost excellent in my country.I got an A+ in my finals at Biology.Also I have participated in a lot of Biology Competitions and have won a lot of prices in the whole country.
Thank you very much for considering my questions. :))))) 
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mcmaster is probably ur best bet for EITHER life sci or health sci ... even if you dont get into health sci u are not at a disadvantage if you work hard enough and are smart with the courses u take .... ~70% of incoming med students at u of t  are from mcmaster .... its a great school ! TONS of support and lots of exposure to amazing opportunities ... in my humble opinion it is truly the most (underrated) and best premed school :) with ur track record I can defs see ur flourishing at mcmaster and taking advantage of all the opportunities it offers.  All the best :)  

 

Reference for 70% stat: 

http://www.md.utoronto.ca/admission-statistics

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70 of the total number of med students (class of 2019) are from McMaster (not 70%), but yes McMaster is a great school!

 

there are also a lot of McMaster students in my class at U Ottawa (the vast majority of them from health science). I went to Western though, and switched out of bio med after first year to pursue a BSc in psych. So I can answer any questions about Western/first year med sci. 

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Hey there! This post was from wayy back but let me update everyone!

 

I've applied to 

 

-Mac Health SCi

-Western Health Sci with scholars elective 

-Laurentian Biomedical Biology (If they offer me a lot of scholarship $$$)

-York kin+health sci (backup+save money)

 

I decided against western med sci because the numbers were not on my side (300 students getting weeded out by end of 2nd year). Even if I think that my school isnt extremely grade inflated, I thought health sci was more something I would enjoy. 

 

Update on Research: I got my first abstract submitted for a conference in the spring time! I will most likely be going with my PI (hopefully) :)

 

Thanks for the advice everyone :D

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Hey there! This post was from wayy back but let me update everyone!

 

I've applied to 

 

-Mac Health SCi

-Western Health Sci with scholars elective 

-Laurentian Biomedical Biology (If they offer me a lot of scholarship $$$)

-York kin+health sci (backup+save money)

 

I decided against western med sci because the numbers were not on my side (300 students getting weeded out by end of 2nd year). Even if I think that my school isnt extremely grade inflated, I thought health sci was more something I would enjoy. 

 

Update on Research: I got my first abstract submitted for a conference in the spring time! I will most likely be going with my PI (hopefully) :)

 

Thanks for the advice everyone :D

The only advice I can suggest with Western Health Sci is to consider taking science courses other than the ones required by your program. Not many med schools have pre-reqs anymore, but for MCAT purposes you might want to consider taking chemistry, physics, biochem, or other courses. Many of the health sci modules only require 1st year biology. Just something to consider :) 

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The only advice I can suggest with Western Health Sci is to consider taking science courses other than the ones required by your program. Not many med schools have pre-reqs anymore, but for MCAT purposes you might want to consider taking chemistry, physics, biochem, or other courses. Many of the health sci modules only require 1st year biology. Just something to consider :)

 

Hey cookacola, 

 

Thanks for the heads up! For health sci at western, its a common first year that has bio already built in. I get two electives which will most likely be chem and calc (I heard physics on the mcat is like grade 12 level). Same goes for year 2,3,4. WIll take bio and chem course as electives. 

 

I have a question though. What if I stop taking bio and chem after 2nd year. Can my electives in year 3 and 4 be 1000 level courses? Or does that not count as a full course load?

 

Thanks!

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Hey cookacola, 

 

Thanks for the heads up! For health sci at western, its a common first year that has bio already built in. I get two electives which will most likely be chem and calc (I heard physics on the mcat is like grade 12 level). Same goes for year 2,3,4. WIll take bio and chem course as electives. 

 

I have a question though. What if I stop taking bio and chem after 2nd year. Can my electives in year 3 and 4 be 1000 level courses? Or does that not count as a full course load?

 

Thanks!

 

You need at least 3/5 of the credits you are taking for an academic year to be at that years level or higher (example 3/5 credits of your 3rd year will have to be 3000 level).The remaining 2 credits can be filled with whatever you need for your degree/module or can be electives.

 

In terms of not applying to Western Medical Sciences because a lot of people get cut out prior to year 2 -- I think that was a mistake. You are looking for an easy route to medical school and to be honest, there isn't any easy one. No program is better suited than the other and all are generally similar in difficulty (Exceptions: UofT may be a little harder and Mac Health Sci may be a little easier).

 

Furthermore, your grades in high school, at 93-95% may make you feel like you are very qualified applicant, but I can't emphasize enough that the only thing they are good for is getting you into university in the first place. They are not a predictor of future success, nor are they very astounding at the high school level itself. For example, my entering year at medical sciences at UWO the cut-off hs avg to get in was 90%. The average medical science student had a hs average higher than the cutoff at around 95% and the ending class avg of typical first year med sci courses are in the low 70s. University is a huge transition and generally across all schools there is a 15-20% drop in average as a result of this transition.

 

Therefore, you shouldn't be choosing a program that you heard was easier or harder (all are generally the same difficulty). You should choose a program that fulfills your interests and best suits your learning style. Lastly, it isn't hard progressing into medical sciences after 2nd year (need a 75% modular avg) and if you don't think you can do that -- how are you going to make yourself a competitive applicant for Med schools.

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You need at least 3/5 of the credits you are taking for an academic year to be at that years level or higher (example 3/5 credits of your 3rd year will have to be 3000 level).The remaining 2 credits can be filled with whatever you need for your degree/module or can be electives.

 

In terms of not applying to Western Medical Sciences because a lot of people get cut out prior to year 2 -- I think that was a mistake. You are looking for an easy route to medical school and to be honest, there isn't any easy one. No program is better suited than the other and all are generally similar in difficulty (Exceptions: UofT may be a little harder and Mac Health Sci may be a little easier).

 

Furthermore, your grades in high school, at 93-95% may make you feel like you are very qualified applicant, but I can't emphasize enough that the only thing they are good for is getting you into university in the first place. They are not a predictor of future success, nor are they very astounding at the high school level itself. For example, my entering year at medical sciences at UWO the cut-off hs avg to get in was 90%. The average medical science student had a hs average higher than the cutoff at around 95% and the ending class avg of typical first year med sci courses are in the low 70s. University is a huge transition and generally across all schools there is a 15-20% drop in average as a result of this transition.

 

Therefore, you shouldn't be choosing a program that you heard was easier or harder (all are generally the same difficulty). You should choose a program that fulfills your interests and best suits your learning style. Lastly, it isn't hard progressing into medical sciences after 2nd year (need a 75% modular avg) and if you don't think you can do that -- how are you going to make yourself a competitive applicant for Med schools.

@ the 8th hokage

 

Thanks for the info! Not applying to Western med sci was also due to alot of other factors. 

 

1) I didn't enjoy an environment where everyone wanted to be a doctor. I wanted to be in a program where people have alot of diverse career goals. 

2) I truly believe that my passion is not to work as a researcher or to work in a lab. Having worked in a lab with post-docs, etc it's literally the most depressing thing in the world! After having my Loran Scholarship interview and other hs students, judges who were bank execs, doctors, etc, I realized that spending my time in my lab seems like a waste of my time and extremely boring. That's when my revelation came to me and I found out that I wanted to pursue health policy and how to better the system. 

 

Although this seems like a bit pre-mature, I truly believe I would enjoy health science over med sci. 

 

Thanks for everything!

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@ the 8th hokage

 

Thanks for the info! Not applying to Western med sci was also due to alot of other factors. 

 

1) I didn't enjoy an environment where everyone wanted to be a doctor. I wanted to be in a program where people have alot of diverse career goals. 

2) I truly believe that my passion is not to work as a researcher or to work in a lab. Having worked in a lab with post-docs, etc it's literally the most depressing thing in the world! After having my Loran Scholarship interview and other hs students, judges who were bank execs, doctors, etc, I realized that spending my time in my lab seems like a waste of my time and extremely boring. That's when my revelation came to me and I found out that I wanted to pursue health policy and how to better the system. 

 

Although this seems like a bit pre-mature, I truly believe I would enjoy health science over med sci. 

 

Thanks for everything!

 

I'm currently at Western for science and I would definitely say don't do health science unless you know what you're going into.

 

The program is pretty much just a social science program disguised as a bachelor of health sciences. In first year you learn about personal determinants of health (i.e. proper carb intake, what exercise is, etc.) AKA a whole lot of nothing. A lot of people that I know have switched from health science to med sci/biology just due to the realization that health science feels like a waste of time. If you enjoy actual science you won't enjoy health science at Western.

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I'm currently at Western for science and I would definitely say don't do health science unless you know what you're going into.

 

The program is pretty much just a social science program disguised as a bachelor of health sciences. In first year you learn about personal determinants of health (i.e. proper carb intake, what exercise is, etc.) AKA a whole lot of nothing. A lot of people that I know have switched from health science to med sci/biology just due to the realization that health science feels like a waste of time. If you enjoy actual science you won't enjoy health science at Western.

 

Hey SLC6A4, 

 

thanks for the input. I definitely know what I am getting myself into right now. Given the course structure of Western Health Science, I will get 1 bio and 2 electives which I will use for chem and physics/calc which will still be relatively science heavy. Also because I ultimately want a 3.7+ gpa, Im want to pursue health science as it is something that I would actually enjoy. 

 

Thanks for the warning, Ill be sure to look into it more though.  

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