Canada New Comer Second Bachelor Advice

[crazyhead]

Good day,

I am planing to land Canada in next 4-6 months as a permanent resident. I am south east Asian, but have done Bachelor of Science Biology and Master Public Health From USA.

After doing quite a research at this forum I have come to the conclusion that I will be doing a 2nd bachelor to boost my abysmal gpa while also applying to the Canadian med school at the same time. I will be preparing and taking MCAT here in my home country before landing to Canada.

Here is some background info about me: (1) Undergrad gpa [took over 150 credits because of my unfamiliarity with US education system. 120 credits needed for bachelor degree]: 3.26 gpa for 51 credits from the univ I graduated, 3.73 gpa for 82 credits from community college, and remaining credits don't count (2) Master: 3.7 gpa (3) over 4,500 hours of professional paid work at a US hospital, helped couple university instructors with their research work without any authorship/publication, 1 poster presentation, nothing when comes to membership or volunteer work

I studied full time both during my bachelor and master while also working 48 hours/week on average during all these years (cashier at a convenient store so do not have any documentation]. I am very confident that I can get a very good gpa during my 2nd bachelor [I anyway prefer to fail trying rather than doing nothing]. 

Now, coming to my main question what are some majors I can take for my 2nd bachelor degree that will also help me with MCAT prep should I need to take that again [I need to refresh my sciences since I graduated almost a decade ago form undergrad]. Let me be honest and straightforward, while I am not scared to work my butt off I am primarily looking to find majors that are easy to get good grades because that's what ultimately matters to me at this stage. So, far I am considering Psychology since I have done really well in 4 classes I took in undergrad and also enjoyed the material (I took them as Bio, while Psyc major took same classes as Psyc). I am also looking into Kinesiology, but not sure how much Physics that entails. Are there any other majors "bird courses" that are easier to good grade?

 

 

[Bambi]

Your plan is solid, kin is excellent choice, not particularly difficult but voluminous material so required to work hard. Ideally, you want to take a normal full course load during the normal academic year.

[JohnGrisham]

First make a list of schools that you are working towards applying. 

Then make a list of schools that you won't be considered for, due to cumulative GPA calculations. 

You said you took 150 credits, but 51 from the university and 82 from community college - where did the other 20+ go? Co-op? You say they "dont count" so im assuming just pass/fail classes.

It will be best to get all your transcripts evaluated by WES so you have a good idea of what you are dealing with.  Luckily most canadian schools won't count all your community college grades...so if you truly only have 51 university credits... you may be in luck with doing the 2nd degree option, and able to salvage your GPA.

Where are you landing for PR? some provinces are better than others..but you may not have control over this. Worth a thought. Also, wherever you do land - do not rush into a degree program. Get settled first, connect with your local settlement programs(most major cities have them), as this can also look good on your application being involved with them(maybe even a paid opportunity given your background). Then once non-school things are all sorted, work on finding the right degree and school. You want to make sure absolutely nothing will hold you back from doing well and focusing on just school.  A full course load in Canada is likely different from what your experience was in the US, maybe not, but you'll want to have buffer room to troubleshoot.

Last thought: is attending a US medical school financially in reach? presumably you spent 5+ years in the US on a student visa, and either had the finances to pay it, or you were on some sort of scholarship? 

[Edict]

If you are going to come to Canada for PR, choose to do your undergraduate in a non-Ontario university. This is because provinces other than Ontario often have quotas for residents from their province. This is a simple and easy thing for you to do that can really improve your chances of getting into medical school. Great provinces include Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Maritime provinces. BC is a bit easier than Ontario but not by much.

[crazyhead]

@JohnGrisham Thanks.  20+ credits were developmental classes (<1000 level courses. I got "A" on all most all of them and they show on my transcript, but at least in US one can not use them towards their degree program). Yes, only 51 credits from university (mostly 3000-4000 level).

Still undecided and researching the province I will establish my residency. What I am sure is, I will establish residency in the province that helps/offers me most to fulfill my dream of becoming a physician.

Great suggestion on extracurricular. Definitely will look work on that as well on leadership, other volunteer work etc. once in Canada

Paid entire undergrad and grad tuition in US myself while working at a convenient store as a cashier. Almost 10 years in US as a student. Last 30 months of that had a professional job at hospital that paid well, but still couldn't afford to go to Physician Assistant schools. The main reason I left US was I could never see myself ever being able to join MD/DO there.

 

@Edict Thank you for the great advice. This is something I will be doing more research on. Would appreciate any more info on this matter.