Hi Aska!

Quick question. My 1st two year’s grades were not good and not at all competitive for Canadian Med schools. I was wondering if having amazing grades in your final years gives you a chance or if you are doomed with bad 1st and 2nd year grades. How much do they value improvement? Do they always consider all 4 years?

Thanks
Lore.

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Lore,

As I tell any student who asks me general questions about a general variety of schools that I know nothing about, I will grace you with the oh so simple answers of “It depends” and “Pft, how the heck should I know?”

Generally speaking however, yes, most med schools take all four years into account so if your first and second years suck, I recommend totally rocking the next two years.

I can’t speak for other schools, but I’d suppose that your improvement will play some part in their judgement?

In the long run though, look into the specific schools and see what their standards are.

Cheers!

aska

Hi,

I am a deaf student. I am attending a public high school in Toronto currently. I got admission from UofT life sci , York biology and Life sci at Macmaster. I am really confused and don?t know which university to go. My goal is to go to med school.? My mom insists on choosing UofT but there are many negative feedbacks about UofT, for example its a GPA-killer.? York is the easiest one however I don’t like the area at all and my mom doesn’t approve of it. Macmaster seems like the best option that I have but its very expensive, my mom said that she would pay for it though. Also, I would have to leave home if I want to go to Macmaster. My average right now is 90% and I?m also a drama major student. I really don’t know which university to pick that would raise the chances of getting in med school. Many people have said to me that I would do well in UofT. I really really need your help. Please help me.

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Hey hey!

So I can’t speak for York or McMaster, but I’ll say some stuff for UofT.

Yes, yes, UofT can be a bit of a grade killer. Why? Well, it’s hard. I like to think the university makes things hard to weed out the weak. I mean UofT is consistently within the top three universities in Canada and always ranks quite high among those in the entire world. UofT needs to foster brilliant(ish) minds to match the brilliant minds running it.

If you can make it through four years here, you’ll get a lovely piece of paper that essentially tells future med schools: “I am a masochist, but a smart masochist!”

But for your decision-making issue, you’re going to actually have to do your own research bud. Think of that as your first assignment issued by someone from the university. Instructions: Consider possible med schools you would like to apply to after completing your undergraduate education. What are their requirements? What institutions best suit their undergraduate requirements?

Make sense? Naturally, I say come to UofT, but I’m biased so…

make good choices,
aska

Hello,
I am a first year student for the med school game. I went to an academically poor public highschool in a countryside in ontario and the
transition from high school to UofT has been rather tumultuous.
I have received B- in BIO120H, B+ in MAT135H, C in CHM139H, and currently have 62 in ECO100. I have not been partying or wasting any time. I didn’t even get to explore the city yet and have been stuck in the library every single day studying.
I have changed my studying habits twice since I came to UofT and still seems like my habits are not working.
I have figured that I will have an “average GPA” to apply to med school only if I take 22.0 credits throughout 4 years and attain 4.0 in every
single course until I graduate, which seems highly unlikely based on how I am performing right now.
Is it possible to repeat first year? Would UofT scrap my past academical history and let me start fresh?
Even if I transfer to another university, attaining 4.0 every single semester is the only option to med school now.
I need some advice,
<name has been removed for protection>

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Heyo … mystery person,

I think you have the dream of all university students, burning those terrible first year marks. Unfortunately there’s nothing you can do about them, they are carved in stone, tattooed on skin, written in ink … you get the jist. The only thing you can do now is get awesome future marks.
Some universities will put into consideration the improvement of your grades.
Transferring schools really won’t help your situation either, you are required to disclose all your mark to your incoming university.

I really don’t think this is the end of your medical career.
Here are some steps that you can take:

1) Look at the med school requirements for various schools. Here are the requirements for the Canadian medical schools. The CGPA range is quite varying between the universities.

2) U of T offers some pretty gosh-darn-tooting resources for academic success. University is not highschool and an adjustment to your study techniques and how you approach school needs to be made.?Don’t glare at me like that … all students go through this awkward transition phase. It’s kind of like an academic puberty.?There are also academic workshops that help with studying, note taking, kicking ass at exams etc.

3) Explore alternatives. I know, I know, ?TV makes doctors look pretty effing awesome, but there really are other professions in the medical field that are pretty cool. I have a lot of smarty pants friends who entered their undergrad with the sole intention of going into med school. Then throughout their undergrad their interests stemmed and for no fault of their marks they chose not to go to med school.? Rumor has it that only 15% of applicants get a position in the first round. This is both because of competition and because they want to see who wants it bad enough to apply over and over … and over again.

Good luck grasshopper

forever always,

aska

I have really managed to ruin my academic history and I don’t think I have a chance of getting into Medical school anymore.

I have Multiple program changes, failed course/bad marks/2 late withdrawals.

In First year: completed 3.5 courses (need 4 courses to join a program) and my GPA was 2.88, which is workable.

I didn’t complete the life science prerequisites (only biology – BIO150Y1) and didn’t take any courses over summer. Started second year with no program.

Second year: Decided to take all the second year psychology specialist courses and apply to specialist after second year. (note: specialist and major psych programs are competitive)

I only took three courses in first semester (GPA is 1.05) and five courses second semester (GPA is 2.34, and one course was failed: 47%). I only got into the psych minor program.

Done second year still with no program and an even lower GPA, hopelessness sinking in.

Summer: planned on working hard, doing the science prereqs (ideally I would like to get into Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology).

Needed organic chem, physical chem and molecular bio. Got Orgo chem (76), but dropped physical chem, and withdrew late from bio130.

In Third year (now): decided my best chance would be to change my major to humanities (history and english double major). So taking a first and second year history course and two second year english courses (both year long).

If I get 4.0 in every history/english course from now on and apply to medical school in three more years, would I have a good chance of getting in? (only based on academic programs and marks)

My main fear is that switching my program so many times has ruined my chances (and GPA is not good either). There is no continuity in my course selection and I have not commited to a program.

Would it be best to try to get into life science again or should I just continue with his/eng? Do I have a chance?
Thank you!

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Flatly I don not think your life is over, but I also am having a bit of a parental moment and want to advise you to consider if your goals are realistic. I know poo poo, askastudent being all serious.

Here are the MCAT requirements for Canadian schools. Some work in your favour, others do not. Some weigh later years more heavily, while others only take grades from full course load semesters. Look through these and see if it helps you out a bit.

There are a lot of ifs ands or buts going on in your academic life story, so I am commanding … SIKE … suggesting, that you hit up an academic advisor. They will be both helpful, non threatening and honest with you.

may the peace be with you,

aska

This is sort of a general question that applies to all universities, but I’m asking here since I’m highly interested in U of T and hoping to start on
fall of 2011
My lifelong dream has been to go into a certain study in university for 4 years and then move on to medical school. I’ve been told for a while now that different medical schools in Ontario including Toronto’s have been accepting a little non-medical related students that have studied 4 years of mathematics, Engineering, or even computer science at the university level.
Is this true?
At the same time, since I’m interested in this field I have many contacts and have made new friends that ALL? got accepted into medical school (regardless of where in Ontario) based on studying Biology 4 years in university.
What I’m wondering is, is there a certain advantage of taking Biology in university concerning the kind of information you learn and amount when thinking about doing the MCAT to enter medical school, or is there absolutely no difference between a biology and a computer science student as long as they both study up for MCAT? Is it more recommended for the 4 years of university to simply choose a subject a student is most interested in and one in? which he can obtain a high GPA to be eligible for academic awards and keep certain ongoing scholarships before heading to medical school? Is studying Biology for 4 years the “typical” field for a person wanting to proceed into Med School and isn’t preferred when medical school acceptance interview time comes?
Please help me!
This topic have been worrying me for a while. I was almost 100% determined to take on Biology all 4 years due to the experience of my friends and contacts , but? after what I’ve heard for the past few months I’m now wondering if it’s the best decision, as Biology, although I’m great at, isn’t my strongest field and the unfortunate possibilty of not getting accepted first time doing the MCAT and interview would be worse with a degree in Biology that doesn’t make me eligible to do any kind of work as a plan B for example!!

Thanks for your help in advance!

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Hey there, Biological Computer Sciencer

Alright, here we go

So in general, yes you can take any undergraduate degree and still apply to Med School. But saying that, I’m also going to turn around and say that there are definitely smarter degree choices than others

The specific requirements to get into Med School vary depending on the school. This website shows the different requirements for each Med School in Canada.
I think the catch your going to see is that there are prerequsite courses that you need to take for most of the schools. Some have recommended courses, which I would probably suggest taking as the competition in getting into Med School is high. Most of these prerequisite courses are in fields such as life science, and biology. Depending on what Med School your looking into, biology would help you fill these requirements. BUT, there are some schools that don’t require prerequisites and therefore computer science would be sufficient.

I would suggest looking at preparation for the MCATs, this will help you to determine if the courses you would take in Biology would help you prepare better than Computer Science (which i can only assume that they will)
Sometimes even I Aska need help from their little sidekick, so i asked a friend currently going through the process of medschool and who has already taken the MCATs. They said that each school weighs their consideration of GPA and MCAT scores differently, and after fullfilling your prerequisite go for the higher GPA.

So, unfortunately im not going to choose the field of study for you because this comes down to a judegement call for yourself. Biology might prepare you better for the MCATs and might cover some of the prerequisite, but you’ll have to work harder for the GPA you would have accomplished with the Computer Science. While if you take Computer Science, you’ll most likely have to study much harder for your MCATs outside of school. In either situation, Med School seems like a possibility

What I would suggest, would be to talk with a guidance counsillor at your highschool or if your in the Toronto area, make an appointment with a student advisor and they will be able to chat with you and guide you in the right direction.

Hopefully this helps relieve your stess

Love Yours Truly,

Aska

Hey

I want to
ask that how do a person become a doctor after graduating from high school with
90% marks in bio phy chem and maths.?

I have
heard that we have to study biosciences for 4 years in university. Can you tell
me the correct procedure and what grades do I need further?

How much
time is it going to take?

If some one
is a docr from another country like Pakistan so can he work over here
as a doctor? How?

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There?s no ?correct procedure? to becoming a doctor. You actually don?t HAVE to study biology or even science at UofT. It?s true that a lot of people whose goal is to be a doctor do choose degrees such as human biology, biochemistry, immunology, pharmacology, and so on (or so I hear, anyway). You may be interested in one of these programs. According to their admissions page though, they accept students from many different backgrounds, from social sciences (such as sociology and political sciences) to physical sciences (such as physics) and everything in between. So my advice to you, if you end up going to UofT (or anywhere else really), is: don’t take courses that you think will? help you get into med school. Instead,to use your undergraduate degree to take some courses and explore some fields of study that you?re genuinely interested in! If, by the end of your 3rd year, you still want to go into medicine, then you can apply then ? they only accept people who?ve taken a minimum of 3 years of an undergraduate degree anyway.? In fact, a degree in a discipline other than biology could really help you stand out amongst the other cookie-cutter applicants.

The only requirements that med school imposes on you are listed in their FAQ:

?Applicants are required to complete at least two full-year courses or four half-courses in Life Sciences, and at least one full-year course or two half-courses in Humanities or Social Sciences or Languages. It is recommended, although not required, that applicants complete a university-level course in Statistics, and two courses that require expository writing.?

They also list that applicants should have a minimum 3.6 GPA, so keep that in mind.

Anyway, high school marks aren?t really representative of how well someone will do in University. I?ve seen people with high grades in high school do really poorly in their first year of university, and I?ve seen people with 70s in high school do really well. It really depends on the work you?re willing to put in.

As for how much time being a doctor takes ? it may sound clich?, but becoming a doctor really requires patience, dedication, and a lot of hard work. Think about it. You?re going to save lives. There?s no easy way out and there’s no shortcut. So please, be patient and try not to rush your undergrad degree.

As for your last question, friend of aska found an article that says prospects of professionals from other countries working in Canada may be getting better. Hope that’s good news to you.