Hopefuly I'm posting this in the right place, but I spent a while looking through forums and googling and have found similar questions, but not exact so I'm hoping to find help here...

The question is regarding med school and its academic prerequisites. Say there is such a person that couldn't pull his head out of his ass for the first couple years (the nicest way I can put it) and did terrible (60-70%), but did reasonably (well 80+) in the next few years... What are their options in terms of applying for med schools? I know there are some that do weighted grp, and some can only look at the last 2 years if they were full course loads, but what about the rest? Is there even a point in continuing education with the goal of getting into a med school? Also, not limiting this to only Canadian med schools, anything to have a chance at getting in.

Lastly, just to make sure, but summer courses (taken a mac) are counted towards or are eligible for gpa calculation when applying to a med school, right?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Originally Posted by Anon_Failure

Hopefuly I'm posting this in the right place, but I spent a while looking through forums and googling and have found similar questions, but not exact so I'm hoping to find help here...

The question is regarding med school and its academic prerequisites. Say there is such a person that couldn't pull his head out of his ass for the first couple years (the nicest way I can put it) and did terrible (60-70%), but did reasonably (well 80+) in the next few years... What are their options in terms of applying for med schools? I know there are some that do weighted grp, and some can only look at the last 2 years if they were full course loads, but what about the rest? Is there even a point in continuing education with the goal of getting into a med school? Also, not limiting this to only Canadian med schools, anything to have a chance at getting in.

Lastly, just to make sure, but summer courses (taken a mac) are counted towards or are eligible for gpa calculation when applying to a med school, right?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

All courses you take from any university no matter if they are in winter or summer are taken into account in your GPA. You MUST send the medical schools ALL transcripts of ALL universities you have taken courses at.

Your best bet is probably international schools. There are a couple of options in Canada, but based on those marks they're probably more than a long shot.

Well, he could own the MCATs and maybe get into some schools in the US? I think it's hard to tell just with your GPAs.

With that being said, your GPA doesn't look too hot. My best friend has 3.9+ GPA and she's worried that she won't get in, so yeah...

Yeah....
If you got 65% for 2 years, and 85% for the next two, although it doesn't convert like that, let's just say for argument's sake all your courses average out to 75%.

On the McMaster scale that's an 8, which is a 3.0 on the 4.0 scale.

I'd say to be competitive you need 3.9 or higher, for Canada at any rate.

Well some schools take your two best years into consideration: Western and Queens. I think Calgary also considers your two best years in calculating your pre-interview score. Dal weighs your last few years more heavily than the first few.

If your marks aren't good enough and you're still looking to apply to med, you can also consider doing a special year or doing a second undergraduate degree.

I'd say to be competitive you need 3.9 or higher, for Canada at any rate.

I only had a 3.85ish, but I interviewed at 5 Canadian schools and got into 4 of them. It's not all about marks. Meeting the cut-offs are important, but high marks alone won't get you in.

Originally Posted by Lois

Well some schools take your two best years into consideration: Western and Queens. I think Calgary also considers your two best years in calculating your pre-interview score. Dal weighs your last few years more heavily than the first few.

If your marks aren't good enough and you're still looking to apply to med, you can also consider doing a special year or doing a second undergraduate degree.



I only had a 3.85ish, but I interviewed at 5 Canadian schools and got into 4 of them. It's not all about marks. Meeting the cut-offs are important, but high marks alone won't get you in.

Lol that's awesome, but you can't say "only" 3.85 - it's quite high and unfortunately I don't see a 3.0 or anything below 3.7 really being competitive.

That's not to say it's impossible to get in, it's just significantly more difficult to.

Thanks guys. Now you said special year, is that just an extra year( or years?) to a 3 or 4 year program? or is that something else and I'm confusing something?

Originally Posted by Alchemist11

Lol that's awesome, but you can't say "only" 3.85 - it's quite high and unfortunately I don't see a 3.0 or anything below 3.7 really being competitive.

That's not to say it's impossible to get in, it's just significantly more difficult to.

Well if the OP had a 80% average in their final 2 years with a consistent 3.7, it's sufficient for cut-offs at Western/Queens. Canadian schools are much more holistic after students meet these cut-offs, so if you have a solid interview, then you're set.


OP - It depends on what you're gunning for. If you're looking to meet cut-offs for certain schools say Queens/Western, many people just do 1 extra year. I've heard of some people doing a second undergraduate degree because their UG marks were just really lousy. Check in with the requirements for each specific school - I actually wrote an article about what each school looks at.

Well, you would know better than me lol.

Good luck with it OP.

i understand how having a 3.9 is definitely an asset but if you look at what i attached, between the people accepted for class of 2013 at mcmaster
3-3.49: 6 ppl accepted
3.5-3.59: 10
3.6-3.69: 15
3.7-3.79: 40
3.8-3.89: 61
3.9+: 72

xD obviously the odds aren't great i guess the lower your gpa; but i mean its possible and definitely worth trying.

Keep in mind that many of the lower grades you see (<3.5) are from graduate applicants. Many (or most) schools modify their admissions requirements for students with Master's and/or Doctoral degrees. Of course, chances are that most students wouldn't get into graduate school with a 3.0, as most Canadian schools require a 3.4+, so while graduate school is an option, to get in would require extraordinary research skills to make up for where you're lacking academically. And, of course, graduate work isn't something to be taken lightly at all.