How many of your friends that wanted to get into med school, dentistry school, or any other professional school actually get in, percentage wise? How many decided to go to an overseas med school or a US school? What are those that didn't get in doing now?

I know this thread was meant for encouragement, but your average was ridiculously good imo (not including first year average although even that was still pretty good), and you had some great work experience as well and was Mac the only Canadian university you got offers from? Because if it was, that's pretty discouraging if anything.

Originally Posted by Souldier

How many of your friends that wanted to get into med school, dentistry school, or any other professional school actually get in, percentage wise? How many decided to go to an overseas med school or a US school? What are those that didn't get in doing now?

I know this thread was meant for encouragement, but your average was ridiculously good imo (not including first year average although even that was still pretty good), and you had some great work experience as well and was Mac the only Canadian university you got offers from? Because if it was, that's pretty discouraging if anything.

I'm think Medical Schools in the States are required to release their information to the public. So you can see the number of applicants, the number of acceptances, what year they were in, MCAT averages, ethnicity, etc...

I know for sure that all Optometry Schools in the States have to have this information available.

Hi Soldier,

I never applied with a whole bunch of people that wanted to go into med coming from Kin. I had one other friend who applied with me and eventually got into Wayne State in Detroit but went to PT. I know stories of other people. I know a guy who got into mac after third year and someone who got into Ottawa after 4th. I know my girlfriend's friend who decided to go to the Caribbean after 4th because he couldn't get in here or the US. I also know a guy who has applied only to Western for the last 4 years, hasn't got in, and is now doing a Masters and going to keep applying. Obviously, the people who don't get in won't be as vocal about it so giving you a percentage is not available. All I know is that most people that want to be a doctor do, whether it's in the US or somewhere else. Maybe you discover that you would rather do PT, or Optometry or Dentistry instead.

I'm sorry if you found my stats discouraging. The reality is, the competition here is extremely fierce. I was trying to point out that you don't need straight A's and A+'s to get in, B's are ok. But if you're looking for me to tell you that you can get in without getting any A's or with some C's, I'm not sure I can. Sure, there are some really awesome stories out there with the rare 3.4,3.5 average student who got in, but one shouldn't bet on getting into med school with an average like that. It's just how the times are in Canada nowadays. I'm a big advocate in getting more schools here over other alternative methods for new doctors, but that's another issue entirely. There just aren't enough spots for all the amazing intelligent students we grow here.

You have to just work hard and try your best. If you ever get involved in the premed community for applying you'll understand where I'm coming from, and it's at that point where my advice will come in handy.

Originally Posted by Souldier

How many of your friends that wanted to get into med school, dentistry school, or any other professional school actually get in, percentage wise? How many decided to go to an overseas med school or a US school? What are those that didn't get in doing now?

I know this thread was meant for encouragement, but your average was ridiculously good imo (not including first year average although even that was still pretty good), and you had some great work experience as well and was Mac the only Canadian university you got offers from? Because if it was, that's pretty discouraging if anything.

To be honest, with Canadian medical schools you should have a "good" GPA and decent MCAT scores. Having an exceptional GPA and awesome MCAT may help, but it's really not necessary. Queens and Western will interview you as long as you have the cut-offs and after that the interview is weighed much more heavily.

I had a cGPA of around *3.8 (lower than most applicants) and an even MCAT score and that secured me 5 interviews and 4 acceptances in Canada, waitlisted at Queens but since I accepted an offer I was removed from the waitlist. What sets you apart are you experiences, how they've impacted you and how you articulate this to the AdCom.

* includes an awful summer school mark (C), so when calculating best two years, UofT calculations, or most recent two years it's closer to 3.9

Many of my friends had no interest in medicine, but many of the ones who did got into medical school. In my specialization which had about 11 people two of us are going to Canadian med schools (1 I'm unsure about, so it might be 3), 1 is going to an international school, and the rest had no interest in applying to medicine. For those who didn't get in: 1 is doing a special undergraduate year, 1 is doing her masters, 1 is going to another professional school and is thinking of reapplying to medicine after she's done. Other friends came from a summer program and 12 of which are in medicine (11 in Canada, 1 in Caribbean). A couple of others are still trying to get in.

Your options if you don't get in: other patient-centered programs (dentistry, optometry,OT, PT, nursing, physicians assistant), you could do a second undergrad degree if your marks need improving or a special undergraduate year to boost your GPA, you could take time off to work/travel/get life experience. There are so many other options.

I would be careful about international medical schools if you plan on returning to Canada. With the US there are a lot of schools, but the quality of some of them aren't as good and you'll end up with a lousy resident position. According to friends who applied to US schools but decided to study in Canada, you should apply to the top 30 schools that accept international students. Theoretically, American trained and Canadian trained MDs are considered equivalent during CaRMS matching, but preference usually goes to the Canadians. With Australian, Irish, Caribbean schools you'll have difficulties coming back to Canada and you'll have a higher chance of getting a residency spot in the States. These countries train too many doctors and they often don't have sufficient residency spots (unlike Canada where all Canadian med graduates have a residency spot secured ... but of course the match may not be their first choice). Of course, this is just my personal opinion.

So almost everyone wants to become a doctor... but how do you decide whether that's the field for you? What is this career like, and how can one explore whether they like it or not??

Also, can anyone please share their reasons for "why" medicine?

I didn't know until the end of University. Just do a lot of extracurriculars in the health care field and see if you like it. It's very busy and time-consuming. But it's also lots of fun and you get to do really exciting things.

nevermind.

mac health sci are so baby fed lol.. health sci ppl get to mark some of their courses(so obv. they will give themselves A+).. their workload is very light(30 units every year) compared to sciences and engineering... and guess what, a light workload and free marks from bird courses gives them loads of scholarships...

So unfair to other faculties who are also applying to med school or are just trying to get better grades..

We (majority of Science students) have 30 units every year too though.

Originally Posted by Lij

To be honest, with Canadian medical schools you should have a "good" GPA and decent MCAT scores. Having an exceptional GPA and awesome MCAT may help, but it's really not necessary. Queens and Western will interview you as long as you have the cut-offs and after that the interview is weighed much more heavily.

I had a cGPA of around *3.8 (lower than most applicants) and an even MCAT score and that secured me 5 interviews and 4 acceptances in Canada, waitlisted at Queens but since I accepted an offer I was removed from the waitlist. What sets you apart are you experiences, how they've impacted you and how you articulate this to the AdCom.

* includes an awful summer school mark (C), so when calculating best two years, UofT calculations, or most recent two years it's closer to 3.9

Many of my friends had no interest in medicine, but many of the ones who did got into medical school. In my specialization which had about 11 people two of us are going to Canadian med schools (1 I'm unsure about, so it might be 3), 1 is going to an international school, and the rest had no interest in applying to medicine. For those who didn't get in: 1 is doing a special undergraduate year, 1 is doing her masters, 1 is going to another professional school and is thinking of reapplying to medicine after she's done. Other friends came from a summer program and 12 of which are in medicine (11 in Canada, 1 in Caribbean). A couple of others are still trying to get in.

Your options if you don't get in: other patient-centered programs (dentistry, optometry,OT, PT, nursing, physicians assistant), you could do a second undergrad degree if your marks need improving or a special undergraduate year to boost your GPA, you could take time off to work/travel/get life experience. There are so many other options.

I would be careful about international medical schools if you plan on returning to Canada. With the US there are a lot of schools, but the quality of some of them aren't as good and you'll end up with a lousy resident position. According to friends who applied to US schools but decided to study in Canada, you should apply to the top 30 schools that accept international students. Theoretically, American trained and Canadian trained MDs are considered equivalent during CaRMS matching, but preference usually goes to the Canadians. With Australian, Irish, Caribbean schools you'll have difficulties coming back to Canada and you'll have a higher chance of getting a residency spot in the States. These countries train too many doctors and they often don't have sufficient residency spots (unlike Canada where all Canadian med graduates have a residency spot secured ... but of course the match may not be their first choice). Of course, this is just my personal opinion.

Hopefully this won't be too personal, but how did you do in first year? I did OK, but not quite what I need to be for med, so I'd like to have an idea of where people with awesome GPAs start...if that makes any sense, lol.

Hello Mitch,

Congratulations on getting into medical school and thanks for all your helpful advice.
I have some questions for you as well: When do you think is the best time to do the MCAT? Do you think a person can get by with the Physics section without taking Physics 1BB3?
What sort of extra-curricular activities did you have while in university?

Thanks!

Why is everyone so set on med school?

There are other career opportunities available to you, especially when everyone applying has a 4.0 avg and managed to volunteer around the world.

Originally Posted by maclover

mac health sci are so baby fed lol.. health sci ppl get to mark some of their courses(so obv. they will give themselves A+).. their workload is very light(30 units every year) compared to sciences and engineering... and guess what, a light workload and free marks from bird courses gives them loads of scholarships...

So unfair to other faculties who are also applying to med school or are just trying to get better grades..

This is not going to be a popular post, but this site has a tendency to be a little insular, so another view point might be worth sharing.

HealthSci at mac is not as respected as HealthSci programs at other schools. MedSchools know that healthsci's have inflated grades, and the students are treated as such. An 11 cgpa from healthSci will not be as highly regarded as an 11 from a science program (expect maybe for Mac's MedSchool).

Originally Posted by BluandExile

Why is everyone so set on med school?

There are other career opportunities available to you, especially when everyone applying has a 4.0 avg and managed to volunteer around the world.

I didn't have a 4.0 and have never volunteered around the world. As a matter of fact, the same goes for several of my classmates in medical school. Competition should not deter people from something they want.

Originally Posted by 158701

This is not going to be a popular post, but this site has a tendency to be a little insular, so another view point might be worth sharing.

HealthSci at mac is not as respected as HealthSci programs at other schools. MedSchools know that healthsci's have inflated grades, and the students are treated as such. An 11 cgpa from healthSci will not be as highly regarded as an 11 from a science program (expect maybe for Mac's MedSchool).

Empty statements without proof.