Dont be sad. Really, dont be.
This is hardly the worst moment of your life.
Chin up, you still got options, you still got two feet to walk in whatever way you want.

^thanks :(

Originally Posted by Pendragon

By the time fourth year rolled around, most of them did not make it in and became depressed about the job opportunities available to them with a generic life science degree.

Well, even if schools are looking only at GPA's, at least if this is the case, then you have career potential after engineering I've heard the exact same, "I'm going to be a doctor", way back in first year, from fellow engineers... Those people did chem, chem/bio, elec/bio -- while none of them will go to be doctor's (it's now 4-6 years later), they're happy and doing well in bio-related research/industry fields.

I am simply making light of the unfortunate reality that med school is mostly evaluating test-writing skills

If you have any questions about the Life Science program at McMaster, you can message me. I started out in Nursing, decided it wasn't for me and switched into "Science II" for second year and then into Life Science after I had completed the first year pre-reqs during my second year. One of the reasons I chose Life Science was the freedom you have to take courses you enjoy and avoid courses you don't or don't think you will do well in. This was good for me because 1. I wanted to try a variety of different courses because, although med school was always in the back of my mind, I wanted to "dip my toes" into a variety of different fields to see if anything else sparked my interest and 2. I was able to maintain a very high average by avoiding courses that I didn't think I would enjoy and thus excel in (i.e. Organic Chem, Genetics, etc.). The major downside of the Life Science program is that it prepares you for nothing - you become a "jack of all trades, master of none". This isn't a major problem, provided your marks are high enough that you can get into professional or graduate school on grades alone. I was lucky enough to meet a professor who supervised my thesis (optional in Life Science, but a good experience) and subsequently suggested I come back to their department for Graduate school. I would argue that the Life Science degree can be a very good option if you can take advantage of its freedom to ensure a high GPA while simultaneously forging relationships with faculty whenever and where ever possible. If you have any other more specific questions about the program, you are more than welcome to message me but don't worry too much about not being accepted into Health Sci - it is not the end of the world....not even close. There are lots of great courses, professors, opportunities etc. elsewhere in the university so do not feel discouraged.

Originally Posted by gggggg

Lol what a world we live in where a 3.7 is considered an abysmal GPA hard to recover. To be honest, I would just go to an easier undergraduate program and school and get the best GPA. No point in going to engineering (NOT a good decision, trust me). Also medical schools often consider your best 2 years/last 2 years/ drop lowest courses, etc..., so a poor GPA in one course or one year IS not that bad

meh, it sucks but thats how it is in canada. health scis have the benefit of having class averages of 12s so no problem for them.

I was in a similar situation- rejected from Health Science. Rather than dwelling on it, I simply decided to look for different pathways to the same goals. Based on my own experience in first year, I can say that Life Science was an alright choice. It gives you a lot of diversity in the courses and you can look to find your true interests. This is important since high school only gives you limited insight as to what you really like doing- it's more about what seems like a good profession (or pays well). As it turns out, even though I was not in Health science, I still maintained an 11 average in both terms- without the supposed "handholding" the health sci's have.
Strangely enough, I enjoyed the maths and physics and am opting for a program in that direction for next year. My honest opinion is that as long as you have a clear plan and do not get lost in a program so broad as life science, you should be fine. You may discover certain talents that would have not otherwise been identified had you been in Health science.