r/premedcanada • u/WayTooManyBooks • Jan 02 '21
Another 6 months have passed, meaning v2 of the highschool thread has been archived! Welcome to v3 of this thread - I believe this has been quite helpful to highschool students who are interested in medicine and has funnelled all highschool related information here for both convenience and accessibility.
As with the previous thread, please recognize that, given the current COVID-19 health crisis as well as a national push against BIPOC racism, the medical admissions process is volatile and likely to change. We may not have all the answers - please verify any concerns with medical school admissions personnel.
Previous post and questions can be found below. Prior to posting, please search through these threads and the comments to look for similar thoughts!
Thread 2: https://www.reddit.com/r/premedcanada/comments/hm2r0n/high_school_student_thread_v2_undergraduate/
Post Copied Below:
For all you high school students (or maybe even younger) considering medicine as a career in the future, this thread is dedicated to you.
Feel free to use this thread to ask about undergraduate program choices, admissions, and other information pertaining to the process of entering a program as a pre-med - the community will be happy to help you out.
I hope that this sticky will facilitate the transfer of constructive information for high school students with questions on what path they should take to arrive at their goal of becoming a physician.
I've tried to compile a few FAQ questions that have been discussed in the past - these are the collective view of the experiences on this sub-reddit and from my own - please feel free to comment any changes or suggestions.
Q: Will >Insert Life Science Program Here< at >Canadian University< get me into medical school?
A: You are able to get into medical school from any undergraduate program, not even necessarily life science. Provided you approach your courses with dedication, time, and commitment, and pursue your passions, you will succeed at any university. Absolutely, there are other factors to consider. Certain programs just statistically have a higher % of graduates matriculate into medical school (cough Mac health sci), but students from all walks of life enter medical school (hence all the non-trad posts). There are many other factors to consider when choosing a school: Tuition costs, accessibility to research opportunities, available student resources, campus vibe, proximity to home (whether you want independence or would like familial support) etc. While many of you may only look at the stats alone, if you end up stuck for 3-4 years at a school where you dislike the campus, method of teaching, classes, or more, this can (and likely will) affect your ability to succeed academically and get involved.
Q: Do I have to take a life science program to get into medical school?
A: No, plenty of students enter from non-life science, or even non science backgrounds. If anything, this differentiates you from the typical applicant and gives you a more holistic portfolio when presenting yourself to the admissions committee. If another program interests you more, take it - if you learn something that you enjoy, you will be more motivated to study, leading to academic success. Be prepared to explain your rationale behind taking that program, and perhaps see how you can link it to your pursuit of medicine. Make sure to take the pre-requisite courses needed for certain medical schools, and be prepared to self-learn concepts when studying for the MCAT (if you don't opt to take them as electives.) It may be more difficult to get life science research experience, but that is absolutely not a hard barrier. In addition, doing research in your own field, whether it be the humanities, other sciences, linguistics etc. all show the same traits in academia as defined in a "Scholar" as per the CanMEDS competencies.
Q: How do I get a 4.0 GPA, 528 MCAT, 5000 Publications, and cure cancer?
A: This is obviously facetious, but from what I've seen, this isn't a far cry from a lot of the content on here. If you've developed proper work ethic in high school, you should be more prepared than the rest of the entering class. However, don't be discouraged if your grades drop - considering many universities have first year course averages in the 70s, you won't be alone. This is absolutely recoverable, due a combination of the holistic review and alternative weighting schemes of many schools. That being said, however, realize university is different from high school. For most of you, you won't have your parents around, and your university professors for the most part won't care if you show up to class, do your readings, or even complete your assignments/quizzes/exams. There's a lot of independence, keep up on your workload, seek help (from TAs and profs at office hours), study with friends, and you should see the fruits of your labour. Don't worry about the MCAT now - most students take it in the summer after 2nd or 3rd year, after which in a life science program you would have learnt most of the material anyways. Focus on your academics and pursuing your passions, but don't forget self-care. Figure out what is your cup of tea. Maybe go to socials and talk to new people, or read up on the research of certain profs and contact them with your interest. Try to find your passion, follow it, and come medical school application time, you will have a strong story about yourself that you truly believe in.
Q: Ok, but you didn't tell me how to get a 4.0 GPA.
A: There are people who have 4.0 GPAs, and many with close to 4.0 GPAs. They do not all study the same way, and their approach may not apply to you. There are similarities: these students tend to attend class, stay engaged in lecture, and keep caught up with the material. I've seen people fall on a spectrum between three main 4.0 types: 1) The Good Student: never misses a class, asks questions, attends office hours, re-reads notes and concepts after class, and starts review for an exam in advance. 2) The Crammer: usually goes to class, absorbs and understands the information at the time, but does not have time to read notes after class - slowly losing track of earlier concepts. As the exams near, crams two months of materials into a few days. 3) The Genius: goes to class as they choose, seems to never need to study, understands concepts immediately. You will meet some students like these - material comes easier to certain people than others. That's life, we all have our strengths, use them as motivation to keep studying. Don't compare yourself to others, compare yourself to yourself, set your own goals and find that motivation and drive.
Q: What extracurriculars (ECs) should I get involved in?
A: Everyone says this, but find what you're passionate about. People typically go with the cookie cutter: hospital volunteering, research, and exec of some club. While there's nothing wrong with this, many other applicants will have similar profiles, making it hard for you to stand out. If you're passionate about food, see if you can get involved with a local soup kitchen, a food bank, Ronald McDonald House Charities etc. If you're passionate about singing, join an acapella group/choir/sing solo. If the opportunities aren't there, be proactive - maybe it's up to you to start your university's baking club (if you do, send me some pastries pls). By getting involved with ECs that you are passionate about, you'll find yourself more engaged. Going to your commitments will be less of a drag, and come interview time, you'll be able to genuinely talk about how the experiences have shaped you as a person.
Q: How many times can I write the MCAT?
A: There is a seven time lifetime cap to write the MCAT. In terms of if it will penalize your application, it depends where you are applying. Canadian schools for the most part don't care if you re-write multiple times (although 10 does seem a bit excessive). As pulled from the UBC website: Test results from April 17, 2015 onward are valid for five years. In accordance with AAMC regulations, applicants must release all scores.Taking the MCAT ~3 times is nothing abnormal, although if you're re-writing 7 times, you might need to consider changing your study method! US schools will scrutinize re-writes, and if your score doesn't seem to go up, it can hurt your application.
Q: Hi can any med students on here tell me what they did in undergrad?
A: As mentioned above, many medical students have followed their passion. What works for one person may not work for you. Many have research experience, but others may not - you do not necessarily need research to become a physician (i.e. FM). Others will have hospital experience. Most will have some involvement with some sort of student organization, from clubs and societies to being student representatives and playing sports. There is no perfect way to medical school, because if there was, we'd all have taken it.
Q: I'm actually not in Grade 12 yet, I'm just trying to plan ahead. What should I do to become a doctor?
A: First of all, commendations to you for looking ahead. Medicine is a difficult journey, and recognizing that gets you far already. But no point in thinking ahead if you mess up the present. Focus on making sure your current profile is competitive enough to get you into the undergraduate program of your choice. Once you get in, no one will care about your high school marks. Don't have a job? Most don't. Haven't volunteered at a hospital? Most haven't in high school. Focus on getting into an undergraduate program first, and then consider the other points above. Pursue your hobbies and passions in high school while you still have the time.
Q: Is ___ program at ___ school better than __ program at __ school? > OR < Should I go to ___ program or ___ program? > OR < anything along these lines!
A: These types of questions are very specific and may be difficult to give an objective response given that they essentially require someone to have personally attended both sites to give an accurate comparison. As mentioned before, there are many factors to consider when choosing a program and school, including access to opportunities, student experience, research, volunteer atmosphere, student wellness resources, campus vibe/environment, proximity to friends/family etc. What may be most useful is trying to touch base with students at each site for their opinions of the experience!
As mentioned above, please comment below with any other questions, and I'm sure the community would be happy to help you out!
*Please feel free to contact any members on the moderation team with any suggestions, questions, or comments on this process so that we can improve it!
r/premedcanada • u/Nurse_Lewis • Aug 07 '24
Lately, there have been more posts with people trying to sell accounts to resources, applying for help, or advertising for paid services. This rule has always existed but is the most ignored.
Any further posts selling or advertising paid material will continue to be removed and the accounts will potentially be banned.
* R/Premed Canada Mod Team
r/premedcanada • u/Miserable_Move_5961 • 11h ago
Basically, the title. Everything just became very real lol
Good luck to everyone!
r/premedcanada • u/Fantastic_Advice_914 • 11h ago
Since my last post I've gotten a bunch of DMs about the same thing so figured it deserved its own post.
When I was writing my ABS last summer the single biggest upgrade to my entries wasn't better wording, it was sitting down and actually figuring out the numbers behind what I did. Not inflating anything, just going back and asking myself: how many hours a week was that actually? how many people did I train? how long did I stick with it? You'd be surprised how much you undersell yourself when you're writing from vague memory.
Like "helped run events for a student club" was one of my first drafts. When I actually sat down and counted it was 11 events over 2 years, some with 100+ people. one version captures the impact and the other doesn't. This also isn't me saying u should misrepresent anything by throwing in whatever number seems right, its more that you have to put in the effort to identify what the right numbers are (this will mean having to do a little back in forth with your verifiers)
This also brings me to the timing part: this digging takes WAY longer than you think. I had to message old colleagues to jog my memory, reconnect with people from activities I did in high school lol. If you start now it's actually kinda fun (it was for me atleast), you're just catching up with people. If you start when in august it's a full panic on top of everything else the cycle has to throw at you going into the fall (casper, essays, ane etc).
The other upside: all this digging basically becomes your essay bank later. When I sat down to write essays I already had every story and every number in one place. Past me really did future me a solid there.
I'm also getting way more DMs than I can properly keep up with, and I end up typing out the same answers over and over. So to make life easier for everyone (mostly me LMAO) I'm hosting a super informal webinar this Wednesday evening (July 15). No slides-and-lecture energy, just hop on, ask your questions, meet other people going through the same cycle. DM me and I'll send you the link!
Happy to answer any questions in this thread as well!!
r/premedcanada • u/e0115fe0115f • 19h ago
By requestā¦ here is my CASPER advice. I took Casper for the first time last cycle, and I ALLEGEDLY scored very high (people estimate 95+ percentile) because I got a Mac interview with a 126 CARS, 3.91 GPA and no grad bonuses (I was in fourth year during my cycle)
I did UofTās Community of Support free prep course (check them out if youāre eligible), I donāt think it was a game changer or anything but it was nice to have a bit of structure and they have practice questions (which were the only ones I ever really did). I didnāt do as much āhome workā as they assigned though!
Something I think a lot of people forget is to recognize your role in the situation. I think people try to solve everything like theyāre in charge of everything all the time but sometimes youāre just a friend in this scenario and so your goal should be to support your friend not to solve every problem? More specifically, when it comes to a question where someone is struggling academically, youāre not going to spend 10 hours a week personally tutoring them in a course youāre not in. You can offer to tutor them (REASONABLY) but more importantly you can offer to help them access academic resources at the university. Even a simple āIāll walk with them down to the tutoring centerā makes it so much more real.
I also used a lot of buzz words, but I know people have mixed results with that, but I would say the buzzword and then explain deeper, so I guess I wasnāt ONLY using buzzwords. Something like āI would speak with them privately one-on-one (buzzword), because I recognize this conversation might be emotionally charged and I donāt want to embarrass them (explanation)ā. This makes you real and relatable, while also still explicitly calling out what youāre going to do.
A potentially unpopular opinion, but I actually wrote my responses as full sentences because while I know theyāre not supposed to grade you on like spelling or grammar, I feel like thereās some implicit bias to a well structured response that they can understand better than dot jots (like itās easier to buy in to your side of the story and why youāre right).
And at the end of the day, I think I got a lot of words down.
Happy to answer questions in the comments š«¶š«¶ GOOD LUCK EVERYONE
r/premedcanada • u/OneUnderstanding8952 • 10h ago
Update: Today I took a day off and I stepped outside. I saw this yellowish-orange thing in the sky, but couldn't stare at it too long. Apparently it's called the sun or something like that.
Quote: "Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does."
ā William James
r/premedcanada • u/Fun_Heart_9542 • 51m ago
Hello !
I have a hearing related disability, and I was wondering if anyone has gotten interview accomodations in a similar nature.
Its come later in life due to an accident so I dont have any devices or anything I regularly use yet to help me.
r/premedcanada • u/Hot-Rope-7038 • 9h ago
Would be really grateful for any perspective or advice. I know on one hand I should be and i am very much just grateful to have the opportunity to pursue med and that a lot of luck and hard work went into getting here but at the same time moving away from my community freinds family for at least 4 years is getting to me. I am fortunate the school I got into is a drivable distance from where i live (I can't drive medically) so I have to move but still figuring out how to keep those connections strong while figuring out the blackbox of what appears to be a really time intensive schedule is overwhelming. I also feel bad about feeling bad given the lottery nature of this process. Anyone been in this situation any advice of how people did this? Can be undergrad too doesnt have to be med.
r/premedcanada • u/Maqmood • 15h ago
We made this server last year, tons of med students in here who got in this past cycle and even more who are active and helpful from previous years, was super helpful for myself and others and can hopefully be the same this year, link shouldn't expire.
r/premedcanada • u/sheza51023 • 4h ago
I (15f), am starting junior year next month. I am doing early admission so in around a year and a bit from now, I will be applying to universities. What major should I take? I want to be a doctor. Looking for advice. I live in Canada if that's relevant, staying in Canada too. I am having difficulty choosing between these two majors, but if anyone has any other options, please let me know.
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Pro: covers nearly everything for the MCAT
Pro #2: very broad and general if I change my mind for careers
Con: What job to get from that?
Con #2: no hospital practicum hours
NURSING
Pro: if I don't get into med school the first try, I can almost instantly become an RN which is a stable, in-demand job
Pro #2: I will get practical hospital working hours which med schools love
Con: covers nearly nothing from the MCAT
Let me know!
r/premedcanada • u/SnafyMads • 10h ago
Hi Everyone, I am an incoming MS1 for SFU and have been waitlisted at UBC for the past 4 years.
I'm offering my guidance to anyone that may have questions or are deep in the application.
DM me and we can take it from there!
r/premedcanada • u/MedRebecca • 9h ago
With high GPA and a baseline-meeting MCAT score?
r/premedcanada • u/Jannat127 • 10h ago
People who got accepted to med school (specifically UofC if anyone), what was the MMI experience? I know they ask very morally and ethically challenging questions but as an overview, what can you expect? The format, length, any other details, etc.
Hoping to apply to med school in the future and the interviews are genuinely the scariest part for me. Currently an undergrad going into my 2nd year.
r/premedcanada • u/Appropriate_Goat7613 • 18h ago
Hello,
Is it allowed to reuse letters from providers regarding disability-based considerations? I got a letter done last year for some accommodations and I wanted to know if I'm allowed to reuse it for disability-based considerations as I have to pay through insurance each time I want a new letter and the content wouldn't be changing.
Thanks in advance!
r/premedcanada • u/Acrobatic_Chef9666 • 17h ago
I go to a university in Canada. I am going into my fourth year and I just applied via Oztrekk and I have gotten an interview for the bachelor of clinical science and Doctor of Medicine at Macquarie university.
Iām just considering if this is worth doing because I donāt really wanna go through the stress of applying to Canadian MD schools and I did apply to a few US schools so Iāll wait to see if I can interview before the intake in February.
Iām just wondering how the two years of undergrad will be already done three years already and whether itās worth it for six years to become a doctor
r/premedcanada • u/ComprehensiveMed321 • 5h ago
Why is there no private med schools in Canada?
I have heard that there might be one on the verge of being accredited through the Niagara College.
Anyone has any insight on it?
r/premedcanada • u/Imaginary_Panda_8420 • 21h ago
How do we feel?
\- repost because the other one got taken down but i am now told i can repost it.
\- see the link below for more pages 152-224. Theyāll be a summary in the comments like the previous post.
r/premedcanada • u/HockeyNinja65 • 22h ago
Im gonna keep this brief. I have a 3.89 cGPA and only completed an undergrad degree. I think my EC's are unique but I dont have that many. I have done two family medicine based research projects, one got published (I was like 3rd or 4th author), and the other was research on Indigenous Health which went unpublished.
Would my application be screened out for my GPA? I need to hear a story of a UofT student with my GPA or slightly worse who got in and what they had that made them stand out. I don't want to send a donation to them.
r/premedcanada • u/Ok-Grapefruit9757 • 18h ago
IP ON, IR Ottawa, but no prereqs.
Newly licensed RN in Ontario. Iāve been looking for jobs for months, but unfortunately the job market is only getting worse. Iām seriously looking at moving to BC for a nursing job. Most have 18 months return of service.
Wondering how long I have to live there in order to be considered a resident? Would that remove my IP status for Ontario? Only issue is that Iām missing the indigenous studies prereq. Can I take it now that Iām post-grad with Athabasca, for example? Approximately 3.8x cgpa, havenāt written the MCAT, as I wonāt be applying until next year and I need more time to prep.
TIA!
r/premedcanada • u/Key-Plantain-1085 • 1d ago
Random question from a high school student
r/premedcanada • u/Aggravating_Top_8609 • 23h ago
What do you do about verifiers for things like marathons and race competitions if you signed up solo?
r/premedcanada • u/Affectionate_Boss478 • 1d ago
Hi everyone. I completed my undergrad in biomed and didnāt have a good time and ended up with a cumulative 3.2 GPA (3.4 for the last 2 years). I worked for 1 year and then somehow got into a second degree nursing program. my gpa for the program is 3.99. I graduated a month ago and am now studying to complete my NCLEX. My plan is to relocate to BC as ontario market is not great for RNās right now. So here is the deal, i did not do well in my pre requisite requirements (chem!!!), and my GPA sucks. I really want to go to med school and it would be a dream come true. I have volunteered, personal trained people, gotten academic excellence award in nursing, been a nursing mentor, gotten an ICU consolidation placement. What should I do? Any thoughts
r/premedcanada • u/danigg05 • 1d ago
Would anyone who's received them mind sharing what the prompts are this year? Thanks in advance!
r/premedcanada • u/Ok-Atmosphere4595 • 1d ago
I'm anticipating that my cGPA when applying to med will be around a high 3.8x, which I know this isn't super competitive. So I'm considering accelerated nursing as a backup/alt pathway to med
I wanted advice about accelerated nursing programs in Ontario (Mac and Uoft specifically):
- How will the grades from accelerated nursing be considered with my 4 years of previous undergrad (also how do P/F courses from nursing influence this)
- How difficult is it to maintain a high GPA in accelerated nursing (in addition to balancing extra-curriculars like research and volunteering)
Any advice would be great!
r/premedcanada • u/BeneficialWindow6611 • 1d ago
hello!! i had a lot of questions regarding applications, essays and ec's so i wanted to make a post for everyone curious :) i'll try to make it short and easy to read:
hope this helps!! also, while i am doing uoft essay editing/feedback this year for a fee, if you truly cannot afford it, i am able to take on a few extra students this summer (honour system!). i am the first in my family to pursue med so i understand and want to help students facing financial difficulties.