Complicated Situation

[Gem2005]

Hi, I am currently in my fourth year of under-grad studies. I initially started a degree in major biology, and then switched to a double major. However, this is the first year where I am completing a 5 full course load, with a 4.0 GPA. I am planning to apply to UWO next September. They already confirmed that they could give me a conditional interviw, considering that I will complete 5 full courses, with the cut-off GPA, next year. In addition, it is mentioned that one of the two required full time years has to include, three senior courses. In the current year, I have only two senior courses, because I started the double major. Could anyone tell me, if I could still get an interview at Western, next year, if my second year (2003-2004), would include three senior courses. Thanks in advance.





Edited the subject to get rid of the all-caps. Please don't post subject titles in all-capital letters. Thx. -Ian

[aneliz]

Rules for getting an interview at UWO:

1. You must be registered in a recognised university program
2. You must have completed or currently be completing your third year (15.0 credits by end of current year)
3. You must have ONE full time (5.0 or equivalent credits) undergrad year that was taken between Sept and April COMPLETED with a GPA that is over the current cut-off (3.70 this year, but changes yearly)
4. You must have met ALL of the MCAT cuts for the year (9's and a Q this year, but changes yearly)

Final scoring procedure:

25% GPA
25% MCAT
50% Interview

Rules for Registration (ie keeping your acceptance should you get one!)

1. You must have successfully completed at least 15.0 credits as an undergrad (equivalent of three years)
2. You must have TWO full time undergrad (5.0 credit) years FROM THE SAME DEGREE taken between Sept and April. Your GPA in EACH OF THE TWO YEARS must be over the cut-of. At least ONE of these two years MUST include 3.0 senior (2nd year or higher) level courses.
3. You must have completed ALL of the pre-req courses prior to Aug
4. If you are a grad student, you MUST have submitted your thesis and completed all course work for your degree before Aug.

So, if you have a completed full time undergrad year with an appropriate GPA and you meet the MCAT cuts, you should receive an interview. If you get an acceptance, you will need to show that you have completed all of the pre-reqs and that you have completed a second full time undergrad year with the appropriate GPA in order to be allowed to register.

Good Luck!

[Ian Wong]

Moved out of the General Premed forum into the UWO forum...

Ian

[Talon01]

You're saying I need 2 years above the cutoff from the same program?

I'm in my 4th year now, my 4th year marks are above the cutoff. I was planning on applying in november (2003) and coming back to take another year of undergrad in another program since I will have completed my degree. Since I was planning on having this year above the cutoff as well you're saying that I won't be allowed in since it's from another program? My 1st, 2nd, 3rd year marks were not above the cutoff.

Thank you.

[TimmyMax]

Hey,

You should be okay, because UWO does allow students to take a 5th or "special" year with the purpose of raising their GPA to the point where it is above the cutoff GPA, thus giving that person two years above the given cutoff. Now, you'll still have to fulfill the requirements for admission with this "special" year if you haven't already, (ie: three courses above the 100 level, or whatever aneliz posted) but the point is that yes, you can do this. I'm not sure about the courses bieng from the same program, because that is not always possible. If in doubt, call the admissions office and ask!

BEst of luck!
Timmy

[aneliz]

You need to have TWO years that are over the cut off to be eligible for admission. These two years MUST be from the same degree program...you cannot mix and match from two separate degrees...that said, UWO does allow students to do ONE 'special undergrad year' for the purpose of satisfying the GPA cuts...

From the UWO faculty of med's admissions FAQ

"Applicants who have already earned a degree from a recognized university may elect to continue in full-time undergraduate studies (a so-called "special year") so that their academic standing may be improved for application to UWO Medicine. Only the first special year taken by the applicant will be considered in determining compliance with GPA cutoffs. Special years will be considered only if they contain 5 FCE (30 credit hours) with a minimum of 4 FCE at the honors level (at UWO, numbered 200 or higher). Courses at UWO numbered 200 or higher are equivalent to third-year courses at all other universities. First-year courses are not acceptable in the "special year". "

In your case, you will want to apply to your school to continue taking courses as an undergraduate...DO NOT START A NEW DEGREE!!!! If you do, you will not be able to use that year..unless you wait another year and then have TWO years from the NEW degree program. Do a 'victory lap' of senior level courses from your existing degree program.

[Talon01]

At UWO you're only allowed to take a certain amount of courses from your program. I can only take 2 more full year or equivilent kinesiology courses next year ('special' year). When you mean 'start a new degree' do you just mean don't take all first year courses? According to what you have copied and pasted from the UWO admissions site it sounds like I can take whatever courses I want as long as I meet the '4 FCE' rule.

[TimmyMax]

Hey Talon,

I'm sure that you mean the 4 FCE at the HONOURS level.
While yes, I'm sure that there may only be so many courses that you can take from your program per se, there are a plethora of other courses that you could probably take offered by other faculties. Have a look at those and if you find some of them genuinely interesting, sign up! Remember that these extra courses don't all have to be sciences.
The idea of the 4 FCE at the honours level clause is to keep people from loading up on easy 100-level courses to artificially inflate their GPAs. So have a look at what's available and go from there!

Best of luck!
Timmy

[Talon01]

Sorry Timmy, I did mean at the honours level :\

I was planning on taking some psych courses, some science courses, some more kinesiology courses and maybe some sociology courses (all >200 level) but Andreas post had me worried that I would be only allowed to take kinesiology courses. Considering I'm wrapping up my fourth year there aren't too many more kinesiology courses I could take.

Thanks for the clarification!

~Scotty :)

[TimmyMax]

Hey Talon,

Sounds like a good plan! Best of luck with it and hopefully we'll hear from you next year!

Timmy

[aneliz]

I didn't mean that you had to take all kin courses...there probably aren't too many left that you can take as you said!

What I meant was that you shouldn't graduate and then re-apply in a new degree program...becasue then you would be officially classified as a 'new' (level 1) BA or BComm or BSc Eng or whatever other degree you might choose...you need to be registered as a continuing student in the degree program that you are already in! You do not want to be registered as a level one student in a new degree program....register as a continuing 'special' student and then you can take classes from whatever subject areas you like...as long as they are 200 or higher!

Good luck!

[kellyl20]

Aneliz: What if I was to finish my degree and then went back to pick up the 1 year of teaching. (teaching at the secondary school level is a 4 yr degree plus 1 yr of teaching). Surely this would not count as a second degree, could it?.......also it is only for 1 year, and you are done.

[aneliz]

At UWO a Bachelor of Education degree counts as a second degree and CANNOT be used for GPA...because it is only a one year program and it is also not classified as an undergraduate degree by UWO med...I asked the admissions staff this specific question about a month ago on behalf of another applicant. There was no hesitation: a B. Ed cannot be used for GPA purposes for western med.

[Gem2005]

Hi Aneliz,

Thanks a lot for your feedback. I was wondering about what you replied about the degree courses. In my case, I changed my degree in fourth year from Biology to double major Bio-Kinesiology. Therefore, having already taken my Bio courses, plus a bunch of electives from other programs ( because major bio= 45credits bio, and 45 elective credits), now I have to take Kinesiology courses to complete the double major. So even if I am taking different program courses, it is now part of my double major degree. The question is, am I Ok?

[aneliz]

Yes you are okay...as long as the university has you registered in the same degree program (ie a BSc) and doesn't have you registered as having completed one BSc and started a second separate BSc degree (or a BA, or BComm or whatever).

As an example:

Student finishes fourth year of BSc degree in chemistry...decides to continue without applying to graduate...registers for a fifth year, takes whatever courses he/she wants AS LONG AS AT LEAST 4.0 FCE are at the honours (200 level at UWO, 3rd year at other schools) level. This is OKAY!!!

Student finishes fourth year of a bio degree, graduates, applies to the university for special status to 'continue as an undergraduate'...takes a full year of courses in whatever (as long as at least 4.0 FCE are honours level). This is OKAY!!!

Student finishes fourth year of a BSc in biochem, graduates, applies to start a BA degree in history at the same school...registers in year one of a BA in history at the same school... This is NOT OKAY!!!

Student finishes fourth year, continues taking courses but takes 3.0 in first year level courses - NOT OKAY.

Does that clear things up??? :)

[Gem2005]

Hi aneliz,

I just wanted to thank you for you input! You really cleared things up for me!

Talk to you later!

[aneliz]

No problem! Anything else, let me know! :D

[Elaine I]

Does the special year have to be at the same school as your degree, or can it be at any year, provided you are registered as a "non-degree" student? I will graduate from Ryerson this year, but would like to attend a more science-based school for my special year. I will *not* be applying for or registering in a degree program, but instead just taking 5.0 of courses (honours level). Is that okay?

Thanks for your help,
Elaine

[mydream88]

As far as I know, what you are taking is exactly what they mean by a 'special' year. It's special, because you are taking more courses to up the gpa without a need for focussing them toward a degree (though you could if you wanted to I guess)

mydream88

moderaters: care to concur?

[aneliz]

Elaine... I think that you should be okay...as long as you are not starting a new degree program and as long as you meet the requirements for course level (4 of 5 courses 3rd year level or higher). As always, I would recommend that you check with the admissions office to be sure. No information is official until you hear it straight from that office!

Good luck!

[Elaine I]

Thanks Aneliz (as always!)! I just sent an e-mail to the admissions office to confirm, as you suggested.

Elaine

[osindy]

okay here's my situation and I appreciate any elp and insight given.
I graduated from a BComm this past May. I then went back to school part time and taking courses by distance education to hit 5 courses each term while working. I am registered in a second degree program a BA but not as a first year but a second year I believe. It will take me two years to finish the degree so I'll be in school full time next september and hoping for admission to med school the following september (2005 I believe).

So am I screwed because of my wierd choices ie. my DE courses, my second degree, anything else?

Please help

[aneliz]

You are not screwed...but there are a few things that you need to be aware of:

1. DE courses count the same as 'regular' courses....but only if they are taken as part of a full course load.

2. Part-time years (less than 5.0 full credits between Sept and April) cannot be used for GPA purposes regardless of whether you take 'extra' courses in the summer to make up the course weights. (ie 3.0 between Sept-April + 2.0 in the summer doesn't make a full time year).

3. You CANNOT mix and match years between degree programs...so, for UWO purposes, you will need to use either two years from your BComm or two years from your BA...but you can't use one from each.

Second degrees are treated the same as first degrees...if you use the BA for GPA purposes, the BComm essentially ceases to exist in UWO's eyes...same goes if you use the BComm for GPA...the BA is essentially considered to have not happened.

[osindy]

thatks for the reply so far. Let me clear up some things:
I am not really part-time, just not taking full time at a regular university. I am making up the courses I am missing through DE though I am also taking some classroom courses for a total of 10 courses between sept-april. Also, I plan on using the BA for GPA purposes since I actually don't have any "full" years by western's standards during the BComm.

[TimmyMax]

Hey,

If you are planning on using your BA years, then you will need to have at least two full-time years from that program above the GPA cutoff to qualify for admission. That being said, however, you will only need one year above the posted GPA cutoff to recieve an invitation for an interview- should you be accepted, your acceptance will be conditional on your achieving the posted GPA cutoff in your final year as well. Unfortunately, from the sounds of it, your BComm degree will not be of use to you in this regard.

Best of luck!
Timmy