University of Waterloo Graduates PLEASE!!!

I'm looking to hear from anyone out there and as many people as possible who are IN medical school (ANY medical school) in Canada, who came from the University of Waterloo!
I'm headed there in September, in the Honours Science degree program.
Any tips, recommendations, courses to take (mark-boosters!!), courses to stay away from, profs to try and get, profs to avoid, traps to avoid falling in... I'm looking for THE WORKS here! Also, did you find that you were at a disadvantage being from Waterloo because there is no med school that considers you in their geographical "area"??
Anything and everything you could offer would be much appreciated!! thanks! :0)

hellllo aditiarora,

i "think"-not sure.. i still have couple more days think. lol- i'm gogin to waterloo this september too!!
i will be in pre-optometry/pre-health.

i've seen three other people who are in med from waterloo from this forum i think.
waterloo not having its own med school was my biggest concern too..

however, people DO get into medicine from waterloo. and i also heard that there are many research oppourtinities on campus well nice meetin you. hopefully i'll see you sept!



OH. i could use some tips on courses and other stuff too

"Also, did you find that you were at a disadvantage being from Waterloo because there is no med school that considers you in their geographical "area"??"

I'm only applying fom Waterloo this year, but I can tell you that Western considers all 519 areas codes (Waterloo) in its geographical area.

I went to Waterloo and graduated more than 10 years ago and was accepted to Mac this past year. I don't know if I can answer your specific questions about profs/courses etc. since that is so long ago, but everything I did qualified me at Mac. I took kinesiology and took all my biology, physics and chemistry with the science students (life science stream). There is also a UW engineer in my class as well as some people from Waterloo in the classes ahead of me.

McMaster used to consider geographical status if you were in the "Hamilton Health Region," which included K-W by the way since all the hospitals in Kitchener have Mac as their tertiary care centre. But I seem to recall that McMaster considered all of Ontario equally last year, with no preference from a certain geographical area.

Good luck and work hard. I don't know if Chem 124 (Intro to organic chemistry which we called Killer Chem) is still offered but if it is, just remember it is very manageable as long as you stay on top of it. Don't let people freak you out and scare you how hard things are. They're not, if you stay focused. That is really true for all courses, though, isn't it?

Well, I'm not in med school yet, but I am waitlisted (is that close enough? ). I've just finished my third year of the Honours Pre-Op/Pre-Health program, but I am changing my major to honours Science (or just General Science if I get into med school). So, I will try to think back all the way to first year...if you can, try to get Dr. John Smith for first year physics (He's a great teacher, and he's the cutest old British man you could imagine), and try to get Dr. Bissonnette for first year chem (he's a great teacher...STAY AWAY from Dr. Chieh if you can - he's not so good). Dr. Bols teaches first year cell bio (BIOL 130), and he's fantastic. I did a research term with him last summer. I stuck pretty much with the recommended electives in first year (PSYCH 101, calculus) and I've found that having those has been a real benefit (e.g. PSYCH 101 is a prereq for a lot of upper year courses). Have some fun too, and take what interests you...I've taken music, french and history, purely out of interest. While they haven't been my highest marks, they haven't killed my average either. In short, take what you love. In my years at Waterloo I have had very few BAD profs, and a lot of profs that range from mediocre to very good. You have a great 3 or 4 years ahead of you. Good luck!

Just let me know if you want any more information

Nightrider

Okay, so I must agree ABSOLUTELY, do not take anything taught by Chieh!!! The guy has tenure, so they cannot get rid of him, instead they make him teach chemistry to people they are not trying to keep in chemistry: engineers and everyone else in science. He is brutal. Try getting into the chem for honours chem first year course taught by Bissonette, he is great. Dr. Power, my honours project prof is also great. My one recommendation is pick fun electives. My mom told me how much fun she had had in her undergrad doing a programming course, so I stupidly signed up for one, which was hell. Choose electives that interest you, languages, classics, music, etc. It'll keep you going.

Well, I've just finished my first year of my 3rd degree (2nd at UW) and all of my courses this past year were 1st/2nd year sciences. First and foremost, I have to agree with the last two comments about Chieh. Was enrolled in one of his courses and dropped it (thankfully).

Wasn't quite so fond of Bissonnette as the previous two posters. He wasn't bad - just found the final exam was a bit of an ambush/massacre.

Chem 124 is still offered in the winter term, and despite all the horrible warnings I had about it before taking it, I found it both very enjoyable (much moreso than chem 120/123) and very manageable - I got an 85 and certainly didn't neglect my other courses to get it. You may want to consider taking this one by DE since it's nice to be able to review prof. notes and lectures as many times as you need to (DE taught by Graham Woolford)..

Good luck in the fall!

Aditiarora,

Just finished 3 yrs of honours science and I'm starting med in the fall (Mac). It is possible! I know of at least a half dozen of my classmates also heading for med this year, to Toronto, Western, Ottawa, Mac and McGill.
From what I or anyone else have seen, there is NO disadvantage being from this area and applying to out of town schools. Ottawa requires a higher G.P.A. if you're from outside their region, but the cut-off is manageable (I got an interview there too)
As for 1st year profs, here are a quick few suggestions,
physics = anderson and smith are great.
biology = bols is super, charles can be tough
chem = cheih is BAD (see above!) bissonnette and nazar were good to me

I took electives in math(standard) and lots of economics(many good profs in the faculty)

Good luck in the fall.
H2O LO2 Science Rocks and Waterloo!!!!!

THANKYOU ninjapunk, macMDstudent, nightrider, everyoneloveschem, steak, and head hawg for great awesome information!!!

didn't realize that there were this many med/premeds from waterloo before. this is great.
i think i will go to waterloo this fall. i feel very relieved now. phew.

choosing a undergrad seemed so easy, but as i kept getting acceptances i got confused and eventually.. lost.

when i told people that i might go to waterloo.. people looked at me like i'm crazy.. and asked "why would you go there? it doesnt' have med school" also i got many "oh waterloo's so dead. dont' do there"

blah. it may not have med school.. but i think it has intersting programs.. (pre-health/pre-opt and other coop) and the classes are small (unlike UT and Mcgill) and overall it is a nice, small, quiet environment. (some may call this dead.. but since i'm from TO. i think i could use soem quietness for couple years.

i have to send my response in couple days.. when i have to choose my courses, i will post more questions!!! (my endless questions...) mwahah

well thanks everyone for great great input.
i really appreciate it. annnnddd i love this forum.. what would i do without it??? haha. i'm learning so much and at the same time.. it helps me stay focused. its so great.. BIG thanks to IAN too.

i'm out now. byebye.

As a member of the UWO admissions committee I can GUARANTEE you that UWO DOES NOT consider Waterloo to be in its 'region'...

Preference is given to students that are legit residents of SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO (Windsor, Chatham, Sarnia, London, Tillsonburg, Ingersoll, Tavistock, Kincardine, Wingham, St Mary's, Stratford, etc) Kitchener-Waterloo and Guelph, even though they have 519 phone numbers, are NOT considered southwest, and students from these communities DO NOT receive any preference from UWO...the preference is not determined by phone number anyway...but that is beside the point.

Another point to consider: any preferences at any schools will be based on your PERMANENT address...not your undergraduate school...so, someone from BC that does their undergrad at UWO, would still be a BC resident for med school purposes unless they had PERMANENTLY moved to Ontario when they started undergrad and not returned to BC every summer...