r/premedcanada

What MCAT score did you have. What is a good score to shoot for. Not doing too well right now so I was just wondering lol.

Also for Canada, realistically, after 127 on science sections (western cutoff), it doesn't matter AT ALL right (except CARS). Is this correct?

EDIT:
Also, fun question, would you guys rather have a 520 MCAT (128 CARS) or like 510 MCAT (130 CARS).

Typically I mentor for the university of Toronto which I still do but they have always matched me to mentees of my same ethnicity which has gotten kind of lame for 21 years.

I am a medical doctor who runs a large practice and run three separate other businesses including a research corporation and consultancy.

I will review the first ten people interested and try to interview top 3.

I’ve always wanted to pay it forward.

Ideally this is for an undergraduate student at the university of Toronto who wishes to pursue medical school.

Please DM me a CV and transcript(s). I will not take you though if you have no realistic chance of getting in.

As the title suggests, my first year of undergraduate begins in September and I am going to UBCV. I wanted to see if I can get any advice on what extracurriculars I should focus on for med school. Whether there’s anything general or something specific to Metro Vancouver ,I’m open to hearing anything! I want to stay in Canada for med school and I know it’s competitive so I was wondering if you can give any advice at all to help me and any other pre med reading this get into med school, thanks!

im the only one in my extended family doing premed and i feel like theres so much to know but its hard to find personalized advice for your own path. my school has mentorship programs but all the mentors are just students that want to put that on their resume rather than actually being passionate about helping others. where do i find people that actually care and ideally dont charge absurd amounts of money?

Hi everyone! I’m applying to med this cycle and trying to choose references.

I founded and am the leader of an organization, and the person who can speak most specifically to my leadership is someone who has been involved with it for a couple of years. They have seen me coordinate projects, manage a team, delegate tasks, make decisions, navigate conflict, and respond as the organization has grown.

The grey area is that while they are part of the organization, we are also close friends. They are not just a random friend writing a reference, but they also aren't a supervisor or community member. I just feel stuck because they have the closest view of how I lead and can speak the best about who I am and my character.

For schools that say “peers” are not appropriate referees, how would you interpret this? Would a long-term volunteer/team member in an organization you founded be considered a peer, or could they be appropriate if they directly observed your leadership in that setting? If not, who should you use as a reference when you are the founder?

Any advice is greatly appreciated, thanks everybody!

hello! i'm currently a grade 10 student. I was on the track to do IB next year in grade 11 and 12, but am switching out over the summer into a healthcare SHSM with a co-op component. Did I make the right choice? I want to eventually go into medicine, and have been told IB is helpful for building study habits that make it "easier" to do well in undergrad, and get a higher GPA, but I've also been told IB can make it harder to receive higher averages in high school, which is very important for health sci undergrad applications here. I feel like a lot of the people I know who are getting into the top health sci undergrad programs and are doing well in undergrad did IB, and I don't really know too many people who went on the same path with a healthcare SHSM. I know it's pretty irrelevant in Canada, but if anyone here who is currently on the premed track can speak on the benefits of doing IB vs a healthcare SHSM in high school, I would really appreciate it.

Not sure when this was updated, looks like Queens isn’t doing a classic MMI and panel anymore, now just a “early phase MMI” and later panel.

It seems to serve the same purpose as their MMI, but everyone will have to do it: “The early-phase MMI will be conducted virtually and include an initial external assessment prior to QARS” … yet, it won’t be assessed unless you are chosen by the lottery.

https://meds.queensu.ca/academics/mdprogram/admissions/methods-selection

This might be what Ottawa was talking about when they said they would be doing an asynchronous MMI in collaboration with other Ontario schools in replacement of Casper. But Queens seems to still be using Casper.

Edited for clarity and more quotes.

Edit: link to the early phase MMI info for Queens and Ottawa https://acuityinsights.app/upcoming-video-interview-dates/

My current job is very stable and pays 200k (starting)-250k (after several years) with great benefits and good government pension plan.
I love medicine but would pursuing medicine actually make sense professionally or financially, or would I be giving up an unusually good career for something I may be romanticizing?

I know admission is never guaranteed, but I think I have a realistic shot. I have a strong undergraduate GPA (low 90s, mostly A+ and a few A/A-) and a PhD in science.

Hello everybody, first time posting here. I'm Non trad, graduated a bunch of years ago from uOttawa with a bachelor's in Biomedical sciences. I don't have any clinical exposure or job experience in the field ( courtesy of the job market, been applying for every entry level position, even volunteering posts are rare these days). Have a bunch of volunteering but mostly outside of Canada, I had most of my schooling during COVID so no real communication with any professors. I graduated Summa Cum Laude ( GPA: 9.41), and have a 524 MCAT (130 cars), taking CASPER in August. I have pivoted into management and have support and solid letters of rec from higher ups in the company as well as a bunch of students I mentored as well as from personal mentors of mine ( somebody tell me if these letters are even valid/valuable). I moved here alone a few years ago so finances and sorting out my immigration to be eligible for Med School was the real initial issue for me ( would really appreciate any help or advice from anyone that went from immigrant to now studying in medical school). I live in Ontario, so worth it to only apply in province or should i apply to all canadian schools ? really stressed as i feel the window for this cycle is closing in. ANY advice is appreciated, treat me as if i don't know ANYTHING lol.

Thank you so very much.

If I shadowed two doctors for a pretty consistent amount of time, and both experienced are pretty significant ones to my journey, how can I incorporate this into my ABS? I’m not super familiar with the system (did undergrad in US), but I understand Canada is not so fond of shadowing due to patient privacy and whatever…

I’m also lacking in ideas in general for the ABS as a younger applicant. Any advice?

Thanks in advance!

3.76 gpa, 130 cars, nontrad

i know a 4q is a must for me, and i know our exact percentile won't be visible to us - but do i need to aim for just 4th, or high 4th? my test is coming up soon and i can't tell if i'm ready or if i should schedule it later to give myself more prep time and get the best score possible. currently i give reasonably complete, empathetic, balanced responses but they aren't always perfect and i can miss a key insight or stakeholder sometimes. occassionally i get cut off on my last sentence or few words.

i 2qed last year so tbh i shouldn't act like 4q is a given for me hahaha but i've been prepping for several months so i'm hoping it will be better this time around.

i saw a stats chart circulating from a few years ago but i'm not sure how accurate it still is. any insights or advice from low gpa applicants who got mac interviews?

For UBC, my average is just under 92, but this past cycle I know several people that had an average between 90-92 that were rejected with a 4Q NAQ. Is it possible to get an interview when GPA is slightly below average? Is the NAQ like casper where a "low" vs "high" quartile is differentiated?

For UOttawa, I originally didn't plan on applying due to the extra layer of regional protection, but seeing as they removed casper, do we know what else they will be evaluating aside from GPA/ABS?

Hi all! I'm looking for a TMU med student to review my responses to the supplemental application. I found the Qs on the website and assuming they'll stay the same each year. Preferably a Black candidate b/c that's the stream I'll be applying through or other racialized folk. If you are able to provide feedback on my ABS / application as a whole, that would also be most welcome. Please let me know your rates and qualifications.

From, a 1st time applicant xD

God forbid the day UofT med increases MCAT cutoffs. Guarantee u that’ll wipe out majority of the applicant pool from these 2 jokes of programs.

I’m a bit confused about the chemistry requirements for medical school. I took a full year of general chemistry in my first year and am going to complete Organic Chemistry I. If I’m trying to keep my options open for both Canadian and U.S. medical schools, do I also need to take Organic Chemistry II, or is one semester of organic chemistry enough?

is it possible for ip, rural stream uofa interview with a

4.0 gpa

but 25-50th percentile personal activities?

what percentile would be a good chance for interview with my stats?

Using UofT as a reference, in 2019, they had about 3.6k applications. Fast forward to 2025, that number increased to a whopping 4.7k, despite seats staying relatively the same. Similar trends have been observed at other Canadian med school. What accounts for this large increase?

Update: Yesterday, I wrote my 3rd FL. I was very content with my performance and improvement since my last one. Long story short, I got a 522! Here is the breakdown of my score:

Chem/Phys --> 130

CARS --> 130

Bio/Biochem --> 132

Psych/Soc --> 130

I made sure to take the exam in test taking conditions as usual (started at 8:00 am sharp). Going into this one, I told myself I would use the full amount of time for C/P since I rushed through it during my previous FL and it led to careless errors. This time, the mistakes I made weren't careless, but rather due to minor misconceptions which can definitely be fixed in time for test day.

As for CARS, I think this will be the section that will make or break the 528. I ended up running out of time and had to guess the last 3 questions (I didn't even finish reading the last passage). I'm going to be starting the AAMC CARS question pack sometime soon (in test taking conditions). I was using JW as my primary CARS resource, and while it's very useful, it just isn't the same as AAMC. I don't really struggle with reading comprehension, but my pacing is actually treacherous.

I felt really good about BB during the test, and I was happy to see that I wasn't overconfident. I owe it all to MilesDown + Captain Hook + UW. My pacing for this section was elite in comparison to CARS. I spent less than 30s on each discrete question, allowing me to spend just under 2 minutes for each passage based problem.

For psych soc, I am not concerned anymore. Pankow is my saviour.

Quote: "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
— Eleanor Roosevelt

I feel conflicted when I think about the interactions I’ve had with other pre-meds regarding academic integrity.

One of my classmates was talking about how they studied an old exam from a friend while studying for an upcoming midterm, and when they sat down for the midterm, they ended up only being in the seat for 30 minutes because it was the same exam they had received from their friend.

I am unsure how to feel about this situation, as the professor clearly indicates on the exams that they are given back to students for studying purposes and not for distribution to students outside of that class semester. But some of my classmates say that it’s the professors fault for being lazy and handing similar exams from year to year.

In another instance, a classmate asked someone if they could see their final assignment for a previously taken course. They handed over the final project assignment without question, even though they knew that the professor has stated multiple times to their students that sharing final project assignments, whether graded or ungraded, is prohibited as the paper is supposed to be written individually.

I struggle to come to terms with how I feel. All of these people are incredibly intelligent, hard-working and involved in the community. Of course, they have gotten into medical school. I have no doubt that they will be great doctors.

But compared to students who abided by the rules, they were also working at an advantage. They clearly would have done well regardless of the help they received, but it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I’m not sure what to think?