Timeline
High-School
If you are interested in medicine already, it is important to consider your university/college options (see Early Bird Advice).
1st Year
Try to get involved with clubs and other extracurricular activities (but keeping in mind that strong academics should still be the focus). Make sure you plan your 1st year courses to meet the prerequisites of schools you're interested in, for example, some majors (e.g. biology) will automatically fulfill most your prerequisites whereas in others you will use many of your electives to fill them (e.g. literature), keep this in mind
1st Year - Summer
If possible, try to find a volunteer, research or work position that will benefit you in the future
2nd Year & 3rd Year
By this point you should be familiar enough with your university to know what academic courseload you can handle. Really try to get yourself out there in terms of extracurriculars - become more involved in clinical volunteering, school volunteering, in the student council, with clubs, do research, participate in sports, pursue arts & music, and so on. These will form the bulk of your non-academic profile.
2nd Year & 3rd Year - MCAT
Most people will write the MCAT in either their 2nd or 3rd year summer. The advantage of right after 2nd year is that all the material is fresh in your mind. However, many people are still not sure at this point whether medicine is for them. In addition, there are often special opportunities that present themselves which should be taken if given. The only disadvantage to taking it in the 3rd year summer is that if you are planning to apply at the same time (and chances are, you are), if you score poorly, you may not be able to rewrite in time for the new scores to be included in your application.
2nd Year Summer
Many people will choose to go on an international exchange or volunteer stint during either this summer or the 3rd year summer. Weigh the pros (experience) and cons (cost, time) yourself. Consider applying in 2nd year summer if you have excelled academically as well as extracurricularly and have made strong contacts for reference writers. However, remember that not all schools will accept a student without a Bachelor's. It should be noted that applying is a costly process and therefore it may be cost-effective to only apply IP as being OOP & having no bachelors are severe disadvantages. Some people use this application as a 'trial run', however, given the costs, time, hassle, etc. this is not recommended
3rd Year Summer
If all has gone well, you will be a strong candidate and ready to apply (or reapply, as the case may be). Judge how strong a candidate you are and where you are willing to go, and based on that you should have a fairly good idea of where to apply; however, applying broadly always helps and never hurts your chances. Get letters of reference, transcripts, etc.in order early (e.g. use Interfolio for your LORs) to avoid last-minute hassles. The editor knows a friend who submitted the OMSAS application 10 minutes too late and therefore it could not be submitted (since most applications are now electronic, once the deadline passes, no matter how much you beg you will not be able to submit).
4th year
Do not slack off in your grades now, for a number of reasons: 1) some schools have requirements that you do not mess up your grades in the application year and 2) if you do not get in, this will be looked on VERY badly in future applications. A poor first year is recoverable as it can be excused as immaturity/etc. (and some schools will not even count it), whereas a bad 4th year is very hard to justify away.
4th year Summer
You will be in 1 of 3 positions
- Accepted!!! Please do not die of alcohol poisoning, this would be an unfortunate and avoidable early end to your career. =) If the circumstances warrant it, now is the time to ask for a deferall. Unfortunately, this is not easily given in Canadian medical schools and requires a legitimate reason.
- Waitlisted: if you choose to continue volunteering/research/etc. be sure to make others aware that at any point you may have to leave. Either way, you will find out if you are either accepted or rejected soon enough.
- Rejected: Ask for feedback from the schools and your peers on your perceived weaknesses. If you have not yet graduated (double major, co-op, etc.) continue improving your application, and apply again next year (also: re-evaluate the strength of your application and where you are willing to go). If you have already graduated, you must decide whether to go off to work, to graduate school, travel for a year, or do a 5th 'unclassified' year. Note that if you decide to enter graduate school, it is typically at least a 2 year commitment (Masters) and medical schools will most likely not allow you to leave your graduate program early.
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