Uni Questions

Well, going into grade 12 at school. My grades are okay currently I guess. My Grade 11 average was like 83.6 plus I got stuck with 2 horrible teachers. One teacher was just horrid at teaching causing the class to get like a 50 class average and the other one was just a racist woman who did not like me at all for some reason or another. Anyways that average is like not my real caliber because I didn't really put any effort into my schoolwork.

But yada yada I know Grade 12 I'm gonna work my ass of to my true potential. Long story short I'm just trying to figure out what Uni I should apply to. Planning on getting a bsc and applying to med school or something (yes i know the everyones sick of hearing this).

I'm curious which unis are like easier and are still capable of teaching properly without all the competition.

I'm also curiious if all med schools really do disregard what school you attended and just focus on like your mark and ignore your school. Like will going to a uni thats less known for science and more so buisness lower my chances to get in if I had attended a school better known for science.

So my question is which schools are competent. Any other advice will be appreciated.

Thanks

In the states, yes it does matter a lot which school you went to. But in Canada it's quite different. All schools are really quite equal educationally as why Maclean's magazine doesn't really focus on education but moreso on student experience, etc. Very few canadian professionals display or mention where they graduated from (do you know where YOUR doctor graduated from?). Many schools focus more on different programs but since they are all 75% subsidized by the government equally, it's all pretty much equivilent.

To summarize, you can't go to community college and become a doctor. Anywhere other than that is pretty much irrelevant.

He went to mcmaster and got a satisfactory graduation thingy.

Doesn't matter where you go for undergrad as long as it's a university (rather than a college). It also isn't relevant whether you go to a university "more known for business," or even if you choose to major in business rather than science. Most people who go into med school have science degrees, but only because that's who tends to choose to apply. People who studied something else are still given an equal chance, as long as they have at least the required courses and (at most places) the MCAT.

Thank you both for your help.

The thing is that if you go to a school that has few people in the program you are looking to enter then you will have problems with your course selections.

Some of the classes will be full, and you will be stuck with bad times like 8:30am

So either go to a school like McMaster for a medical type school, or go to a big one like York or UFT.

Also UFT and Mcmaster have really strict rules, they kick you out if you fail certain courses and then your not allowed back into the program. And if you have a problem like having a car accident on the way to your midterm your professor is not going to give you a makeup. <-- this is all from my friends.

I go to York and the rules are nice and lenient, one time I slept in for a midterm and I emailed the Prof and I got to do a make up. I also like that I can pick the course and the time so that I can create my schedule exactly including which Prof to take. McMaster doesn't allow that.

Would you recommend York? My friend is currently going there and I am really considering York but he says the profs there can't really teach.

Originally Posted by Stran

Would you recommend York? My friend is currently going there and I am really considering York but he says the profs there can't really teach.

Blaming the teacher is a ridiculous excuse you always hear. If the teachers cant teach then I assume everyone is failing or getting 50's right? University isn't grade school, the information is there and given/available to you, you learn it, the end. Blaming the professor normally means someone didn't put in the effort or lacks the ability. In most cases, professors are simply guiding you through the information you're already given, highlighting important parts, or just acting as a timetable to accomplishing a certain amount. Universities are a different breed of school, the sooner you get used to their methods, the better you'll do. If you treat it like grade/high schoo and rely on the solely the teaching to tell you everything, you're not going to get very far. Same with the excuses of difficult tests... that's why curving is used.

Long story short, York is a good choice. 80% average for highschool will get you into almost anywhere. You've been misinformed about getting into the bigname schools like UofT, there's so much competition there that, thanks to curving, you're more likely to suffer than profit from attending a big program. For most people, it'll actually hurt your chances for Med schools than help. If you have a 95+ HS average, and love studying, and want to compete with the top students in the province/country on the same bell curve, go nuts. A high mark from UofT life sciences = +++, best of luck getting it. York, Brock, McMaster, Guelph, Ottawa are all excellent choice stepping stones to a MD. Don't forget that in the majority of cases... as soon as you reach Med School, or a Graduate (MA) program too... your former degree/mark is worth about the same amount the paper costs in 'most' cases. The MD/MA/PhD etc will always override the former degree in importance, so that's where you'll have to be more careful about selection.

Ps. I had a friend with a 90% highschool averge, and 95% OAC average with a full math/science load. She failed miserably in university. Adapt or die.

I'd have to disagree there.....I went through 4 years of engineering at UofT and never read one text book...only took notes from class (ie: by teachers) and never had a failing grade. I find the type of teacher you have makes a big difference...ofcourse if the teachers sucked, I'd be reading the textbooks word for word no doubt...but thankfully the teachers at UofT Civil Eng were on average very good (a few less then average ones)...but again I never read the text...only thing I used the text for was examples and questions/answers...reading the body of the chapters? NEVER! That was considered quite evil! My tip: ASK LOTS OF QUESTIONS AND EXTRA HELP IF NEEDED! And find SMART friends! And if possible become roomates with these SMART friends!

Originally Posted by DrLee

Blaming the teacher is a ridiculous excuse you always hear. If the teachers cant teach then I assume everyone is failing or getting 50's right? University isn't grade school, the information is there and given/available to you, you learn it, the end. Blaming the professor normally means someone didn't put in the effort or lacks the ability. In most cases, professors are simply guiding you through the information you're already given, highlighting important parts, or just acting as a timetable to accomplishing a certain amount. Universities are a different breed of school, the sooner you get used to their methods, the better you'll do. If you treat it like grade/high schoo and rely on the solely the teaching to tell you everything, you're not going to get very far. Same with the excuses of difficult tests... that's why curving is used.

Long story short, York is a good choice. 80% average for highschool will get you into almost anywhere. You've been misinformed about getting into the bigname schools like UofT, there's so much competition there that, thanks to curving, you're more likely to suffer than profit from attending a big program. For most people, it'll actually hurt your chances for Med schools than help. If you have a 95+ HS average, and love studying, and want to compete with the top students in the province/country on the same bell curve, go nuts. A high mark from UofT life sciences = +++, best of luck getting it. York, Brock, McMaster, Guelph, Ottawa are all excellent choice stepping stones to a MD. Don't forget that in the majority of cases... as soon as you reach Med School, or a Graduate (MA) program too... your former degree/mark is worth about the same amount the paper costs in 'most' cases. The MD/MA/PhD etc will always override the former degree in importance, so that's where you'll have to be more careful about selection.

Ps. I had a friend with a 90% highschool averge, and 95% OAC average with a full math/science load. She failed miserably in university. Adapt or die.