McGill Science Degree as prep for med school

[ejs5025]

I've just completed my first year of university (I know, it's pretty early for me to be worrying about med school, but the earlier the better eh?) and I obtained a GPA of 4.29 out of 4.3. I wasn't really part of any extracurricular activities (besides church involvement), but the fact that I had a girlfriend all through the school year took up a lot of my time. I'm also planning on doing some volunteer work this summer. I was wondering if I would be better off to focus on being a well rounded person, rather than simply focus on high grades. I've heard that volunteering plays a huge role in getting into med school, and yet, most students strive to attain ultra high GPAs. I'm also a bit worried about attending a much larger university next year. My first year of studies took place at the University of Moncton (Moncton being an intellectual backwater, located in New-Brunswick, Canada). This is a fairly small university (about 6000 students), most of whom don't have very high educational ambitions. Therefore, my question is as follows: do students coming from small, disreputable universities have a hard time getting into med school, or doing well at larger, distinguished universities in general (as in a bachelor's degree)?

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[SilentNight]

How do you get a GPA above 4.0? What system is that?

Yes med schools want well-rounded applicants but at the same time excellent academic performance. As far as school prestige goes, the consensus is that as long as you excel with your GPA and MCAT you should be good. Note that most applicants though receive a bachelors degree prior to applying...and in my opinion a big university allows for greater opportunities such as finding research experience.

 

[Schmitty]

How do you get a GPA above 4.0? What system is that?

Yes med schools want well-rounded applicants but at the same time excellent academic performance. As far as school prestige goes, the consensus is that as long as you excel with your GPA and MCAT you should be good. Note that most applicants though receive a bachelors degree prior to applying...and in my opinion a big university allows for greater opportunities such as finding research experience.

At some universities (very few, mind you) they count a 85-89 as 4.0 and 90-100 as 4.3, 4.3 being the highest you can attain, instead of just have 85-100 as 4.0 or 85-89 as 3.9 and 90-100 as 4.0 as most Canadian med schools do.

 

[paradocs we are]

OP, as a New Brunswicker, you'll be eligible for Dalhousie's medical school. I'd say with a bit of volunteer work and some research exposure, you should be fine for Dal.