So there was an uncertainty I had in regards to my UBC online courses from this fall. Because I got my exams deferred, I did not know when I would be writing them. I did not even know if I would be able to write them by June 1st in order to have them included in my GPA for UBC in 2016. Well it turns out that the latest I will be writing them is in April. They say that I'm guaranteed to write the final in April, but if the professor is open to the student writing it earlier, then they are allowed to do that, but they do not have to provide that option. So I've spoken with one of my professors and he said I can simply write it in his office at UBC whenever I please. This is great news because the more flexible my professors are, the better. For my other two UBC classes I'm not quite sure when I will be writing the exams.
I also got a mark back for a sizable paper I wrote in my health psychology class and I got a respectable 80% on it. This means that I will get a minimum of 85% in the course if I ace the final. The final is totally multiple choice and very simply based on the textbook. If I can memorize the details of the text, then I should get quite a high mark. I actually have a new method for developing textbook summary notes that my biopsych professor showed me. The method is called the 'Cornell Method'. My old biosych prof has very high praise for this method, and I'll be testing it out for some, and possibly all of my classes because he speaks so highly of it and I trust him so much. If I find that this method substantially improves my studying efficiency, then I will post more about this method, but for anyone interested there are a lot of explanations if you google it. I reached out to my professor for advice because we are somewhat close because we've both had mental health problems and he is a very helping person in general so I always feel that I can ask him for some help. Not to mention he is an extremely accomplished and intelligent individual, both academically and non-academically.
Now that I have a new method for studying textbooks, it is making me feel a lot better about my abnormal psychology class because I was getting bogged down by the text and wasn't very efficient in general. Now I'm feeling a lot more confident that I will synthesize the information efficiently. This is so important for me now because all of my classes will be online, so the textbook and other materials will be so crucial for me to learn the material and get high marks.
I woke up quite early today and I'm really feeling like it's time to buckle down. I've had a long day today and I'm looking to continue my momentum and take it day by day. I really feel like my old self again where I had the right mindset and attitude and the right work ethic. What I mean by mindset and attitude and work ethic is that when I was finishing up high school I was so concerned with my coursework that I genuinely was interested in all of the concepts I was learning. Every time there was a new concept I felt excited to learn it and master it and apply it come test day. It was sort of like that my open-mindedness of thinking that "I can be successful in learning this material" was how the ball initially got rolling. Then my work ethic kicked in and I would do homework for hours on end, only taking breaks to eat and exercise. Then naturally the course material came to me if I had the right attitude and put in the proper work. The marks followed as well. Back then I was falling short of 95s and 100s instead of 80s and 85s like I do now. Of course everyone says university is harder than high school, and generally speaking it is for one main reason, the pace of the courses. I mean in sciences most of the curriculum for grade 11/12 courses here in BC are the same as in 1st year science. In most classes the concepts aren't hard, but it is just doing the work at a quicker pace. Anyways my TRU exams are likely going to be scheduled for January 16th and maybe January 17th. I still have to cover a lot of material but if I condense my schedule into 9-12 hour days like how I used to study for exams, then I know I will be successful. I have to keep in mind that the hardest part is studying. Taking the exam itself is just the easy part if you are well prepared. I have until January 7th to submit all of my assignments. I will have to take at least two days off for Christmas Eve and Christmas. I know that if I really had to, I could complete all of my assignments even I started on January 1st, because I've already completed some of the course. But I don't want to leave it down to that. I want to put the work in from now until December 23rd. Take a couple days off, then get back at studying on Boxing day or on December 27th. If I do really well over the next week and put in 12 hour days, then the time from December 23rd until January 1st can be a bit more relaxed, where I can visit with family more and friends. I just looked at a calendar, and because I started my TRU courses so long ago, I've forgotten a lot of the stuff I read from before. So right now, my goal is to go through a unit per day. That would allow me to have read through the entire module and readings for both courses. Then all I would need to do is complete the assignments. I'm going to complete the assignments as best I can when I go through each unit. I'm going to start with chemistry. I'm hoping I'm not too rusty at a calculation based course. Although I think most of it is fairly simple. My goal tomorrow is to put in a 12 hour day. I'm going to try to put in a few hours tonight after I eat dinner too. For some reason I feel a bit of apprehension, but once I finish going through my first unit, I think that will go away. Kind of like being nervous before a big game. But just like a big game, I can't afford to screw this up, as my 2016 application is depending on it.
Once I'm done studying tomorrow night I'll post a quick update on how things went, how I feel about doing a 12 hour day, and if I think it is sustainable or if I even want to do that. I'm hoping it's all good news but I won't know until I've done it.
I should probably just think of this as being a stepping stone to
becoming a physician/surgeon/scientist. And when I think of it like
that, I start to feel pretty good about what I'm doing.
Monday 14 December 2015
Saturday 12 December 2015
Ontario GPA and Using Addition by Subtraction to Apply to UBC Med in 2016
So it turns out I misinterpreted the Ontario applicant manual for McMaster. I actually need 90 credits by May of 2017 to apply in 2016. So this gave me hope for 2016, and I calculated my GPA for Ontario schools, but sadly my GPA is not high enough to meet the cutoff to apply to McMaster. It's not even that close, as McMaster does not remove the worst year or use any other weighting formula.
The only way that I can apply to McMaster is if I get all of my failed courses removed from my record. I don't really think that can happen so unfortunately my hopes of applying to McMaster in 2016 are basically non-existent as it is impossible for me to get a 3.0 cumulative GPA by the summer of 2016 without having my failed courses removed. If my courses do get removed, then everything changes. But now I have to continue on assuming my record stays as it is.
I'm shifting my focus back to UBC. I've decided I'm going to try to reduce my courseload for the BCIT Cardiology Diploma program as much as I can. I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier. This way, I can pump out the TRU online university courses (that I need for med school) and work at them at my own pace to try to complete as many courses as I can so that I will meet the credit requirement for using the AGPA calculation. I need to speak with an advisor to see if the timeline I've created will be possible. I'm just trying to load the majority of the work onto the latter stages of the program, so that I can use the next two semesters to focus on undergraduate coursework and possibly completing the MCAT if need be. I think I've got a solid plan for completing my BCIT program, but I am going to speak with an advisor to confirm. Hopefully I won't get any bad news from her saying that I need to complete a certain number of credits in January. My plan is to take only 1.5 credits at BCIT in January, and then just adding more courses in subsequent semesters. As long as the advisor says that my program plan makes sense for me to graduate in from BCIT in 3 years, then I am absolutely good to go! If I'm only doing 1.5 credits in January at BCIT, then I know that I can meet the credit requirement for UBC medical school. It will be tough and it may come down to the wire, but things are starting to look a bit more optimistic for me applying to UBC in 2017. I am pretty certain my BCIT program plan makes sense, but I will call an advisor next week and I will post on here once she tells me that I am allowed to only take 1.5 credits in January. I don't want to get my hopes up too much but I'm pretty certain that I will be okay with BCIT. Once I have the thumbs up from BCIT, I can go about planning for my courses that I will be starting in mid January. It will be mid January because I still have to finish my two TRU courses I'm already registered in. I still have to complete some assignments for those and then I can focus on studying for the final exams. I'm going to be trying to complete my assignments over the next week so that I can take a few days off around Christmas.
The only way that I can apply to McMaster is if I get all of my failed courses removed from my record. I don't really think that can happen so unfortunately my hopes of applying to McMaster in 2016 are basically non-existent as it is impossible for me to get a 3.0 cumulative GPA by the summer of 2016 without having my failed courses removed. If my courses do get removed, then everything changes. But now I have to continue on assuming my record stays as it is.
I'm shifting my focus back to UBC. I've decided I'm going to try to reduce my courseload for the BCIT Cardiology Diploma program as much as I can. I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier. This way, I can pump out the TRU online university courses (that I need for med school) and work at them at my own pace to try to complete as many courses as I can so that I will meet the credit requirement for using the AGPA calculation. I need to speak with an advisor to see if the timeline I've created will be possible. I'm just trying to load the majority of the work onto the latter stages of the program, so that I can use the next two semesters to focus on undergraduate coursework and possibly completing the MCAT if need be. I think I've got a solid plan for completing my BCIT program, but I am going to speak with an advisor to confirm. Hopefully I won't get any bad news from her saying that I need to complete a certain number of credits in January. My plan is to take only 1.5 credits at BCIT in January, and then just adding more courses in subsequent semesters. As long as the advisor says that my program plan makes sense for me to graduate in from BCIT in 3 years, then I am absolutely good to go! If I'm only doing 1.5 credits in January at BCIT, then I know that I can meet the credit requirement for UBC medical school. It will be tough and it may come down to the wire, but things are starting to look a bit more optimistic for me applying to UBC in 2017. I am pretty certain my BCIT program plan makes sense, but I will call an advisor next week and I will post on here once she tells me that I am allowed to only take 1.5 credits in January. I don't want to get my hopes up too much but I'm pretty certain that I will be okay with BCIT. Once I have the thumbs up from BCIT, I can go about planning for my courses that I will be starting in mid January. It will be mid January because I still have to finish my two TRU courses I'm already registered in. I still have to complete some assignments for those and then I can focus on studying for the final exams. I'm going to be trying to complete my assignments over the next week so that I can take a few days off around Christmas.
Wednesday 9 December 2015
Reality
I am very much a positive and optimistic person. However, since my biopsych mark came out earlier and when I was doing some projections for applying to medical school in 2016 while writing my last blog post earlier today, it didn't quite hit me yet that there is a strong chance that I won't be able to apply to UBC this year. I guess I was holding out hope that I can complete all of the necessary credits for the AGPA calculation. But that is going to be pretty much nearly impossible. I'm feeling a bit down that I probably won't get my chance this year.
All things considered things have gone pretty well since I went back to school in January of 2014. My average is hovering around 80% since returning. It is just my past grades that are holding me back from applying. But I know that things could have been better or maybe even worst. But right now I'm finding it hard to find the silver lining. I know what my goal is, but it is very very nice to have those positive re-enforcers to keep you going through the grind of school. For example, I haven't received any scholarships or awards since returning to school in 2014. Also most of my marks have been in the B+ range instead of the A range.
I need a plan. But I am not a very patient person at all. I was really hoping to apply to medical school this year. But I guess my plan is just to become consistently efficient. I've been trying to avoid burnout and I've been successful that way. I think I am pretty efficient with my time. It is just that the amount of time I put in to school work is lacking. I actually own my own online business and I routinely have errands to run for that. I also try to have a social life and have time to relax as well.
I just always feel discouraged that I'm not putting in 10 hour days for my schooling. I feel like that is what I need to be doing since I'm going to be doing that in medical school and in residency as well. But I guess the silver lining is that even if I put in 60% of that time at least 4 times a week, then I'm essentially guaranteed results because I'm currently doing less than that. I'm just trying to think of the positives right now so I can continue on with this same situation until 2017 and likely beyond if I don't get in on my first try. I'm also looking forward to getting involved with some extracurricular activities that I feel would be very beneficial towards my development in becoming a physician.
I didn't want it to come down to this, but there is still one thing that I can be optimistic about, but it is a major wildcard.
I'm currently pursuing withdrawals from some of my failed courses in the past. I've been successful in getting a few of them removed but not all. I originally had like 14 or 15 failed classes, (I can't exactly remember how many, I tried not to think about it), but I was able to get some removed to bring my total down to 11 failed courses. Now I am pursuing the removal of a few more. The basis of the retroactive withdrawals is due to medical reasons. It is quite difficult to get courses removed and it takes a very long time. Quite a few months in my experience. I'm not entirely sure when I will hear back about this, but it could be the good news I'm looking for. Any removed failed courses should help out my situation in one way or another. Although I haven't done any calculations as to what my new GPA would be if I did get some courses removed. There is also the chance that it does not even help me out that much, because the AGPA might have removed the courses from the calculation anyways. But I'm not sure which courses and from what years will be acted upon, and that is optimistic because I do not think that any more of my courses will get removed. The only reason I'm still holding up is that because it is all kind of up in the air and I was surprised when I had a few courses removed the last time that I did it. I'll post once I hear a response from the school about whether or not my courses got removed.
These are the times that I miss my ex-girlfriend. She was always my biggest supporter and she always believed that I could get in to medical school. It would be nice to talk to her again but she doesn't want to talk to me right now, and probably never again. I miss her support and being in a loving relationship with her. Losing her has really made me appreciate what I had. But, just like my hopes of applying to UBC med school for 2016 are slime to none, so are the chances of me talking to her again.
All things considered things have gone pretty well since I went back to school in January of 2014. My average is hovering around 80% since returning. It is just my past grades that are holding me back from applying. But I know that things could have been better or maybe even worst. But right now I'm finding it hard to find the silver lining. I know what my goal is, but it is very very nice to have those positive re-enforcers to keep you going through the grind of school. For example, I haven't received any scholarships or awards since returning to school in 2014. Also most of my marks have been in the B+ range instead of the A range.
I need a plan. But I am not a very patient person at all. I was really hoping to apply to medical school this year. But I guess my plan is just to become consistently efficient. I've been trying to avoid burnout and I've been successful that way. I think I am pretty efficient with my time. It is just that the amount of time I put in to school work is lacking. I actually own my own online business and I routinely have errands to run for that. I also try to have a social life and have time to relax as well.
I just always feel discouraged that I'm not putting in 10 hour days for my schooling. I feel like that is what I need to be doing since I'm going to be doing that in medical school and in residency as well. But I guess the silver lining is that even if I put in 60% of that time at least 4 times a week, then I'm essentially guaranteed results because I'm currently doing less than that. I'm just trying to think of the positives right now so I can continue on with this same situation until 2017 and likely beyond if I don't get in on my first try. I'm also looking forward to getting involved with some extracurricular activities that I feel would be very beneficial towards my development in becoming a physician.
I didn't want it to come down to this, but there is still one thing that I can be optimistic about, but it is a major wildcard.
I'm currently pursuing withdrawals from some of my failed courses in the past. I've been successful in getting a few of them removed but not all. I originally had like 14 or 15 failed classes, (I can't exactly remember how many, I tried not to think about it), but I was able to get some removed to bring my total down to 11 failed courses. Now I am pursuing the removal of a few more. The basis of the retroactive withdrawals is due to medical reasons. It is quite difficult to get courses removed and it takes a very long time. Quite a few months in my experience. I'm not entirely sure when I will hear back about this, but it could be the good news I'm looking for. Any removed failed courses should help out my situation in one way or another. Although I haven't done any calculations as to what my new GPA would be if I did get some courses removed. There is also the chance that it does not even help me out that much, because the AGPA might have removed the courses from the calculation anyways. But I'm not sure which courses and from what years will be acted upon, and that is optimistic because I do not think that any more of my courses will get removed. The only reason I'm still holding up is that because it is all kind of up in the air and I was surprised when I had a few courses removed the last time that I did it. I'll post once I hear a response from the school about whether or not my courses got removed.
These are the times that I miss my ex-girlfriend. She was always my biggest supporter and she always believed that I could get in to medical school. It would be nice to talk to her again but she doesn't want to talk to me right now, and probably never again. I miss her support and being in a loving relationship with her. Losing her has really made me appreciate what I had. But, just like my hopes of applying to UBC med school for 2016 are slime to none, so are the chances of me talking to her again.
Biopsych Mark, and very little hope for 2016 applications to UBC or McMaster
So I got 77.5% on my final exam and ended up with a 76 in the course.
I really thought I was going to get at least 80% in the course. I
looked at my exam breakdown and I got way more questions wrong on the
multiple choice than I had thought I did. Once again I did quite well on
the short and long answer sections though but for some reason I didn't
do too well on the multiple choice. I guess the course is done with now
and there isn't anything I can do about this course. This is a big
surprise though as I thought I would've got above 80% on the final,
judging by how I felt after I wrote the exam. I didn't study for long
enough and this might come back to bite me.
My average isn't that bad after the AGPA calculation is used to drop the lowest year, however, the biggest hurdle right now is me completing 90 credits after my worst year has been removed. I would need to complete 34 credits by June 1st 2016. This is complicated because I have been sick recently and I am not writing my 3 UBC course exams this December, but instead I am writing it sometime in the new year because I have been sick for a while. I am 100% writing my two TRU course exams in January though. So those will be out of the way which leaves me with 28 credits remaining. If I could write my 3 UBC course exams in February, that would leave me with 19 credits remaining. Then if I do 2 courses per month in March, April and May, then I can do a 1 credit course and I will have met the credit requirement. However, I've determined that this is nearly impossible given that I also have to complete a few cardiology courses for my BCIT program (see blog post 'Backup').
This is why my hopes for an application to UBC medicine in 2016 are fading. The only way I can complete the credit requirement for the AGPA to take effect is if I write my two TRU courses at the end of December and then write my 3 UBC course exams in January. This would be really pushing it though. And for one thing, I don't even know when I am allowed to write my UBC deferred exams. It could be anywhere from January to August of 2016. Obviously if it is after June 1st then I won't be able to make it in time, as that is the cutoff for courses that will be considered in the AGPA.
I haven't calculated my GPA for any other school, but McMaster and the University of Calgary were on my radar as well. McMaster however also requires 90 credits by May 2016 in order to apply, so applying there would require a similar amount of work as to UBC, although slightly less by having to complete 2 less classes. I cannot apply to University of Calgary because last I checked, they require 2 separate years of 24 credits from September-April. And I actually don't even have 1 year yet.
So now my options are dwindling for 2016. I haven't checked many other requirements for other schools, but I will be doing that soon.
Although there is still technically a chance I can apply to UBC if things line up right, I'm not banking on it. I've just started to find out about new extracurricular activities that I can do given that I am living on Vancouver Island now. Speaking of which, I'm not sure if I posted this, but I've decided not to return to UBC in January, but instead to live at home on Vancouver Island and complete my bachelor's through TRU with online classes while concurrently doing my diploma at BCIT. I feel that this is the best scenario for me to be happy. Not to mention there are some pretty cool extracurricular activities I'm looking at doing that are in or close to my community.
I knew that even if I could apply to UBC this year, it would still be a long shot given my low grades. But now I'm super optimistic on applying in 2017. I've done some rough calculations and I'm almost guaranteed to be above 80% for UBC and I will have a lot of meaningful ECs if I land all of the ones I'm looking at. I'll post more about my EC's later.
Now it feels like 2017 is a long ways a way but I still have to put in a lot of work towards my non academic activities for UBC as this is 50 percent of the pre-interview score. Also, part of me has hope that I can somehow, someway complete 34 credits by June and send in an application to UBC. If this was the case, I might be able to apply to McMaster as well if my GPA is over their 3.0 requirement. Right now I just have to take it one class at a time and one day at a time. My main goal is to write my TRU exams by the 2nd week of January, and then re-evaluate after that.
My average isn't that bad after the AGPA calculation is used to drop the lowest year, however, the biggest hurdle right now is me completing 90 credits after my worst year has been removed. I would need to complete 34 credits by June 1st 2016. This is complicated because I have been sick recently and I am not writing my 3 UBC course exams this December, but instead I am writing it sometime in the new year because I have been sick for a while. I am 100% writing my two TRU course exams in January though. So those will be out of the way which leaves me with 28 credits remaining. If I could write my 3 UBC course exams in February, that would leave me with 19 credits remaining. Then if I do 2 courses per month in March, April and May, then I can do a 1 credit course and I will have met the credit requirement. However, I've determined that this is nearly impossible given that I also have to complete a few cardiology courses for my BCIT program (see blog post 'Backup').
This is why my hopes for an application to UBC medicine in 2016 are fading. The only way I can complete the credit requirement for the AGPA to take effect is if I write my two TRU courses at the end of December and then write my 3 UBC course exams in January. This would be really pushing it though. And for one thing, I don't even know when I am allowed to write my UBC deferred exams. It could be anywhere from January to August of 2016. Obviously if it is after June 1st then I won't be able to make it in time, as that is the cutoff for courses that will be considered in the AGPA.
I haven't calculated my GPA for any other school, but McMaster and the University of Calgary were on my radar as well. McMaster however also requires 90 credits by May 2016 in order to apply, so applying there would require a similar amount of work as to UBC, although slightly less by having to complete 2 less classes. I cannot apply to University of Calgary because last I checked, they require 2 separate years of 24 credits from September-April. And I actually don't even have 1 year yet.
So now my options are dwindling for 2016. I haven't checked many other requirements for other schools, but I will be doing that soon.
Although there is still technically a chance I can apply to UBC if things line up right, I'm not banking on it. I've just started to find out about new extracurricular activities that I can do given that I am living on Vancouver Island now. Speaking of which, I'm not sure if I posted this, but I've decided not to return to UBC in January, but instead to live at home on Vancouver Island and complete my bachelor's through TRU with online classes while concurrently doing my diploma at BCIT. I feel that this is the best scenario for me to be happy. Not to mention there are some pretty cool extracurricular activities I'm looking at doing that are in or close to my community.
I knew that even if I could apply to UBC this year, it would still be a long shot given my low grades. But now I'm super optimistic on applying in 2017. I've done some rough calculations and I'm almost guaranteed to be above 80% for UBC and I will have a lot of meaningful ECs if I land all of the ones I'm looking at. I'll post more about my EC's later.
Now it feels like 2017 is a long ways a way but I still have to put in a lot of work towards my non academic activities for UBC as this is 50 percent of the pre-interview score. Also, part of me has hope that I can somehow, someway complete 34 credits by June and send in an application to UBC. If this was the case, I might be able to apply to McMaster as well if my GPA is over their 3.0 requirement. Right now I just have to take it one class at a time and one day at a time. My main goal is to write my TRU exams by the 2nd week of January, and then re-evaluate after that.
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