can i get in without MCAT??

[vaneet_canada]

Just wanted to know if its possible to get into SGU without taking the MCAT?? I want to write the mcat in april and apply for august 2005 admission, but i'm taking 4 courses and have exams back to back with the mcat dead smack in the middle. (taking organic chem , bio courses, etc).

Anyone get in without mcat scores??

[vaneet_canada]

I have a bachelors degree in electrical engineering and a gpa of approx. 3.1.

[johnb79]

no. AFAIK you must take the MCAT to gain admission to the med school. Now if you went into the premed program i don't think the MCAT is required.

Now I have one question. Sine you are planing on going into med shcool why are you trying to avoid taking this one test. AFAIK there is only one carib school (SABA) that does not request the MCAT. Besides its the first in a series of exams you must take to get licsensed.

I took the MCAT thinking I would do horribible and be in the low 20's but I wound up with a 27 so you never know.

[restlesseye]

i think some of the other schools may take you in without an mcat.

[drnick07]

i think some of the other schools may take you in without an mcat. Ross, SGU, and AUC require MCATs.

[Rico]

no. AFAIK you must take the MCAT to gain admission to the med school. Now if you went into the premed program i don't think the MCAT is required.

Now I have one question. Sine you are planing on going into med shcool why are you trying to avoid taking this one test. AFAIK there is only one carib school (SABA) that does not request the MCAT. Besides its the first in a series of exams you must take to get licsensed.

I took the MCAT thinking I would do horribible and be in the low 20's but I wound up with a 27 so you never know.

A friend of mine graduated from one the Canadian schools which do not need MCAT and he is licsensed to practice in U.S. I don;t think MCAT is important for licsening. Besides all of those IMG coming from Europe, Middle East and Asia have never written that but they are licsensed.

Rico

[drnick07]

A friend of mine graduated from one the Canadian schools which do not need MCAT and he is licsensed to practice in U.S. I don;t think MCAT is important for licsening. Besides all of those IMG coming from Europe, Middle East and Asia have never written that but they are licsensed.

Rico
Lets compare apples to apples. I think canadian schools are not on the same level as Caribbean ones. You will be hard pressed to find someone who would say canadian schools are not as good as US ones, but even people on here will tell you to go to a US school (or Canadian) over a caribbean one.

As for "all of those IMG coming from Europe, Middle East and Asia have never written that but they are licsensed" how many times did they have to go through the match? How long did it take them before they were licensed in the US? This year only 55.6% of non-US foreign grads (IMGs) were successful in the match (see NRMP "Advanced Data Tables for 2005 Main Residency Match" table 2). It was only 54.7% for US-foreign grads (FMGs). I don't have the stats on hand, but i'd imagine SGU, Ross, and AUC (perhaps even Saba) have higher success rates (especially when you add in those who signed outside the match).

All caribbean (and international) medical schools are not created equal. Avoiding schools that require an MCAT may make life harder down the road (canandian ones not included for the sake of simplicity). Is it possible to get a competitive residency from a school that does not require an MCAT? Yes. Is it common? Do yourself a favor and check into it.

You will take MANY exams in your journey to become a doctor (and even exams once you are an MD). Why not just take the MCAT in august (studying all summer) and apply for the january class? Or work for a year as a EE, make some $$, and apply for Aug 2006? Just make sure you see all of the options and have as much information on each one so you can make an informed decision.

[vaneet_canada]

MCAT is not needed to get licensing at all. As for Canadian vs. US medschools. Canadian medschools are 100times more competitive than US schools. Also, two of the top medschools in Canada do not require mcat - Ottawa U and McMaster. The McMaster program is curently being studied by Harvard as well for its unique structure.

drnick07 you make a vaild point. I was actually preparing to write in april (so its not that i am avoiding it like someone said above), i just feel i am not going to be prepared as i want to be (i havent even finished reading hte prep book, let alone doing practice exams), as well has having 4 exams in the same week. I dont know....tough decision. I hate engineering too!

thx for the info guys...

[drnick07]

MCAT is not needed to get licensing at all. As for Canadian vs. US medschools. Canadian medschools are 100times more competitive than US schools. Also, two of the top medschools in Canada do not require mcat - Ottawa U and McMaster. The McMaster program is curently being studied by Harvard as well for its unique structure.

drnick07 you make a vaild point. I was actually preparing to write in april (so its not that i am avoiding it like someone said above), i just feel i am not going to be prepared as i want to be (i havent even finished reading hte prep book, let alone doing practice exams), as well has having 4 exams in the same week. I dont know....tough decision. I hate engineering too!

thx for the info guys... You hate engineering? I can't imagine getting a degree in something i hated. You couldn't pay me to do engineering.

I can't believe the stats of canadians who don't even get an interview (both those who post on here and friends in my class). US schools would jump for those applicants. And still yet both countries turn a blind eye to the physician shortage. Above all, don't take the exam unprepared. At the same rate don't over-prepare.

I took (canandian: wrote) the MCAT in April of my senior year in college. I did a 5th year of undergrad and got a second ** (canadian: BSc). I also worked in 2 hospitals. My point is, taking that extra year helped me gain knowledge that has helped me alot in med school and will continue to help me as a doctor. Sometimes waiting until you're ready to take the exam ends up being the best decision.

[Houstonian]

i think some of the other schools may take you in without an mcat.

I think St. Matthews in Grand Cayman accepts students without the MCAT or at least they used to. They may have changed that policy in the last year. Check with them.

[stephew]

A friend of mine graduated from one the Canadian schools which do not need MCAT and he is licsensed to practice in U.S. I don;t think MCAT is important for licsening. Besides all of those IMG coming from Europe, Middle East and Asia have never written that but they are licsensed.

Ricoyou dont need the MCAT if you come from a country that doesnt require it for training in said home country. If youre a US citizen you do period. For sgu. FOr licencing purposes i dont know but you know why would you not take ti? It might get you into the us. dont be lazy now; youve got far too much stuff ahead of you.

[Houstonian]

Steph,

I think the original poster is Canadian, so I guess the question is do you need an MCAT for Canadian medical schools? If not, then I think he is okay. Else, why bother? Unless it makes you look like a stronger candidate...which helps dispell poor undergrad grades as a sole indicator of your potential performance in medical school.

[pkimm]

For intership or residentships in the US, do they require MCAT? Do schools even ask for MCAT scores? or just USLME 1 and 2?

[jaywalk81]

For intership or residentships in the US, do they require MCAT? Do schools even ask for MCAT scores? or just USLME 1 and 2?
just usmle.

[Cotterpin_Doozer]

MCAT is not needed to get licensing at all. As for Canadian vs. US medschools. Canadian medschools are 100times more competitive than US schools. Also, two of the top medschools in Canada do not require mcat - Ottawa U and McMaster. The McMaster program is curently being studied by Harvard as well for its unique structure.

drnick07 you make a vaild point. I was actually preparing to write in april (so its not that i am avoiding it like someone said above), i just feel i am not going to be prepared as i want to be (i havent even finished reading hte prep book, let alone doing practice exams), as well has having 4 exams in the same week. I dont know....tough decision. I hate engineering too!

thx for the info guys...

I went to McMaster, so I can tell you my experiences and those of students who were actually accepted into Mac Med. Ottawa and Mac may not require MCAT's, HOWEVER.... because of this fact, it also means that there are at least 3 times the applicants to these two schools. Over the years it has also made the adcom focus a lot more on gpa as a cut off instead of looking at the applicant experiences as a whole. So not asking for an MCAT score can actually be a really bad thing, because it means that your GPA has to be a helluva lot higher to ensure that you are noticed.

So to get to the point, there are usually two factors that you should look at when a medical school does not require mcat.

1. Is the cumulative GPA cut off much higher than other schools?
2. Is the school a less competitive institution who is eagerly accepting students to fill spots, and potentially then weeding ppl out later, or not providing a quality education?

If your GPA is what you say it is, I would definitely recommend taking the time to study for the MCAT even if you are delayed a term or year or whatever. It is a gauge for your knowledge of the basic science concepts that you need to be at least proficient at when starting medical school. If you do poorly, it will show you what areas that you need to work on perhaps to do better when med school starts. There will be no review as we are all expected to know these things on the first day.

This is especially true for US-based medical programs like SGU, Ross, AUC etc.... Ottawa and McMaster are also extremely different in terms of teaching methods to med students, this is another reason why they do not require the MCAT, because they're programs are created so that an Art student or something in Accounting can still succeed and become a doctor, bar none they are a genius and did volunteer work in Somalia saving orphans of adult orphans. They are very individual based self learning/problem based learning programs (you don't get marked on many things), unlike the testing based methods of US med schools. So you can't really compare them with schools in the US or anywhere else.

P.s. even St. Matthew's University, which is only 5 years old or something has begun to ask for MCAT scores...so if a school in the carribean says they don't need them, you should really do some research to see whether it is reputable and will get you where you want to be when you are done.

[EV]

...............

[Cotterpin_Doozer]

and ottawa.