Hi all,

This is Sunny.

I did some research and found that some US med schools require writing intensive courses / expository writing courses / a year of English.
I guess some of the humanities and social science courses might involve expository writing. Like philosophy and anthropology. And possibly psychology.

Do those health sci inquiry courses involve expository writing as well?

I'm thinking about English 1A03, 1AA3, or 1CS3. Which one is relatively easier?
I know that English is never easy. :s I'm worried that it'll pull down my GPA as well.

Any advices about taking English?
Should I take it in summer school? Or should I worry about it later and just choose what I'm interested in for my first year?

I heard that I can choose level I courses in second year too. But at the same time, 2nd year health sci is a lot busier... I don't want to be stressed out by those mandatory courses and English. lollol


Some background information: I came to Canada in 06. Before that, never had to write any English essays, short stories, reports, etc. English was just a course taught in school like any other electives (e.g. history, geo, etc.).
I'm not a fast writer. I can get my arguments clear. But I usually use very straight forward sentences and easy vocab.
I did manage to get low 90s in English in grade 9-12. I do well on presentations and media projects so those raised my average.

I got a fairly good mark on my English summative this year. My teacher claimed that every teacher in the English office read that essay and thought it's good. But I don't know if my teacher's just saying that.

lollol... Well, I'm not too confident in English and I thought that I got okay marks because my teachers are lenient.



I think I rambled too much. (someone's probably saying 'get to the point' as he or she is reading this. lollollol) Sorry for the long post..... :S

I wouldn't recommend taking it because
1. it will drop your gpa. It is really hard to get good marks in English courses.
2. you can take it anytime - you don't have to force yourself to take it. Don't take it if you don't want it.
3. For pre-requisite issues, I'd recommend taking it during summer because it is less stressful and it will not affect your gpa.

I am in the same boat as you - I came to Canada in 04 and am also thinking about American schools. I am not going to take any English courses during the year for the reasons mentioned above. So, unless you love writing or are interested in learning more about literature, don't take them. Don't torture yourself because of all the prerequisite issues!

Don't worry about med school for now - and enjoy your summer and first year!

While I have yet to take an English course myself, I know a few people who have done quite well in English courses at Mac. I wouldn't be scared to take them because of a drop in GPA; I would be worried moreso about courses like orgo and physics.

If you got 90s in high school English, it is evident that you possess the necessary skills to excel in a university English course. I know people who never broke 90 in high school English who did well in first-year English. I don't know why you lack confidence in your abilities, because if you only came to Canada a few years ago and did that well in high school, you'll probably be fine.

I think you should go for it, if you are seriously thinking about going to U.S. med schools. I also bet that English won't be the GPA killer you presume it will be. I hear 1A03 is pretty easy to do well in, so keep that in mind.

Originally Posted by hyvaa

I wouldn't recommend taking it because
1. it will drop your gpa. It is really hard to get good marks in English courses.
2. you can take it anytime - you don't have to force yourself to take it. Don't take it if you don't want it.
3. For pre-requisite issues, I'd recommend taking it during summer because it is less stressful and it will not affect your gpa.

I am in the same boat as you - I came to Canada in 04 and am also thinking about American schools. I am not going to take any English courses during the year for the reasons mentioned above. So, unless you love writing or are interested in learning more about literature, don't take them. Don't torture yourself because of all the prerequisite issues!

Don't worry about med school for now - and enjoy your summer and first year!

It will affect your grades if you take them during summer. All courses taken at McMaster are accounted in your CA, it doesn't matter when you take it. If you take it at another university, it won't affect your McMaster CA but you will still have to provide the transcript from that university to the professional school you are applying to.

There is no way around them not seeing that average, the only advantage in taking it during the summer is that you can dedicate all your time towards the course. BUT BE CAREFUL! Make sure that the professional school you are applying to allow you to take prerequisites during the summer, some do not.

Originally Posted by jhan523

It will affect your grades if you take them during summer. All courses taken at McMaster are accounted in your CA, it doesn't matter when you take it. If you take it at another university, it won't affect your McMaster CA but you will still have to provide the transcript from that university to the professional school you are applying to.

There is no way around them not seeing that average, the only advantage in taking it during the summer is that you can dedicate all your time towards the course. BUT BE CAREFUL! Make sure that the professional school you are applying to allow you to take prerequisites during the summer, some do not.

It only affects your Mac GPA, which is different from GPA calculated for OMSAS or American schools. Typically, they do not include summer courses.

Originally Posted by hyvaa

It only affects your Mac GPA, which is different from GPA calculated for OMSAS or American schools. Typically, they do not include summer courses.

Can you please provide some links? Because I have contacted some professional schools (optometry) and I know for certain that all courses are taken into account. You basically just give them your transcripts and they calculate your GPA in numerous ways.

They calculate the normal CGPA but they also calculate your GPA by year and by subject.

Originally Posted by jhan523

Can you please provide some links? Because I have contacted some professional schools (optometry) and I know for certain that all courses are taken into account. You basically just give them your transcripts and they calculate your GPA in numerous ways.

They calculate the normal CGPA but they also calculate your GPA by year and by subject.

It is very school-specific.
For example, UofT does not include summer credits.
http://www.md.utoronto.ca/admissions...ng_Formula.htm

You can look up other schools if you want - but most schools, from what I remember, do not count summer credits.

Originally Posted by hyvaa

It is very school-specific.
For example, UofT does not include summer credits.
http://www.md.utoronto.ca/admissions...ng_Formula.htm

You can look up other schools if you want - but most schools, from what I remember, do not count summer credits.

I wasn't referring to Canadian medical schools though, if I recall they don't even require English.

Originally Posted by jhan523

I wasn't referring to Canadian medical schools though, if I recall they don't even require English.

Again, it needs to be checked - you can e-mail AMCAS, if you wish.
I think it does count toward GPA for AMCAS but I am not positive. It may differ by school :s
American schools have a totally different system for calculating GPA.. from what I saw, 80+ is counted as 4.0 or something (i only saw it from premed so if you want a proof, go there lol)

Originally Posted by hyvaa

I wouldn't recommend taking it because
1. it will drop your gpa. It is really hard to get good marks in English courses.
2. you can take it anytime - you don't have to force yourself to take it. Don't take it if you don't want it.
3. For pre-requisite issues, I'd recommend taking it during summer because it is less stressful and it will not affect your gpa.

I am in the same boat as you - I came to Canada in 04 and am also thinking about American schools. I am not going to take any English courses during the year for the reasons mentioned above. So, unless you love writing or are interested in learning more about literature, don't take them. Don't torture yourself because of all the prerequisite issues!

Don't worry about med school for now - and enjoy your summer and first year!

I was worried about my gpa as well~ And I'll definitely look into taking it in the summer!
Thank you so much!
I've picked a health age course for my electives. So I guess I'll enjoy my first year at Mac and worry about prerequisite later.
And like you suggested, I can take it anytime~
Thank you thank you! And enjoy your summer as well!

Originally Posted by _Mike

While I have yet to take an English course myself, I know a few people who have done quite well in English courses at Mac. I wouldn't be scared to take them because of a drop in GPA; I would be worried moreso about courses like orgo and physics.

If you got 90s in high school English, it is evident that you possess the necessary skills to excel in a university English course. I know people who never broke 90 in high school English who did well in first-year English. I don't know why you lack confidence in your abilities, because if you only came to Canada a few years ago and did that well in high school, you'll probably be fine.

I think you should go for it, if you are seriously thinking about going to U.S. med schools. I also bet that English won't be the GPA killer you presume it will be. I hear 1A03 is pretty easy to do well in, so keep that in mind.

Thanks for the encouragement! lol I'll definitely think about taking it at Mac in the future. (I took a health age course instead. I think I'll enjoy my 1st year 1st. lollol) I think I lack confidence because I got easy teachers in high school, so I'm not sure if I am really doing that well. I was looking into 1A03 as well~ Thanks a lot!

Originally Posted by hyvaa

Again, it needs to be checked - you can e-mail AMCAS, if you wish.
I think it does count toward GPA for AMCAS but I am not positive. It may differ by school :s
American schools have a totally different system for calculating GPA.. from what I saw, 80+ is counted as 4.0 or something (i only saw it from premed so if you want a proof, go there lol)

I'll do some more reasearch on that as well! Better to make sure before I take it~ And I'll post some useful info later if I do find anything.
Thanks!

Originally Posted by jhan523

It will affect your grades if you take them during summer. All courses taken at McMaster are accounted in your CA, it doesn't matter when you take it. If you take it at another university, it won't affect your McMaster CA but you will still have to provide the transcript from that university to the professional school you are applying to.

There is no way around them not seeing that average, the only advantage in taking it during the summer is that you can dedicate all your time towards the course. BUT BE CAREFUL! Make sure that the professional school you are applying to allow you to take prerequisites during the summer, some do not.

For sure I'll do some more research on it. Thanks for the tips!