It's A Snowy Hell...

Whether we like to think so or not we judge each other. We judge each other on looks, successes and failures. We all pretend we don’t but deep down we are a competitive people and we all need to think of ourselves at some point. I am of course talking about any student who wants into medicine. One of the key points we all look at (don’t even lie to yourself because everyone does it) is what university someone went to. It seems like one of the most important decisions you will make; but I really don’t even think it matters.

I chose the University of Alberta; I tell everyone that I chose it because it’s an established school with an honours science program with lots of research opportunities. But really I just didn’t want to live with my mom and sister anymore and I wanted to go where my friends were. My mom restricted me to Alberta, this left me with few choices… So off I moved north into the snowy hell which is Edmonton. Fortunately it worked out alright for me. I had a few rough years while adjusting to class sizes of 1 trillion with profs that speak 17 words of English; but I came out of the school with great respect.

Would I have done it differently if I could? Why yes of course, but that holds true for most of my undergrad decisions. Firstly, many schools in Canada only count your cumulative GPA and do not take into account whether you had “hard courses” at a “tough marking” school with a “mean prof”. The will look at numbers and you can get numbers at any school in Canada. Secondly, if you want to expand your chances at getting into med it is always a good idea to have two provinces that consider you “in province”. I would recommend going to a province other then your own for school (not Ontario because that place is littered with med school wanna-b’s). A word of caution though, be careful what their requirements for residency are so that you don’t re-screw yourself. Alberta is a nice option to move to if you are not from here because you will be adding two medical schools that you are in-province for. Thirdly, pick somewhere where you can let yourself have a good time, because most schools now are not just counting grades, extracurricular and volunteer are becoming increasingly important.

So, the moral of my story- do not be tricked by fancy institutions and pretty buildings. Pick somewhere where you can do well and not kill yourself in the process.

- Danielle