University?

[Flames89]

Originally Posted by Hesla

5) Seriously give some consideration to moving away for school. This will allow you to break out of your shell and meet people that are not your high school friends. It forces you out of your comfort zone and IMO allows you to mature quicker. Even going to Edmonton or Lethbridge for school will be far enough for you to be out of your element, but close enough to bring a bag of Laundry home for Mom.


8) For Gods Sake... PARTY !! Enjoy your University experience. Meet chicks, play drinking games, go on road trips, do Keg Stands, have a one-nighter.... Get this stuff out of the way when you are young and responsibilities are minimal. Once you are out in the real world with a Job and a family you can not do these things.

#5 for sure.
#8 is smart

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by fotze

Ha! Thats what every person who takes the first year physics course thinks. It starts out as a recap and you think "What the fata do I need to be here for". I remember grown men crying after the midterm. If you are not at university or this is not the first course then disregard. But I urge every other poster to remind me to ask you about this course in a month or two. You could be those top 3 people in Alberta who were brilliant, but I'm placing my bets on the opposite.

Replace "1st year physics" with "pretty much every university class."

Doesn't matter if its undergrad or grad class, UofA or UofC or Stanford, the first few classes always start out easy and recap.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by troutman

That is what the LSAT is for.

Trust me I am well aware of the instant GPA boosting effect of the LSAT. There is a reason I got accepted at just about every law school in the country despite having much more than a B average.

Standardized testing for the win.

On a side note, I would also recommend to anyone considering law school that they take the LSAT early and often. I had a few dissapointed friends who worked their asses off in undergrad only to find out they did not write standardized tests well..... then again you could always just go to law school in Australia too. You might have to do a year in Fort Mac articling when you get back, but 3 years in Australia might be worth it.

[Knut]

^ it is the same for the OAT, DAT, MCAT etc. If you do well on these you basically open yourself up for recruitment from schools across North America. US schools are allowed to send you recruitment packages based on your Admissions test marks. They like Canadian students as generally we have higher grades and have to pay them more because we are out of state.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Hesla

^ it is the same for the OAT, DAT, MCAT etc. If you do well on these you basically open yourself up for recruitment from schools across North America. US schools are allowed to send you recruitment packages based on your Admissions test marks. They like Canadian students as generally we have higher grades and have to pay them more because we are out of state.

I actually went through the medical school application process before applying to Law School, and with the exception of a few international schools, most medical schools prefer in state students. There are some states that will not consider Canadian students at all.

Also the MCAT doesn't go nearly as far in balancing out a bad GPA as the LSAT does. I had a 98ish percentile on both the LSAT and the MCAT. I struggled to get acceptance anywhere in medical school (I applied all over North America). Meanwhile, law schools were falling over themselves to get me to go.

[wooohooo]

Originally Posted by fotze

What about just Math 31?

Isn't that just calculus nowadays? Well it was for me 5 years ago!

[wooohooo]

Originally Posted by blankall

I actually went through the medical school application process before applying to Law School, and with the exception of a few international schools, most medical schools prefer in state students. There are some states that will not consider Canadian students at all.

Also the MCAT doesn't go nearly as far in balancing out a bad GPA as the LSAT does. I had a 98ish percentile on both the LSAT and the MCAT. I struggled to get acceptance anywhere in medical school (I applied all over North America). Meanwhile, law schools were falling over themselves to get me to go.

Oh wow... I bow down to you, I really do! That's really impressive. Did you ever regret not fully pursuing the medical route or do you love law? Frik you must be so smart to do that since they're such entirely different exams.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by wooohooo

Oh wow... I bow down to you, I really do! That's really impressive. Did you ever regret not fully pursuing the medical route or do you love law? Frik you must be so smart to do that since they're such entirely different exams.

The exams aren't that different. The MCAT takes a knowledge background, which anyone with a bio degree should have, but they both are essentially logic exams.

As for the career choice. I do sometimes wonder what life would have been like had I gone off to Ireland to pursue medicine, but am generally pretty happy where I am.

As for me being smart....I'm just really good at standardized exams. I have excellent logic skills and can stay calm during an exam. I tend to perform only slightly above average in school though. The structure is not ideal for me and I am relatively poor at memorizing loads of useless information.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by wooohooo

Oh wow... I bow down to you, I really do! That's really impressive. Did you ever regret not fully pursuing the medical route or do you love law? Frik you must be so smart to do that since they're such entirely different exams.

The hard part is not scoring tops in standardized tests - the hard part is figuring out what you actually want to do (if anything). I'd trade you all my test scores for an answer to the "what do you want to do?" question. I hope blankall wound up in law because he really likes it. I wound up in law because it's a pretty easy way to make decent money if you don't know what you actually like...

[blankall]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

The hard part is not scoring tops in standardized tests - the hard part is figuring out what you actually want to do (if anything). I'd trade you all my test scores for an answer to the "what do you want to do?" question. I hope blankall wound up in law because he really likes it. I wound up in law because it's a pretty easy way to make decent money if you don't know what you actually like...

Yeah, I definitely like what I do. The hardest part is dealing with unreasonable clients and lawyers. The industry is filled with lawyers who obviously hate their work, and as a result are very unpleasant to deal with. I find the worst people are the rejects from the large firms. They spend a lot of their time trying to one up people or creating unecessary work to pad their billables but are usually awful awful lawyers. Zero people skills and zero grasp of practical negotiation skills.


I've also worked a lot of ther jobs in different industries in the past, so I know what a bad job is. This is most certainly not that. I've only been called for one year, but can definitely see myself working as a lawyer for at least the next 10 years.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by blankall

The exams aren't that different. The MCAT takes a knowledge background, which anyone with a bio degree should have, but they both are essentially logic exams.

As for the career choice. I do sometimes wonder what life would have been like had I gone off to Ireland to pursue medicine, but am generally pretty happy where I am.

As for me being smart....I'm just really good at standardized exams. I have excellent logic skills and can stay calm during an exam. I tend to perform only slightly above average in school though. The structure is not ideal for me and I am relatively poor at memorizing loads of useless information.

I think if you have strong logic, you can do almost anything. I dated a girl in my undergrad who was an engineer, but took the LSATs just in case she was interested and did really well (97% or whatever) and had a whole bunch of university offers and scholarships. I'm told that engineering students are right at the top of LSAT exams compared to any faculty just because engineering trains your brain to breakdown everything logically.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

I think if you have strong logic, you can do almost anything. I dated a girl in my undergrad who was an engineer, but took the LSATs just in case she was interested and did really well (97% or whatever) and had a whole bunch of university offers and scholarships. I'm told that engineering students are right at the top of LSAT exams compared to any faculty just because engineering trains your brain to breakdown everything logically.

Very true. I had a friend who was a computer engineer. Since he was so used to working with logical code and following steps, the LSAT was a breeze for him.

Engineers also tend to do better once in law school since they are used to the longer hours of the program....well the ones with half decent English skills anyways.

[Hockey101]

Originally Posted by Hesla

As you may or not know, I am an Optometrist. You will be going through a very similar educational pathway as I did. 2 to 4 years of Undergraduate Studies and then a 4 year graduate program. Some tips from me:

1) Always have a full course load. 5 Courses/semester is nothing compared to the 7 or 8/semester (+labs) that you will be taking in your graduate program. The admission comittee is interested in seeing who is going to be able to manage their time. If you necessary make one of the courses an easy elective (like Pysch 100 or Astronomy 100).

2) Volunteer at least once a week somewhere. It is very important to the admissions comittee. I volunteered at the Hospital playing games with sick children (although you have to go through a lot of hoops to do this). Also, I joined a University comittee (eg. General Faculties council or sports council etc.) Usually these comittee's are once a month for a few hours, and consist of you putting up your hand giving Yeh's to stuff you do not understand.

3) Extra-curricular stuff is very important as well. Sports, clubs etc show a social side of you that is important as well. Also, it gives you an outlet to blow off steam.

4) Find some balance. Go out from time to time with friends. Show up hungover on a Wed morning after Wing night. You need to hone your social skills. Remember, as a Dentist you will be managing staff, dealing with patients and reps all day. They will look for people that can look them in the eye, be friendly and are generally social people. I know for a fact that people with higher GPA's than me DID NOT get in to my program, most likely because of a poor interview. It took me 2 years to find the proper balance. MY first year was way too much partying, my second year was completely opposite (to the point i gave myself an ulcer), and my third year i struck a good balance of study/partying.

5) Seriously give some consideration to moving away for school. This will allow you to break out of your shell and meet people that are not your high school friends. It forces you out of your comfort zone and IMO allows you to mature quicker. Even going to Edmonton or Lethbridge for school will be far enough for you to be out of your element, but close enough to bring a bag of Laundry home for Mom.

6) Most Admission tests have preparation guides. It would be a good idea to pick one up in your 1st year of university. Then as you are going through your courses you will be able to put aside the sections that are important for the test. I wasted a good week trying to track down all the notes and text books i needed for my OAT.

7) While you need a high GPA to get in it is important that you show improvement every year in University. Do not worry if your first year marks are under the minimum requirement as the admissions comittee understands that there is an adjustment period. My first year GPA was 2.94. I was able to improve on that each year of undergrad, which was very important to admissions. Declining marks are a big RED FLAG.

8) For Gods Sake... PARTY !! Enjoy your University experience. Meet chicks, play drinking games, go on road trips, do Keg Stands, have a one-nighter.... Get this stuff out of the way when you are young and responsibilities are minimal. Once you are out in the real world with a Job and a family you can not do these things.

Just a heads up, I'm a girl, but thanks for the advice!

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Hockey101

Just a heads up, I'm a girl, but thanks for the advice!

Even better!

Bah, get a B.Comm, start a business. Why settle for the wages that a lawyer and doctor make?

[PyramidsofMars]

Originally Posted by blankall

Very true. I had a friend who was a computer engineer. Since he was so used to working with logical code and following steps, the LSAT was a breeze for him.

Engineers also tend to do better once in law school since they are used to the longer hours of the program....well the ones with half decent English skills anyways.

Of incidental interest, off wikipedia but well sourced:

University of North Texas economist Michael Nieswiadomy has conducted several studies (in 1998, 2006, and 2008) derived from LSAC data. In the most recent study Nieswiadomy took the LSAC's categorization of test-takers into 162 majors and grouped these into 29 categories, finding the averages of each major [1]:

1. Mathematics/Physics160.0
2. Economics and Philosophy/theology (tie) 157.4
3. International relations 156.5
4. Engineering 156.2
5. Government/service 156.1
6. Chemistry 156.1
7. History 155.9
8. Interdisciplinary studies 155.5
9. Foreign languages 155.3
10. English 155.2
11. Biology/natural sciences 154.8
12. Arts 154.2
13. Computer science 154.0
14. Finance 153.4
15. Political science 153.1
16. Psychology 152.5
17. Liberal arts 152.4
18. Anthropology/geography 152.2
19. Accounting 151.7
20. Journalism 151.5
21. Sociology/social work 151.2
22. Marketing 150.8
23. Business management 149.7
24. Education 149.4
25. Business administration 149.1
26. Health professions 148.4
27. Pre-law 148.3
28. Criminal justice 146.0

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by PyramidsofMars

Of incidental interest, off wikipedia but well sourced:

#27 - Pre-law

Ouch

[DemolitionCat]

OK, so if you are pre-ANYTHING, that equals you are nothing, nothing! no, actually less than nothing.

A) Do you want to actually work for a living and destroy yourself in the process?

B) Do you want to destroy yourself and have to take responsibility for what you do?

C) Do you want to have a hand in life and death?

D) Do you want to suck at the teats of unfortunate circumstance?

E) Do you want to be a soul-less life sucker ready to take your own life at any second?

F) Do you just want to end it all?

Based on if you responded yes:

A) Medicine may be for you
B) Medicine may be for you, but not much else
C) If no, choose dentistry, SERIOUSLY, choose dentistry, money bag parachute
D) LAW, really, LAW
E) Real estate
F) Real estate apprentice

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by fotze

Welcome to Mcmanagement, can I take your order please?

What you get in bonuses, the managers and exec get three times as much.

And they make you feel good about what you got!

[REDVAN]

Originally Posted by DemolitionCat

OK, so if you are pre-ANYTHING, that equals you are nothing, nothing! no, actually less than nothing.

A) Do you want to actually work for a living and destroy yourself in the process?

B) Do you want to destroy yourself and have to take responsibility for what you do?

C) Do you want to have a hand in life and death?

D) Do you want to suck at the teats of unfortunate circumstance?

E) Do you want to be a soul-less life sucker ready to take your own life at any second?

F) Do you just want to end it all?

Based on if you responded yes:

A) Medicine may be for you
B) Medicine may be for you, but not much else
C) If no, choose dentistry, SERIOUSLY, choose dentistry, money bag parachute
D) LAW, really, LAW
E) Real estate
F) Real estate apprentice

LOL Bitter much?

[REDVAN]

But for a serious reply:

I might be headed back to school this winter for something to do. AKA I can't find a job in my field, am having some life changes, and don't want to sit around.

As an alumni, do I have any rights or special privileges, or do I just go back as an open studies student and hope for the best?