Mission
Canonical student profile. An identical copy lives at
learning-records/MISSION.md— that copy is what Hermes and the Aristotle app read first at every session. Any edit here must be mirrored there.
Goal
Admission to the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine (McMaster MD). The Chemical & Physical Sciences Gateway and the Level II BSc are instruments toward that goal. Full strategy: strategy · milestones: timeline.
What DeGroote scores (verified June 2026 — reverify each cycle):
- Pre-interview: ~32% cumulative GPA + ~32% MCAT CARS + ~32% Casper (+ up to 4% grad bonus)
- Post-interview: 70% MMI + 15% GPA + 15% CARS
- Hard gates: 30 half-credits by May of entry year · GPA ≥ 3.00 · CARS ≥ 123 · Casper completed
- No prerequisites, no preferred program, no EC scoring pre-interview. GPA is cumulative — every course, all years equal, nothing dropped, repeats count twice, summer courses count.
Operating Targets
| Metric | Target | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Cumulative GPA | ≥ 3.90 OMSAS | Successful-applicant mean ≈ 3.87+. Means nearly every grade ≥ A (85+), most A+ (90+). |
| MCAT CARS | ≥ 129 | Successful-applicant mean ≈ 129. One write, summer 2028 — most recent attempt counts. |
| Course load | 5/term fall+winter, no overloading | Credits aren’t the bottleneck; GPA is. Protects plan-B eligibility at other schools. |
Plan: 3 + 1
Apply fall 2028 (year 3) for 2029 entry — structurally unbiased at DeGroote, ~4% base rate, costs nothing. Plan around the 4-year path: complete the honours BSc, reapply fall 2029. Level II program chosen for highest sustainable GPA, plan-B value second; thematic fit with medicine counts for nothing in the formula.
Current Knowledge Baseline
High school chemistry, physics, calculus, and advanced functions.
Learning Style Preferences
[Fill in before September: derivation-first vs. example-first, visual vs. symbolic, preferred session length, time of day you think best.]
Target Level II Program Priority Ranking
[Fill in: rank Chemistry / Chemical Biology / Physics / Medical and Biological Physics / Astrophysics, 1–5 — ranked by expected GPA, not theme.]
Start Date
September 2026.
Known Weak Areas
[Fill in honestly — this seeds gaps.md. What did you struggle with in high school? What have you forgotten over the summer?]
Preferred Challenge Style
Socratic questioning over direct explanation. The tutor should probe reasoning until it finds the exact fault line in understanding — not test mechanical recall. Priority signal for tutoring: GPA-at-risk courses first (weakest current standing × heaviest upcoming assessment), then general gaps.
Standing Habits (non-academic, start day 1)
- CARS reading: 30 min/day of dense argumentative prose — see cars-log
- Activity log: every volunteer/work/EC entry recorded with verifier at the time it happens — see activity-log
- Reference cultivation: office hours rotation; profs who know you by name — see references
Courses
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| CHEM 1A03 | Introductory Chemistry 1 |
| CHEM 1AA3 | Introductory Chemistry 2 |
| MATH 1A03 | Calculus for Science 1 |
| MATH 1AA3 | Calculus for Science 2 |
| PHYSICS 1C03 | Physics for the Chemical and Physical Sciences |
| PHYSICS 1CC3 | Modern Physics |
| ASTRON 1F03 | Introduction to Astronomy and Astrophysics |
| MEDPHYS 1A03 | Physics in Medicine and Biology |
Plus 6 elective units, unknown until registration — chosen as GPA instruments.