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Western's best-two-years rule explained

By Viana Safa · 2026-09-06 · about 700 words

Western's Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry is the Ontario school whose GPA rule is most different from the plain OMSAS cumulative, and the one applicants most often misread. This is what the published rule says, as of the 2026–27 cycle, and what it means for a real transcript.

The rule in one sentence

The minimum GPA set by the admissions committee (3.70 for the 2025–26 cycle) must be met in each of your two best undergraduate years that also satisfy Schulich's course-load and course-level requirements. The wording is on Schulich's admission requirements page and repeated on the OMSAS Western page.

Three things follow from that sentence. First, it is a threshold, not an average: each of the two years has to clear the minimum on its own. A 3.95 year and a 3.50 year do not average to a pass. Second, only years that carried a full load are eligible at all. Third, "best" means you do not have to use your most recent years; a strong second and fourth year can be the pair even if third year was weak.

What counts as a full year

Schulich defines a qualifying year by what you carried between September and April, not by what you took over the calendar year:

• At least five full or equivalent courses, which Western describes as 30 credit hours. In OMSAS terms that is a total weight of 10, for example five full-year courses, ten one-term courses, or any mix that adds to the same.
• At least three of those five (18 credit hours) at or above the year of study you were registered in. In third year and beyond that means three courses at the 3000 level or higher.
• No more than one full or equivalent pass/fail course (6 credit hours) in the year.

Summer courses do not belong to a September-to-April year, so they do not help a year reach the five-course load and their grades are not part of that year's GPA under this rule. They still count in your OMSAS cumulative and at other schools.

More than a full load

If you took more than 30 credit hours in a September-to-April year, Western uses the best five full or equivalent courses. This is one of the few places in Ontario admissions where an extra course can only help you: a sixth course that goes badly is dropped, and one that goes well can replace a weaker one.

A worked example

Suppose a student on the percentage scale has four years like this, with year GPAs after OUAC conversion:

The two best eligible years are 2 and 4. Both clear 3.70, so this applicant passes the GPA screen. Year 3 is the strongest year on paper and it does not count, because a dropped course took the load to four. Year 1 is eligible but not needed. If year 4 had come in at 3.65, the pair would have been years 2 and 1, and year 1 at 3.62 would have failed the threshold; the strong year 3 could not rescue it.

What this means for planning

Do not drop below five courses in a year you might need. If you are going to take a light year, take it deliberately and make sure two other years are full and strong. Take the year-level rule seriously in upper years: three 3000-level courses in third year is not optional. Keep pass/fail courses to one per year. And think of the 3.70 as a floor for each year separately rather than a target for your average.

What the rule does not say

It does not say the two years must be consecutive, and it does not say they must be from the same degree. It also does not say a graduate degree substitutes for an undergraduate year; Schulich has separate language for graduate applicants that you should read directly. Finally, the minimum is reset by the committee each cycle, so check the requirements page for the year you apply rather than relying on this article or any calculator.

This article describes published rules as understood on 2026-09-06. Rules change each cycle; the linked official pages are the authority. Not affiliated with OUAC, the AAMC or any school.