Uoft Interview Invites/regrets 2016

[Leon]

Not quite sure when they're starting but making this thread preemptively. My apologies in advance for causing any heart attacks!

 

Please post only invites/regrets. Discussion will be here.

 

It will make it easier for everyone if you guys follow this format as usual:

TIME STAMP: XX:XX
Interview Date: MM DD
Result: Invite / Reject
wGPA:
MCAT: 
ECs: 
Essays:
Year: UG, Masters, PhD
Geography : IP/OP? 

[Catalase]

TIME STAMP: 1:48 pm

Interview Date: Feb. 28 MD
Result: Invite
wGPA: 3.99 (cGPA, no weighting)
MCAT: 13/9/13
ECs: Varsity athlete and captain, vice president of club, cardiac rehabilitation trainer, big brothers big sisters mentor, meal delivery for elderly and disabled, tutor, public health committee, extensive employment, intramurals, emergency physician shadowing, research (poster and thesis but no pubs), many scholarships for academics and community work. 
Essays: Worked on them for a couple months and revised a few times.
Year: 4th year UG
Geography : IP

[ilikecake]

TIME STAMP: 1:45 PM
Interview Date: Feb 28th
Result: Invite 
wGPA: 3.98
MCAT: 9 in verbal
ECs: 4 years of volunteering, research in Canada and abroad, student groups, working as a medical assistant 
Essays: wrote one the day before, put a lot of time in the other 3 
Year: graduated in June 2015
Geography : IP when I submitted app

[Arkaidon]

TIME STAMP: 2:07
Interview Date: Feb 27
Result: Invite
wGPA: 3.98 (OMSAS)
MCAT: 129/128/131/128
ECs: volunteering, research, publications (4th, 2nd and two pending 1st authors),  leadership positions, the typical premed portfolio.
Essays: Felt pretty good about them.  Lots of time to think them through.
Year: 4th year UG
Geography : IP

 

OMFG it actually happened!!  Best news of my life!!

[phoenixfire]

TIME STAMP: 1:48

Interview Date: Feb 28
Result: Invite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
wGPA: 3.93
MCAT: Met 9/9/9 cut-off
ECs: Research (3rd author + pending 1st author), leadership stuff (president of one club, VP of a few others), a little bit of volunteering and work.
Essays: Spent a week or two on them, got some good editors and felt good about them.
Year: UG 4th year
Geography : IP

[hardknocklife]

TIME STAMP: 1:53 PM
Interview Date: Feb 27 (MD) Feb 28 (MD/PhD)
Result: Invite!!!!
wGPA: 3.72 (cGPA - weighting doesn't apply to me)
MCAT: 10/10/11
ECs: A bunch of research experience, a few publications, research awards, sports, ongoing volunteer activities in the community, etc.
Essays: Worked really hard and put a lot of though into answering them
Year: 2nd year MSc
Geography : IP

 

I'm still in shock! I can't believe this is happening, especially with my lower GPA

[insomnias]

TIME STAMP: 1:48PM
Interview Date: 02 28 / 3 12 (Invited for MD on 2/28, rescheduled to 3/12 based on MD/PhD interview schedule)
Result: Invite
wGPA: Probably 3.96+?
MCAT: 13/10/10 (BS/PS/PS)
ECs: 5 years research (including international research), a TAship, a few research awards, some community/outreach stuff..
Essays: I dunno.
Year: 4th year UG
Geography : OOP

[thepit]

Interview Date: Feb 28
Result: Invite
wGPA: idk, 3.95+?
MCAT: 521 (129/132/130/130)
ECs: Pretty heavy research, first author pub, presentations, several abstracts, multiple manuscripts in prep, research awards. Community and school leadership, etc. Pretty standard
Essays: wrote them all in one day, literally budgeted two hours for each one the day before the deadline.
Year: 4th year UG
Geography : OOP

 

Anyone know how to reschedule dates?

[premed989]

TIME STAMP: 1:41 PM
Interview Date: Feb 27 (MD)
Result: Invite
GPA: 3.95 (not eligible for weighing)
MCAT: 128/129/128/129 (ChemPhys/CARS/Biological/Psychological)
ECs: Quite varied, but not extensive.

​Essays: I think really strong in content, but had typos
Year: UG (3rd yr)
Geography : IP

Reference letters: I think it was the reference letters, not the ECs, that landed me an interview.

[Dr. Egg]

Result: Invite

Interview Date: February 28th

cGPA: 3.91 (not eligible for weighting)

MCAT: 12/10/10

EC's: A small number of strong entries amongst many average activites, but quite varied across all categories. Only category that was severely lacking was research.

Essays: Fairly decent I would say. If given the opportunity I would have liked to have more time to improve them, but I was happy with them considering my time constraints.

Year: Last year of UG

Geography: IP

 

Definitely was not expecting an interview due to my ineligibility for weighting, so this was a very nice surprise

[puma88]

Interview Date: 02/27 and 02/28 (MD/PhD)
Result: Invite
wGPA: 3.84
MCAT: Above cutoffs
ECs: research publications, federal scholarships, intramural sports, some long-term community work.
Essays: Felt they were great
Year: MSc 2nd year
Geography : IP

[JellyBones]

Interview Date: Feb 27 (MD) and Feb 28 (MD/PhD)
Result: Invite
wGPA: 3.87
MCAT: 520
ECs: Lots of research (several publications), hospital volunteering, TAships, tutoring
Essays: Took about 7-10 days to write and was happy with them. I had a lot of material from my US apps earlier in the fall. They definitely had some interesting prompts, especially that Aristotle quote!
Year: BSc '11 and MSc '14
Geography : OOP

 

Very excited about this, can't wait to visit and meet fellow MD/PhD applicants! Good luck to everyone who's still waiting.

[Galaxsci]

Interview Date: Feb 27

Result: Invite
wGPA: 4.00
MCAT: 36
ECs: Pretty good; Research, student government, music, volunteering (hospital, camps, kids), leadership roles. PM for more details if you're interested!
Essays: I spent a good 3 weeks on them and had a few people read them over.
Year: 3rd year UG
Geography : IP

[Almighty Saguaro]

Invite
GPA: 3.92 (close to 4.0 with weighting) 
MCAT: 35 (12/11/12)  
In-province 

Year: Currently in 4th Year UG. 

 

ECs: Really not as impressive or diverse as what I see people post on here. However, I did have lots of first-hand clinical experience (caring for my own patients under limited supervision) that I was able to draw on for my essays. 

 

Essays: Kind of did them last minute due to being severely burnt out from doing American applications and coursework all summer...oops  

 

After an unsuccessful cycle last year, I realize now that sometimes, the less desperation you put into this whole application game, the better it seems to turn out...weird, but no complaints here! 

[gingercookies]

Invite

GPA: 3.96 - 4.0 (not sure how they weighed it)

MCAT: above cut off

IP

Graduated UG last year, current full time research position

ECs: publication, lots of research and community service

Spent a lot of time writing the essays, and made sure they lined up with all of the U of T clusters.

 

After an unsuccessful cycle last year, I am thrilled to be considered here.

[Simba12]

Interview Date: Feb. 28 MD (but requested for it to be changed to March 13th as I'm out of the currently due to family illness)
Result: Invite
cGPA: 3.80ish (not sure if weighting was applied)
MCAT: 9/10/11
ECs: 2+ years of experience as research coordinator with lots of patient interaction, some publications/conferences, distress centre work, research-related volunteering, drama, etc. (nothing too extensive)
Essays: I didn't have much time for these (a week or so) as I was just finishing up my Master's thesis around the same time. I tried to bring out the CANMEDS competencies through them and had them double-checked for flow and language

Year: 3 years out of undergrad, completed course-based MSc in 1 year
Geography : IP

 

Very excited to have an interview at UofT - was completely not expecting it considering what I felt to be my average (or lower!) statistics.

​

[MKITTENs]

TIME STAMP: 1:48pm (Jan. 25, 2016)
Interview Date: Feb 28
Result: Invite
wGPA: 3.97 [3.87 OMSAS]
MCAT: 10 VR, 11 PS, 13 BS
ECs: President of student organization, lots of research with fellowships + publication + oral conference presentation, teach piano in senior's home
Essays: Pretty good, looking back on them, though it's harder to tell when you're writing them. I used specific examples and even names in ABS/essay questions which I think helped better illustrate the skill and sensitivity I could bring to certain situations. CanMEDS framework was very helpful in structuring my thoughts and bringing out what was most relevant to the prompts.
Year: graduated from UG last June
Geography : IP

 

So very, very happy to have an invite after not interviewing anywhere I applied to last year and feeling utterly dejected (http://forums.premed101.com/index.php?/topic/84491-rejected-advice/#entry940416).   

[tlDR]

TIME STAMP: 1:48pm (Jan. 25, 2016)
Interview Date: Feb 28
Result: Invite
wGPA: 3.92 (3.80 OMSAS)
MCAT: 12/10/11 
ECs:  club president, 2 research positions (1 pub + various conference presentations), language instructor abroad (work and volunteer), medical volunteer abroad, university students' council roles, orientation leader, music + other interests/athletics/activities
Essays: I felt I answered the essays honestly and was pretty confident with them at first, but I will admit I didn't necessarily refer to the CanMEDS framework and that made me doubt whether they were actually good in the end after discovering these forums! 
Year: graduated with BSc in June
Geography : OOP

Similar to MKITTENs above, I got 6 straight pre-interview rejections last year, and so I had low expectations for this year. I was in shock when I received this invite, and I am absolutely thrilled to be interviewing at UofT! 
good luck everybody!  

[Leafs0811]

h

[jumbilaya]

TIME STAMP: 09:29 (PST)
Result: Reject
wGPA: didn't qualify. cGPA is 3.86
MCAT: above cut-offs
ECs: Somewhat average
Essays: I had a few people read over them. Applying in Ontario was a bit of a last minute decision though so I didn't put the time in that I may have liked
Year: 4th year UG
Geography : OOP

[enki]

Time stamp: 12:29

Result: reject

[iamnatedawg]

Time Stamp: 12:30

Result: Reject

wGPA: 3.9+

MCAT: above cutoffs

ECs: Average, some research, medical missions, university leadership involvement, hospital volunteering, doctor shadowing, clinical experience, optometry stuff

Essays: Thought they were good, had it read by a doctor and med students.

Year: 4th

In province!

 

Oh well, good luck to those with a UofT interview

[js660327]

TIME STAMP: 1:26 PM
Result: Reject, always knew U of T was a long shot. 
wGPA: 3.92
MCAT: VR-10, PS-9, BS-13
ECs: varied, tutoring, athletic training, some volunteering, some music
Essays: I've never been good at writing so I'm not sure I really said what they were looking for. Probably weak.
Year: 2nd UG, last year
 

Whelp... this was the last one to hear from. Not surprised about this one. Best of luck to everyone with interviews!! 

[grandpappy]

 

Feb 9, 2016 

Result: Regrets

wGPA: 3.3 - undergrad was completed about 10 years ago
MCAT: 11/10/12
ECs: Decent I would think.  Have some unique things on there that I would have hoped would have made me stand out.
Essays: Spent time on them, but just couldn't get them to click.  Figured they still got my message across.
Year: MSc completed, working full-time in research the last few years.
Geography: IP

 

Good luck to those of you who got interviews.  Go get'em!

[imnotacrazycatladyiswear]

Feb 3, 2016 

Result: Invite to MD/PhD

cGPA: 3.62

wGPA: 3.72
MCAT: above cutoff
ECs: Pretty okay, nothing extravagant. Mostly research.
Essays: Spent not a whole lot of time. Modified essays from previous year's application.
Year: MSc completed, working full-time in research the last few years.
Geography: IP