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It is very difficult to be objective about these things and you have no idea what they are looking for in some situations. Unless you tripped coming through the door and told the interviewer that you are prejudice against all races, it probably didn't go as bad as it did in your head.

 

I thought I blew my interview in Calgary (many years ago). They asked us to interpret a painting and I totally missed the point, There were other stations that I thought I did poorly on too but in the end they accepted me (went to a different school).

 

Here is the crappy part: there is nothing you can do now to change anything, you have to do what all of us have done before you and try your best to get through the next couple months without driving yourself crazy and second guessing yourself. It's done, it's over, you did your best at the time I'm sure. Take a deep breath and we can chat more if your fears are confirmed.

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Dealing with the wait can be very difficult, however, everything is beyond your control now. Your final admission decision is based on your pre MMI and post MMI scores. It is very hard to predict both. I feel that if you had a very high pre- MMI score, you can get in with an average MMI score. However, if you have a low pre-MMI score - you need to score high on the MMIs.  Even if you feel that you did poorly on your interviews, there is chance that you will get admitted if you scored high on the pre-MMIs.

 

Best of Luck :)

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its going to be a long 2 months ): I wish they would tell us sooner....I think you guys are correct I had a

friend who thought they did really well and got 19th percentile on the MMI, another who thought they were

average and got 22nd percentile, these people were rejected... the guy who got accepted thought they felt sick to their stomach upon finishing and the other one had mixed feelings

 

 

Yes, it is going to be a long wait.. The interview score is the MOST variable component of the application process. I personally know people who had their scores fluctuate by over 40 percentile in one year ( n=5); I also know people who had their scores drop over the years, but not by a significant percentage ( n=2).. There are so many factors that determine your MMI score, such as how well are you feeling that day, your familiarity with the topics,  how harsh/generous your interviewers are, as well the group of people that you are getting compared with.

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its going to be a long 2 months ): I wish they would tell us sooner....I think you guys are correct I had a

friend who thought they did really well and got 19th percentile on the MMI, another who thought they were

average and got 22nd percentile, these people were rejected... the guy who got accepted thought they felt sick to their stomach upon finishing and the other one had mixed feelings

 

exactly - people have no idea really. often the people interviewing you seem really interested or rather distant - people try to read something off of that but really that is just their interview style and they are like that with everyone. It means nothing. 

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On 2/26/2017 at 2:28 PM, End Poverty said:

Yes, it is going to be a long wait.. The interview score is the MOST variable component of the application process. I personally know people who had their scores fluctuate by over 40 percentile in one year ( n=5); I also know people who had their scores drop over the years, but not by a significant percentage ( n=2).. There are so many factors that determine your MMI score, such as how well are you feeling that day, your familiarity with the topics,  how harsh/generous your interviewers are, as well the group of people that you are getting compared with.

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are you saying from one application year to the next people's MMI scores have fluctuated by 40 percentile points?? wow and I thought the Top10 review was the most subjective part of the process...how is this system fair ..

it seems like to get in you need more luck than ability

You assume that those individuals performances' were the same from year to year.

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On 2/26/2017 at 5:37 PM, End Poverty said:

 amichel has a very valid point... A person's MMI performance is not stable over the years.   I believe that U of C tries to be very fair when they are assessing applicants.  However, no system is perfect, but they are doing their best to ensure that it is fair for all applicants.  

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Yea good point..I don't know I just wish we found out sooner so we can sort out our life plans

I know it's tough to wait. Rest assured that they really do try to make it as fair as possible.

 

CaRMS on the other hand is far less structured and makes less attempt at objectivity and the waiting is even more brutal (2 more days, ugh...). So look forward to that.

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I know it's tough to wait. Rest assured that they really do try to make it as fair as possible.

 

CaRMS on the other hand is far less structured and makes less attempt at objectivity and the waiting is even more brutal (2 more days, ugh...). So look forward to that.

 

ha - every single step of the way gets more and more subjective and less structured the farther you get away from university admissions. Fellowships are vastly less structured than CARMS, and job interviews even less so. More things to look forward too :)

 

The world is not an objective place - for what that is worth.

 

You found the CARMS match wait worse? Probably different for everyone, I think I found the medical school wait worse. 

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ha - every single step of the way gets more and more subjective and less structured the farther you get away from university admissions. Fellowships are vastly less structured than CARMS, and job interviews even less so. More things to look forward too :)

 

The world is not an objective place - for what that is worth.

 

You found the CARMS match wait worse? Probably different for everyone, I think I found the medical school wait worse.

I know. It's not a criticism. Just making the same point as you that it only gets less objective.

 

I do find it worse. For medical school, I had three interviews. Either I'd get in at 1 or more (and get to choose), or not get in anywhere and go on with my undergraduate degree. Now, the options are 1. Match to a place I have little control over but am obligated to go to or 2. Go unmatched, which I would argue is significantly more devastating than being rejected from medical school (in most cases).

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ha - every single step of the way gets more and more subjective and less structured the farther you get away from university admissions. Fellowships are vastly less structured than CARMS, and job interviews even less so. More things to look forward too :)

 

The world is not an objective place - for what that is worth.

 

You found the CARMS match wait worse? Probably different for everyone, I think I found the medical school wait worse. 

 

 

That's why it is important to embrace uncertainty :)

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CaRMs was worse for me but nothing like the uncertainty of finding a job. It is four years away and already keeping me up at nights. 

 

I wish I had some great piece of advise for the OP about how to pass the time and keep your finger nails intact but I got nothing. Maybe there is some solace in knowing you are not alone and that this is part of the "right of passage". Maybe you will take comfort in the thought that one day soon you be writing a post similar to this trying to comfort someone following in your footsteps reliving a small bit of the anxiety you experienced years back before you were finally accepted. 

 

In all situations the one thing that works a little bit for me is that it has been my experience that with a little bit of persistence and time the right people will get in, the rest is a matter of logistics and patience. Keep the faith. 

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I know. It's not a criticism. Just making the same point as you that it only gets less objective.

 

I do find it worse. For medical school, I had three interviews. Either I'd get in at 1 or more (and get to choose), or not get in anywhere and go on with my undergraduate degree. Now, the options are 1. Match to a place I have little control over but am obligated to go to or 2. Go unmatched, which I would argue is significantly more devastating than being rejected from medical school (in most cases).

 

I can see that - particularly if you are really, really focused on one field. At my school one of the counselors once joked worst case you can always match to something - which means that almost no matter what (unless you are somehow really red flagged)  you can get some specialty placement (which objectively would be a good job ).

 

All true but getting 10 years into a process to find out you aren't (most likely) going to be the type of doctor you wanted is not an easy pill to swallow.

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I can see that - particularly if you are really, really focused on one field. At my school one of the counselors once joked worst case you can always match to something - which means that almost no matter what (unless you are somehow really red flagged)  you can get some specialty placement (which objectively would be a good job ).

 

All true but getting 10 years into a process to find out you aren't (most likely) going to be the type of doctor you wanted is not an easy pill to swallow.

Bolded for emphasis. Testify brother rmorelan!

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Yea good point..I don't know I just wish we found out sooner so we can sort out our life plans

 

 

 

Honestly, go forward with your life like you are not going to get into medical school and then if you do get in you can choose to either attend or not. Do not put your life on hold  (unless your plan B is moving to Mars, in which case, sure, delay that since it will take you something like 4 years to get back to earth). 

 

At the end of the day you can control nothing about this process... but what you can do is start building the life you want to live if you don't get in. At best you get in and get to decide if you want to accept and at worse you have built up another year of valuable life experience and you can decide if you want to reapply or not. 

 

I went ahead with my life plans as though I was not going to get in (right up to planning a fun day for myself on the day that letters were supposed to come out so I would have a distraction from the disappointment of not getting in) and it was probably the most helpful thing I did for myself during the waiting period. It let me move forward and put the application out of my mind. It was a little bit stressful when I had to blow my life up in a very short amount of time (I had multiple employment commitments I had to wrap up very quickly without just quitting) but it was very helpful during that waiting period to know that I had options regardless of the outcome of my application. 

 

I do relate though - the wait is still long and painful even when you decide to move forward.

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I agree with MSWschnoodle on this.

 

YesIcan55, I felt exactly like you last year. I counted the days, checked through the forum, read some past threads twice and didn't get into either schools I interviewed for. I luckily planned for Plan B that I really hoped wouldn't have been my Plan B at all (graduate program).

 

I had spent so much time wrapped up in anxiety and glued to my computer, that I turned down a free trip to San Diego with my sister during the first week of May because I didn't want to miss the admissions e-mail. I also skipped out on a portaging camp trip with my closest friends in the summer because I decided to start grad school early to distract my self from the disappointment of not getting in.

I used to be one of those students who thought, "if I don't get in Canada, I have no problem being an IMG and having over 400k in student debt. as long as I become a doctor it'll be all worth it". But this year in graduate school I had a quarter life crisis and realized that there are so many other things in life than medicine, and that life is really short. I also realized I missed so many exciting moments in my own life because I had dedicated SO much time to studying to get to this point.

I still want to be in medicine, and I interviewed for Calgary this year with the same big hopes as last year. And I know I'll still be disappointed this year if I don't get into Calgary or elsewhere, but I'm not going to wait by the phone for my crush to text me back or call me after our first date. I said this in another thread too, but I thought of the interview as a first date between the school and I. If Calgary and I were a great fit for each other, and Calgary wants to be together with me for the next 3 years, great! But if not, well I'll try again!

 

Reading books on mortality and people's regret at the end of their life really helped me understand the more important things in life.

Hope that helps!

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Whats done is done Yelscan55. I was in your shoes a few years ago, and I can understand its an awful feeling. I am still not in medicine; years of rejection has made me so numb to it now.

 

I've learned one should neither be too optimistic or pessimistic about this process. I would say focus on what is to come ahead like your U of A interview. Also, plan for backup options if med does not work out. That is being realistic. Best of luck!

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Whats done is done Yelscan55. I was in your shoes a few years ago, and I can understand its an awful feeling. I am still not in medicine; years of rejection has made me so numb to it now.

 

I've learned one should neither be too optimistic or pessimistic about this process. I would say focus on what is to come ahead like your U of A interview. Also, plan for backup options if med does not work out. That is being realistic. Best of luck!

 

 

I hope your perseverance will pay off this year, Acacna  :)

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