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hey everyone! I'm really hoping to get some input/advice on what I should do. When applying, I hesitated between adding a specific activity to my ABS or just leaving it out. It has to do with a personal experience. Before entering it, I really contemplated whether I would be able to talk about this activity if I were ever to receive an interview invite and be asked about it. Because of recent events, I realized that I definitely will not be able to talk about it in front of a panel if I get an interview. I desperately want to remove it but I'm not sure if that's something that's possible? Has anyone ever experienced something similar? I know OMSAS doesn't allow it. Should I contact UOttawa and ask if it can be removed or how does it work? :(

Thank you all so much! I was freaking out about this but definitely less stressed now haha

I sent out my email request to the referees. Under the "Referees" tab, one of them says received. The other 2 say "Email sent" is that okay or is it supposed to also say "Received" by 4:30 September 15th?

Hey all, I’m first-time applicant and I’m confused about the OMSAS deadlines. To be specific, I’m confused about the LOR October 1st deadline. So our references complete everything online and then scan the letter as a PDF. So does that mean that they have until October 1st to submit everything or that it must be RECEIVED by that day (so for example if they were mailing the letter, they need to have it mailed a few business days before so that it is received on Oct 1st)? Also, i know this is going to sound stupid but if they end up doing everything online for the reference, will OMSAS receive it immediately or should I aim to have them submit things 4-5 business days before the deadline? Thank you!

I misunderstood your initial question, my bad!! I thought you were asking about whether it really is better to have at least 1 non-academic and that’s what I was referring to. So to clarify: I did NOT read anywhere that it’s best to have 2 academic, I just read that at least 1 should be non-academic. Don’t worry about it!! You’ve got this!

So for the OMSAS applications, they explicitly tell us not to copy and paste our responses from a word document onto the application form because they may receive a weird text on their end. For the Dal application, does anyone know if we can just copy and paste from a Word document onto the application site? Sorry for the stupid question, I'm just paranoid haha

The issue isn't getting in touch with the person I volunteered with, it's that the organization is set-up so that the person leading the whole thing is always writing the reference letters and no one else :( I'm going to go with your advice and just ask for the volunteering letter. You're totally right in that the others would really just focus on my academic qualities. Thanks so much for your advice and best of luck to you too!

Sadly, yes :(

Hey everyone! I’m having a hard time deciding on who to ask for my 3rd reference letter. I’m asking 2 profs (one is my research supervisor and the other is my prof for a course I took last year). I knew that it’s best to have 2 academic and 1 non-academic but this is where I’m having a problem. I volunteered as a tutor in an organization for the first 2 years of my undergrad, in 3rd year I stopped because it no longer worked with my schedule (I’m now starting 4th yr). The individual who writes the reference letters for this organization wasn’t the one I actually worked with (that’s just the way the organization is set up). She just oversees everything but is always the one responsible for writing people reference letters. Because of the 1 year time gap and the fact that I didn’t have a lot of one-on-one interactions with her, is it bad to ask her for a reference letter? My alternative is asking a post-doc in my lab who I believe would say good things about me but it would mean that 2/3 references are from the exact same area (research) so it’ll probably be repetitive. Any advice?

Does anyone know if there is a good/bad wait list for the French stream? If so, how much do those wait lists usually move up?

Do you happen to know how many applicants applied via the CNFS? And if you don't mind me asking, is French your first language or are you bilingual (with English as your first) and decided to then apply through the French stream?

Hey! Did anyone apply through the CNFS or applied in previous years and got in?

Hi! I know this might sound like a silly question but which Canadian medical schools focus the least on your extracurriculars?

Hi everyone! Last summer, I wrote the MCAT and scored 500, so I need to rewrite it for the schools I want to apply to. The thing is, last summer I was working full-time in a lab and really struggled to balance working and studying for the MCAT (cause I had signed up for one of those prep courses). This year, I was offered the same position in the lab and it would be full time. I really want to work for the experience and it strengthens my CV; however, I'm not really sure how to balance the working and studying? Any advice? This summer is my last chance to write the MCAT if I want to be able to apply during my 4th yr undergrad. Is it too risky to work and study knowing how bad I did on the first one. Is it worth giving up the research position to just study for the MCAT all 4 months? Any advice? Thanks!

Hi everyone! I've been looking into the difference between applying to the French vs. English stream at Ottawa med. I understand that the French stream is less competitive so I was thinking of applying for that stream. French is not my first language but I can express myself well enough to make it through I believe. Has anyone who has studied English applied for the French stream and gotten an interview? How did things go and how strict are they with assessing your proficiency in writing/speaking? I would really appreciate any advice/help! Also, how important are extracurriculars with OttawaMed?