ashton_s Posted August 7, 2018 Report Share Posted August 7, 2018 Hey guys, Say I only wrote CARS and ended up getting 18/129/18/18. While McMaster will not give the other sections of the MCAT a second thought, what will Calgary adcoms think? I know that the other sections are examined under "global assessment." Has anyone heard of students getting accepted under these circumstances? Is this not allowed? Also, will Calgary look at previous MCAT attempts? Only the most recent, correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toothless_amphibian Posted August 8, 2018 Report Share Posted August 8, 2018 They take CARS into account only. 20 per cent GPA 10 per cent CARS subsection of the Medical College Admissions Test (2015 version) 10 per cent for each of the following attributes, as scored by the members of the File Review Subcommittee: Academic Merit, Communication Skills, Collaboration, Maturity and Insight, Advocacy on Behalf of Others, Scholarship and Research, Leadership Skills. (https://www.ucalgary.ca/pubs/calendar/current/md-5-3.html) And I'm inclined to say they'll use the best CARS score even if you've written multiple times, but I don't remember if I get that from their leaflet thing or not. Elsewhere in the above link they say that they take the pre-2015 MCAT score into account as part of an overall assessment, but again, in multiple places they indicate that CARS is the only section that counts as part of their application score calculation. I am doing the same thing next week - writing CARS only. How did you find your test? What was your prep like? Did you find you were getting a question or two wrong every passage, or it varied passage by passage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashton_s Posted August 8, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2018 10 hours ago, toothless_amphibian said: They take CARS into account only. 20 per cent GPA 10 per cent CARS subsection of the Medical College Admissions Test (2015 version) 10 per cent for each of the following attributes, as scored by the members of the File Review Subcommittee: Academic Merit, Communication Skills, Collaboration, Maturity and Insight, Advocacy on Behalf of Others, Scholarship and Research, Leadership Skills. (https://www.ucalgary.ca/pubs/calendar/current/md-5-3.html) And I'm inclined to say they'll use the best CARS score even if you've written multiple times, but I don't remember if I get that from their leaflet thing or not. Elsewhere in the above link they say that they take the pre-2015 MCAT score into account as part of an overall assessment, but again, in multiple places they indicate that CARS is the only section that counts as part of their application score calculation. I am doing the same thing next week - writing CARS only. How did you find your test? What was your prep like? Did you find you were getting a question or two wrong every passage, or it varied passage by passage? That’s what I thought too, until I read this: 5.1.3 Global Assessment of Academic Merit (10%) This includes, but is not limited to, such things as the types of courses taken, trends in grades over time, extenuating circumstances, consistency and global review of all sections of the MCAT. The overarching question that the reviewer is asked to answer is, “To what extent does this applicant demonstrate evidence of the academic skill necessary to master the material within the MD curriculum?” I am worried that having 118/129/118/118 will have a very negative impact on my application. Am wondering if anyone else did this and was successful. My test wasn’t bad overall. I was getting 1-2 wrong on average, usually 1 per passage. The worst part was how many distractions there were in the test room. Didn’t expect that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeryNiceGuy Posted August 8, 2018 Report Share Posted August 8, 2018 The assessment of academic merit is a "subjective" evaluation based on GPA, MCAT, trends, etc. If you have done well in science courses (physics, chem, bio, psych), the admission committee will know that you have the capability to do well in med school despite that you did not attempt the science sections on the MCAT. However, if you did not take science courses or have not performed well in them, there would be no evidence of such, and this could hurt your application. Since you already wrote your MCAT and did well on CARS, I think the only way to know is to apply to McMaster and Calgary, then see what happens. If you are not getting an interview at Calgary despite having good GPA and ECs, I would deduce that your MCAT is hurting you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashton_s Posted August 8, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2018 3 hours ago, VeryNiceGuy said: The assessment of academic merit is a "subjective" evaluation based on GPA, MCAT, trends, etc. If you have done well in science courses (physics, chem, bio, psych), the admission committee will know that you have the capability to do well in med school despite that you did not attempt the science sections on the MCAT. However, if you did not take science courses or have not performed well in them, there would be no evidence of such, and this could hurt your application. Since you already wrote your MCAT and did well on CARS, I think the only way to know is to apply to McMaster and Calgary, then see what happens. If you are not getting an interview at Calgary despite having good GPA and ECs, I would deduce that your MCAT is hurting you. Hey, thanks for your input. I only took a few science courses during my undergrad. Do you think a Masters of Science would compensate / show the committee that I am comfortable with the subject areas that will be covered in med school? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adhominem Posted August 8, 2018 Report Share Posted August 8, 2018 I think it tells adcoms you're lazy and can't be bothered to study for and write the test in its entirety. If I were a file reviewer I would give you a subpar score for the global assessment of academic merit on that basis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chels1267 Posted August 8, 2018 Report Share Posted August 8, 2018 23 minutes ago, ashton_s said: Hey, thanks for your input. I only took a few science courses during my undergrad. Do you think a Masters of Science would compensate / show the committee that I am comfortable with the subject areas that will be covered in med school? Why do a Masters when you could just rewrite and actually attempt the other sections though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashton_s Posted August 8, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2018 14 minutes ago, Chels1267 said: Why do a Masters when you could just rewrite and actually attempt the other sections though? I am almost done a masters in physiotherapy. I was in fieldwork this summer and completing courses. No time to study for all other MCAT sections & was wanting to apply this cycle to get a feel for the process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeryNiceGuy Posted August 9, 2018 Report Share Posted August 9, 2018 It doesn't hurt to apply this cycle. I think your graduate degree (in healthcare, no less) will make you a good candidate. If you don't get in, rewrite the MCAT. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chels1267 Posted August 10, 2018 Report Share Posted August 10, 2018 On 8/8/2018 at 6:03 PM, ashton_s said: I am almost done a masters in physiotherapy. I was in fieldwork this summer and completing courses. No time to study for all other MCAT sections & was wanting to apply this cycle to get a feel for the process. Ah well there you go, sounds like you have options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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