Western interview invites/regrets 2019

[chota-don]

Time Stamp: Jan 31, 11:00 am

Invite/reject: Invite

IP/OOP: IP

SWOMEN (Y/N): No

2YGPA: 3.95ish

MCAT (CHEM/CARS/BIO/PYSCH): 129/129/129/131 (518)

ABS Score (If available): owner of business, research, president of some clubs, long standing volunteering

[obiwankenobi]

I'm wondering if these changes will affect the ratio of SWOMON/non-SWOMEN.

[CHG]

Time Stamp: Jan 31, 11:14 am

Invite/reject: Invite

IP/OOP: IP

SWOMEN (Y/N): Yes

2YGPA: 3.9

MCAT (CHEM/CARS/BIO/PYSCH): 128/129/127/130 (514)

ABS Score (If available): no score. Varsity athlete, president/founder of some clubs, little bit of research...

Very excited!!

 

[Moonlight2]

Time Stamp: Jan 31, 13:00

Invite/reject: Reject

IP/OOP: OOP

SWOMEN (Y/N): No

2YGPA: 3.87

MCAT (CHEM/CARS/BIO/PYSCH): 128/127/127/129 (511)

ABS Score (If available): 2 poster presentations, 1 first author paper manuscript in submission, Literacy organization, Islamic charity organization, homeless shelter and hospital volunteering, street kids charity organization VP back home, playing music as hobby, most volunteerings under a year though.

 

[medorbust100]

What scares me the most is how ECs of some of the applicants that were rejected sound very similar to those that were given interviews. Perhaps duration or how the ABS was written and the experience connected with the core values played a big factor? It all seems very random...

[rmorelan]

20 minutes ago, medorbust100 said:

What scares me the most is how ECs of some of the applicants that were rejected sound very similar to those that were given interviews. Perhaps duration or how the ABS was written and the experience connected with the core values played a big factor? It all seems very random...

on the face of it things will I guess - we will have to try and drill down a bit moving forward to get a sense of what they want. 

I know the school won't want to release the exactly why this sort of thing is evaluated - too easy to game the system that way. Still a sense of what they are looking for is probably a nice middle ground here. 

Edited February 1, 2019 by rmorelan

[hiheyhi]

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[rmorelan]

3 minutes ago, ABCD13 said:

I agree. But I think we should always remember that those who post in this forum are a small % of the entire population. They might still be sending out the same # of invites for SWOMEN applicants and it just happens that this year, more SWOMEN applicants are posting their rejections versus previous years. I can't imagine that Western would cut down on their SWOMEN for OOP since majority would end up rejecting the offer to stay in province (assuming that they have good enough stats to get an interview at Western). I think we should wait and see when they release the statistics (not sure if they do this every year?) regarding how many applicants were SWOMEN etc.

 

Does anyone know if this data will be released? If so, when?

 

 

I suspect they are keeping the same numbers as well - ha my point was more that the experience would be a bit different with relative waitings changing. 

usually if it comes out it will come out in the Dean's report. Always a pleasant read

[jlkhhylyiluh6]

23 hours ago, deservingstudent said:

Rejected

IP 

Best 2 year GPA- 3.96

cGPA- 3.94

MCAT - 132/130/132/130 - 524

 

Cant believe it how this process works. Had good ECs and ABS. Got called from IVY schools, USA. I think there is a loophole in the system. The policies are not transparent. If anyone very well deserving  is looking into taking a legal route, do reply to me. Im in. I would like to know where i went wrong. I am sure there are a lot of deserving students who think the same way. 

 

wtf @ being rejected with those stats...any red flags by any chance?

[Jon Snow]

5 minutes ago, beeboop said:

 

wtf @ being rejected with those stats...any red flags by any chance?

After gaining some clarification today - allegedly all individuals who are 3.7 + and 128+ have 100% of their interview rank determined by two blinded aABS reviewers who give a "score" and this is how they determine who gets an interview (plus whatever role reference letters may play, likely just a red flag check). 132 vs 128 is essentially the same... 4.0 vs 3.7 is essentially the same... 
Not sure how people feel about this, I personally don't like how 2 people determine your entire fate. 

[jlkhhylyiluh6]

31 minutes ago, dehindu said:

After gaining some clarification today - allegedly all individuals who are 3.7 + and 128+ have 100% of their interview rank determined by two blinded aABS reviewers who give a "score" and this is how they determine who gets an interview (plus whatever role reference letters may play, likely just a red flag check). 132 vs 128 is essentially the same... 4.0 vs 3.7 is essentially the same... 
Not sure how people feel about this, I personally don't like how 2 people determine your entire fate. 

meh, its not different than a panel interview where 2-3 people "determine your fate". Dont think of it like that, especially since its your GPA/MCAT/ECs/interview that "determine your fate".

[w8list]

Time Stamp: Jan 31, 11:02am

Invite/reject: Invite

IP/OOP: IP

SWOMEN (Y/N): No

2YGPA: 3.98

MCAT (CHEM/CARS/BIO/PYSCH): 128/128/131/129 (516)

ABS Score (If available): 3 years working as a nurse

[unduhkuvahbruddah]

Time Stamp: Around 6pm Feb 1st

Invite/reject: Invite

IP/OOP: IP

SWOMEN (Y/N): Y

2YGPA: 3.91 in last year of undergrad, currently in "special year"

MCAT (CHEM/CARS/BIO): 129/125/129 (383 for these 3 sections)

ABS Score (If available): Definitely the strongest part of my app, I'm relatively old so I have had a lot of time to gain different experiences. I put a lot of effort into the aABS and had many friends/family help me with editing.

They originally said I didn't make the GPA cutoff, but I emailed them saying there may have been a mistake and fortunately they emailed back today apologizing and letting me know that they missed the "special year" I am currently undertaking so they sent me an invite. I did my undergrad, then an MSc, then the special year (all at different schools) so I see why it was messy for them to interpret. Good luck to everyone!

[rmorelan]

12 minutes ago, mothernature said:

Time Stamp: Around 6pm Feb 1st

Invite/reject: Invite

IP/OOP: IP

SWOMEN (Y/N): Y

2YGPA: 3.91 in last year of undergrad, currently in "special year"

MCAT (CHEM/CARS/BIO): 129/125/129 (383 for these 3 sections)

ABS Score (If available): Definitely the strongest part of my app, I'm relatively old so I have had a lot of time to gain different experiences. I put a lot of effort into the aABS and had many friends/family help me with editing.

They originally said I didn't make the GPA cutoff, but I emailed them saying there may have been a mistake and fortunately they emailed back today apologizing and letting me know that they missed the "special year" I am currently undertaking so they sent me an invite. I did my undergrad, then an MSc, then the special year so I see why it was messy for them to interpret. Good luck to everyone!

just to add reinforcement this is exactly how they normally have handled this in the past in my experience. 

Edited February 2, 2019 by rmorelan

[brady23]

2 hours ago, dehindu said:

After gaining some clarification today - allegedly all individuals who are 3.7 + and 128+ have 100% of their interview rank determined by two blinded aABS reviewers who give a "score" and this is how they determine who gets an interview (plus whatever role reference letters may play, likely just a red flag check). 132 vs 128 is essentially the same... 4.0 vs 3.7 is essentially the same... 
Not sure how people feel about this, I personally don't like how 2 people determine your entire fate. 

Wow - they did a complete 180 with their invites.

An ABS is so subjective so to go from it being 0% weight to 100% weight is crazy to me. I'm assuming there are multiple blinded reviewers as well, which makes it even more subjective. 

I really do feel for the applicants who strived to meet their ridiculous MCAT cutoffs in the past, only for them to throw this curveball. 

[JohnGrisham]

17 minutes ago, brady23 said:

Wow - they did a complete 180 with their invites.

An ABS is so subjective so to go from it being 0% weight to 100% weight is crazy to me. I'm assuming there are multiple blinded reviewers as well, which makes it even more subjective. 

I really do feel for the applicants who strived to meet their ridiculous MCAT cutoffs in the past, only for them to throw this curveball. 

Is this verified fact? If so, that is a huge game changer from Western.  Very big change.

[Jon Snow]

22 minutes ago, JohnGrisham said:

Is this verified fact? If so, that is a huge game changer from Western.  Very big change.

This is what I gathered from walking into the admissions office today and asking for how they picked their candidates. After hearing it at first, I made sure to repeat back what was said to me to make sure what I was hearing was in fact correct. 

It sounded like there were only "2 blinded reviewers" that generated some sort of score. How they had the infrastructure and the training in place to make these evaluations in the course of 1 application cycle is truly surprising and baffling. The lack of transparency or warning during the whole process really makes this that much harder to understand. 

[LiconC]

Whoever makes this thread for next year should write "geography" instead of "ip/oop" because I can't control+F "OOP" with how it was written. I hate myself for complaining about this. 

[rmorelan]

1 hour ago, brady23 said:

Wow - they did a complete 180 with their invites.

An ABS is so subjective so to go from it being 0% weight to 100% weight is crazy to me. I'm assuming there are multiple blinded reviewers as well, which makes it even more subjective. 

I really do feel for the applicants who strived to meet their ridiculous MCAT cutoffs in the past, only for them to throw this curveball. 

sounds like a completed separate cut off after the GPA/MCAT is meet

I wonder if they did that GPA/MCAT first (lowering them prior to get more people that usual) determined the ABS score of the ones that make the cut and then took the top say 450 people after the cut ranked by ABS score. There had to be some way to compute a subset I would think rather that doing a ABS score of the entire pool. 

Western always seems to go through these periods of relative admissions calm with stable MCAT/GPA levels (at least historically) that last a few years followed by change years that are extra painful because people have acclimatized to the older rules. I think I count about 4 such changes in the last 12 years - but this one has to be one of the biggest ones they have done in a very long time. 

[rmorelan]

45 minutes ago, LiconC said:

Whoever makes this thread for next year should write "geography" instead of "ip/oop" because I can't control+F "OOP" with how it was written. I hate myself for complaining about this. 

Ha, should be SWOMEN Status

(?)

[Moonlight2]

45 minutes ago, dehindu said:

This is what I gathered from walking into the admissions office today and asking for how they picked their candidates. After hearing it at first, I made sure to repeat back what was said to me to make sure what I was hearing was in fact correct. 

It sounded like there were only "2 blinded reviewers" that generated some sort of score. How they had the infrastructure and the training in place to make these evaluations in the course of 1 application cycle is truly surprising and baffling. The lack of transparency or warning during the whole process really makes this that much harder to understand. 

This is great information. Thank you for sharing this with us! Okay, now that we know of the stupid 180 degree shift their process has gone through, we need to figure out (somehow!) what kind of ECs they're looking for, or is it the description of the experience that they really cared about....

[brady23]

1 minute ago, rmorelan said:

sounds like a completed separate cut off after the GPA/MCAT is meet

 I wonder if they did that GPA/MCAT first (lowering them prior to get more people that usual) determined the ABS score of the ones that make the cut and then took the top say 450 people after the cut ranked by ABS score. There had to be some way to compute a subset I would think rather that doing a ABS score of the entire pool. 

 Western always seems to go through these periods of relative admissions calm with stable MCAT/GPA levels (at least historically) that last a few years followed by change years that are extra painful because people have acclimatized to the older rules. I think I count about 4 such changes in the last 12 years - but this one has to be one of the biggest ones they have done in a very long time. 

Yes definitely feel like this is a huge change for them. As someone who did struggle in CARS, I do feel for those who've retaken the MCAT multiple times to get that 130 in CARS, and thinking they had a guaranteed interview at Western (after all, it's been like that for years) - it is really draining tackling that beast of a test.

I mean - they haven't even included Psych in their MCAT scores even though there was always talk about it, I feel like the ABS could've been a post-interview factor as there is some subjectivity to it like the interview, but that's just me. 

[deservingstudent]

5 hours ago, beeboop said:

 

wtf @ being rejected with those stats...any red flags by any chance?

Quite frankly, its a lot of goof up there. I think anyone and everyone who has GPA more than 3.85 and CARS more than the cutoff should write to the admission office. I have taken legal opinion and there is no way the admission process can change overnight. If the person reading our ABS and ECs loves to travel or plays guitar, finds a candidate with similar interest can call less deserving candidate for an interview. in 5 minutes, he/she can decide who gets an interview, rejecting 4 years of academic excellence or excellent ECs that are not according to his liking.  Me, my known friends , with the support of our families have found a lot of information. I can only request the deserving candidates to write to the admission department. You deserve an interview and the law will prevail. 

[deservingstudent]

13 hours ago, EssexMed said:

Rejected, Swomen, 516, 3.99 cGPA, 4.0 2Y GPA... Also cheesed by this whole shitshow tbh. I'll definitely be in this with you. This was my 3rd application cycle and i just cant keep doing this with no transparency from the schools.

Ill private message you my phone number. We can talk. 

I got your phone number. Need more deserving candidates who can join us. Quite frankly, its a lot of goof up there. I think anyone and everyone who has GPA more than 3.85 and CARS more than the cutoff should write to the admission office. I have taken legal opinion and there is no way the admission process can change overnight. If the person reading our ABS and ECs loves to travel or plays guitar, finds a candidate with similar interest can call less deserving candidate for an interview. in 5 minutes, he/she can decide who gets an interview, rejecting 4 years of academic excellence or excellent ECs that are not according to his liking.  Me, my known friends , with the support of our families have found a lot of information. I can only request the deserving candidates to write to the admission department. You deserve an interview and the law will prevail. 

[deservingstudent]

On 1/31/2019 at 7:50 PM, Hypercalcemia said:

The reality is that there is a limited number of spots and not everyone who 'deserves' a spot can receive one. The system can really feel like a lottery.

That being said, it might be worth doing some serious self-reflection if you're upset enough to be threatening legal action despite receiving calls from other schools.

Quite frankly, its a lot of goof up there. I think anyone and everyone who has GPA more than 3.85 and CARS more than the cutoff should write to the admission office. I have taken legal opinion and there is no way the admission process can change overnight. If the person reading our ABS and ECs loves to travel or plays guitar, finds a candidate with similar interest can call less deserving candidate for an interview. in 5 minutes, he/she can decide who gets an interview, rejecting 4 years of academic excellence or excellent ECs that are not according to his liking.  Me, my known friends , with the support of our families have found a lot of information. I can only request the deserving candidates to write to the admission department. You deserve an interview and the law will prevail.