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Queens Interview Invites/regrets 2019


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Long-time lurker, first-time poster!!! I'm so unbelievably grateful for this opportunity! 

Result: Invite!

Time Stamp: 9:20am


wGPA/2 year GPA: 3.89 
Year: 4th

MCAT: 509 (128/126/127/128) 


ECs: The strong suit of my application. Long-term, diverse, several unique experiences. PM for more info.
Geography: IP

Congratulations to everyone else who received an interview, looking forward to meeting you all! 

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5 minutes ago, Aristotle said:

I don't understand their process, numerous colleagues of mine (myself included) have top 10 US medical schools and many Canadian Schools. (4 GPA, 520 MCAT, and numerous publications, thousands of hours of volunteering) and we did not get Queen's. I wonder why? :huh: 

Because GPA and MCAT are cut off, the ECs are what carry you in, reference letters too. It seems Queens likes unique things and a specific skill set or whatever. But you got other interviews so that’s good, focus on those.

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Result: Regrets

Time Stamp: 9:00 am

Interview Date: N/A
wGPA: 3.97 (last two years of undergrad) 
Year: finishing masters at harvard

MCAT: 509 (128/126/128/127) <- probably the issue 
ECs: executive on same clubs for 4 years, president of 2 clubs, founded not for profit, 1 first author publication and 1 co-authorship under journal review, work study research position in undergrad, various other miscellaneous activities in student society and clubs, I think I had strong referees? (had Rhodes interview based on them so don’t really think it could’ve been an issue with the letters...) 

Geography: Ontario 

Ive never posted on forums before because I really struggle with imposter syndrome and am super self conscious comparing myself against all the amazing candidates here. However, since Queens makes the application process extra difficult by not posting any statistics/criteria I thought I would contribute in case it could help someone. I also just wanted to say that I have a few friends that didn’t get any interviews for 2 years in a row and then managed to gain admission to multiple medical schools in their 3rd attempt. A lot of these admission processes can be quite flawed and may take students that may not make the best doctors while missing out on those that would. Even this year I know of someone who received an interview invite who not only failed a class due to a breach of academic integrity but also obtained a few publications in their name because their uncle was a surgeon. I’ve personally found it difficult to reconcile feeling like I’m not good enough in the face of knowing of cases like this. At the end of the day though what keeps me going is that (hopefully) hard work will pay off and things will work out for the best. I hope we can all take invites and rejections with a grain of salt, and continue to be kind to ourselves during this process.

Wish you all the best :) 

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10 minutes ago, IMislove said:

Because GPA and MCAT are cut off, the ECs are what carry you in, reference letters too. It seems Queens likes unique things and a specific skill set or whatever. But you got other interviews so that’s good, focus on those.

I mean it was good enough for the other schools. What do you think the problem is? 

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Result: Invite

Time Stamp: 9:20 EST

Interview Date: TBD
wGPA/cGPA: Unsure, 3.97+ depending on how its weighed
Year: 

MCAT:  *126 CARS*
ECs: Pretty extensive. Volunteering for a number of years, research, sports, scholarships, etc! (feel free to dm if you want more details)
Geography: OOP

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Result: Invite!

Time Stamp: 9:20 am

Interview Date: TBD
cGPA: 3.94
Year: 4th year UG

MCAT: 515 (128/128/129/130)
ECs: a few leadership positions in clubs/community org, a number of  hospital/clinical based volunteering positions (most long-term), many experiences geared toward one population, some research (1 second author pub, no posters or conferences), long-term employment (fairly unique). Definitely not as accomplished as so many others here seem to be but ECs were good enough for UBC OOP. PM for details. 
Geography: IP

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1 hour ago, ridcullylives said:

I'm so confused; what the actual fuck is happening here? How are people with 4.0s, great MCAT scores, and hundreds of hours of volunteering getting rejected?

 

Result: Regrets

Time Stamp: 9:00 am

Interview Date: N/A
wGPA: 3.88
Year: Graduated in 2010 BA

MCAT: 527 (132/132/132/131)
ECs: Worked full time for 8 years in medical communications, not too much volunteer work. Professional musician for ~10 years.

Geography: OOP

That is one hell of an impressive MCAT score. Sorry for the regret :( You are not alone. 

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37 minutes ago, Aristotle said:

I mean it was good enough for the other schools. What do you think the problem is? 

With any application review, there is subjectivity as to whether the person(s) reviewing your file resonates with your applications or not. This does not mean anything about your strength as a candidate for medicine or the school in particular. The fact you have a few interviews already is monumental and says a lot about your strength as an applicant. Do not take this rejection personally. Some people who have amazing stats receive no interviews, so I would focus your energy in the interviews you already have. Congratulations on the success though, that is amazing getting Canadian and top 10 US. 

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Result: Invite

Time Stamp: 9:24 am

Interview Date: 
wGPA/cGPA: 3.88/3.41 (yes, you read that cGPA correctly!)
Year: Two years out of undergrad

MCAT: 127/128/128/127
ECs:  Tons of clinical research (multiple pubs & presentations), teaching experience 
Geography: IP

This is my third round of applications and first ever interview! I always thought I was tossed into the reject pile because of my low cGPA but I guess you never know!

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Result: INVITE

Time Stamp: 9:20am

Interview Date: Deciding
wGPA/cGPA: 3.96
Year: UG - 4th year

MCAT: 516
ECs: Unique & Long-Term
Geography: IP

I wasn’t too happy after not receiving an invite from Ottawa, but this interview makes up for it! We’re almost there.

UofT, hit me up.

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3 hours ago, pine138 said:

Result: Invite

Time Stamp: 9:20am

Interview Date: TBA
cGPA = 3.71
Year: 4th year

MCAT: 518 (129 CARS)
ECs: hospital volunteering, wet and dry lab research (2 First author pubs, multiple abstracts/presentations), exec for campus group.

Congrats on the invite.  Out of curiosity, what was your wGPA?  Did you not post wGPA because you did not qualify?  3.71 is definitely the lowest I've seen for undergrad GPA cutoffs.  

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Result: Invite

Time Stamp: 9:20 am

Interview Date: 
wGPA/cGPA: 3.79/3.36
Year: Final year PhD, MSc completed

MCAT: 514 (128/128/129/129)
ECs:  Very research heavy- 9 pubs (five 1st author), over 300k in grants and scholarships, some major media appearances and lots of knowledge translation work, very unique clinical research with an international collaboration, lots of TAing. Non-research based awards for my sport (varsity and international for more than 12 years) and teaching. A lot of employment in customer service roles, not much volunteering. I know my LORs were very strong.
Geography: IP
I was rejected everywhere when I applied in my masters and I never ever thought I'd receive an invite. Very grateful 6 years later, and after rewriting the MCAT! 

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1 hour ago, Aristotle said:

I mean it was good enough for the other schools. What do you think the problem is? 

Because other schools actually put weight into the GPA and/MCAT eg mac, UoT, UBC, and western if you have super high both you’ll get interview, although now they have this short EC business so idk how that’ll change things. So where as those things may have carried you into other interviews, they do not at Queens , 3.8 could be same as 3.9, 126 same as 130. Just need to pass the cut off and all is well. And they seem to look for particular things in ECs, and unique things. I wish you luck in your interviews, practice practice practice.

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1 minute ago, KeyzerSoze said:

Hey congrats, not taking anything away from your accomplishment. Happy for you. 

But I had 126 CARS with a higher overall MCAT, a better GPA and also several long term leadership positions, poster presentations, so probably similar caliber of ECs. And I was rejected. I know I didn't get redflagged on my references since I got an Ottawa invite. What the hell gives? 

Who knows, you might just have gotten your ECs/LOR being evaluated by someone who was in a bad mood or perhaps your particular ECs didn't resonate with the reviewer. There's a significant amount of subjectivity in the process so one can only guess. 

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Result: Regrets

Time Stamp: Jan. 31 8:59 am

Interview Date: N/A
wGPA/cGPA: 3.87 (OMSAS)
Year: 3rd year B.Sc.

MCAT: 128/127/125/131
ECs: most are long-term; two sports, one international level and one varsity; diverse volunteer positions working with children, people with special needs and adults; lab experience; awards and scholarships; 3 jobs (leadership roles); LOR all knew me for for long periods of time (7 years shortest, 15 years longest)

Geography: IP

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