Athervi Posted December 9, 2019 Report Share Posted December 9, 2019 Hi everyone I'm wondering what my chances might be with Ottawa med, English stream, in province? MCAT: 509 (126/127/127/129) wGPA: I think 3.85 ish (although that's going by the past 3 full time school years broken down into 2017, 2018, 2019 vs. actual school year time periods, ie. second year being 2017/2018 - not sure which ottawa would use?) ECs: president of international nonprofit, 5 years hospital volunteering, experience doing first aid in communities, health promotion work, documentary, clinical research (no pubs) Thanks in advance!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedicineLCS Posted December 9, 2019 Report Share Posted December 9, 2019 I've never encountered a school that calculates GPA per calendar year instead of per school year. Recalculate your GPA using Ottaws x1, x2, and x3 rule and check it. Your wGPA is close to their cutoff of 3.85 and they dont care about your MCAT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athervi Posted December 9, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2019 1 minute ago, MedicineLCS said: I've never encountered a school that calculates GPA per calendar year instead of per school year. Recalculate your GPA using Ottaws x1, x2, and x3 rule and check it. Your wGPA is close to their cutoff of 3.85 and they dont care about your MCAT. Thank you for the reply!! I go down to a 3.835 in that case unfortunately.. do you think I'd still stand a chance? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedicineLCS Posted December 9, 2019 Report Share Posted December 9, 2019 Exactly 0%. <3.85=below cutoff. Unfortunately you'll need to target other schools or bring your GPA up. If you're below cutoffs you're below the cutoff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athervi Posted December 9, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2019 Just now, MedicineLCS said: Exactly 0%. <3.85=below cutoff. Unfortunately you'll need to target other schools or bring your GPA up. If you're below cutoffs you're below the cutoff. Darn thanks for the help figuring everything out!! I would need to take a whole new full time year to bring it up right? or do course marks in non-full time years get calculated in, no right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedicineLCS Posted December 9, 2019 Report Share Posted December 9, 2019 Yes, full time years as per their admission requirements. Bear in mind the average Ottawa GPA is also quite high, 3.9x range IIRC so just barely beating the cutoff may not be enough. If money's no object you could always try. Maybe when you apply they'll have relaxed it. I would check first, I emailed this year and it's a 3.85 for in and out of province. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IMislove Posted December 9, 2019 Report Share Posted December 9, 2019 Just now, MedicineLCS said: Yes, full time years as per their admission requirements. Bear in mind the average Ottawa GPA is also quite high, 3.9x range IIRC so just barely beating the cutoff may not be enough. If money's no object you could always try. Maybe when you apply they'll have relaxed it. I would check first, I emailed this year and it's a 3.85 for in and out of province. Doubt they will relax, it’s been 3.85 since when I started applying back in October 2013, and it was that as well before then from word of mouth/here so yeah, med is just a competitive beast. 5 minutes ago, Athervi said: Darn thanks for the help figuring everything out!! I would need to take a whole new full time year to bring it up right? or do course marks in non-full time years get calculated in, no right? Do another full time year, get as many 3.9/4s as possible. Most recent year counts the most as you can see. For Canada GPA is the most important hurdle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athervi Posted December 9, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2019 1 hour ago, IMislove said: Doubt they will relax, it’s been 3.85 since when I started applying back in October 2013, and it was that as well before then from word of mouth/here so yeah, med is just a competitive beast. Do another full time year, get as many 3.9/4s as possible. Most recent year counts the most as you can see. For Canada GPA is the most important hurdle. Thank you so much for the reply, helps a lot. good to know - makes my gpa a little lower I'm in a fifth year and am taking two courses right now, but can take up to 6 next semester.. does it matter that it's not equal in each, so long as I have full time courses for the academic year? I should have taken a full time year this year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrOtter Posted December 9, 2019 Report Share Posted December 9, 2019 11 minutes ago, Athervi said: Thank you so much for the reply, helps a lot. good to know - makes my gpa a little lower I'm in a fifth year and am taking two courses right now, but can take up to 6 next semester.. does it matter that it's not equal in each, so long as I have full time courses for the academic year? I should have taken a full time year this year I'm pretty sure in order to count as "full-time", it'll need to be 5 full-year course equivalents (FCE) within a year. So you're sitting at 4 FCEs right now. They don't care about having it equally distributed or anything, and they do allow you to take the remaining 1 FCE during the summer to make up for the year. If you do end up doing that, then your current year can be considered "full-time" but your summer courses will only count towards courseload requirements and their marks are not considered. In short, if you manage to do do well (~4.0) in this academic year, and do okay with your summer courses (<3.90), then your GPA for this year for Ottawa will still be ~4.0. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IMislove Posted December 9, 2019 Report Share Posted December 9, 2019 14 minutes ago, Athervi said: Thank you so much for the reply, helps a lot. good to know - makes my gpa a little lower I'm in a fifth year and am taking two courses right now, but can take up to 6 next semester.. does it matter that it's not equal in each, so long as I have full time courses for the academic year? I should have taken a full time year this year Sadly no, as per their website: Any year with less than four courses per semester will not count as a full-time year of study. https://med.uottawa.ca/undergraduate/admissions/application-process/eligibility-requirements Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedicineLCS Posted December 9, 2019 Report Share Posted December 9, 2019 Your year might count if you overload, e.g. 2+6, but there is space for ambiguity on their website. Contact them to confirm. You would need to make up the missing two courses. Honestly, the best thing to do is spend some time reading the admissions pages of all the schools you're in province status applies to, or that your MCAT is competitive at (Queens, Toronto, McMaster is pushing it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athervi Posted December 9, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2019 4 minutes ago, MedicineLCS said: Your year might count if you overload, e.g. 2+6, but there is space for ambiguity on their website. Contact them to confirm. You would need to make up the missing two courses. Honestly, the best thing to do is spend some time reading the admissions pages of all the schools you're in province status applies to, or that your MCAT is competitive at (Queens, Toronto, McMaster is pushing it). Thank you so much for your time, feeling a bit mad at myself and lost right now so the advice really helps I applied in the last cycle to queens, toronto, mac and western but I don't have a lot of hope given my stats. In your opinion, if you were in my position, would you take a 6th year or just focus on retaking the MCAT for the other schools? Sorry it's a big question, helps a lot to hear different perspectives! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athervi Posted December 9, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2019 16 minutes ago, IMislove said: Sadly no, as per their website: Any year with less than four courses per semester will not count as a full-time year of study. https://med.uottawa.ca/undergraduate/admissions/application-process/eligibility-requirements Thank you so much for the advice, I am having a lot of trouble identifying my next steps. Do you think I should take a 6th year or just focus on retaking the MCAT for other schools? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athervi Posted December 9, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2019 18 minutes ago, DrOtter said: I'm pretty sure in order to count as "full-time", it'll need to be 5 full-year course equivalents (FCE) within a year. So you're sitting at 4 FCEs right now. They don't care about having it equally distributed or anything, and they do allow you to take the remaining 1 FCE during the summer to make up for the year. If you do end up doing that, then your current year can be considered "full-time" but your summer courses will only count towards courseload requirements and their marks are not considered. In short, if you manage to do do well (~4.0) in this academic year, and do okay with your summer courses (<3.90), then your GPA for this year for Ottawa will still be ~4.0. Thank you very much for your time, I really appreciate the advice!! I'm hearing ottawa requires 4 courses per semester where did u hear otherwise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrOtter Posted December 9, 2019 Report Share Posted December 9, 2019 7 minutes ago, Athervi said: Thank you very much for your time, I really appreciate the advice!! I'm hearing ottawa requires 4 courses per semester where did u hear otherwise? Oh yeah they said that in their policy. But then they also said immediately after that statement that " only if the missing course/unit is completed either as an additional course within another academic year or as a summer course". Plus, the statement "A full-time academic year where the equivalent of four (4) courses per semester" is really ambiguous. I mean technically speaking, what you're doing is "equivalent" to 4 courses per semester. I'd just email them to ask for certain since we're all just interpreting here. :v Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedicineLCS Posted December 9, 2019 Report Share Posted December 9, 2019 You're in a tough spot in deciding to retake vs. 6th year. A 6th year could improve your GPA enough to become more competitive somewhere like Ottawa. However, there's a significant opportunity cost to making a 4 year degree last 6 years. There's no guarantee you'll get in, so think of how you can expand your backups, which a 6th year wont help. Retaking the MCAT is an objectively better choice, IF, you can become competitive at Western and McMaster+OOP schools. This isn't easy, but if you pull it off your chances look better. That being said, please go and read the websites of the schools you're interested I to see their policies, GPA calculations, and more. To play the med admissions game best you need to be well informed, and asking questions one at a time from strangers is subpar in comparison to reading the websites yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athervi Posted December 9, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2019 31 minutes ago, MedicineLCS said: You're in a tough spot in deciding to retake vs. 6th year. A 6th year could improve your GPA enough to become more competitive somewhere like Ottawa. However, there's a significant opportunity cost to making a 4 year degree last 6 years. There's no guarantee you'll get in, so think of how you can expand your backups, which a 6th year wont help. Retaking the MCAT is an objectively better choice, IF, you can become competitive at Western and McMaster+OOP schools. This isn't easy, but if you pull it off your chances look better. That being said, please go and read the websites of the schools you're interested I to see their policies, GPA calculations, and more. To play the med admissions game best you need to be well informed, and asking questions one at a time from strangers is subpar in comparison to reading the websites yourself. Thanks so much for your reply, going to put a great deal of thought to this! I've been going through the website, just are a bit confusing - have a list to call. Honestly these forums have been a really great place to discuss and connect with people going through the same process I am, my apologies if I've asked too much here! All the best Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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