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Hi everyone!!

I am a student from uOttawa and I would just like to know my chances for the McGill medical school.

Here are my stats:

Year: Graduated June 2018 with a B.Sc. in biomedical science. Finishing second degree (will have it by June 2021).

cGPA: With the Winter 2020 grades not counting my cGPA is at 3.937 (anyone know if McGill rounds up?). I am an In-province Quebec applicant.

EC's: Long term volunteering at a hospital since 2015 (~600 hours), research lab volunteer, shadowing a emergency physician in the ER, part-time job, private math tutor in high school, general chemistry teacher assistant volunteer during the summer for the past 3 years for high school students, organic chemistry teacher assistant during uOttawa open house week, awards/dean's list and scholarships, awarded the APUO scholarship, volunteer of the month in the emergency department (sep 2018),  competitive dancing for the past 7 years+instructor, NSERC summer research scholarship (2x), UROP research scholarship, part-time student mentor for my faculty during the academic year, trilingual.

Also, does anyone have any idea how to structure a McGill CV? How many entries should I put per section (i.e. job, volunteering, EC etc)?

Please be honest with me!!

Thank you all :)

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On 6/18/2020 at 7:43 PM, FriendlyApple said:

Your GPA and ECs are really good, it's going to come down to CASPer for you.

Thank you!

Do you guys have any tips on how to make a good CV. I am trying to make it balanced, and I was thinking about putting 3-4 entries per sections (to not go over the 2 pages). However, how long do you think the description it-self should be? I'm aiming for quality over quantity, but with that mindset I am trying to write a more meaningful description.

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1 hour ago, zackattack881 said:

Thank you!

Do you guys have any tips on how to make a good CV. I am trying to make it balanced, and I was thinking about putting 3-4 entries per sections (to not go over the 2 pages). However, how long do you think the description it-self should be? I'm aiming for quality over quantity, but why that mindset I am trying to write a more meaningful description.

All that makes you a competitive applicant! To make a good CV, go and read the CanMed page. Then for each entries on your CV, make those CanMed competencies stand out. If you have 5 different volunteering entries that have the same justification, it's a bit useless. Say that this one helped you with developping team work, while that another helped you with improving your communication skills or your leadership and so on. The justification and variety is a lot more important than just blindly stacking up 2 pages achievements. Good luck :) 

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32 minutes ago, zackattack881 said:

Thank you!

Do you guys have any tips on how to make a good CV. I am trying to make it balanced, and I was thinking about putting 3-4 entries per sections (to not go over the 2 pages). However, how long do you think the description it-self should be? I'm aiming for quality over quantity, but why that mindset I am trying to write a more meaningful description.

Keeping it to 3-4 entries per section is a good strategy! The format of the CV template does not leave much room for very long descriptions about personal impact. Personally, my descriptions were very "resumé"-like; I tended to keep it more factual, and I stuck to roughly 2 sentences per entry: one sentence for description, and one sentence for personal impact (which could be, as Elgar suggested, linked to a CANMeds competency). An example description I would write would be "Barista at XXX coffeehouse. Improved interpersonal and communication skills, and learnt to manage client expectations." I took a look at what I submitted for my McGill CV, and most of my descriptions were about 25 words. However, this is entirely up to personal style, and as always n=1

Your list of ECs are very impressive. I think it will come down to a balancing act. When you have access to their template, start adding your best ECs first, and write the description you want. Continue adding until you hit the page limit, then decide if a missing EC is worth a more streamlined description on another. If you have redundant ECs (ex: two awards for academic excellence) consider picking the more unique one, like the award that was only given to 1 student for the entire faculty or something. Favour certain categories before others (ie only add 1-2 "skills and hobbies" if you lack space and still have strong research, employment, or service to community ECs to add). 

 

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17 hours ago, Elgar said:

All that makes you a competitive applicant! To make a good CV, go and read the CanMed page. Then for each entries on your CV, make those CanMed competencies stand out. If you have 5 different volunteering entries that have the same justification, it's a bit useless. Say that this one helped you with developping team work, while that another helped you with improving your communication skills or your leadership and so on. The justification and variety is a lot more important than just blindly stacking up 2 pages achievements. Good luck :) 

Perfect thank you! How many words per entries do you think is too much or too little? Or does it depends on the amount of entries as well at that point? 

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16 hours ago, pnpclear said:

Keeping it to 3-4 entries per section is a good strategy! The format of the CV template does not leave much room for very long descriptions about personal impact. Personally, my descriptions were very "resumé"-like; I tended to keep it more factual, and I stuck to roughly 2 sentences per entry: one sentence for description, and one sentence for personal impact (which could be, as Elgar suggested, linked to a CANMeds competency). An example description I would write would be "Barista at XXX coffeehouse. Improved interpersonal and communication skills, and learnt to manage client expectations." I took a look at what I submitted for my McGill CV, and most of my descriptions were about 25 words. However, this is entirely up to personal style, and as always n=1

Your list of ECs are very impressive. I think it will come down to a balancing act. When you have access to their template, start adding your best ECs first, and write the description you want. Continue adding until you hit the page limit, then decide if a missing EC is worth a more streamlined description on another. If you have redundant ECs (ex: two awards for academic excellence) consider picking the more unique one, like the award that was only given to 1 student for the entire faculty or something. Favour certain categories before others (ie only add 1-2 "skills and hobbies" if you lack space and still have strong research, employment, or service to community ECs to add). 

 

Ok, I was thinking about keeping a mix of the most recent AND relevant entries that I feel like would be a good plus for medical school.  And I see what you mean, so keeping it more to unique things is the way to go.

Also, I am not completely sure, but is "bilingualism" something I indicate in the application (ie. when I pay), Minerva directly or should I add it to my "skills and hobbies" section? (I am asking because I am actually trilingual)

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Just now, zackattack881 said:

Ok, I was thinking about keeping a mix of the most recent AND relevant entries that I feel like would be a good plus for medical school.  And I see what you mean, so keeping it more to unique things is the way to go.

Also, I am not completely sure, but is "bilingualism" something I indicate in the application (ie. when I pay), Minerva directly or should I add it to my "skills and hobbies" section? (I am asking because I am actually trilingual)

A mix of recent and relevant is good! More unique ECs can help you stand out, but it should not be at the detriment of the more classical but longterm/strong ECs though. 

During the general part of the application process (the online portion where you pay), I think they ask about your spoken languages, and they definitely ask you for your language preference for the MMI (English, French, or doesn't matter), but McGill doesn't require bilingualism for admission. They evaluate bilingualism after admission: if you did your degree in English but passed the MMIs in French (or vice-versa) you don't need to do anything more. An upper year, who had done their degree+MMI in English but was a native French speaker, told me that they proved their bilingualism after a 30 minute conversation in French with an advisor. I don't think indicating your language preferences there has an impact on the non-academic evaluation of your application. I feel like it's more for administrative purposes than anything.

If you want to highlight your language skills as part of your non-academic assessment, then you should put it in the CV. I added mine to the skills and hobbies part of the CV. I tried focusing on the other languages besides English and French, because I feel like being bilingual isn't super unique in Quebec haha. In mine, I wrote something like "In addition to my native French and English, I am fluent in XX after N years of study, and conversationally functional in YY thanks to [insert experience]." 

 

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3 hours ago, pnpclear said:

A mix of recent and relevant is good! More unique ECs can help you stand out, but it should not be at the detriment of the more classical but longterm/strong ECs though. 

During the general part of the application process (the online portion where you pay), I think they ask about your spoken languages, and they definitely ask you for your language preference for the MMI (English, French, or doesn't matter), but McGill doesn't require bilingualism for admission. They evaluate bilingualism after admission: if you did your degree in English but passed the MMIs in French (or vice-versa) you don't need to do anything more. An upper year, who had done their degree+MMI in English but was a native French speaker, told me that they proved their bilingualism after a 30 minute conversation in French with an advisor. I don't think indicating your language preferences there has an impact on the non-academic evaluation of your application. I feel like it's more for administrative purposes than anything.

If you want to highlight your language skills as part of your non-academic assessment, then you should put it in the CV. I added mine to the skills and hobbies part of the CV. I tried focusing on the other languages besides English and French, because I feel like being bilingual isn't super unique in Quebec haha. In mine, I wrote something like "In addition to my native French and English, I am fluent in XX after N years of study, and conversationally functional in YY thanks to [insert experience]." 

 

Thank you for your response!

Last question I am wondering haha. For the "academic history workbook" it seems that the McGill equivalent cGPA makes a calculation that includes both my bachelors' (ie. all my grades). 

However, on the McGill website, it says "Applicants may be considered on the basis of a second, subsequent undergraduate degree (minimum 60 credits). However, 45 consecutive graded credits (in a second/alternate bachelor's degree program) must be completed by the November 1 application deadline."

I already have more than 45 consecutive graded credits in my second bachelor (I am graduating in June 2021 so no problem there). Is there something that I am doing wrong, or will the cGPA of my first bachelor not be looked at when McGill is assessing my file? Because the cGPA of my second bachelor's degree is 3.94, but that isn't the number I am seeing on the excel file used last year.

If you could shed light on it with your knowledge and experience, that would be great!

 
 
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14 minutes ago, zackattack881 said:

Thank you for your response!

Last question I am wondering haha. For the "academic history workbook" it seems that the McGill equivalent cGPA makes a calculation that includes both my bachelors' (ie. all my grades). 

However, on the McGill website, it says "Applicants may be considered on the basis of a second, subsequent undergraduate degree (minimum 60 credits). However, 45 consecutive graded credits (in a second/alternate bachelor's degree program) must be completed by the November 1 application deadline."

I already have more than 45 consecutive graded credits in my second bachelor (I am graduating in June 2021 so no problem there). Is there something that I am doing wrong, or will the cGPA of my first bachelor not be looked at when McGill is assessing my file? Because the cGPA of my second bachelor's degree is 3.94, but that isn't the number I am seeing on the excel file used last year.

If you could shed light on it with your knowledge and experience, that would be great!

 
 

No idea, sorry... That's probably something admissions is going to be able to answer for you. Rules as written you should be evaluated by your section degree, but I think you're right in expecting the academic workbook to show the correct GPA. 

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17 hours ago, zackattack881 said:

Perfect thank you! How many words per entries do you think is too much or too little? Or does it depends on the amount of entries as well at that point? 

I think it depends, some entries will need more explantions than others. What I did was first to put everything I did in every category, with the draft justifications. Then at looked at redundancy, and what were the stronger or weaker elements (those were eliminated) to eventually acheive the 2 pages goal. Also, don't underestimate the power of rewording your entries to make the justification as short as possible!

As for languages, I did MMIs in French, and as I studied at McGill before, so I assumed it was obvious to them I could speak both languages, but I guess you could include it in some entries. For example, if you did volunteering with a particular ethnic population and you were able to converse with them because it's your first language, say it. You could also put it in the hobbies category if you like to travel and learn new languages.

Anyways, at some point they want to know your degree of profieciency in either French or English if you academic journey doesn't demonstrate it. There is a language "exam" before the start of the first semester that basically just assess you level in French or English, but it won't affect your admission. They'll just let you know which resources you might wanna use to get better in one language if needed.

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On 6/20/2020 at 9:02 AM, Elgar said:

I think it depends, some entries will need more explantions than others. What I did was first to put everything I did in every category, with the draft justifications. Then at looked at redundancy, and what were the stronger or weaker elements (those were eliminated) to eventually acheive the 2 pages goal. Also, don't underestimate the power of rewording your entries to make the justification as short as possible!

As for languages, I did MMIs in French, and as I studied at McGill before, so I assumed it was obvious to them I could speak both languages, but I guess you could include it in some entries. For example, if you did volunteering with a particular ethnic population and you were able to converse with them because it's your first language, say it. You could also put it in the hobbies category if you like to travel and learn new languages.

Anyways, at some point they want to know your degree of profieciency in either French or English if you academic journey doesn't demonstrate it. There is a language "exam" before the start of the first semester that basically just assess you level in French or English, but it won't affect your admission. They'll just let you know which resources you might wanna use to get better in one language if needed.

Perfect, thank you so much!

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@zackattack881

For your CV, what I did was try to think about "what experiences have helped to shape the person I am today, and how they will help me become a better doctor?". And that's what guided my choice of experiences to present and what I put forward. Some sections got longer because they were more important for me, and I completely deleted one because I had no relevant experience to write in it. I had not read about the CanMEDs roles at this time, but it's just common sense that these soft skills are important for medicine. I never got involved in anything in the goal of applying in medicine, just out of personal interest, and I think that maybe it made a small difference... because I sound very passionate when I talk about all of it. I never planned on applying at McGill (since I'm french) before doing it on a whim last October haha!

Anyway, that's just my personnal experience, it doesn't mean that you should do the same. Buuuut my GPA & ECs were not nearly as good as yours (except for research), & I still got in. Ans I truly think that there's no right or wrong answer, so you should do it in the way that enhances you the most. Don't forget that they probably don't want you to only tell what you did... but instead, they surely want to know about you through the things you did!

Good luck :)

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On 6/23/2020 at 8:38 AM, Mel96b said:

@zackattack881

For your CV, what I did was try to think about "what experiences have helped to shape the person I am today, and how they will help me become a better doctor?". And that's what guided my choice of experiences to present and what I put forward. Some sections got longer because they were more important for me, and I completely deleted one because I had no relevant experience to write in it. I had not read about the CanMEDs roles at this time, but it's just common sense that these soft skills are important for medicine. I never got involved in anything in the goal of applying in medicine, just out of personal interest, and I think that maybe it made a small difference... because I sound very passionate when I talk about all of it. I never planned on applying at McGill (since I'm french) before doing it on a whim last October haha!

Anyway, that's just my personnal experience, it doesn't mean that you should do the same. Buuuut my GPA & ECs were not nearly as good as yours (except for research), & I still got in. Ans I truly think that there's no right or wrong answer, so you should do it in the way that enhances you the most. Don't forget that they probably don't want you to only tell what you did... but instead, they surely want to know about you through the things you did!

Good luck :)

Thank you for the help! I will take all of that in consideration :) 

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