RunningGuns Posted October 12, 2013 Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 I was reading my way through the, "Accepted/Rejected/Waitlisted??" thread, and I had a bit of a 'Type A' moment when I realized there's not a lot of consistency among the applicants who fall into each category. I've gathered from some other, "what are my chances?" threads, that you're almost 'guaranteed' an interview if you meet the cut-offs for the MCAT and GPA, and aren't red flagged. Is that a fair assumption? After that point is it really just a combination of the interview, overall MCAT/GPA, and autobiographical sketch? Or does anybody really know? Also, if the majority of your degree was part-time, and you need a 5th/6th year to graduate, does Western penalize you for using a 5th/6th year in their GPA calculation (i.e. they're your only full course load years)? They're obviously not special years since you haven't graduate yet, but I haven't seen anyone mention 6th/7th/8th years before (I believe that 8 years is the maximum amount of time that most universities allow to complete a bachelor's degree). Any insight appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uwodesperate Posted October 12, 2013 Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 Personal statement? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunningGuns Posted October 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 Personal statement? Oh, the autobiographical sketch. It's kind of like a personal statement... Maybe. I'll edit that.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted October 13, 2013 Report Share Posted October 13, 2013 I was reading my way through the, "Accepted/Rejected/Waitlisted??" thread, and I had a bit of a 'Type A' moment when I realized there's not a lot of consistency among the applicants who fall into each category. I've gathered from some other, "what are my chances?" threads, that you're almost 'guaranteed' an interview if you meet the cut-offs for the MCAT and GPA, and aren't red flagged. Is that a fair assumption? After that point is it really just a combination of the interview, overall MCAT/GPA, and autobiographical sketch? Or does anybody really know? Also, if the majority of your degree was part-time, and you need a 5th/6th year to graduate, does Western penalize you for using a 5th/6th year in their GPA calculation (i.e. they're your only full course load years)? They're obviously not special years since you haven't graduate yet, but I haven't seen anyone mention 6th/7th/8th years before (I believe that 8 years is the maximum amount of time that most universities allow to complete a bachelor's degree). Any insight appreciated. no one knows for sure - 8 or 9 years ago we know the final score was GPA, MCAT and interview - that personal statement was not factored in. Of course that was a really long time ago in the admissions world so we are not sure. Still considering they don't use the sketch in the interview it would seem unlikely they would use it somewhere else. Interview is pretty much guaranteed. I have been aware of two cases where the cut offs were met and no interview was granted - I have absolutely no idea why. I also know of many people that did have them, and when they didn't get an interview called the office as a result. In those cases a mistake was found somewhere and if it was the school that was wrong (ie the person did get the cut offs) then an interview was extended. I still say basically you hit the cutoffs and you get an interview as I firmly believe that is their policy unless something else is going on of significance. They do not punish you for more than 4 years as well. They just want your two best years. Most people aren't allowed by their home schools to take endless extra years, and in particular there are issues with doing enough 3rd or 4th year courses to met Western's rules on course level (3/5). So often people end up taking a completely new second degree with transfer credits. That way they have access to new courses, have another backup plan option, and still can compete to get in medical school etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunningGuns Posted October 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2013 no one knows for sure - 8 or 9 years ago we know the final score was GPA, MCAT and interview - that personal statement was not factored in. Of course that was a really long time ago in the admissions world so we are not sure. Still considering they don't use the sketch in the interview it would seem unlikely they would use it somewhere else. Interview is pretty much guaranteed. I have been aware of two cases where the cut offs were met and no interview was granted - I have absolutely no idea why. I also know of many people that did have them, and when they didn't get an interview called the office as a result. In those cases a mistake was found somewhere and if it was the school that was wrong (ie the person did get the cut offs) then an interview was extended. I still say basically you hit the cutoffs and you get an interview as I firmly believe that is there policy unless something else is going on of significance. They do not punish you for more than 4 years as well. They just want your two best years. Most people aren't allowed by their home schools to take endless extra years, and in particular there are issues with doing enough 3rd or 4th year courses to met Western's rules on course level (3/5). So often people end up taking a completely new second degree with transfer credits. That way they have access to new courses, have another backup plan option, and still can compete to get in medical school etc. That aligns quite well with what I was thinking, and also sets my mind to ease for now! Thank you rmorelan, I was definitely looking forward to your response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockeynut Posted October 13, 2013 Report Share Posted October 13, 2013 In the end all you can do is apply, everything you can do has been done. So throw our hat in the ring and hope the sun shines on you. Ps hopefully after it shines on me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunningGuns Posted October 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2013 In the end all you can do is apply, everything you can do has been done. So throw our hat in the ring and hope the sun shines on you.Ps hopefully after it shines on me! Haha! Are you applying for the 2014/2015 cycle?? I'm sure there is enough room for both of us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockeynut Posted October 13, 2013 Report Share Posted October 13, 2013 Oh snap no I applied for this cycle 2013-2014, I hop I'm not applying next year haha. So now I hope you're the first person accepted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunningGuns Posted October 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2013 Oh snap no I applied for this cycle 2013-2014, I hop I'm not applying next year haha. So now I hope you're the first person accepted Aww, well thanks! I hope you get in this cycle I'm a little worried about my GPA conversion right now, because apparently my university's 4.0 (85-95%) is only a 3.90 according to OMSAS. So, here's to hoping I can get enough 'As' to meet and exceed the cut-off.. At least by a little bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.