Ask A Current Macmed Student A Question

[Edict]

I just have a question about the credit requirements to apply. I know you need 90 credits by May as stated on their website, but it is not clear if the 90 credits have to be completed BEFORE application or if it needs to be completed in May of the year in which you are starting medical school? I'm thinking it's the latter as I thought McMaster accepts 3rd year applicants.

 

Also, can college courses be used to satisfy the credit requirement? I know they won't be used in the GPA calculation, but what about just using them to satisfy the 90 credit requirement?

 

Thanks!!

 

 

EDIT: I just looked at the Ontario manual and I realized I never looked at the applicable year. So I'm certain that an applicant needs to have completed 90 credits by the May of which they will be starting medical school, not before the application. If someone could confirm this and also help me out with the college courses question above.

Also, where is the resource where I can convert BC school grades to the Ontario 4.0 scale?

 

EDIT 2: so McMaster gives 90% of interviews for Ontario residents? I always thought there was no benefit of being in Ontario for in province status?

 

I can only answer Edit 2, but yes Mac gives 90% of its interview spots to Ontario residents. It is not as bad as it sounds as most of Mac's applicants (possibly around 90%) are going to be from Ontario anyways. Once you get an interview its open season though. 

[canucks_14]

Also, for those thinking about the US, I actually can think of no better program than Mac because of the enrichment year. You are allowed to take a dozen or so weeks of electives in your enrichment year which can be spent in the US doing electives and in addition that time can be spent studying for the USMLE. Because the USMLE differs from the curriculum of many medical schools, having that extra time to self study really makes the difference.

 

That is super interesting. I had no idea about this. This is very pertinent to me as I'm likely going to try to do everything to get to the U.S. thank you so much. Mac just might be my new number 1 choice! That's a lot coming from a born and raised bc kid!

[canucks_14]

Another question here, I noticed in the applicant manual that it states that the 3.0 GPA must be met by Oct 1st. This is last year's applicant manual but I'm assuming it will be the same for this year. I just wanted to confirm that McMaster will count all completed courses up until Oct 1st of the application year? Is this accurate? I am just double checking because UBC requires all final grades by June 1st of the application year, so I was surprised to see the deadline for inclusion of grades to be so late.

[BirdyBirdy]

It looks like we are being asked to rank the three campuses we would like to attach to during the interview. Can anyone gives pro/cons and differences (if any) of the three Mac campuses? Thank you!

[Birdy]

It looks like we are being asked to rank the three campuses we would like to attach to during the interview. Can anyone gives pro/cons and differences (if any) of the three Mac campuses? Thank you!

I ranked Hamilton 1st and that's where I am because I felt it'd be easier for my husband to get a job here (haha... nope) and because I figured that spending the first three months commuting to Hamilton for MF1 would be incredibly impractical with a family at home.

 

That said... I kind of wish I'd ranked the regionals higher. I was at NRC last week and everyone just seemed to get on really well. There's a closeness, I suppose, because there's only 28 at each campus. They all seem to know each other fairly well. Im not the most social sort and I don't like being in really big groups so I think I'd enjoy that setting much more, personally.

 

It's easier for them to set up electives - they have a person who helps facilitate that.

 

A complication is that a lot of the IG and other extracurricular stuff is centred around the Hamilton campus so even though it is usually video conferenced to the other campuses, there's a certain degree of difficulty to participating fully.

 

The regional students get to know the admin really well too. And they get fun activities like on the welcome to Niagara day.

 

During the post-interview presentation last year, the c2017 presenters showed us some stats about students feelings about their campus choice and it's pretty common for students who picked Hamilton to actually say they'd have picked a regional campus if they could choose again, so take from that what you will.

 

Hamilton'a alright and there's definitely a lot of fantastic people here. It's not bad by any means, but I can say for me personally I think I'd have been happier at NRC or maybe WRC (though I haven't been there yet) myself.

[DelightedPreMed]

Great thread! Thanks to all of you who have answered questions thus far. I have heard wonderful things about McMaster from non-med alumnae and I'm really excited to visit the campus for my interview and particularly to get a feel for the school experience from current students.

 

My question is for those of you who were fortunate enough to have a choice between McMaster and another school. Why did you choose McMaster? What sold it for you; i.e. location, the curriculum, the camaraderie, the schedule? 

 

Thanks in advance!

[PurpleS]

Great thread! Thanks to all of you who have answered questions thus far. I have heard wonderful things about McMaster from non-med alumnae and I'm really excited to visit the campus for my interview and particularly to get a feel for the school experience from current students.

 

My question is for those of you who were fortunate enough to have a choice between McMaster and another school. Why did you choose McMaster? What sold it for you; i.e. location, the curriculum, the camaraderie, the schedule? 

 

Thanks in advance!

 

I had a choice between Mac and Western - when it came down to it, I picked Mac because of location and the PBL curriculum.

 

I HATED going to lectures in undergrad, and I never attend lectures at Mac lol. But because of the PBL learning style, I never feel like I miss out on any information that students are getting in more traditional style schools. I have more free time to spend on research, and improving my clinical skills in the hospitals through horizontals. I just completed my mandatory 18 hours of family medicine experience, and I absolutely loved it. Being able to take histories from patients independently and working through a diagnosis with a clinician at this stage in my medical career is not something you could get at 4 year schools with lectures all day.

 

I also love that you have the option of pursuing an extra year to focus on research and do some extra electives to get CaRMS references and build your clinical skills - this is not an option at any other school. Yes, you have summers off in 4 year programs, but having 1 year consequentially means better research productivity (as opposed to 3 months with breaks in between), and having more time to build the important skills you need to get great reference letters. It's also a good time do studying for the USMLEs if you want to go to the states to practice.

 

In terms of location: my partner works in Toronto, my family is from Toronto. It was important for me to be close to the people I really care about. Windsor (which was the campus at Western that I was accepted at) is too far from home for me. I am able to see my partner pretty much every weekend where as if I went to Windsor, I'd only see them maybe once a month.

 

In terms of campuses: Everything I've heard about the regional campuses have been great. The reasons I ranked Hamilton first are 1) the one I listed above with being close to Toronto, and 2) I have a great passion for basic science research, and Hamilton offers more opportunities in that regard.

[Amanda Weinburg]

You lovely people marking CASPer, or is it a mixture of y'all with the company who organized it? Just was curious as to who the make up was. Thanks for taking the time .

 

CASPer marking is open to anyone, you can literally be anyone to mark CASPer. Some students do it but anyone can do it. 

[Sammm]

Hi, 

 

I am currently in high school and choosing between UofT and Ryerson for undergrad. I know everyone says it is way easier to get a high GPA at Ryerson, but it seems like medical schools don't really accept Ryerson grads. 

 

To give some perspective, I have a 96 in high school and as I am probably doing engineering for undergrad, the average drop is 15% at UofT (not sure for Ryerson) for first year and people improve in upper years. 

 

Sorry for being so roundabout, but my actual questions are; do you know any Ryerson undergrads at Mac med? Are selection committees negatively biased towards Ryerson? Do you know if the GPA thing is actually true or just a myth? 

 

Thanks

[NotASerialKiller]

but it seems like medical schools don't really accept Ryerson grads

 

The school you attend has absolutely no bearing on the admissions process. Any pattern you think you might be seeing is related to where students with particular career goals end up going to UG, nothing more. 

 

As for your GPA worries, it's more or less true that the smaller the school you attend the easier the grading will be. I'm not saying it's a dramatic difference, but overall you'd likely have a slightly worse GPA for the same effort, or the same GPA for slightly more effort. It's not in "don't go to UfoT" territory, but it's likely not the path of least resistance either. At a really small school (smaller than Ryerson) there would be fewer ultra-competitive students, but they're still going to have a similar grade distribution, so everyone just ends up a bit higher in the curve.

 

If you're going into engineering (notoriously hard to achieve a stellar GPA) then you're probably up for a challenge either way, and it won't make a big difference whether you go to UofT or Ryerson. Just remember that university is very different from high school. Some people get 90s in high school and then have a really tough time especially in first year, while others do better than they did in high school. The average trend won't dictate how you handle it.

 

edit: Not a Mac med student just so you know, but I'm interviewing there

[UWOMedSci16]

Hi, 

 

I am currently in high school and choosing between UofT and Ryerson for undergrad. I know everyone says it is way easier to get a high GPA at Ryerson, but it seems like medical schools don't really accept Ryerson grads. 

 

To give some perspective, I have a 96 in high school and as I am probably doing engineering for undergrad, the average drop is 15% at UofT (not sure for Ryerson) for first year and people improve in upper years. 

 

Sorry for being so roundabout, but my actual questions are; do you know any Ryerson undergrads at Mac med? Are selection committees negatively biased towards Ryerson? Do you know if the GPA thing is actually true or just a myth? 

 

Thanks

 

I don't think med school admission committees care where you do your undergrad, there's no bias on what school you come from. For Mac Med, your selection criteria coming out of undergrad is pretty much 1/3 GPA, 1/3 CARS, 1/3 CASPer. So with this in mind, it's advantageous to go to a program which will give you a higher GPA (high GPA is the most important factor in getting an interview in most places).

 

I don't know too much about Ryerson's program, but I do know friends who did Life Sci at UofT that felt like their GPA was lower than it could've been at other schools. You'll probably get a better learning experience at UofT, but if you are strictly gunning for medicine, you may be better off going to Ryerson if that gives you a higher GPA (can't confirm if this is true).

 

In terms of why there are more people in medicine from UofT vs Ryerson, I would say that this is because most people that are interested in medicine go to schools with renowned science programs (UofT, Mac, Western, Queens, etc). Doesn't mean anyone in Ryerson Science has any lower chance, it probably means more so that a lot of high caliber students choose to go to a school with a big name, such as UofT.

 

Ultimately, your ECs are important, and you may have better opportunities at UofT, but definitely the most important thing in getting to the interview stage at most schools is your GPA. If all you care about is getting into med (don't care about student life, learning from renowned profs, etc), I would consider Ryerson.

 

Ultimately, if you are interested in medicine and are a good student (which it sounds like you are), you probably wouldn't go wrong with either school, so don't stress too much. Just 1) Get your GPA as high as possible, 2) Get long term and diverse extracurriculars (without sacrificing GPA, and keep in mind no one cares if you volunteered in a hospital like a robot for 3 years, try to spice up your profile with things you are genuinely interested in and can talk about), and 3) Kill that MCAT

[Sammm]

NotASerialKiller Congratulations! Hope you get in to Mac!

 

Anyways, thanks for the insight. My main pull towards for Ryerson is that at Ryerson Engineering the entering class has much lower high school averages than UofT. Literally at UofT 50% of the class has 90-94, while 35% has 95+. 

 

At Rye, 7%  have 90-94 and there are no 95+ students.  37% have from 85-89. and the rest are 80-84. 

 

And Ryerson has way more students on their Dean's list for engineering than UofT does. That kind of leads me to believe that it does make big difference to GPA. 

[graham_cracker]

Hey guys,

 

I'm also very interested in applying for Mac this coming fall.  Are there any arts students there at the moment?  I'm applying with a BFA honours in dance, GPA 3.70 (I think) or 7.83 York GPA (not sure if anyone can work out a 4.0 system for me...).  I was getting straight As and ended up with a B+ in one class, SO ANGRY! Doing MCAT in August, and I guess I would have to score pretty high on the CARS section eh?  Not sure how they'll view my degree because it's very non-tradition and most people I talk to seemed a bit shocked when I tell them I want to do med. But hey, I've worked with my body my entire life, and I want to keep working with the body!

 

Anyway, any tips would be great for a dancer applying to medical school!

[YorkMD]

Hey guys,

 

I'm also very interested in applying for Mac this coming fall.  Are there any arts students there at the moment?  I'm applying with a BFA honours in dance, GPA 3.70 (I think) or 7.83 York GPA (not sure if anyone can work out a 4.0 system for me...).  Doing MCAT in August, and I guess I would have to score pretty high on the CARS section eh?  Not sure how they'll view my degree because it's very non-tradition and most people I talk to seemed a bit shocked when I tell them I want to do med. But hey, I've worked with my body my entire life, and I want to keep working with the body!

 

Anyway, any tips would be great for a dancer applying to medical school!

 

Make sure you correctly calculate your GPA on the 4.0 scale first. You have to take each class grade, convert it to the 4.0 scale and then average them out, you can't just take the x/9.0 from York and convert it. But don't worry about your degree majour, they really don't look at it any differently than a science degree and Mac in particular appreciates diversity in their students. Shoot for as high of a CARS score as possible obviously because it can only help the higher you go.

 

Good luck!

[MasterMind]

Quick question: what date do classes start for MD students at McMaster? (earlier in August or at the same time as other undergraduate students in September?) 

[Sammm]

 

 

 If all you care about is getting into med (don't care about student life, learning from renowned profs, etc), I would consider Ryerson.

 

 

 

This really got me to think about how I will benefit from a better quality of education. I feel like better quality will motivate me to learn and understand more. But GPA seems so important and I feel like UofT Eng is a death sentence for my GPA. Unfortunately, there are no public numbers I can look at to see how many people achieve amazing grades at each school. Is Ryerson's easiness just a myth? 

 

Would you say you are expected to have a lot of ECs? Sometimes I see the lists of people's ECs on here and I feel so overwhelmed.  Is there an "unspoken" minimum number of ECs? Has anyone gotten in with 5 good ECs? 

[NewDirection]

Wouldn't you say wanting to get into med school is motivation enough?

 

I wouldn't take a chance with my GPA, it can follow you around for a long, long time...

 

I don't have any data but from hearing several anecdotal stories, I don't think Ryerson's (or York's) easiness are myths.

[osteogeek]

Quick question: what date do classes start for MD students at McMaster? (earlier in August or at the same time as other undergraduate students in September?) 

 

Orientation activities are usually the last week of August, then classes start after Labour Day. Effectively, since most orientation activities are mandatory, things start a week earlier than other undergrad programs. 

[UWOMedSci16]

This really got me to think about how I will benefit from a better quality of education. I feel like better quality will motivate me to learn and understand more. But GPA seems so important and I feel like UofT Eng is a death sentence for my GPA. Unfortunately, there are no public numbers I can look at to see how many people achieve amazing grades at each school. Is Ryerson's easiness just a myth? 

 

Would you say you are expected to have a lot of ECs? Sometimes I see the lists of people's ECs on here and I feel so overwhelmed.  Is there an "unspoken" minimum number of ECs? Has anyone gotten in with 5 good ECs? 

 

 

Wouldn't you say wanting to get into med school is motivation enough?

 

I wouldn't take a chance with my GPA, it can follow you around for a long, long time...

 

I don't have any data but from hearing several anecdotal stories, I don't think Ryerson's (or York's) easiness are myths.

 

I agree with NewDirection.

 

GPA stays with you, it's the one part of your application you can't sacrifice. And I also wouldn't doubt that Ryerson would be easier than UofT in terms of GPA.

 

In terms of ECs, there's no magic number. One important thing to keep in mind though is the quality of what you have. A few diverse, long term commitments are better than having a hundred small things. And don't worry so much about trying to fill the list of things. When I started making the list of things I've done, I thought I would have a tough time hitting 10 things. However, after reflecting and really thinking about what I've done, the list really piled up and I had hit over 30 before I knew it. A lot of people find themselves in similar situations. But again, 10 strong items would be better than 30 weak items.

 

My advice would be this:

1) Get at least one experience doing research. Don't have to publish or anything, but I think it's important to show that you've considered research.

2) Have at least one long term volunteering commitment. You want to show that you are invested in your community.

3) Have at least one experience working/volunteering in the health care field. Really makes answering why you're interested in medicine much easier.

4) Try to have one long term commitment to something that you are personally interested in and something that sets you apart. If you're passionate about chess, then continue playing chess and don't give it up just so you can have more time for typical "pre-med" activities. Don't forget to live your life during undergrad, it will be over before you know it. You don't have to make your 4 years in undergrad revolve around trying to get into medicine, this can actually be counter productive. 

[MF1-5]

I don't think med school admission committees care where you do your undergrad, there's no bias on what school you come from. For Mac Med, your selection criteria coming out of undergrad is pretty much 1/3 GPA, 1/3 CARS, 1/3 CASPer. So with this in mind, it's advantageous to go to a program which will give you a higher GPA (high GPA is the most important factor in getting an interview in most places).

 

I don't know too much about Ryerson's program, but I do know friends who did Life Sci at UofT that felt like their GPA was lower than it could've been at other schools. You'll probably get a better learning experience at UofT, but if you are strictly gunning for medicine, you may be better off going to Ryerson if that gives you a higher GPA (can't confirm if this is true).

 

In terms of why there are more people in medicine from UofT vs Ryerson, I would say that this is because most people that are interested in medicine go to schools with renowned science programs (UofT, Mac, Western, Queens, etc). Doesn't mean anyone in Ryerson Science has any lower chance, it probably means more so that a lot of high caliber students choose to go to a school with a big name, such as UofT.

 

Ultimately, your ECs are important, and you may have better opportunities at UofT, but definitely the most important thing in getting to the interview stage at most schools is your GPA. If all you care about is getting into med (don't care about student life, learning from renowned profs, etc), I would consider Ryerson.

 

Ultimately, if you are interested in medicine and are a good student (which it sounds like you are), you probably wouldn't go wrong with either school, so don't stress too much. Just 1) Get your GPA as high as possible, 2) Get long term and diverse extracurriculars (without sacrificing GPA, and keep in mind no one cares if you volunteered in a hospital like a robot for 3 years, try to spice up your profile with things you are genuinely interested in and can talk about), and 3) Kill that MCAT

 

I've known many people who have gone to UofT for undergrad and severely regretted their decision.  They all felt like nothing more than a number.  When it comes to applying to med school in Canada, the person with a 3.90 GPA from a non-UofT school with similar experiences to a person with a 3.50 GPA from a UofT school will get selected for an interview.

 

Pick your undergrad school wisely if medicine is ultimately what you want to do.

[MF1-5]

Quick question: what date do classes start for MD students at McMaster? (earlier in August or at the same time as other undergraduate students in September?) 

 

Orientation started on Aug 24 and MF1 began on Aug 31 for the class of 2018.

[Sammm]

I've known many people who have gone to UofT for undergrad and severely regretted their decision.  They all felt like nothing more than a number.  When it comes to applying to med school in Canada, the person with a 3.90 GPA from a non-UofT school with similar experiences to a person with a 3.50 GPA from a UofT school will get selected for an interview.

 

Pick your undergrad school wisely if medicine is ultimately what you want to do.

 

Purely considering GPA, I can see why Ryerson would be the best option.

 

But even if the best case scenario takes place and I get a perfect GPA at Ryerson, have done ECs that I really loved and helped me develop as a person, and got amazing reference letters, would you say that the chances of getting accepted to medical school are still not favourable? What are the odds like?

 

I do ultimately want to pursue medicine, I just don't think it's something that will happen to me. If any of you have read Chris Hadfield's book, I see it how he saw the possiblity of becoming an astronaut. Obviously, medicine is wayy more likely, but you get the picture.

 

Also, you mentioned a 3.90 at Rye vs 3.50 at UofT. Is that really how much harder UofT is than Ryerson? If someone had an 85% average at Ryerson, what would you estimate that translated to at UofT?  I realize you guys may not have enough info to answer this question, but I hope you can...

[AntiSWOMEN]

But even if the best case scenario takes place and I get a perfect GPA at Ryerson, have done ECs that I really loved and helped me develop as a person, and got amazing reference letters, would you say that the chances of getting accepted to medical school are still not favourable? What are the odds like?

Considering how competitive Ontario is there are no guarantees even with a perfect GPA/good MCAT/great ECs and you should be fully aware of this so you don't set yourself up for disappointment. People with these stats are a dime a dozen and unless you are truly able to make yourself stand out from thousands of other stellar candidates this process is essentially a lottery. All you can do is put yourself in the best situation you possibly can to make yourself competitive.

 

Also, you mentioned a 3.90 at Rye vs 3.50 at UofT. Is that really how much harder UofT is than Ryerson? If someone had an 85% average at Ryerson, what would you estimate that translated to at UofT?  I realize you guys may not have enough info to answer this question, but I hope you can...

It's probably impossible to find the answer you're looking for here. There are way too many factors to consider and this is largely dependent on the person, program, etc. Having said that, the general consensus is that it will be much more difficult to do as well at UofT.

[Edict]

Purely considering GPA, I can see why Ryerson would be the best option.

 

But even if the best case scenario takes place and I get a perfect GPA at Ryerson, have done ECs that I really loved and helped me develop as a person, and got amazing reference letters, would you say that the chances of getting accepted to medical school are still not favourable? What are the odds like?

 

I do ultimately want to pursue medicine, I just don't think it's something that will happen to me. If any of you have read Chris Hadfield's book, I see it how he saw the possiblity of becoming an astronaut. Obviously, medicine is wayy more likely, but you get the picture.

 

Also, you mentioned a 3.90 at Rye vs 3.50 at UofT. Is that really how much harder UofT is than Ryerson? If someone had an 85% average at Ryerson, what would you estimate that translated to at UofT?  I realize you guys may not have enough info to answer this question, but I hope you can...

 

You didn't read him right, he didn't say 3.9 at rye = 3.5 at UT, he just used those numbers randomly. Honestly, no one can tell you where to go. 

 

People from everywhere get into med but the consensus is that you pretty much have to be top in your program to get into medical school no matter where you go (except for BHSc, BMSc) where you just have to be average or in BMSc's case above average. 

[Sammm]

You didn't read him right, he didn't say 3.9 at rye = 3.5 at UT, he just used those numbers randomly. Honestly, no one can tell you where to go. 

 

People from everywhere get into med but the consensus is that you pretty much have to be top in your program to get into medical school no matter where you go (except for BHSc, BMSc) where you just have to be average or in BMSc's case above average. 

 

Oh, oops. I just wish there way a quantitative way to measure difficulty. 

 

Yeah, I wish someone could tell me what to choose, but in the end, it's my decision and it's my responsibility (though all your answers will help) And it's probably not even a huge deal, just from my vantage point, it seems like a really big deal. In hindsight, I will probably realize that it would have been fine either way.

 

Now, I really realize now how hard it is to get into med school. All of your answers on here have really helped me better understand medical admissions.

 

I just want to thank everyone on here who took the time to and cared to answer my questions. I really appreciate it.