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Western Interview Discussion 2016


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that's not how the cutoffs work, and judging by some of the responses here not many people seem to understand.

 

The cutoffs are set BY THE APPLICATIONS THEMSELVES. They define a set number of people they want to interview (450), then set the cutoff to make it so 450 people get interviewed. There is no pre-setting of these cutoffs to make it easier for certain people (besides the SWOMEN advantage). The only reason it would go down is if people with lower scores are applying, which is likely what happened because the people with higher MCATs already got in last year and no one new is taking the old one this cycle.

I'm not sure what part of my post made you think I don't understand how the cutoffs work, but thank you for clarifying in all caps.

 

It is clear that the cutoffs are set by the number of applications each year in order to whittle the pool down to 450 interviewees, but given that the old and new scores are not directly comparable (a 12 is neither a 129 nor a 130) at some point a decision would have had to be made on the cutoffs for each of two applicant pools (old MCAT and new MCAT), 

 

To get to your pool of 450 applicants you could also have had the old MCAT scores a bit higher and the new scores a bit lower and you might still be able to argue that the percentiles are comparable.

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Did anyone notice that the important information form said all classes much be complete by April 30th? I was operating under the assumption that it used to be that we had to graduate by the end of June and was planning to take a pair of online courses in the early spring to meet the deadline. May have to decline the interview if it's as hopeless as it seems.

 

I think it's probably worth contacting the admissions office about something like this, just to be sure!

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that's not how the cutoffs work, and judging by some of the responses here not many people seem to understand.

 

The cutoffs are set BY THE APPLICATIONS THEMSELVES. They define a set number of people they want to interview (450), then set the cutoff to make it so 450 people get interviewed. There is no pre-setting of these cutoffs to make it easier for certain people (besides the SWOMEN advantage). The only reason it would go down is if people with lower scores are applying, which is likely what happened because the people with higher MCATs already got in last year and no one new is taking the old one this cycle.

 

With two distinct application groups, those who wrote the new MCAT vs those who wrote the old one, there is an element to decision-making that wasn't present in previous years, namely that they have to set the number from each pool who receive interviews one way or another. It's impossible to keep a true apples-to-apples comparison when making that choice unless the percentages in scores lined up perfectly (which they don't).

 

It does seem like they've tried to keep the comparison between the old and new MCATs as even as possible, but there might not have been a better approach to get the appropriate number of applicants. Lowering the CARS requirement to 129 would likely have included far too many people - almost as many people scored a 129 as did a 130+. Likewise, increasing the VR requirement to 12 would have cut out far too many people - of those who scored 11+ on the VR, only a third scored a 12+. I think they may have made a choice to give the old MCAT writers a small advantage rather than give new MCAT writers a big advantage. I agree though, the pool was altered for old MCAT writers by those who were admitted in previous years, and that may be skewing things a bit.

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I'm not sure what part of my post made you think I don't understand how the cutoffs work, but thank you for clarifying in all caps.

 

It is clear that the cutoffs are set by the number of applications each year in order to whittle the pool down to 450 interviewees, but given that the old and new scores are not directly comparable (a 12 is neither a 129 nor a 130) at some point a decision would have had to be made on the cutoffs for each of two applicant pools (old MCAT and new MCAT), 

 

They are directly comparable by using percentile scores.

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Perhaps they grouped all applicants into MCAT2015 and Old MCAT groups, and then took the top "x%" from each group effectively creating their own percentiles from their applicant group?

 

If this is the case, I wonder how they decided how many of each (old or new MCAT) to take out of 450 total.

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If this is the case, I wonder how they decided how many of each (old or new MCAT) to take out of 450 total.

I'm thinking they created their own percentile. So maybe the percentile is consistent between the two groups. That would mean they looked at the 95th percentile, for example, of both groups and maybe they got too few applicants to interview. So they scaled it back to the 92nd percentile from both groups and then got around 450.. just as an example?

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If this is the case, I wonder how they decided how many of each (old or new MCAT) to take out of 450 total.

They may have done it according to proportions of old vs new mcat. For example; if 2/3 of the total applicant pool was old mcat then they would allocate 2/3 of interview invites to that group. So since 300 interviews would go to old mcat then applicant number 300, when ranked wrt that pool, would be the cutoff. You can apply the same to the new mcat pool. Just speculation though. 

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New MCAT cutoffs as follows (non-swomen):

 

New MCAT

 - 127 (BB) /127 (CC) /130 (CARS)

Old

 - 10 (BS) / 10 (PS) / 11 (VR)

 
Was thoroughly shocked by my interview invite with 11/11/11 split resulting in rejection last year

 

I have the same MCAT score; was gutted with that MCAT cutoff rejection last year, I know the feel. 

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2nd degree? Western changed their 2nd degree requirements this year.

 

 

They did?

 

I checked out their website, and it seems it's still the same.  Have to complete the second degree upon applying, the two years used for the calculation of your GPA must be from your second degree.. I recall it being that way for quite a few years now.

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They did?

 

I checked out their website, and it seems it's still the same.  Have to complete the second degree upon applying, the two years used for the calculation of your GPA must be from your second degree.. I recall it being that way for quite a few years now.

 

there are impending changes it seems - mostly to the course load requirements.

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Western has the most tragically flawed system for med admissions in Ontario.

 

 

Really?  The only school that gives a clear objective reason WHY you get an interview has the flawed system.  It's probably the single fairest system anywhere.  Anything else is incredibly subjective - and giving undue wait to GPA allows a huge benefit for those in bird programs like MAC Health Sci or those that game the system.  If you are bright and did a very challenging program that grades harshly- Western still gives you a decent chance for an interview if you excel in the MCAT.  And to top it off - the school has a mandate to educate doctors for SWO - so if you are SWOMEN you do have some improved chances, and non SWOMEN are more or less out of provinces.  And more than half the class still is 'OOP'.  

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Not super in love with the process right now but I actually like Western because of the transparency.

 

Maybe they are favouring old MCATs just a bit because they know that those who only have the old MCAT will only be able to apply this year.

 

There are always trade-offs and here I think they actually balanced as well as they could.

 

Since when can people with the old MCAT only apply this year? Every Ontario school has stated that they will accept old scores for the full 5 years...

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Since when can people with the old MCAT only apply this year? Every Ontario school has stated that they will accept old scores for the full 5 years...

 

for now - that can change of course. Western in particular is going to a have a big problem with the old mcat as the pool shrinks dramatically year after year. Not saying the WILL stop taking it BUT doesn't rely on it being stable either.

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I feel like one question will be "why do you want to attend UWO for medicine"

 

ha :) no one knows but if I had to guess I wouldn't think  as to keep thing fair they probably will have to change either question (to prevent copying) or have one that is a lot less generic - that is total speculation of course. 

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ha :) no one knows but if I had to guess I wouldn't think  as to keep thing fair they probably will have to change either question (to prevent copying) or have one that is a lot less generic - that is total speculation of course. 

If they ask that I feel like the only truthful answer I could give is "It's the only school in Canada I have a shot at..."

 

So ya not sure how I would answer that one <_<

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If they ask that I feel like the only truthful answer I could give is "It's the only school in Canada I have a shot at..."

 

So ya not sure how I would answer that one <_<

 

that is exactly the problem with that question

 

because in a really competitive environment, with public funding towards all schools of roughly an equal amount (and thus they all provide roughly the same level of training - you have fit in better at one school's system, but all them actually create excellent doctors), then it really does boil down to I want to attend your school because I want to become a doctor - and I would be pretty happy to get in anywhere etc, etc :)

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I don't think all canadian medical schools are equal...That's why there are different rankings! UBC and U of T are far better than most other schools

Rankings aren't med school focused. If anything they're research-focused. Med school curricula are highly regulated so there is an equally high standard across all the schools. McGill is highly ranked and it's on probation.

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