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Uoft Interview Discussion 2017


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I understand why people may expect regrets this week but at the same time, I still have a strong feeling more invites will come out. Although this week last year was rejections, I am pretty sure they only had one April interview date last year. Maybe with two this year, there's hope! Plus people who called admissions late last week say there are still "quite a few" spots to fill!

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I've watched friends receive invites with files of lower quality than some of the few applicants I know still waiting (myself included); I find it exceedingly hard to believe (even considering the relative subjectivity of the file review process) that there's nothing but regrets for all remaining applicants. Yearly posts follow trends, but outcomes are not overtly predictable; with the evidence presented from some of the forum members kind enough to call on Thursday, it appears as though there are still spots to fill. Nothing (to my knowledge) has come out since then. Strong files are strong files, regardless of when they are reviewed - if you were (realistically) confident in the strength of your file in January (as perceived by yourself and your peers/reviewers), your confidence should not wane on the basis of time.

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I've watched friends receive invites with files of lower quality than some of the few applicants I know still waiting (myself included); I find it exceedingly hard to believe (even considering the relative subjectivity of the file review process) that there's nothing but regrets for all remaining applicants. Yearly posts follow trends, but outcomes are not overtly predictable; with the evidence presented from some of the forum members kind enough to call on Thursday, it appears as though there are still spots to fill. Nothing (to my knowledge) has come out since then. Strong files are strong files, regardless of when they are reviewed - if you were (realistically) confident in the strength of your file in January (as perceived by yourself and your peers/reviewers), your confidence should not wane on the basis of time.

Well said!  I agree.  I just have a feeling some sort of invite wave will come out this week.  Of course, that's just personal opinion and I have no insider info of any sorts, but its just hard to believe that anyone waiting still is an automatic rejection 

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Based on all available evidence (the only thing we should go on) there is no reason to believe that only regrets await. Furthermore there is a decently high number posting here who remain- when you multiply by whatever factor is appropriate (to adjust for no post/no forum activity), that number likely exceeds whatever number are on a reserve list. Again, all of this as well as the postings re admissions call leave no basis for thinking there won't be more invites or even a "wave" based on admissions language during call.

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On 3/26/2017 at 5:02 PM, anbessa21 said:

I've watched friends receive invites with files of lower quality than some of the few applicants I know still waiting (myself included); I find it exceedingly hard to believe (even considering the relative subjectivity of the file review process) that there's nothing but regrets for all remaining applicants. Yearly posts follow trends, but outcomes are not overtly predictable; with the evidence presented from some of the forum members kind enough to call on Thursday, it appears as though there are still spots to fill. Nothing (to my knowledge) has come out since then. Strong files are strong files, regardless of when they are reviewed - if you were (realistically) confident in the strength of your file in January (as perceived by yourself and your peers/reviewers), your confidence should not wane on the basis of time.

 

-

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If you aren't on the admissions committee you cant say what you think are "strong files" vs "non-strong files" btw, what you could perceive as not so strong file could be perceived totally differently especially since no one knows for sure what they look for...this is why often you will have people who thought they had no chance at interview get one, and others who are more confident not receive one. All you can do is wait and hope for the best.

I disagree with this - UofT releases a significant amount of material pertaining to the criteria by which the assessment of one's file is based. A file may be perceived as strong if it makes use of these resources to frame an application geared towards the criteria set forth by the institution. Of course, subjectivity is abound; however, with 6 reviewers, the effects of subjective analysis are partially circumvented by way of consensus. Further, a strong file at one institution may be inadequate at another, depending on the respective criteria (i.e. I am a relatively strong candidate to Ottawa and Toronto; however, with a low CARS score, I self-selected, and decided not to apply to Mac or Queens, where I would be a comparatively poor candidate). It is definitely possible (with the help of objective third-party reviewers) to ball-park what weight your application holds with regards to the criteria of any given institution; this is especially true when comparing one file against another that has already received an invite or a rejection.

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If you aren't on the admissions committee you cant say what you think are "strong files" vs "non-strong files" btw, what you could perceive as not so strong file could be perceived totally differently especially since no one knows for sure what they look for...this is why often you will have people who thought they had no chance at interview get one, and others who are more confident not receive one. All you can do is wait and hope for the best.

This represents my experience pretty well. I was pretty shocked to get interviews at all and still can't completely make sense of the distribution. For example, one school I interviewed at bases invites heavily on ECs, so still not sure why I got an invite there and not at other schools that also care a lot about ECs...I think its really tough to predict where you'll get interviews and there is a huge element of luck in terms of if the person (people) reading your application connect with you on paper. Obviously some things that are not open to interpretation are more reliable i.e. GPA and MCAT.

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Perhaps you both are correct. After all, I can only speak from my own (limited) knowledge and experience. Undoubtably there is a great deal of luck that goes into the admissions process. I think what I'm meaning to say is that framing your story and relaying your experiences is kind of an 'art', and the way in which you go about this (i.e. mindful of school's mission statement, criteria, initiatives/engagements etc) can help your application in a predictable manner. Of course, I could be completely wrong, and my opinion does not hold greater weight than either of yours.

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There is some degree of luck involved in the process in Canada but that usually relates to where you live i would say- there is limited luck elsewhere- you can't take 4.0/525 rejection anecdotes and take anything from it- for one its an anecdote and two you aren't considering how other parts of an app may suffer as marks and gpa hit those levels (*in some cases not all*=accounting for those rejections at a 'mark-based school')- at the same time with the EC thing- particularly trying to compare strength of files-thats impossible- there is tons of detail that a person may not disclose publicly but that they would disclose in the app- how then can you really make a good comparison? As for luck again I think the poster mentioning the art of app building and presentation- that is way more important than the luck of "what reviewer you get"- a powerfully written essay or app is just so- my thoughts anyways

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There is some degree of luck involved in the process in Canada but that usually relates to where you live i would say- there is limited luck elsewhere- you can't take 4.0/525 rejection anecdotes and take anything from it- for one its an anecdote and two you aren't considering how other parts of an app may suffer as marks and gpa hit those levels (*in some cases not all*=accounting for those rejections at a 'mark-based school')- at the same time with the EC thing- particularly trying to compare strength of files-thats impossible- there is tons of detail that a person may not disclose publicly but that they would disclose in the app- how then can you really make a good comparison? As for luck again I think the poster mentioning the art of app building and presentation- that is way more important than the luck of "what reviewer you get"- a powerfully written essay or app is just so- my thoughts anyways

When I speak of comparing files, I am not referring to procuring information from forum posts; rather, I am referring to detailed comparisons of complete OMSAS submissions between peers who have either been rejected, or have been offered an II. 

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When I speak of comparing files, I am not referring to procuring information from forum posts; rather, I am referring to detailed comparisons of complete OMSAS submissions between peers who have either been rejected, or have been offered an II.

 

fair enough: probably comparisons are still an issue given bias, unless you had some independent party compare rejected versus invited apps but I think we are all getting into the weeds here- basically I would just caution against this idea of luck at least when talking about getting an interview or getting in at hands of adcom- luck is not significant- hard work and more importantly, end results are
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fair enough: probably comparisons are still an issue given bias, unless you had some independent party compare rejected versus invited apps but I think we are all getting into the weeds here- basically I would just caution against this idea of luck at least when talking about getting an interview or getting in at hands of adcom- luck is not significant- hard work and more importantly, end results are

Good points, I definitely agree. I believe luck refers to the subjective favourability that one reviewer may have for your application vs. another. This notwithstanding, there are definitely controllable elements that contribute to reproducible success, and these should not be downplayed. 

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I'm still hopeful that I might get an invite. I haven't seen a single person who posted in the interview invite/reject thread say they have a doctorate. At any rate, we'll know next week.

PhD graduate who still has not heard yet either. I know at least another PhD grad and a 5th year PhD candidate who haven't heard back also....so some hope for us, maybe.

 

Good luck all.

 

Edit: PhD candidate heard a while ago, my mistake. 

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PhD graduate who still has not heard yet either. I know at least another PhD grad and a 5th year PhD candidate who haven't heard back also....so some hope for us, maybe.

 

Good luck all.

 

MSc graduate who hasn't heard anything. I personally know of other grads who haven't heard anything and some who have received interviews. This may or may not be meaningful.

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