dynamite17

I'd also love to join! I'll be moving from Ontario, so it would be nice to meet some of you.

Thank you for your unique perspective! I had no idea that NOSM has those types relationships with other schools to help with elective opportunities, which I think is important to know. If you don't mind me asking, if you completed your undergraduate medical education at UofA, did you feel that you significantly lacked the hands-on/one-on-one exposure? Or would it have simply been an added benefit of going to NOSM?

Thank you for all of your help again! I really appreciate it. If it helps to put things into perspective, some UofA pros for me are that it's in a bigger city with more to do, the class seemed to know each other well during the info session (=perhaps better social life/class cohesiveness), better reputation/academically stronger, large teaching hospital connected to the school. UofA cons are that it's far from home, (potentially) reduced likelihood to match in Ontario, and (potentially) less clinical exposure due to more students/residents, etc. NOSM pros are that it's close to home,

Thank you to both of you for your input, it's really helpful! You both outline why this is a bit complicated. It does seem like having direct access to those specialties will make them easier to reach due to more experience and LORs, but I do wonder what it is about NOSM that allows for them to have such a high match rate. I remember NOSM students being matched to obgyn and derm in the past, but I wonder how they were able to set themselves apart without as much exposure.

Thank you for your reply! At the moment, I think I'm leaning more towards OB/GYN and potentially Derm, but I'm very open to exploring other specialties. For all I know, I might even end up enjoying some form of primary care more than I think I will! My OOP school is UofA, which has 6 spots for OB/GYN and 2 for Derm. As you mentioned, it's currently a con for me that I would be potentially living away from Ontario for almost a decade. I think it would be a fun adventure for 4 years, but I'm not sure I'd like to settle there in the long run. Again, maybe that will change once I live there f

I know there's a so-called "home school advantage" when it comes to CARMS matching, but I was wondering if any current med students/residents could speak to whether it's easier to match to a school that's in your home school's province. Although the data shows that most stay in their home province, I know that it can be skewed due to students wanting to be close to home, etc. I'm currently trying to decide between an in-province medical school (NOSM) that doesn't offer as many specialties, versus a larger OOP school that offers every speciality that I may be interested in. However, NOSM h

Feels like a bit of a relief to have a more specific date, but it's still not an easy wait! When I submitted my site selection survey and clicked "done", it just brought me to a blank page. Was this the same for everyone else?

Not yet! I came here wondering the same thing.

It would probably depend on which school you’re submitting the letter to!

That’s great to hear! Congrats and thanks for the motivation! :)

Non-SWOMEN, but it gives me some hope that you went from low waitlist to accepted! Congratulations on your acceptance!!

I feel the exact same way. Low waitlisted after an interview that I felt I did really well on. This is my third cycle applying and my first interview at Western (my dream school) due to improving my CARS score. I interviewed a couple of times at another school that takes a low % of applicants post-interview. Although I was upset when rejected, I didn’t feel AS defeated, since the odds weren’t in my favour to begin with at that point. In this case, it’s discouraging to think that they eventually accept over 50% of interviewees. I’ve also worked so so hard to improve ever since those interviews

Yeah mine appeared

Also waitlisted. And the countdown resets lol

I think my curiosity is going to overpower me, and I'll be checking the Western portal at midnight lol...but I'll probably check here first so that I'm warned as to whether I should be expecting to see anything on the Western portal. As for OMSAS in general, I'll probably wait until the morning, since it seems like it's less consistent, and I don't want to get even more stressed out over seeing nothing.