Do different schools look for different qualities?

[somebowdy]

I know several people who got accepted to school X and not Y, while others got accepted to Y and not X post-interview. Obviously there are many factors involved on interview day etc., but assuming these factors are minimized, does it come down to school X favouring specific qualities that school Y does not? If so, what would be the difference between a school like Western/Ottawa compared to Toronto?

[HotAwkwardNerd]

All schools generally look for the CanMed competencies since it's sort of a universal indicator of being successful in the profession. In terms of anything else, I've always thought you can tell what different schools value based on what their pre-interview criteria are and the format of their interviews. For example, McMaster only looks at CARS, Casper and have an MMI meaning they care about critical thinking skills. Queen's has a big focus on ECs pre-interview and have an MMI and panel meaning they seem to care about social skills and experiences. It's not perfect, and people can debate it, but it's the best way I could think of examining it.