Academic / Non-Academic

[Guest tweep0]

Hi Everyone!

 

I know i've talked about this before with Kirsteen, but i wanted some further opinions.

 

I was told that after the interview at UofT your score is 60% academic and 40% non-academic (interview, reference letters, essay, PIF etc). Most schools in Ontario allocate 50% of the score to the interview. Queens doesn't even consider your Marks/MCAT after the interview. Why would UofT place so little emphasis on the interview (<<40%)? Why would one's marks and MCAT still play an important role after the interview when most already have high marks to get an interview? Is this 60/40 post-interview split wrong? Thanks for you help.

 

Tweep

[Guest UTMed07]

Queens doesn't even consider your Marks/MCAT after the interview. Why would UofT place so little emphasis on the interview (<<40%)? Why would one's marks and MCAT still play an important role after the interview when most already have high marks to get an interview? Is this 60/40 post-interview split wrong?

Schools have different admissions criteria. Personally, I don't think that's a bad thing--as you get a mix of people in the profession; some admissions criteria favour certain types of people.

 

As for the (pre-interview) 60-40 split, it has been that way for a while. Post-interview the split is 60-20-20 (academic/non-academic/interview); if my memory isn't failing me, I learned that when I was at U of T for the

interview.

 

How does the 60-20-20 split influence selection vis-a-vis how Queen's does their admissions? It is difficult to say. If the pre-interview scores aren't adjusted (from pre-interview selection) it isn't something that differentiates the interviewees that much; all interviewees have fairly high academic scores.

 

Personally, I don't have the impresssion the split means those with strong academics get a get a free pass... and those that do not really have no chance. One of the guys that taught me undergrad physiology at U of T and was a med student (after he'd completed his PhD in physiology), said he'd been involved in admissions and stated that he knew of a couple of people with 4.0 GPAs that got refusal letters. Also, I "know" two fellows (from the bulletinboard) -- and these probably aren't the people my physiology instructor was referring to -- they both had very high GPAs (3.95+) and got a refusal or a waitlist/refusal.

 

The MCAT doesn't seem to matter much at U of T, provided you met the cut-offs (or are very close).

 

If you asked the above questions 'cause you're worried your GPA isn't good enough, I hope the above has put your mind at ease a bit.

[Guest mydream88]

Hello

Perhaps the story goes as follows:

The 60% academic score is put aside post-interview (unless it comes down to choosing between two people potentially)

 

According to this theory, it is the non-academic component is potentially affected post-interview. This way, there will be some folk who looked GREAT on paper both academically and with non-academic activities, yet do not measure up in an interview. Likewise, there will be some folk who may not have a vastly extensive non-academic list compared with the rest of the interviewees, yet their interview makes them shine.

 

moderators?

 

mydream88