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Queen's POST_MMI, Panel Interview Invites


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5 minutes ago, Ms1998 said:

Do the in-person applicants have to wait until May? Or did they get an “early rejection” email today as well?
 

I’m curious to see if ALL applicants were ranked based on their MMI score/personal file (with the in-person applicants just having their panel interview score ignored), and then Queen’s invited those of us who were ranked highly but haven’t done the panel interview yet to do so, OR if we online applicants were the only ones ranked (and therefore may only be ranked highly relative to online applicants ONLY, and not ranked highly among ALL applicants). I’m just wondering HOW good of an indication it is that we got selected for the panel. Either way, I’m grateful for this opportunity obviously, but I just have a lot of questions racing through my mind still! 

Damn thats some high level thinking! 

I also wondered if there would be a difference between the in-person group  compared to the online group. 

Since we get to pick our own interview dates, perhaps those who went the first weekend feel more confident about their interview skills and felt they would be ready while those who did not wanted the extra time and signed up for the second weekend. 

Or perhaps the people who went the first weekend decided on that weekend because they had interviews else where (Mac, Toronto, Western). Perhaps this makes them better candidates or if they already had interviews before better prepared. 

It is fun to speculate. 

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"Prior to making an offer for Admission, the Admissions Committee reviews individual Panel Interview performance.As a result of the need to switch to an online Panel Interview, we will be conducting Individual Panel Interviews in two phases. In the first Phase, Applicants that ranked highly based on their MMI and File review assessments will be offered a Panel interview. All other applicants will remain active on a “wait list”. As Applicants are chosen from the wait list, they will be required to complete a Panel Interview during the second phase of interviews."

I am pretty sure based on this, people that got their panel invites today are actively being considered for an offer of admission.... am I reading too much into this blurb? But that's what it sounds like to me.... 

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1 minute ago, MDLD said:

Damn thats some high level thinking! 

I also wondered if there would be a difference between the in-person group  compared to the online group. 

Since we get to pick our own interview dates, perhaps those who went the first weekend feel more confident about their interview skills and felt they would be ready while those who did not wanted the extra time and signed up for the second weekend. 

Or perhaps the people who went the first weekend decided on that weekend because they had interviews else where (Mac, Toronto, Western). Perhaps this makes them better candidates or if they already had interviews before better prepared. 

It is fun to speculate. 

I also wonder if they will take 50% from the first weekend, and then 50% from the second. Seems like the most fair thing to do IMO. In that case, online applicants would only be competing against the other online applicants (and same thing for in-person applicants) which kind of evens the playing field 

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1 minute ago, Ms1998 said:

I also wonder if they will take 50% from the first weekend, and then 50% from the second. Seems like the most fair thing to do IMO. In that case, online applicants would only be competing against the other online applicants (and same thing for in-person applicants) which kind of evens the playing field 

I think another school might be doing something like that (Calgary?) 

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5 minutes ago, RaptorsFan123 said:

"Prior to making an offer for Admission, the Admissions Committee reviews individual Panel Interview performance.As a result of the need to switch to an online Panel Interview, we will be conducting Individual Panel Interviews in two phases. In the first Phase, Applicants that ranked highly based on their MMI and File review assessments will be offered a Panel interview. All other applicants will remain active on a “wait list”. As Applicants are chosen from the wait list, they will be required to complete a Panel Interview during the second phase of interviews."

I am pretty sure based on this, people that got their panel invites today are actively being considered for an offer of admission.... am I reading too much into this blurb? But that's what it sounds like to me.... 

This is what I’m reaaaally hoping for, but I’m not sure this will be the case :( let’s say there were ~250 applicants for each weekend. They want to reduce the number of Online interviews, but maybe they’re still going to interview like HALF of us (100-125 people)? As in, only interviewing people that rank high so that they can reduce the online interviews, but not necessarily only interviewing the people who made the cut for the 100 spots. They have to interview “extra” people in case people decline their offer for whatever reason. Idk, what do you guys think? Again, if they didn’t rank the people from the first weekend yet, then perhaps they still have to go back and look at those other 250 people :(  So perhaps our odds are now 100 out of like 350-375 people, whereas before it was 100 out of 500. Really depends on how many people Queen’s decided to cut! 

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19 minutes ago, MDLD said:

I also wondered if there would be a difference between the in-person group  compared to the online group. 

The most transparent school in Canada (The UofC) has repeatedly stated (with stats) that for their MMIs there is basically no difference between different interview dates. I can't see this being different for other schools. The whole MMI process is supposed to eliminate these kind of issues (or at least minimize them). 

Now, online vs. in-person adds an unknown that has the strong potential to generate differences. 

13 minutes ago, RaptorsFan123 said:

"Prior to making an offer for Admission, the Admissions Committee reviews individual Panel Interview performance.As a result of the need to switch to an online Panel Interview, we will be conducting Individual Panel Interviews in two phases. In the first Phase, Applicants that ranked highly based on their MMI and File review assessments will be offered a Panel interview. All other applicants will remain active on a “wait list”. As Applicants are chosen from the wait list, they will be required to complete a Panel Interview during the second phase of interviews."

I am pretty sure based on this, people that got their panel invites today are actively being considered for an offer of admission.... am I reading too much into this blurb? But that's what it sounds like to me.... 

I wouldn't read too much into this. As I understand it, they're simply stating that their procedure is to look over the panel before finalizing their offer list for everyone as a general practice. Technically everyone who has completed the first weekend/invited to the panel (and waitlisted in a way) is being considered for admission. That being said, the pool just got smaller, which does mean better odds. 

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Yeah I second what medlcs has said. Im happy Ive gotten an invite but I also know Queens is a black box, its not necessarily true that they are only checking for red flags in the panel or we are basically getting an offer of admission.

If that were true they could have just used an mmi for us because an mmi (arguably) can do a better job at identifying red flags.

Also, they wouldn't need to have a waitlist for panel interviews  if we were basically the chosen ones. So that tells me that its more than just checking for red flags.

From what Ive read, heard and understood, there is only one thing thats certain with Queens and that is that nothing is certain :P

 

 

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5 hours ago, MDLD said:

I think another school might be doing something like that (Calgary?) 

Yes, as far as I know Calgary had 2/3 of their applicants interview in person and 1/3 who couldn't. They compared the pre-interview stats between the groups, and they were basically identical. Which worked out well for them, so they are offering 2/3 of the admissions and waitlist spots to the first group, and 1/3 of the waitlist and admission spots for the second group. 

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Ok so here is an excerpt from an email an applicant got during this cycle from Queens, as posted in a thread from March 26 or 27:

The Admissions Committee uses the objective evaluation of your MMI performance, as well as your File Review, to determine your ranking amongst other applicants. Prior to making an offer for Admission, the Admissions Committee reviews individual Panel Interview performance.”

I haven’t looked to see if that was in any email that I got, but this strongly looks like ranking is done by MMI and File Review. Applicants are then selected for offers, their panels are assessed, and an offer is or isn’t made. Therefore, panels are just for screening, and if you got an invite to panel it can almost be taken as an offer as long as you didn’t make up your ABS or put up red flags in a face to face interaction. 
 

That seems like the most logical conclusion based on what we know, no? 

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8 hours ago, apoptoticbleb said:

Ok so here is an excerpt from an email an applicant got during this cycle from Queens, as posted in a thread from March 26 or 27:

The Admissions Committee uses the objective evaluation of your MMI performance, as well as your File Review, to determine your ranking amongst other applicants. Prior to making an offer for Admission, the Admissions Committee reviews individual Panel Interview performance.”

I haven’t looked to see if that was in any email that I got, but this strongly looks like ranking is done by MMI and File Review. Applicants are then selected for offers, their panels are assessed, and an offer is or isn’t made. Therefore, panels are just for screening, and if you got an invite to panel it can almost be taken as an offer as long as you didn’t make up your ABS or put up red flags in a face to face interaction. 
 

That seems like the most logical conclusion based on what we know, no? 

That was my interpretation of the email, but honestly, I'd rather not get my hopes up by assuming this. I think it's best to just focus on rocking the panel and hope it leads to an offer come May. 

@MedGoldfish, no one knows anything and we're all still in the same boat of having to wait for an answer til May (other than those of us who didn't get panel invites). Don't stress it too much! :(

To answer your question, I was confident coming out of the MMI, but then fell into a self-doubt spiral worrying that I didn't actually do well lol. 

 

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9 hours ago, apoptoticbleb said:

Ok so here is an excerpt from an email an applicant got during this cycle from Queens, as posted in a thread from March 26 or 27:

The Admissions Committee uses the objective evaluation of your MMI performance, as well as your File Review, to determine your ranking amongst other applicants. Prior to making an offer for Admission, the Admissions Committee reviews individual Panel Interview performance.”

I haven’t looked to see if that was in any email that I got, but this strongly looks like ranking is done by MMI and File Review. Applicants are then selected for offers, their panels are assessed, and an offer is or isn’t made. Therefore, panels are just for screening, and if you got an invite to panel it can almost be taken as an offer as long as you didn’t make up your ABS or put up red flags in a face to face interaction. 
 

That seems like the most logical conclusion based on what we know, no? 

Panel invite most definitely is not equivalent to an offer lol

Assuming Queen's will not split offers 50/50 to the interview weekends, that wouldn't make sense. Plus a lot of people seem to have gotten panel invites. Don't know how they will evaluate the panel but I am sure it is not just as simple as screening.

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20 minutes ago, 88risingsun said:

Panel invite most definitely is not equivalent to an offer lol

Assuming Queen's will not split offers 50/50 to the interview weekends, that wouldn't make sense. Plus a lot of people seem to have gotten panel invites. Don't know how they will evaluate the panel but I am sure it is not just as simple as screening.

Tbh it might still be screening, however, I am assuming they gave panel to people they intend on waitlisting and accepting (both). That would explain the higher numbers. 

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27 minutes ago, 88risingsun said:

Panel invite most definitely is not equivalent to an offer lol

Assuming Queen's will not split offers 50/50 to the interview weekends, that wouldn't make sense. Plus a lot of people seem to have gotten panel invites. Don't know how they will evaluate the panel but I am sure it is not just as simple as screening.

I don't think there's any good reason to assume they won't split offers 50/50 between weekends. You also have to consider the significant bias towards positive reporting here re: panel invites to rejections/waitlists. 

 

Another line of reasoning I have is that if the panel was used for ranking then people would have to be waitlisted if they didn't get an offer after it, and then there would be two different waitlists (post-panel, and pre-panel) which would be a bit crazy; it makes sense for the system to be at simple as possible while still being effective. So to me it makes sense that panel invites are sent to those to whom they are willing to give offers to, with some extras thrown on top to account for the inevitable people who are screened out in exactly the same way that offers are made to more people than they can accept due to offer refusals and deferments. 

 

Everything is speculation, yes, but it seems that on the balance of the evidence we have and the logic of things, that the panel is largely a screening tool and the results of it aren't heavily factored into the ranking system (as described in the Queen's quote in my post above) but are used as a final way to ensure that in a normal human interaction environment, applicants can still shine. So, no, none of is set in stone and I would be lying if I said I was confident about anything, but if you be yourself as you were in the MMI I would say that there is strong evidence that a panel invite is closer to an offer than not. 

 

In all, I would recommend to everyone (including myself) to not fall down any rabbit holes of anxiety and speculation about things and do what you need to do to be sane, but at the same time, don't berate yourselves for thinking that a panel invite is a very good sign because all signs to point to it boding well. But don't quote me on that ;) 

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18 minutes ago, RaptorsFan123 said:

Tbh it might still be screening, however, I am assuming they gave panel to people they intend on waitlisting and accepting (both). That would explain the higher numbers. 

 

14 minutes ago, apoptoticbleb said:

In all, I would recommend to everyone (including myself) to not fall down any rabbit holes of anxiety and speculation about things and do what you need to do to be sane, but at the same time, don't berate yourselves for thinking that a panel invite is a very good sign because all signs to point to it boding well. But don't quote me on that ;) 

All good points. I think looking at Queen's past statistics (with around, what, 80-100 waitlisted applicants getting offers) helps us determine that a lot of those who got panel invites may be part of the waitlist already. Who knows? :o

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To be honest, I interpreted that quote to mean that they will review individual panel performance just like how they review mmi performance meaning that its not just a screening for red flags. I don't know for certain either but the basis behind my reasoning is that they really did not need to bother having a waitlist for panel interviews as that would not only prolong things for them but also complicate the process unnecessarily. They could have given slightly more interviews out yesterday and called it a day by giving everyone else a rejection. To me that means the competition is tough and that its not just a red flag check but again its just what I think and I by no means know for certain. In that respect, I echo what @Jummyneutrondexter said.

 

Regardless, I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy.

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13 minutes ago, lurkitykurking said:

I don't know for certain either but the basis behind my reasoning is that they really did not need to bother having a waitlist for panel interviews as that would not only prolong things for them but also complicate the process unnecessarily.

Unless getting a panel interview is almost an offer (some will be screened out), so that the panel waitlist is like the regular offer waitlist. This is consistent with their quote:

 ”The Admissions Committee uses the objective evaluation of your MMI performance, as well as your File Review, to determine your ranking amongst other applicants. Prior to making an offer for Admission, the Admissions Committee reviews individual Panel Interview performance.”

There are numerous accounts on other threads of Queen's students and others saying that the panel is used to catch red flags prior to admission, and this is consistent with almost (?) everything they have told us officially.

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42 minutes ago, apoptoticbleb said:

I don't think there's any good reason to assume they won't split offers 50/50 between weekends. You also have to consider the significant bias towards positive reporting here re: panel invites to rejections/waitlists. 

 

Another line of reasoning I have is that if the panel was used for ranking then people would have to be waitlisted if they didn't get an offer after it, and then there would be two different waitlists (post-panel, and pre-panel) which would be a bit crazy; it makes sense for the system to be at simple as possible while still being effective. So to me it makes sense that panel invites are sent to those to whom they are willing to give offers to, with some extras thrown on top to account for the inevitable people who are screened out in exactly the same way that offers are made to more people than they can accept due to offer refusals and deferments. 

 

Everything is speculation, yes, but it seems that on the balance of the evidence we have and the logic of things, that the panel is largely a screening tool and the results of it aren't heavily factored into the ranking system (as described in the Queen's quote in my post above) but are used as a final way to ensure that in a normal human interaction environment, applicants can still shine. So, no, none of is set in stone and I would be lying if I said I was confident about anything, but if you be yourself as you were in the MMI I would say that there is strong evidence that a panel invite is closer to an offer than not. 

 

In all, I would recommend to everyone (including myself) to not fall down any rabbit holes of anxiety and speculation about things and do what you need to do to be sane, but at the same time, don't berate yourselves for thinking that a panel invite is a very good sign because all signs to point to it boding well. But don't quote me on that ;) 

This tells me that we all killed our MMIs ;) Look at how organized and succinct this manz' thought process is in. We're definitely in the top 50 MMI scores :D:D

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23 minutes ago, apoptoticbleb said:

There are numerous accounts on other threads of Queen's students and others saying that the panel is used to catch red flags prior to admission, and this is consistent with almost (?) everything they have told us officially.

From what I've read through the forums and from other current Queen's students, that's a speculation as Queen's has never disclosed what the panel is for. Although it would be really nice to know that the panel is just a check for "red flags", I am not going to rely on that assumption.

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1 hour ago, lurkitykurking said:

From what I've read through the forums and from other current Queen's students, that's a speculation as Queen's has never disclosed what the panel is for. Although it would be really nice to know that the panel is just a check for "red flags", I am not going to rely on that assumption.

Of course most of what has to do with Queen's is pure speculation, but the point is that this quote:

"The Admissions Committee uses the objective evaluation of your MMI performance, as well as your File Review, to determine your ranking amongst other applicants. Prior to making an offer for Admission, the Admissions Committee reviews individual Panel Interview performance."

is evidence nonetheless. And I don't see how you can interpret this as the panel not being a screening, i.e., not affecting ranking.

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3 hours ago, DispIay Name said:

Of course most of what has to do with Queen's is pure speculation, but the point is that this quote:

"The Admissions Committee uses the objective evaluation of your MMI performance, as well as your File Review, to determine your ranking amongst other applicants. Prior to making an offer for Admission, the Admissions Committee reviews individual Panel Interview performance."

is evidence nonetheless. And I don't see how you can interpret this as the panel not being a screening, i.e., not affecting ranking.

Queen's website states "Successful applicants are reviewed and ranked by the Admissions Committee and offers are made based on a ranked list. The rank order list is comprised of applicant scores from the Sketch, Letters of Reference and Interview Scores."

Before this they state interview is made up of MMI + panel. Why not explicitly state MMI scores here if the panel is screening? Speculation and interpretation mean nothing as there's no way to prove either side at the end of the day lol.

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