May 12 Countdown Thread 2020

[premed1995]

3 minutes ago, HeyMrSnowman said:

Would you mind sharing your stats?

 

3.9 gpa 128 cars & felt good about Casper but who knows! Only interviewed at Mac. Good luck everyone. 

[Furosemide]

2 hours ago, Applicant95 said:

Unrelated to your overall point (which I 100% agree with), but an ER residency is 5 years (unless you do the 2+1 family med route) which isn't technically an ER residency.

Oh good point! Thanks for the correction  I was definitely thinking of just the 2+1.

[Fakeabat]

I have no button: 3.96 GPA, 130 CARS, and interview at Ottawa (but not other EC heavy schools) so I assumed CASPer was okay

[dreamscometrue]

No button - 3.98 GPA, 130 CARS, interview at Ottawa, Mac, UofT.

[Anon1]

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[EmAeci]

I asked a representative via ouac live chat what the purpose of the button was and she said it resets your choice (accepting a specific offer) before you submit the acceptance fully. When I mentioned how I'm able to see the button without any offers listed she told me to send a message through SAM in my application to have it investigated further. But I asked her whether she's ever seen the reset responses button being absent despite getting an offer (in previous years) and she said "not that I've heard of"... 

Since only some people see the button and not others, I really do think this might be indicative of an offer. I guess we'll find out on tuesday! 

[James Nystead]

7 minutes ago, EmAeci said:

I asked a representative via ouac live chat what the purpose of the button was and she said it resets your choice (accepting a specific offer) before you submit the acceptance fully. When I mentioned how I'm able to see the button without any offers listed she told me to send a message through SAM in my application to have it investigated further. But I asked her whether she's ever seen the reset responses button being absent despite getting an offer (in previous years) and she said "not that I've heard of"... 

Since only some people see the button and not others, I really do think this might be indicative of an offer. I guess we'll find out on tuesday! 

Gamechanger - we shall see...

[GLWL]

I was just reading through all the posts and started to wonder, do you think McMaster could have reached out to all the other schools in Canada to see if any of the applicants that they have will be receiving an offer of admission from another school? This could make them accept those applicants who may not have received another offer (which explains the button showing up for a lot of people who only have Mac). I’m just wondering about this because stats wise, I can’t quite see a pattern with how they are selecting because some people have posted very high stats with presumably decent casper scores to warrant them an offer, but they don’t have the button showing. A lot of these people seem to have interviews at other schools as well. The email that Wendy sent out awhile back mentions how McMaster is reaching out to other schools in Canada and how they are undergoing extensive data analysis of our current applications.

Also, if they actually use this approach, it would limit the number of people who would be receiving an automatic interview next year, thus less hindering next years application cycle for Mac.

what are your thoughts, or am I just crazy lol.

[SnowmanTheSWOMEN]

Just now, GLWL said:

I was just reading through all the posts and started to wonder, do you think McMaster could have reached out to all the other schools in Canada to see if any of the applicants that they have will be receiving an offer of admission from another school? This could make them accept those applicants who may not have received another offer (which explains the button showing up for a lot of people who only have Mac). I’m just wondering about this because stats wise, I can’t quite see a pattern with how they are selecting because some people have posted very high stats with presumably decent casper scores to warrant them an offer, but they don’t have the button showing. A lot of these people seem to have interviews at other schools as well. The email that Wendy sent out awhile back mentions how McMaster is reaching out to other schools in Canada and how they are undergoing extensive data analysis of our current applications.

Also, if they actually use this approach, it would limit the number of people who would be receiving an automatic interview next year, thus less hindering next years application cycle for Mac.

what are your thoughts, or am I just crazy lol.

This is actually what I've been thinking as well--could it be that McMaster is offering admission to those who have not been admitted to another school? But what about those that only had Mac interview and did not see the button? They received the short end of the stick for sure.

[asxfx]

No button. 3.98 GPA, 130 CARS. Interviewed at Mac, Ottawa and UofT.

[James Nystead]

3 minutes ago, GLWL said:

I was just reading through all the posts and started to wonder, do you think McMaster could have reached out to all the other schools in Canada to see if any of the applicants that they have will be receiving an offer of admission from another school? This could make them accept those applicants who may not have received another offer (which explains the button showing up for a lot of people who only have Mac). I’m just wondering about this because stats wise, I can’t quite see a pattern with how they are selecting because some people have posted very high stats with presumably decent casper scores to warrant them an offer, but they don’t have the button showing. A lot of these people seem to have interviews at other schools as well. The email that Wendy sent out awhile back mentions how McMaster is reaching out to other schools in Canada and how they are undergoing extensive data analysis of our current applications.

Also, if they actually use this approach, it would limit the number of people who would be receiving an automatic interview next year, thus less hindering next years application cycle for Mac.

what are your thoughts, or am I just crazy lol.

Why not just let the waitlist take care of this issue? This seems like a lot of unnecessary work, they mustve had a way of ranking all 550 interviewees.

[GLWL]

2 minutes ago, HeyMrSnowman said:

This is actually what I've been thinking as well--could it be that McMaster is offering admission to those who have not been admitted to another school? But what about those that only had Mac interview and did not see the button? They received the short end of the stick for sure.

Based off seeing people post their stats and trying to decipher a formula for selection, nothing seems to be adding up. I can’t see any pattern of gpa casper or cars that is leading to a button/vs no button, and I actually do believe the button thing is true.

[James Nystead]

I guess all this is speculation until Mac Med admin decides to release their formula

1 minute ago, GLWL said:

Based off seeing people post their stats and trying to decipher a formula for selection, nothing seems to be adding up. I can’t see any pattern of gpa casper or cars that is leading to a button/vs no button, and I actually do believe the button thing is true.

 

[GLWL]

2 minutes ago, William Osler said:

Why not just let the waitlist take care of this issue? This seems like a lot of unnecessary work, they mustve had a way of ranking all 550 interviewees.

The waitlist itself is a lot of work for the admissions team as well. Plus even if you do the waitlist, there would still be more people who do not receive an offer at all compared to doing it this way where most people should be receiving an offer. This would also allow next years applicants to have a fair shot at the 550 interview spots compared to less spots being used up by this years applicants. This is all just speculation on my part.

[MedicineLCS]

As nice as the thought of Mac going out of their way to select people NOT getting offers at other schools is, think about the implication this has on them as a school.

For one, it presumes no one getting an offer at another school wants to go to Mac more. At the student open houses (not a fair representation of Mac students, I'll admit) more than a few of the Mac students had multiple offers and chose Mac. 

Secondly, how does it reflect positively on your program if you accepted people on the basis of other programs NOT accepting them? This would be a difficult conversation to have. Mac selects people it thinks will make the best physicians based on their criteria. If another school agrees, great, let the applicant chose. If no other school wants that applicant, it doesn't make sense for Mac to backstop other schools. 

Finally, the level of coordination this would require is high and that adds an administrative hurdle. 

Also, those interviews next year are less significant than we may think. Mac typically accepts/offers 60% of their interviewees. Assuming some people decline waitlist spots it probably ticks even higher, add in those with offers at other schools who were rejected, and it's not as big a number. Finally, the 66% of the application to Mac should stay relatively static (or more likely, go up over time for GPA) for the interviews. I think the only real purpose of the automatic interview was to remove stress about rewriting CASPer, since that's the biggest question mark year to year. It worked for me, and I think it's a great move on their part because the other parts of my (and I'd imagine others) application improve or remain static. 

 

 

[SnowmanTheSWOMEN]

Just now, GLWL said:

The waitlist itself is a lot of work for the admissions team as well. Plus even if you do the waitlist, there would still be more people who do not receive an offer at all compared to doing it this way where most people should be receiving an offer. This would also allow next years applicants to have a fair shot at the 550 interview spots compared to less spots being used up by this years applicants. This is all just speculation on my part.

But wouldn't Mac consider the possibility that individuals who only received an offer for Mac could not be representative of the class characteristic that they had before?

[GLWL]

Just now, MedicineLCS said:

As nice as the thought of Mac going out of their way to select people NOT getting offers at other schools is, think about the implication this has on them as a school.

For one, it presumes no one getting an offer at another school wants to go to Mac more. At the student open houses (not a fair representation of Mac students, I'll admit) more than a few of the Mac students had multiple offers and chose Mac. 

Secondly, how does it reflect positively on your program if you accepted people on the basis of other programs NOT accepting them? This would be a difficult conversation to have. Mac selects people it thinks will make the best physicians based on their criteria. If another school agrees, great, let the applicant chose. If no other school wants that applicant, it doesn't make sense for Mac to backstop other schools. 

Finally, the level of coordination this would require is high and that adds an administrative hurdle. 

Also, those interviews next year are less significant than we may think. Mac typically accepts/offers 60% of their interviewees. Assuming some people decline waitlist spots it probably ticks even higher, add in those with offers at other schools who were rejected, and it's not as big a number. Finally, the 66% of the application to Mac should stay relatively static (or more likely, go up over time for GPA) for the interviews. I think the only real purpose of the automatic interview was to remove stress about rewriting CASPer, since that's the biggest question mark year to year. It worked for me, and I think it's a great move on their part because the other parts of my (and I'd imagine others) application improve or remain static. 

 

 

Yes I agree and that’s why what I said is just speculation. Your points argue my points well.

[GLWL]

1 minute ago, HeyMrSnowman said:

But wouldn't Mac consider the possibility that individuals who only received an offer for Mac could not be representative of the class characteristic that they had before?

Like someone has said before, would the first 250 people on the list differ that greatly compared to the next 250 people? Mac historically accepts 60% of interviewees which is a high number. Would it be that significant if they accepted the others?

[James Nystead]

Any other theories as to how if button = offer to Mac lead to such a wide array of stats?

Related, do you think average GPA and CARS will be 3.87 129 as it has been for the past few years

[SnowmanTheSWOMEN]

Just now, GLWL said:

Like someone has said before, would the first 250 people on the list differ that greatly compared to the next 250 people? Mac historically accepts 60% of interviewees which is a high number. Would it be that significant if they accepted the others?

Hmm that's a fair point. MedicineLCS also brings up a fair point, but then it doesn't explain the selection formulae they used.. Also why would McMaster reach out to other schools in Canada if they are not going to coordinate offers?

[SnowmanTheSWOMEN]

1 minute ago, William Osler said:

Any other theories as to how if button = offer to Mac lead to such a wide array of stats?

Related, do you think average GPA and CARS will be 3.87 129 as it has been for the past few years

Based on the interview invite thread, the stats are close to that already so I don't think it would matter that much. Of course, I'm assuming that this forum is representative of the entire sample of those who received invites.

[short_stack]

3 minutes ago, William Osler said:

Any other theories as to how if button = offer to Mac lead to such a wide array of stats?

They looked at more than just CARS+GPA+CASPer

[James Nystead]

If we cannot figure out McMaster's formula to lead to the stats we've seen today getting buttons, then we must conclude that buttons are meaningless and do not confer an offer

[James Nystead]

Just now, short_stack said:

They looked at more than just CARS+GPA+CASPer

But they said they wouldnt ...

[Anon1]

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