uOttawa wGPA Calculation Policy Changes

[MedicineLCS 352]

I wonder what this will do for waitlist movement next year? Ottawa was already similar to Mac (GPA&CASPer), now with this change the Ottawa and Mac GPAs are going to be closer, both schools use CASPer, and I'd imagine most of the Mac interviewee pool consists of people who have a decent sketch. It seems like schools are getting closer and closer to each other in how they assess, instead of preserving some diversity in selection methods. 

[Psych 161]

7 minutes ago, guacamole17 said:

What if we don't have 3 entries for awards or research (as in 3 publications/poster presentations)

They said "max" three for each section, so I don't think it's at all a problem to have less

[zackattack881 12]

44 minutes ago, guacamole17 said:

What if we don't have 3 entries for awards or research (as in 3 publications/poster presentations)

Hum, I guess just put as much as you can? They can't penalize you if you don't have 3.

[goldenelephant 12]

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[Failure 4]

15 minutes ago, goldenelephant said:

Has anyone reached out to the admissions office to learn more about the cGPA cut-off for the anglophone stream?

Nope, but I think it's likely they'll give you the cut-off for the wGPA from the past few years which has been 3.85-3.87 depending on geography, since they don't have data yet for the new policy change...

[goldenelephant 12]

On 6/18/2020 at 2:35 PM, Failure said:

Nope, but I think it's likely they'll give you the cut-off for the wGPA from the past few years which has been 3.85-3.87 depending on geography, since they don't have data yet for the new policy change...

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[Failure 4]

7 minutes ago, goldenelephant said:

If this is the case, I hope they re-consider. It may not be fair to assess students based on a cut-off that was established using the wGPA. Doing so would place students that have already graduated at a disadvantage as they can't do anything about their past grades anymore. 

Definitely, similar to UofT, non-trads who have completed degrees a while back are greatly affected by wGPA policy changes. And the fact is, if you have low grades in junior year of a completed bachelor's degree, your recent 3-year cGPA would likely be brought down significantly. Furthermore, if you wanted to upgrade your 3year cGPA, Ottawa won't count any courses unless those courses contribute to another bachelor's degree. 

This change is likely a collaborative one between the medical schools across Canada. It would definitely help everyone if they provided their reasoning behind their changes rather than leaving applicants speculating. 

[OnePoundFish 4]

2 minutes ago, goldenelephant said:

If this is the case, I hope they re-consider. It may not be fair to assess students based on a cut-off that was established using the wGPA. Doing so would place students that have already graduated at a disadvantage as they can't do anything about their past grades anymore. 

I believe that they were trying to implement these changes for a while, and figured now is a right time since they are changing their admissions process and deciding on winter 2020. Many Ontario schools have resorted to using CGPA rather than WGPA as it allows schools to differentiate applicants more clearly.

[Psych 161]

1 hour ago, goldenelephant said:

If this is the case, I hope they re-consider. It may not be fair to assess students based on a cut-off that was established using the wGPA. Doing so would place students that have already graduated at a disadvantage as they can't do anything about their past grades anymore. 

I'm fairly certain that they change the cut off each year depending on the applicant pool, so hopefully this change won't affect that- you should only be compared against people form the year you're applying, not from previous years

[keener12345 79]

Asking for a friend: does the fact that they say they use the 3 most recent years for cGPA mean that applicants cannot apply for admission after their third year (i.e. when they only use the first 2 years of UG GPA in the calculation)?

 

 

[drager 23]

11 minutes ago, keener12345 said:

Asking for a friend: does the fact that they say they use the 3 most recent years for cGPA mean that applicants cannot apply for admission after their third year (i.e. when they only use the first 2 years of UG GPA in the calculation)?

 

 

I'm assuming from the wording, you have to have completed three years of undergrad in order to apply. Therefore, if your friend only has 2 years of undergrad they might not be eligible to apply. 

 

Edit: lol, ignore this,  @Failure 's post has the correct answer.

[Failure 4]

8 minutes ago, keener12345 said:

Asking for a friend: does the fact that they say they use the 3 most recent years for cGPA mean that applicants cannot apply for admission after their third year (i.e. when they only use the first 2 years of UG GPA in the calculation)?

 

 

Yep they can. It’s under the faq.

“Do I need to have completed my third year of studies before I’m allowed to apply?

No. You would normally apply after the second year of studies. Only the grades obtained in year 1 and 2 will be used in the calculation of your cumulative grade point average(cGPA).  If admission is offered to you, it will be conditional upon successful completion of present academic year and the final grades show that you have maintained your grade point average. For more details on how we calculate the cGPA, please refer to this link”

[James kingston 1]

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[MedicineLCS 352]

Only if you crater your 4th year grades. So long as you stay above the minimum for your stream you're fine. Ive never heard of anyone losing an acceptance over a slight decrease in grades. Besides, you should also act like you're rejected until you matriculate, so dont ease off the academic gas pedal too early, you may need to reapply after all. 

[James kingston 1]

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[MedicineLCS 352]

Yes, I meant 3rd year grades. You don't need to finish your degree if you get in as a 3rd year applicant. 

[throwaway3321 0]

I have a question regarding my eligibility with these changes. Taken from the university website, they say that an applicant needs 5 courses per semester for the year to be included. My question is, does this mean that the unit equivalent of 5 courses (e.g. 15 units at my university) would also be acceptable?

I took two research based courses in my 4th and 5th year that both were year long and were officially registered as one course each. This meant I was taking <4 courses per semester, yet I was still taking 30 units over the fall and winter semester. Would I be eligible to have these years included? I can’t find information on this on their website and the wording is a bit vague. 

[goldenelephant 12]

6 minutes ago, throwaway3321 said:

I have a question regarding my eligibility with these changes. Taken from the university website, they say that an applicant needs 5 courses per semester for the year to be included. My question is, does this mean that the unit equivalent of 5 courses (e.g. 15 units at my university) would also be acceptable?

I took two research based courses in my 4th and 5th year that both were year long and were officially registered as one course each. This meant I was taking <4 courses per semester, yet I was still taking 30 units over the fall and winter semester. Would I be eligible to have these years included? I can’t find information on this on their website and the wording is a bit vague. 

Yes, as long as you completed the equivalent of 30 units over the year, you'd be eligible. I don't believe this has changed. They likely listed 5 courses per semester to clarify that 5 courses per semester would be equivalent to a full course load.

[UwoToUo 121]

@OnePoundFish I think this is a really interesting political point. Historically, after calamity we see big changes, e.g. Canadian universal healthcare starting post-ww2. 90% of doctors went on strike but were soon vastly in support. Huge changes like that are usually largely opposed at first and then largely supported, rarely is there bipartisan agreement unless the country is in shambles. Definitely agree with using cGPA over wGPA and still counting the 2020 grades with new cGPA cutoffs to be decided after applications are in. But I think this actually forces the change to be long-term bc it would potentially matter for every cycle 2020 grades are used, especially for those that graduated this year and lets say apply 3 times. If they change it back to wGPA next year then those 2020 graduates get BOOSTED (presumably).

@James kingston Based on what the acceptance conditions were for this cycle, it said that if you are currently enrolled then your admission is conditional on your current year just meeting the GPA cutoff this year and I think that's what it means.

[DrOtter 343]

9 hours ago, WuhanClan said:

@OnePoundFish I think this is a really interesting political point. Historically, after calamity we see big changes, e.g. Canadian universal healthcare starting post-ww2. 90% of doctors went on strike but were soon vastly in support. Huge changes like that are usually largely opposed at first and then largely supported, rarely is there bipartisan agreement unless the country is in shambles. Definitely agree with using cGPA over wGPA and still counting the 2020 grades with new cGPA cutoffs to be decided after applications are in. But I think this actually forces the change to be long-term bc it would potentially matter for every cycle 2020 grades are used, especially for those that graduated this year and lets say apply 3 times. If they change it back to wGPA next year then those 2020 graduates get BOOSTED (presumably).

@James kingston Based on what the acceptance conditions were for this cycle, it said that if you are currently enrolled then your admission is conditional on your current year just meeting the GPA cutoff this year and I think that's what it means.

Ahah I actually emailed Chantal about this because I was paranoid that the cutoff was changed from 3.85 from IP English. So here's the official policy for any future applicants/acceptees: 

They will review the final transcript with the current academic year. If the grades are significantly lower, they will recalculate the WGPA (or CPGA for future cycles) to ensure that the candidate is still above the cut-off (i.e. they'd be eligible if they were to reapply next year). So as long as your "new" WGPA with your current year accounted for is above cut-off you'll be fine. 

[GamingMD 24]

As some who's wGPA is the same as their cGPA I don't know how I feel about this... Hopefully this benefits me in some way hahahahaha

[icymeia 17]

Is this also a difference?

Will the grades obtained during the first semester of my application year count?

They will not be counted in the initial cGPA calculation but will be taken into account if the file advances further in the process prior to admission.

[DrOtter 343]

7 minutes ago, icymeia said:

Is this also a difference?

Will the grades obtained during the first semester of my application year count?

They will not be counted in the initial cGPA calculation but will be taken into account if the file advances further in the process prior to admission.

 

 

I think that just means that the grades will be reviewed prior to official registrations (post-acceptance). :/

[icymeia 17]

1 minute ago, DrOtter said:

I think that just means that the grades will be reviewed prior to official registrations (post-acceptance). :/

I thought that too, but it says prior to admission so I wasn't sure

[drager 23]

anybody know the new min cGPA?