Guest rmac77 Posted August 19, 2002 Report Share Posted August 19, 2002 I have a general question about GPA... I am applying to Meds for 2003, was on the wait list a couple of years ago. However, I screwed up my third year (too much partying), and didn't get a 3.6 (a couple of points lower). I am going back for Honors in which I will study much harder. Will Western really ignore that year and just take the best two years no matter what and not even look at that year's crappy marks??? I find that difficult to believe, however would like to accept it, as it will bode will for my app. I am having some anxiety about this issue- any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aneliz Posted August 19, 2002 Report Share Posted August 19, 2002 In the past Western has only considered your best year to decide if you made the GPA cut-off to receive an interview. That 'best' year may be any of your full-time undergraduate years in which you completed five full or equivalent courses between Sept and April. If you make this cut-off GPA AND you make the MCAT cut-offs, you will be interviewed. After you receive an interview, your admission decision is reported to be 25% MCAT (verbal and writing sections only), 25% GPA and 50% interview. To remain in the running for a seat in Western's class you also need to get the GPA cut-off in your LAST full-time undergraduate year in which you are taking five full or equivalent courses between Sept and April. If you are taking university courses during the time that you are applying, THAT year (the one you are currently doing) is your last year. If you are not at university when you are applying your most recent undergraduate year is your last year. In the past, Western has not counted any other year's GPA, so if you have a bad year, they should be forgiving -provided that it wasn't your last year.... The GPA cut-off for Western is usually around 3.6ish on the OMSAS 4 point scale....but it varies with the applicant pool every year and you won't know what this year's cut-off is until about Feb (4 months after applications are due....) Western is changing their admissions rules a bit for next year though (some of the pre-reqs have changed) so I don't know if other things (re GPA) have changed as well... you might like to check out the 'official' information on the UWO website (link at top of this page!). Good Luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JSS02 Posted August 19, 2002 Report Share Posted August 19, 2002 By "Honours", do you mean fourth year? Or an extra (fifth) undergrad year? Either way, Western will only count your best year when deciding whether or not to interview you. Basically, no matter how bad third year was, it shouldn't make a difference as long as you had another year that does meet the cutoffs. Since you've been interviewed before, you probably have at least one year that will make the 2003 cutoffs. It was 3.65 during this past application cycle. If you end up getting in, then they will also look at your GPA in the year you apply (2003) as the second year. This GPA also has to be over the cutoff in order to keep your spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rmac77 Posted August 19, 2002 Report Share Posted August 19, 2002 Thanks Aneliz and JSSO2 for your expedient replies. By Honors, I mean fourth year Genetics. I took some time away to ensure I was making an informed decision, and now want medicine even more than before (strange how life is!). Anyhow, I do have a year over the 3.65, it's just that I would like to forget about my bad year and hope that Western does as well. I seem to be kicking myself though, and want to go into this year knowing that they won't look at that year. I appreciate your reply Aneliz, it was very well thought out. I hope Western keeps that formula- it seems to make sense to me. I believe the changes for 2003 is the prereq. for an upper year full year non-science course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ceds Posted August 19, 2002 Report Share Posted August 19, 2002 Wow, so just to clarify, if someone does poorly in 1st and 2nd year but did well in 3rd year and is applying in 4th year, then as long as 4th year marks are above the cutoffs he can still get in? I assumed it was the best year and the most recently completed year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JSS02 Posted August 19, 2002 Report Share Posted August 19, 2002 <!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote>Quote:<hr> Wow, so just to clarify, if someone does poorly in 1st and 2nd year but did well in 3rd year and is applying in 4th year, then as long as 4th year marks are above the cutoffs he can still get in?<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--> Yep, that's right. Though on the website it says something along the lines of "exceeding the minimum GPA/MCAT requirements doesn't guarantee you will receive an interview." So I guess at their discretion they can still choose to refuse a fourth year applicant who had (for example) a 1.5 in first year, 1.6 in second year, and 3.7 in third year. I don't know if it's ever happened, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aneliz Posted August 20, 2002 Report Share Posted August 20, 2002 Of course it is pretty hard to pull of the 3.7 in third year if you seriously had 1.5-1.6 in all of the foundation/pre-req courses...... So, I imagine that this scenario doesn't happen very often....most people are pretty consistent in GPA once they get over the first year adjustment....Western's system is very forgiving though if you have one or two course in a given year that badly drag down that year's GPA....I don't think it really will benefit too many people that got smoked in one or more years....unless of course, there was a very definite reason WHY they got smoked that they can readily fix in a subsequent year.... Western is definitely more forgiving than school's that use a cumulative GPA though.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TimmyMax Posted August 20, 2002 Report Share Posted August 20, 2002 Amen to that, Aneliz! That 0.6 I got in first year really torpedoed my Mac chances! See you next week! Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aneliz Posted August 20, 2002 Report Share Posted August 20, 2002 Funny Tim......0.6, eh? I can't wait for next week....It's finally here! (I'm like a kid waiting for Christmas at the moment.) I just want to get moved, get my life sorted out and get going! See you Wed morning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ceds Posted August 20, 2002 Report Share Posted August 20, 2002 TimmyMax: lol Good luck to you guys in first year Western Meds. I'm finishing up my fourth year honours in Pharm-Tox there. Maybe I'll see around the Med Sci building! Cedrin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TimmyMax Posted August 21, 2002 Report Share Posted August 21, 2002 Hey Aneliz! Yeah, I know, eh?!? I was down in London yesterday visiting a friend of mine (she did her undergrad @ UWO) and she showed me all the cool places to hang out on campus. There's a couple of really sweet hangouts, I must say! And to make things worse (in terms of building excitement), there's an incoming UWO Meds 2006 in my CPR course here in Waterloo! The hype is just unbelievable! See you next week! Oh, and sorry, I lied about my GPA. It was 0.62, not 0.6. Take care all, Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aneliz Posted August 21, 2002 Report Share Posted August 21, 2002 That extra .02 in GPA makes all the difference you know....anybody with only 0.60 just wouldn't get in.....those arbitrary admission rule makers.... :rollin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UWOMED2005 Posted August 21, 2002 Report Share Posted August 21, 2002 Still better than the 9% I got for an entire term in Grade 9 science (had mono so missed a bunch of tests, was bad about going to class, grade 9 science was pretty boring anyway). Thank god they don't look at your grade 9 High School marks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest strider2004 Posted August 22, 2002 Report Share Posted August 22, 2002 Wow, I wonder what your science teacher would think of you now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UWOMED2005 Posted August 22, 2002 Report Share Posted August 22, 2002 Actually, he's already been surprised. I had the same teacher for a couple of OAC science classes, and by then my work ethic had improved by quite a bit and I did really well in the OAC class. He actually personally pulled me aside one day to remark on how surprised he was by the change. Still, I think I'm one of the few med students for whom it's questionable as to whether they passed grade 9 science (long story, but I'm still a bit worried about a Simpsonesque scene at one of my High School reunions). Of course, my performance in science courses has been a bit improved since then. . . and the curriculum from grade 9 was almost entirely repeated in grade 10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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