What GPA is competitive for graduate applicants?

[panda999 0]

I know on the website it says that 3.4 - 3.7 has been competitive in the past - but some recent threads on **DELETED** have been saying that for a master's applicant the internal computer cutoff is more like 3.85 which is really discouraging. 

Mine is 3.72 - should I still apply as a master's applicant?

[WaitingTooLong 3]

21 hours ago, panda999 said:

I know on the website it says that 3.4 - 3.7 has been competitive in the past - but some recent threads on **DELETED** have been saying that for a master's applicant the internal computer cutoff is more like 3.85 which is really discouraging. 

Mine is 3.72 - should I still apply as a master's applicant?

Not sure about the 3.85 cutoff. It would have been insane if it was true. But I believe UofT takes into account your undergrad school/program rigor when assessing GPA .

[blessedbutstressed 7]

I have heard the same from my friends at U of T in the 2T0 class, 3.85 internal cutoff for all applicants regardless of grad or undergrad. They mentioned that if a separate AEE is written, they pull the application aside and look closer at the GPA and evaluate any extenuating circumstances.

[mustgetin 7]

Would it be possible that these change now that the weight GPA formula is different?

[blessedbutstressed 7]

6 minutes ago, mustgetin said:

Would it be possible that these change now that the weight GPA formula is different?

considering they hit a record number of applications this year, I personally doubt that it would drop...

[mustgetin 7]

10 minutes ago, blessedbutstressed said:

considering they hit a record number of applications this year, I personally doubt that it would drop...

Oh I wasn't aware! Where did they did say this?

[blessedbutstressed 7]

19 minutes ago, mustgetin said:

Oh I wasn't aware! Where did they did say this?

They apparently received an email a couple of weeks ago recruiting file reviewers and it said there were more than 4000 applications this year 

[mustgetin 7]

13 minutes ago, blessedbutstressed said:

They apparently received an email a couple of weeks ago recruiting file reviewers and it said there were more than 4000 applications this year 

Thats interesting. wonder why the sudden increase. Regardless, I believe you do see some grad applicants on these forms get interviews with low 3.8 GPAs

[MrsAaronSamuels 33]

I'm not sure where all these rumours for the numbers for "internal cutoffs" come from, but it's not 3.85 and I'd take these circulating rumours with a huge grain of salt. I got in this past cycle with a 3.82 as an undergrad (albeit off the waitlist)

[goldenelephant 12]

41 minutes ago, blessedbutstressed said:

They apparently received an email a couple of weeks ago recruiting file reviewers and it said there were more than 4000 applications this year 

Hey! Sorry, do you mind clarifying who this email was sent by and who received it? 

[blessedbutstressed 7]

1 hour ago, goldenelephant said:

Hey! Sorry, do you mind clarifying who this email was sent by and who received it? 

They said it was sent by the med faculty to the med students in all 4 years

[goldenelephant 12]

8 minutes ago, blessedbutstressed said:

They said it was sent by the med faculty to the med students in all 4 years

Oh wow, that's interesting. Thanks for clarifying

[Captrex_501stlegion 81]

21 hours ago, MrsAaronSamuels said:

I'm not sure where all these rumours for the numbers for "internal cutoffs" come from, but it's not 3.85 and I'd take these circulating rumours with a huge grain of salt. I got in this past cycle with a 3.82 as an undergrad (albeit off the waitlist)

just to clarify, was 3.82 your wGPA or cGPA? Because to my understanding, as long as one of those is competitive, you are good. 

[Captrex_501stlegion 81]

. 

[Captrex_501stlegion 81]

22 hours ago, blessedbutstressed said:

They apparently received an email a couple of weeks ago recruiting file reviewers and it said there were more than 4000 applications this year 

This makes a lot of sense, however, they must realize that a lot of people depended on the weighting formula. Changing it up has drastically reduced the wGPAs of so many students. I mean there is probably no shortage of 4.0 students to take in, but if they'r trying to make the process less GPA heavy, it does not make sense to me to change the weighting formula in a way that will reduce wGPAs and then use the same cutoffs. That appears that they are just selecting even more for those with higher GPAs. 

[TheFlyGuy 98]

20 hours ago, blessedbutstressed said:

They said it was sent by the med faculty to the med students in all 4 years

Could just be that it wasn't actually sent to first years, but I haven't received any such e-mail. I'm also pretty sure that I know of at least 1 person who got in with a gpa below 3.85 in my year also, though I'm not sure if they were a grad/undergrad applicant. In general I think you can't place too much stock in the word of mouth rumors.

My gut feeling OP would be that 3.72 puts you at a sizable but not insurmountable disadvantage, particularly if your degree is complete and research/thesis-based; I wouldn't say it's a totally pointless application to do.

[zxcccxz 81]

22 hours ago, mustgetin said:

Thats interesting. wonder why the sudden increase. Regardless, I believe you do see some grad applicants on these forms get interviews with low 3.8 GPAs

I'm going to hypothesize that it may have something to do with COVID and the fact that more people tend to go into higher education when the economy and job prospects are poor. I'm an M1 at UofC, and we were informed of a similar issue (17% increase in applicants over last year). I wonder if this is a trend we'll see across all medical schools when stats are available next year.

[offmychestplease 174]

-

[mustgetin 7]

On 10/18/2020 at 6:32 PM, MrsAaronSamuels said:

I'm not sure where all these rumours for the numbers for "internal cutoffs" come from, but it's not 3.85 and I'd take these circulating rumours with a huge grain of salt. I got in this past cycle with a 3.82 as an undergrad (albeit off the waitlist)

Did you happen to write an AEE by any chance?

[scoobydoo1623 54]

4 hours ago, zxcccxz said:

I'm going to hypothesize that it may have something to do with COVID and the fact that more people tend to go into higher education when the economy and job prospects are poor. I'm an M1 at UofC, and we were informed of a similar issue (17% increase in applicants over last year). I wonder if this is a trend we'll see across all medical schools when stats are available next year.

Same thing happened in the U.S for MD schools. A bit horrid for applicants, since things now are more competitive. 

[panda999 0]

On 10/18/2020 at 6:32 PM, MrsAaronSamuels said:

I'm not sure where all these rumours for the numbers for "internal cutoffs" come from, but it's not 3.85 and I'd take these circulating rumours with a huge grain of salt. I got in this past cycle with a 3.82 as an undergrad (albeit off the waitlist)

thanks for commenting - yeah It's really hard to decipher whats true or not on these forums. The person who commented about the internal cuttoff said the source was a PGY2 reviewer, but like you said it's important to take it with a grain of salt. 

Congrats on your acceptance btw!

 

[panda999 0]

15 hours ago, TheFlyGuy said:

Could just be that it wasn't actually sent to first years, but I haven't received any such e-mail. I'm also pretty sure that I know of at least 1 person who got in with a gpa below 3.85 in my year also, though I'm not sure if they were a grad/undergrad applicant. In general I think you can't place too much stock in the word of mouth rumors.

My gut feeling OP would be that 3.72 puts you at a sizable but not insurmountable disadvantage, particularly if your degree is complete and research/thesis-based; I wouldn't say it's a totally pointless application to do.

Thank you, and I guess "sizable but not insurmountable disadvantage" would be very realistic for my circumstances.

[Ghimbo 15]

On their website they state that last years cycle 3.7 was considered competitive for graduate applicants 

https://applymd.utoronto.ca/academic-requirements

but with that in mind... I have also never been interviewed and have a 3.7 as a grad applicant. I think my essays were not that great each time I applied but have a really good feeling about this years.

[MrsAaronSamuels 33]

On 10/19/2020 at 12:59 PM, Captrex_501stlegion said:

just to clarify, was 3.82 your wGPA or cGPA? Because to my understanding, as long as one of those is competitive, you are good. 

wGPA! My cGPA is in the low 3.7s

On 10/19/2020 at 6:00 PM, mustgetin said:

Did you happen to write an AEE by any chance?

to be honest, I can't exactly remember and I can't find a way to logon to my old application If I did though, it would've been an explanation on why I didn't pursue a graduate degree (I had some extenuating factors that precluded me from continuing my education at that point in my life). I didn't really have a compelling reason for my lower marks in 1st year other than it was a big transitional period.