Guest aneliz Posted April 27, 2003 Report Share Posted April 27, 2003 1. Where can I find the most accurate information? The most accurate admissions information can always be found by contacting the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Western Ontario directly. Official and current information on UWO specific requirements and procedures can be found online at: www.fmd.uwo.ca/admissions/medicine/undergrad/ Current application information, deadllines, GPA conversions, and the application common to all of the Ontario medical schools can be found on the OMSAS website: www.ouac.on.ca/omsas/ You can also contact the UWO admissions office by e-mail: admissions@fmd.uwo.ca or by phone: (519) 661-3744 if you have questions that are not answered on these websites. Darla McNeil is the manager of the admissions office. 2. How many positions are available? The number of seats in the UWO medical class has been increased over the past several years from 96 (Meds 2003) to the current size of 133 (Meds 2007). There will be 133 positions in Meds 2008 and for the foreseeable future. Class size at UWO is dependent on the availability of provincial funding and is determined by the Ontario government. 3. Are there different applicant pools, reserved seats, quotas, or 'special applicants'? NO...although there are two exceptions. Exception #1 - UWO runs an MD/PhD program, and there are a maximum of three positions in each class for the MD/PhD stream. If they are not filled by MD/PhD candidates, these seats revert to the general applicant pool. MD/PhD applications are due Dec 15 of each year and successful applicants must be 'acceptable' to BOTH the MD admissions committee and the faculty of graduate studies. Exception #2 - There are three seats reserved in each class for aboriginal applicants. Aboriginal students must meet the same criteria as the rest of the applicant pool to be granted an interview, however, they then compete ONLY with other aboriginal interviewees for the three 'reserved' seats. If there are not three acceptable aboriginal candidates, the vacant seats revert to the general applicant pool. 4. What about international students? Western does not accept applications from non-Canadian students. You MUST be a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant to apply. 5. What are my chances if I am not from Ontario? What if I am a graduate student or a third year student? What about if I am from Southwest Ontario - I heard that there is a '519 advantage'? There is no distinction made between undergraduate or graduate students, 3rd or 4th year students, in province or out of province students. All students compete on equal grounds for the available seats using the same criteria and scoring procedures. There are no reserved seats or quotas for students in any of these categories. UWO gives a slight advantage to students that are legitimate residents of Southwestern Ontario. This advantage is applied as a small number of 'bonus points' that are given to the final (post-interview) score and may slightly change your position in the rank list. These bonus points will only really benefit those that are borderline between acceptance and waitlist. They will not radically affect your chances of admission and WILL NOT compensate for a poor interview performance. (They will also not get you an interview invite if you are below the GPA and MCAT cut-offs) 6. What are UWO's academic requirements? You must have completed the EQUIVALENT of a minimum of three full years of university study (15.0 full or equivalent credits) in any discipline before the commencement of medical studies. You may apply while you are completing your third year. Your 15.0 credits must include TWO FULL TIME undergraduate academic years (5.0 full or equivalent courses completed between Sept and April) from the SAME degree program that are BOTH above the current year's GPA cut off. At least one of these years must include a minimum of 3.0 full or equivalent senior level courses (beyond the first year level). This is an absolute requirement. Applicants that do not satisfy the requirement of two full-time years of study are not eligible for admission. If you are a graduate student: You must meet the same academic requirements! Only your undergraduate record will be assessed to determine your eligibility. Graduate courses and GPA's are NOT considered by UWO and the completion of a graduate degree does not exempt you from the undergraduate course load or GPA requirements. As a graduate student, you must FINISH all of the requirements of your graduate degree before you will be permitted to register at UWO - you CANNOT abandon your graduate degree to begin medical school. NEW REQUIREMENTS EFFECTIVE FALL 2006 APPLICATION CYCLE Effective for Fall 2006, applicants must have a COMPLETED 4 YEAR HONOURS UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE in any discipline to be eligible for admission. UWO will NO LONGER accept applicants with three years of university or general undergraduate degrees. There will be NO pre-req courses required. 7. How is my GPA calculated? What if I have more than 5.0 credits in a year? What if I am repeating a course? What about pass/fail courses? Your GPA is calculated using OMSAS' 4.0 scale. Your grade in each course is converted to a score out of 4.0. The score for the 5.0 best credits in each full time year are then averaged (weighted by course credit value) to give a GPA for that year out of 4.0. Pass/fail courses may be included in a full time year. They are counted as part of your courseload but they are NOT used in the calculation of your GPA. If you took more than 5.0 credits in a given year, only the 5.0 BEST credits will be used to calculate your GPA. Summer courses and courses from part time years cannot be used to satisfy GPA requirements. IMPORTANT NOTE: UWO will NOT allow you to use ANY year in which you REPEATED a course as a full time year. Keep this in mind if you need to repeat a course! You will need to have 5.0 NEW courses in addition to the course that you are repeating for the year to count as 'full-time'. 8. I am in teacher's college, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, optometry, law or an MBA program - are these graduate or undergraduate degrees? UWO considers an MBA to be a graduate degree (as are any MA, MSc or PhD programs). All of the others are considered to be undergraduate degrees and, with the exception of the B.Ed, may be used for GPA purposes. A B.Ed may NOT be used for GPA purposes as UWO requires you to have TWO years from the SAME degree and, given that a B.Ed is a one year program, it does not satisfy this requirement. 9. What happens if I have more than one undergraduate degree? UWO doesn't care if you have 10 undergraduate degrees! However, your GPA is usually calculated from your MOST RECENT degree and you absolutely MAY NOT mix and match years from different degrees to satisfy the two full years above the GPA cut requirement. Both years must be from the same degree program. 10. What if I have finished my degree but only have one full time year or one year above the GPA cut? You may complete one additional 'victory lap' year after you have completed your undergraduate degree to give you another full time year for GPA purposes. You may only complete ONE special year and it must include a minimum of 4.0 full or equivalent credits at the third or fourth year level. It is important that you apply to your school for 'continuing' status and that you not start a new degree. UWO requires that both of your full time years be from the same degree program. You may take courses from whatever discipline you want during your special year as long as they meet the requirement for level (3rd year or higher). 11. What about pre-reqs? Can I still apply if I haven't finished them all yet? What exactly is an 'essay course'? The prerequisite courses absolutely must be completed before you will be permitted to register at UWO but you do not necessarily need to have completed them all before you apply. Pre-reqs are not checked until offers of admission are being sent. If you have not yet fulfilled all of the pre-reqs, your offer of admission will be conditional on you having completed them all by August 28. If you are unable to do this, your offer will be rescinded. Not having completed all (or any) of the per-reqs will not affect your chances of being granted an interview, but you should have a reasonable expectation of completing them all before Sept! The current pre-reqs are: 1.0 credit (1 full or 2 half credits) in university level Biological science with a lab component 1.0 credit (1 full or 2 half) in university level Organic chemistry with a lab component OR 0.5 in organic chemistry (with lab) + 0.5 in biochemistry (with or without lab) 1.0 credit (1 full or 2 half) in a university level science unrelated to biology or chemistry (suggestions are mathematics, physics, engineering, computer science) 3.0 credits (3 full or 6 half) in arts or social science including at least 1.0 in essay courses*. *an essay course is ANY course in which you wrote a minimum of ONE full length essay including footnotes and bibliography. Courses with essay style examinations DO NOT COUNT! The validity of essay courses will be audited by admissions. Last year this was done by asking you to submit either a course description or course outline showing the essay component or a letter from the prof or department teaching the course outlining the presence of an essay component. 12. I submitted my application to OMSAS, what happens now? Your application and all of its 'bits' are collected and checked by OMSAS and, once it is complete and verified, it is sent to UWO. UWO does not receive the applications from OMSAS until December. The admissions office then examines the applications and eliminates incomplete applications (except for those missing only reference letters) and clearly unacceptable candidates (such as non-Canadian applicants). The GPA and MCAT scores of the applicant pool are determined next and the cut off for the year is determined at the end of January. All applicants meeting both the MCAT and GPA cut offs are invited for an interview which is usually held over two weekends in late March and/or early April. Interview notifications are usually mailed in late February. Refusal letters are sent to those not meeting the cut offs at the same time that interview invitations are mailed. Final admissions decisions are based on: 25% GPA (best year only), 25% MCAT and 50% interview. The initial offers are mailed on the common Ontario release date, the last business day of May. 13. How are the GPA/MCAT cut-offs determined? Why couldn't they be set before I submit my application?! What if I am one point short in one category? GPA and MCAT cut offs are set based on the quality of the applicant pool. They are set so that ~420 people will meet them. They are used to trim the applicant pool down to a size that is reasonable to interview. Given the fact that each year's applicant pool is a little bit different, the cut-offs change yearly based on the GPA's/MCAT scores of that year's applicants and they can not be set in advance. Both the GPA and MCAT cuts are very strict. You must meet ALL of the cut offs and unfortunately, if you miss one category by a single point, you are eliminated. (although you may appeal if you feel that you have grounds to do so) 14. How is it determined who will get an interview? If you meet all of the cut offs you *should* receive an interview. If you do not meet the cuts, you will not be granted an interview. UWO does not evaluate reference letters or autobiographical sketches in determining who will be interviewed. If you meet the cuts and you do not receive an interview invitation, call the admissions office, it is possible that a mistake was made. 15. How important is the interview? The interview is VERY important! It is worth 50% of the final admissions decision. A poor interview will significantly harm your chances of acceptance regardless of your GPA or MCAT scores. Just as a very good interview will significantly help your chances regardless of your GPA or MCAT scores. 16. Who are my interviewers? What kinds of questions are asked during the interview? What do the interviewers know about me? You will be interviewed by three people - a faculty member, a community member and a current medical student. They will ask a variety of questions about you, your interests, your background, why you want to study medicine, why you want to come to UWO and how you would react in certain situations. They may ask you about ethics or current events, although this is not guaranteed. The key difference between UWO and other schools is that your interviewers know NOTHING about you. They will not ask you specific questions from your autobiographical sketch. It is up to YOU to show them your 'well roundedness'. The UWO interview is known to be a relaxed, non-confronational, applicant driven interview. 17. What about my reference letters and autobiographical sketch? UWO does not consider your autobiographical sketch or your reference letters except in extreme situations. 18. I only just got the cut offs, do I really have a chance? Won't I get 0/25 on both the MCAT and GPA scores? UWO wouldn't invite you for an interview if you didn't have a chance! Remember that the interview is worth 50% of the final decision. There are plenty of people that get accepted that only have the cuts - and plenty of people with much higher scores that don't! Don't let your MCAT and GPA scores get you too depressed (or too over-confident) about your chances. Another thing to note: the cut offs DO NOT give you zero in the MCAT and GPA categories. A zero would be the lowest GPA or MCAT in the applicant pool - and that person wasn't interviewed! Most people's scores in the GPA and MCAT categories are not significantly different from each other when they are converted to a score /25. 19. How many people receive an offer of admission? Each year, UWO interviews ~420 applicants. There are 133 positions in the first year class. Last year (meds 2007), 238 offers of admission were made to fill the 133 available seats. 20. What about deferring? Will UWO let me do that? No. UWO does not allow deferrals - except in extreme situations (like you get hit by a bus and need a year off to do rehab). They will not grant deferrals to finish your undergraduate or your graduate degree, to travel, etc. UWO expects you to apply when you are ready to begin medical school. If you are not ready to begin, don't apply until you are. ----------------------- Last updated: March 15, 2004 Andrea Admissions Rep, Class of 2006 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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