This years cutoffs

[Guest Beth]

The cutoffs for this year were just posted on Westerns webpage. Here they are......

 

GPA - 3.7

 

MCAT - 9, 9, 9, Q

 

Good luck to everyone!!!

 

www.med.uwo.ca/admiss/adm2003.htm

[Guest batman]

fantastic! looking forward to interview day!!!!

 

:hat

[Guest aneliz]

You people are good....have you been sitting by the webpage all day?? The cuts were only determined an hour ago....

 

See some of you soon!

[Guest BCgirl]

Awesome! Thanks for the info.

 

Anybody know how much notice Western normally gives for interviews?

[Guest therealcrackers]

The interview weekends are scheduled for the end of March and the middle of April. If they have determined the cut-offs today, it will take a couple of weeks for sure to generate the mail-outs to invitees. I got my letter for an interview the very beginning of March a couple of years ago...

[Guest PhantomPhoenix]

I guess people hoping for a 3.65 cut-off are out of luck.

 

Has it ever been higher than 3.70?

 

As long as it doesn't pass 3.80 I am happy. :rollin

 

 

Looks like the Western pool is more competitive than the Queens group 3.70 > 3.59

[Guest bad hombre]

yeah but then again, a 10 VR is much rarer than a 9.

 

I think most of the interviewees at Western will also interview at U of T, and many of them will also interview at Queen's

 

Good luck everyone!8)

[Guest JSS02]

Last year, interview notices were sent out near the end of February, which is about a month's worth of notice. This is pretty reasonable, I think... a hell of a lot better than the several DAYS notice some people got from U of T. This year, interviews will be on Mar. 29-30 and Apr. 12-13, as you can see from the other thread. Good luck everyone.

[Guest Krish]

Hi everyone,

 

For the GPA requirement, they say 2 years will be used, will this be any two years including first year?

 

I am in my third-year right now so I am not sure whether my third-year will be used or taken into consideration.

Thanks

Krish

[Guest aneliz]

You need to have ONE full time year above the cut-off to be eligible for an interview. Assuming that you get an acceptance, you will then need to have a SECOND full time year (that will be your 3rd year if your 2nd year isn't above the cut...) to keep your acceptance. If you already have TWO years above the cut before the interview, then your last year (3rd year) won't be looked at. It doesn't matter if you use your first and second, first and third, second and third, first and third (you get the idea...) years for the GPA....as long as there are two full years (5.0 credits) above the cut by the time you want to register in late Aug!

 

Good luck!

 

 

Phantom phoenix: The cut has been much higher then 3.70...that is why UWO started requiring the MCAT too....it is a great way to weed out people....especially when you can't push the GPA any higher to pare down the list of interviewees....but....remember that the interview will make or break you and many people go significantly up (or DOWN) in their relative rank after the interview....(those with the highest GPA's sometimes land at the bottom of the heap ie. are rejected after the interview while some of the borderline GPA people end up getting first round acceptances....)

[Guest PhantomPhoenix]

Since the introduction of the MCAT cut-off, what has been the highest GPA cut-off?

 

I am actually pretty confident about the interview...according to various interviewers I have had in the past...I seem to excel at that...even though I always come out thinking I sucked.

 

I will have to go over certain important issues though beforehand to make sure I have a clear position in my head...I don't want to appear indecisive...unable to make up my mind...

[Guest aneliz]

Couldn't really tell you....the only people that know that are the admissions committee (more specifically their chief record keeper and administrator Darla) and she is now on vacation for a week....and even if I could find this out....they wouldn't want it published....I know that the cut off in the past four years has not been above 3.70....what it was before that....I couldn't tell you....(because I was in high school)....All I know is that it was stated today that the MCAT was brought in to lower the ridiculously high GPA cut-off....because it would enable them to trim the applicant pool without having a totally unattainable GPA cut.

[Guest Valani9]

Just to clarify:

 

Does making the cutoff guarantee an interview (aside from wierd circumstances)?

 

Cheers

[Guest aneliz]

If you make the cut offs you *should* be interviewed. However, UWO retains the disclaimer that 'all aspects of the application will be examined in determining who will be interviewed.' In practice, I don't recall ever hearing of somebody who met the cuts that wasn't interviewed....of course I take zero responsibility if there was (or will be) anyone in this situation.

[Guest ekimike]

I find it a little hard to stomach that I will not receive an interview at UWO because of the score which I attained on the writing sample of the MCAT. My undergraduate GPA is well above the GPA cutoff, and I have a VR=9, PS=10, BS=13 and WS=P. Why should my score of P versus Q on the WS, the only subjectively graded section of the MCAT, preclude me from receiving an interview at UWO? The difference between attaining a Q and a P is likely so slight that it could be the difference between two different individuals reading my MCAT essays. You just have to love those rigid policies for selecting Ontario's future physicians. In place of the MCAT writing sample, I believe that a better indicator of my ability to write is my graduate thesis and two first author publications. Thankfully, not all schools employ such rigid cutoffs and actually pay attention to other pertinent aspects of individual applications - I have an interview at Stanford next month.

[Guest Ian Wong]

Write your local MLA's and MP's and get them to open up more med school seats. The unfortunate result of too few seats for too many applicants is that people are going to get rejected in Canada, and end up studying elsewhere. Best of luck on your other interviews.

 

Ian

UBC, Med 4

[Guest aneliz]

ekimike:

 

I am sorry to hear about your situation....however, if it makes you feel any better (and I doubt it will but anyway...) the cut offs are set exclusively to narrow down the applicant pool to a number that is reasonable (logistically possible) to interview. There are only so many people that UWO can reasonably interview (due to the demands of getting student, faculty and community interviewers and the physical space in which to do it). To reduce the numbers involves a lot of playing with the cut-offs...ie how many will be interviewed if GPA is increased vs if the MCAT cut in the writing sample increases....No matter what is decided some people are always going to lose...and no matter where the cut is, there is always a group that would have been interviewed if their mark in one area was just one point higher...I know that it seems arbitrary...and that's because it is! The difference between a P and Q on the writing sample obviously won't distinguish a 'good' candidate from a not so good candidate...nor is it in my opinion a good indicator of your ability to write...but it will enable the school to objectively determine who will be interviewed and limit the numbers to a number that can be accomodated. At least at the 'cut off' oriented schools you know where you stand and exactly WHY you weren't interviewed....which is more then you can say for some of the other schools in which your essay or sketch or 15 answers or whatever are subjectively evaluated (much more subjectivey then the MCAT writing sample is!) and then put through a mystical and top secret formula with your GPA and various other unknown factors to decide who will be interviewed. Personally, I would rather know that the only reason I didn't get an interview was that my WS score was 1 point too low rather then getting a rejection letter that says that my autobiographical sketch was 36th percentile....as determined by an unknown and subjective process....

 

Med school admissions procedures are far from perfect and they aren't always fair...I'm really sorry that you got bad news....but with marks and MCAT scores like that (and good extracurrics, a grad degree and publications) you sound like an excellent candidate and I am sure that you will be interviewed at many other schools.

 

Good luck!

[Guest exhumedcorpse33]

Still, a writing sample cutoff of Q seems pretty high. I guess Western really values communcation skills.

[Guest peachy]

I wonder why a Q was chosen rather than a 10 in some section? Given that a Q and a 10 both correspond to the 75th %ile, why choose the most arbitrary section of the MCATs to use as the high cutoff? Just curious...

[Guest therealcrackers]

There had to be some way to reduce the number of applicants that meet the criteria to a manageable number for interviewing---at Western, this is slightly more than 400; if that's the criterion chosen to change, it's because THAT many applicants have met it.

 

When I applied, you had to show progression in a non-science course---I chose second-year English in my third year of undergrad, another essay course. My writing sample went up from a P at the beginning of third year to a Q at the beginning of fourth year from having taken the extra essay course, and gotten the extra evaluation (I'm sure).

 

Good luck with your studies!

 

UWO Meds 2 --- with exams in three weeks so I'm procrastinating on this board...

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi there,

 

In regards to the Q cut-off, perhaps UWO are trying to encourage the emergence of doctors whose writing we can read (after all, legibility is assessed during the writing sample).

 

But seriously folks, although the writing sample is inherently subjectively assessed, in general, those who score a little higher in that MCAT section have a higher probability of possessing either a mastery of the writing sample technique, or a better set of writing skills (or both). Therefore, if a school is wishing to place a little more emphasis on the ability to communicate well in writing, then phwoosh goes the writing sample cut-off.

 

Cheers and good luck,

Kirsteen

[Guest mying]

Hehehe... :lol

 

"Phwooooosh!"

 

--(also Meds 2, and also exams coming up, and also procrastinating...)

[Guest TimmyMax]

Hi Kirsteen,

 

Don't forget that UWO has been emphasizing and valuing strong written skills in addition to strong communicating skills in recent years (ie: "essay course" requirement). It is also much easier to improve one's writing skills (by perhaps enrolling in a university-level essay or english course?) than it is to improve one's verbal reasoning skills in a number of people's opinions. Bear in mind the issue of accessibility and the fact that there are a number of ESL students, or at least those for whom English is not their first language who would otherwise make excellent physicians. When you consider that there are enough of us with English as a first language who have a hard enough time with VR, by raising the VR bar, you risk making medical school inaccessible to these people. WS is something that has some aspect of candidate control to it- the candidate directs his or her response as he or she sees appropriate, and while it does have some subjectivity involved in the evaluation that VR does not, to me, the true value lies in the actual message and ability of that candidate to communicate effectively, not whether or not he or she can unscramble some convoluted options regarding which of the following statements an opponent of the author is not likely to disagree with. Just my thoughts.

 

Best of luck!

Timmy

[Guest UWOMED2005]

Also, I think traditionally Western has a put a strong emphasis on the WS and having essay courses as they don't use an essay or PIF to assess candidates.

[Guest doctorfunk]

very true. and i'm sure we would all agree that the grading of the pif/essay at other schools is even *more* subjective given the fact that we don't know exactly how they are assessed (whereas, with the MCAT WS, it is pretty well described, and marked by trained individuals).