Guest SarahL Posted February 7, 2003 Report Share Posted February 7, 2003 I am just curious if there is any point in applying in your third year, or if there is a really strong preference for graduates and only exceptional third years are accepted. Or if the same admissions formula applys to all applicants. Would the interviewer know that you are only in third year? Thanks to all that reply Sarah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ian Wong Posted February 7, 2003 Report Share Posted February 7, 2003 I don't know Western's take on third year applicants, but the generic advice I give people is that they should apply in their third year anyway (based on my experiences at UBC). Even if you aren't accepted, it gives you good experience in the application process: things like writing your autobiographical submissions, getting your reference letters in order, and if you're lucky, the chance to do some interviews. Of course, there are some schools where having a Bachelors (or being in your final year of one) is required to apply; you need to see if Western is one of these. Even if you don't get in after third year (and at UBC, it is very difficult to do so; only 4/128 first year med students have gotten in after third year in the last two application cycles), when you re-apply in fourth year, you'll already have all those above components done, and you can simply focus your fourth year on improving them and touching up the weaker areas of your application. Just my opinion. Ian UBC, Med 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest therealcrackers Posted February 7, 2003 Report Share Posted February 7, 2003 A lot of the 2006 class got in after third year; a greater percentage of the 2005 class got in after fourth year. If you have the intellectual capacity to get into medical school, this will be evident after three years as well as after four. If you can fulfill all the pre-reqs, and you think you're ready, go for it. It will be cheaper (one less year of tuition total) and quicker (one less year in school). However, fourth year boasts some significant advantages --- most programs that students use as a spring board for meds have a significant research project and a significantly increased work load---- both of which are great assets and skills for surviving the increased work load and demands of med school. If you have a three-year degree after three years, great. Having the fourth year to complete an honours degree may give you some psychological satisfaction for having completed it (It did for me) and an extra year of life experience to boot. The broader the experience you can draw on for medical school and the practice of medicine, the better a doctor you can be... Western will admit people with 15 full courses under their belts, but you have to have taken 5 full courses in each of two traditional years (Sep to Apr) to qualify for the GPA assessment (and meet the cut-off, too!). No dropped courses in more than one of those years, or you cannot meet the criteria. Hope that helps, and good luck! (added in edit) PS. I applied after 4th year, didn't get in. Applied after 6th year (Master's) got an interview. Applied and got in after 11th year (PhD)---just so you have my perspective on this. Meds 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JSS02 Posted February 7, 2003 Report Share Posted February 7, 2003 Applying in third year doesn't hurt your chances at all, at least for the Ontario schools. But as therealcrackers mentioned, there are advantages for applying later as well. If you're ready to leave undergrad, then go right ahead and apply. It's a personal decision. Another option is to apply to U of T and Queen's in third year, and then defer your spot for a year if accepted. They'll let you defer to finish an honours undergraduate degree. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know, Western (as well as Mac and Ottawa) will not let you defer to get a 4 year degree, or at least haven't allowed people to do that in recent years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TimmyMax Posted February 7, 2003 Report Share Posted February 7, 2003 Hey, As far as I know, UWO will not let an applicant defer their acceptance for the purpose of completing the 4th year if offered acceptance after 3 years. Best of luck! Timmy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest therealcrackers Posted February 7, 2003 Report Share Posted February 7, 2003 UWO allows deferrals under EXCEPTIONAL circumstances only. Completing an undergraduate degree does not qualify... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kellyl20 Posted February 8, 2003 Report Share Posted February 8, 2003 UWO accepts undergraduates who is currently in their 3 yr university but will have completed the 3rd yr before med school starts, even those without the Ontario grade 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TimmyMax Posted February 10, 2003 Report Share Posted February 10, 2003 Hey all, The point I was trying to make was this: if you apply to UWO during your 3rd year and get in, IN GENERAL, you will not be able to defer your acceptance to finish your undergraduate degree. This is not to suggest that this is a bad thing by any means: some people are perfectly ready to go on to medical school at the end of their third year- they just won't have an undergraduate degree to go with their M.D. degree when it's all said and done. That's all I was trying to say. Best of luck! Timmy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aneliz Posted February 11, 2003 Report Share Posted February 11, 2003 Alright, Short answer on this one is: 1. UWO does not discriminate AT ALL between 3rd and 4th year undergrads...you have ZERO additional chance of getting accepted in fourth year vs third.... 2. This year there are many people that got in after only three years... 3. UWO WILL NOT let you defer to finish your undergrad. If you get in after third year...you either start then or apply again. Period. That said: 4. If you do not have an undergrad degree before getting an MD, you may be limited in what you can do if you decide you want to do a graduate degree (MSc or PhD) after your MD or as part of your residency....(statement from head of pathology dept.) 5. Doing 4th year undergrad may be a benefit to you in other ways too....4th year honours projects require a different level of thinking, organisation and time management...there is a big difference between 3rd year and 4th year work. This can be a big advantage in terms of dealing with the volume of work and the independent learning aspect of meds... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peachy Posted February 12, 2003 Report Share Posted February 12, 2003 If someone applied in third year, was accepted, and then turned down the offer to complete a fourth year, would that penalize them in the next application cycle? [This doesn't affect me at all, I'm just curious if there are ANY downsides to applying in third year, besides the pain of filling out an application.] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mying Posted February 12, 2003 Report Share Posted February 12, 2003 Will admissions say "Oh my, this one turned us down last year, let's do the same to them this year?" No. Such a person would be entering the admissions in your fourth year the same as they did in their third year. No better and no worse... except... Would they run the risk of any of: ...the admission cutoffs increasing ...there being a better pool of interviewees ...not shining as well on the interview for any of a bazillion factors ...the ontario government having another brainfart and deciding to decrease enrollment ...etc? Absolutely. Who would want to take *that* kind of gamble? Not really relevent to the third year/fourth year thing specifically, just a general thing about not turning down a chance that's being offered to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aneliz Posted February 12, 2003 Report Share Posted February 12, 2003 I don't think that any stats are kept on who turns down an offer...the admissions office really doesn't have time to compare every application to every person that ever turned down an offer to see if they match....and even if they did have that kind of time, there is no way that they can deviate from their published admissions requirements to 'get' somebody...and why would they want to? People at UWO are human and recognise that sometimes somebody might change their mind after they get that acceptance and before they start med school...maybe you really want to finish your undergrad or whatever. I think that they would far rather have you turn down an acceptance and re-apply when you are ready then take that acceptance and start med school when you really want to (or need to) be doing something else first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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