Reflections from a first time applicant to University of Calgary, and University of Manitoba

[Karma_at_Moonlight]

Please note that I am not affiliated in any way, or getting compensated for mentioning some of the companies I do mention below. It is a true experience that I’d like to share, as a mature student who got accepted into the University of Manitoba, after applying to 2 Canadian schools (the other being the University of Calgary). As we say in French, “a l’écouteur, bonne écoute”.

Preamble

I remember being asked in the final days of grade 12 what I’d like to become, and I answered “doctor”. To this day, I don’t really know where that answer came from as it was an idea lost on me during my B.Sc. in the earth sciences, and during my work experiences that had me travel across the country and abroad. However, I kept having medicine knocking on my door, in particular when I encountered marginalized groups, and in remote & rural areas.

I went through my own growth journey and there was a mindset change to become a no matter what person, always working on something, that eventually reached a point where I decided to leave my career and pursue pre-med. The pre-med journey itself has been quite interesting, from the competition to even the people you disclose your goals to, and their micro-behaviors.

I often had to overcome the imposter syndrome and feeling not good enough but I would strongly suggest, especially for non-trads who may feel the process does not favour them, go into your history and find relevance. Instead of allowing those feelings to flourish, give space to what you did do and allow things to open up (eg: I felt I didn’t have extracurriculars but I overlooked one of my key passions of being outdoors, often coordinating trips, ensuring low access barriers if someone I knew wanted to hike, but didn’t have the means to; if you worked at a mall and gave water to the elderly during a heat wave, seems insignificant but might be of relevance through the application process-think about these precious moments)

1: Points saillant, elements of the application

Know your ‘medscape’ which requires studying independently what each school requires and what your chances are. Remember that requirements may change yearly, so be up to date for when applicant bulletins are updated (usually end of a cycle). Be your own best resource and do not confuse Canadian and US schools (eg: a lot of sites and consulting companies cater to US pre-meds, giving you the erroneous impression about traditional style interviews (most in Canada are MMI) and needing to do certain extracurriculars like shadowing which may not work to your advantage). Put in the work, during your applications, make the work for the reviewers.

Canadian medical schools have generally high GPA expectations with In Province (IP) quotas across the country with the exception of Ontario, which while open to all Canadian pre-meds translates into stiffer competition and lesser statistical chances to secure an interview (although there are also more schools in Ontario, which offset the lower probabilities if you end up applying to all). There is power in the number of applications. If like me, your first several years your first degree were chaotic (new disoriented immigrant with little knowledge of English ending up with Fs, some with no paper on my transcript), consider the following: a) the way each school calculates GPA to find out which schools may be more GPA-forgiving (example: only 2 best undergraduate full time years at UC and there is also a ten year rule that would benefit mature applicants; most schools will have some variation where a number of credit hours dropped); b) consider a second degree which unfortunately leaves more things to consider, like the selection of degree stream, and use of transfer credits(eg: Shulich allows transfer credits, but has requirements like course load and level the courses need to be - refer to exact details on their site). There may also be other factors such as special years that may benefit you (eg: Shulich). Plan the second degree courses to select based on future needs, but also past, it has to be targeted but also I would recommend choosing what you enjoy doing (if you haven’t figured that out, question your motivations, aspirations and goals). I ended up not pursuing a second degree as I was accepted on my first cycle of applications. You will notice the pan-Canadian flavour to this discussion: i would say that given the stiffness of the competition and the lower GPA stats for me, I adopted the mentality to look across the country (and abroad). On that note, negotiate with yourself the number of times you’d like to try getting into medical school in Canada, and what to do if you do not. I also kept hearing this often: “have a backup plan”. While this is probably wise, I also believe that having an attitude where there is no backup, should be operationalized everyday. Did you know that Thomas Edison did 1000 experiments and it was the 1001st that he discovered the practical incandescent lightbulb (or so goes the legend).

Much has been written about the MCAT strategies, and I will only share what I did. I studied independently for 100 days after thorough research of a vetted schedule I found on SDN. During the ~100 days, I went through an accident near the start, woke up two days after jaw surgery (ditching the T3s) to read something from Kaplan so I wouldn’t fall behind, voided my originally scheduled sitting because my MCAT CARS felt like a disaster only to write it again 10 days after (which will be the score that I ‘let run’). If you have the resources and do better with structure, consider a course with some of the highly rated prep companies, (my new strategy for a rewrite if I had not been successful after cycle 1). A few tips: be self-critical, develop the faculty to do so while striking the right balance of review time, and perfect practise in the advanced stages. Test-taking strategy can earn you points, so do not neglect these. I did not get a stellar score as I’d hope to, but I am proud of that run, my CARS score was average to higher than average based on stats posted at UC for matriculated applicants, and below average (whole MCAT) at the UM. The only MCAT section the UC looks at is CARS while the UM looks at the whole MCAT. Therefore, because I was below average for UM and was granted an interview, I knew I had to bring it! I reflect on possible factors for the failure to secure an interview at UC below. A note on CARS: while I saw improvements in C/P, B/B, P/S, my CARS score decreased over my FL practises, and the only way I can explain this is through psychological effects of stress. The 10 days after I voided, I actually did not do CARS much, and offloaded my brain - I ended up with a 127, which was the highest score.

 

CASPER: after the MCAT, I learnt what this test was all about, and studied the core concepts, came up with concrete life experiences for each skill tested, then practised (there are free tools, and prep companies, but what I found most useful is mock full lengths that I paid for stimulating the exam). I will also say that I have been quite self-critical, like the MCAT and tore into what I didn’t do right or good enough, setting the bar high for myself (this is hard to do if you don’t have the faculty to do so, and resources to know what it is that would make a good solid answer- so to hit those blind spots, read and strategize- **DELETED**’s Casper prep with sample answers is a gem).

Many people spend 3 months on the MCAT while almost no time on the interview when most Canadian schools attribute about the same weight or change the weight distribution toward a post-interview assessment that heavily favors the interview. Beware of burnout in the last stretch. In hiking terminology, the feeling after writing the MCAT is a false summit (and unfortunately for many, the only summit in their respective cycles).

Interview: each school has a slightly different format, and know the format and ‘flavour’ of the interview, for perfect practise and review that fits that format. First, understand what the MMI is all about (read books about these). Then prepare an excel sheet (or whatever you want to use) where you classify the questions you practise and analyze your responses (I video taped myself and reviewed my videos for an online interview - of course, it may require different strategies if in person). Have a strategy for structuring your responses for each type of station/question. There was a Discord group chat for UM interviewees where other students posted questions they had made up or had gone through in previous years (re-applicants). I created a document with these and practised, analyzed and scored myself after classifying each station (scenario, ethics, critical thinking, policy, etc), marking myself on 1: content (if you had the rubric what would you rate yourself?) and 2: delivery (annoying words like ‘umm’, eye contact, smile etc). Don’t forget to attend all sessions organized by the university or other groups that could provide free mock interviews. So again, be resourceful (see the trend here). Also, we were explicitly told that to make the most of the time during the online recording, there was no need to introduce ourselves - but I found it hard not to have the decency to say a quick “hello”, make eye contact but went on with the response. I happen to also be quite passionate about the topics touched upon during the interview, so develop that body of knowledge required of you (such as challenges faced by different populations, ethics in medicine (UW ethics page even has questions you can practise at the end of a topic), and I would hope you are passionate about the topics. I found talking about scenarios or what you would do in certain situations to be challenging to be honest. The day of the interview, I felt I did well but missed a communication station (in my defense, it wasn’t explicitly mentioned as a communication station and the way the question was posed made it possible to answer it as ‘ I would do this and that’ as opposed to acting out how you’d communicate with someone. I also felt some other answers were weaker than I’d like (in the moment, failing to think of what you would answer if say the same question were asked a different time). Remember to move on. I must have done well because I was accepted on judgement day.

An advise for immigrants with significant stories and hardships: develop the language that is needed of you, as often, this is perhaps one of the major factors that disfavours us. When I shone light on my experiences, as difficult as they may be to talk about, I recognized they were in fact my strong points. I also know that the admissions committee is not always looking for the raw version of a hard past that’ll put anyone with a heart to tears. Let’s say you’ve survived a genocide, you really have to consider a) if that’s something you want to get into and make the point you want to make in 2 minutes (or whatever time is allotted to you), b) when would be the best time to do so, c) can you be coherent in delivering what you need to and bridge the gap in understanding - many reviewers (including students) may not grasp what it’s like to live through the collapse of institutional and societal structures, or human persecution to a full extent. This is also true for pre-interview experiences that you share as part of your application. It is an extra challenge to overcome, and in my personal opinion, seek advise on how to frame such experiences if you decide to include them.

 

To seek consulting companies for MMI interview practise? As mentioned previously, given my lower than average MCAT score at 1/2 schools which offered me an interview, I added a consulting company (I went with **DELETED**) that offered mock practise weekly, starting a couple weeks prior to the interview day. I thought independent studies were important and adding that extra touch was helpful. I stumbled upon resources aided in part by my curiosity about medicine and ended up learning a great deal about current issues in medicine, ethics, strategies for handling scenario questions that I in fact have started applying in real life like at my job - eg: to distance myself from being caught up in the moment and think about what the scenario is, and what are the unknowns - which help guide the way I should act. The UM also had a geographical constraint to the scope of the MMI, therefore, aspects of Manitoban populations were really fascinating and made me a better Manitoban to be honest. Meanwhile, I got a chance to practise 3 interviews and get feedback with **DELETED** consulting. My thoughts are that it was more of a chance to practise and get comfortable with a full length interview, even if the feedback was generic (although in one of the sessions, one consultant in particular stands out as a real superstar in providing concrete examples on content, and delivery, opening up some blindspots). Be willing to spend on the company however, and put up with ads that almost make it feel like **DELETED** is spamming you hard.

 

2- Additional Reflections:

I am uncertain if being a mature student on the non-trad pathway worked in my favour or not during the admissions process as it is specific to the schools I applied to (UC, UM). In spite of drafting my top 10 experiences at UC that should favor those with relevant life experiences, I feel it was a well-intentioned but subjective process. The document stands out to me in its own right, even if unfruitful, allowing me to understand my journey better. I say this in spite of not getting an interview at the UC. There is further subjectivity at UC with the selection of 3 referees who can speak to a candidate’s skills and fit for the world of medicine. Say you are connected with the medical world (eg: parents, family members who are doctors), there is an increased chance of having impactful letters that work in your favour, versus the not so connected immigrant of low SES working several jobs to make ends meet. I believe a case can be made that the process at some universities perpetuates social structures of privilege.

Be prepared to put in the time. Some applications may take weeks or even longer, and although it seems like editing is endless (I constantly found mistakes and submitted with mistakes on dates, and typos), I would have the whole application looked at by someone (or multiple individuals) for content, possible areas of concerns and grammatical errors - and choose wisely. This is not a small undertaking, and possibly why second or third time applicants are in a better position. I probably would not have taken a vacation after the MCAT even though I felt like I deserved it.

 

3- Diversity and inclusion: I am a person at several intersectionality, namely linguistic, sexual, and visible minority groups. I must admit that, reading about diversity and inclusion earlier in my adulthood felt heart warming, but I now desire to see data about diversity and inclusion, and policies from admission committees. One of my fears is that tokenism, and how privilege is perpetuated at several components of an application cycle. I remember in the MCAT Psych section practices, one of the questions was standardized testing administered to people whose first language is not English (the consensus indicates they tend to score lower than their English speaking counterparts). How ironic, I felt, as someone for whom English is their fourth language. I am not saying the language should change, or even know what the right answer is, but I want to cast light on these experiences.

 

4-Sharing

I have some material I can share, so you can PM me if you need.

MCAT schemas and review sheets (although I’d recommend you make your own)

TBR books and digital media such as Kaplan

MMI notes for subpopulations

Application samples for EC-heavy school (that I never got to use even though I had these ready for cycle 2 in case of cycle 1 rejection)

more…