apply for sept 2005 entry but writing Aug04 MCAT

[Guest jacksonchan85]

With these new OMSAS regulation about the September 15th deadline etc...is it still possible to write the MCAT in August 2004 and submit OMSAS in September 2004 using the August scores?

 

thanks

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi there,

 

Yes, most probably this will not change. What this earlier date will change, however, is the ability of applicants to see their online MCAT scores from the August exam and then decide not to apply to certain schools post-score release.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[Guest tweep0]

Hmmmm

 

September 15th is the deadline for signing up for the COMPASS Online application. The application itself will be due much later. However, I do remember vaguely reading somewhere that the August MCAT may be too late for applying for admission for the following year. I may have read wrong but I would definitely keep the possibility in mind. If you wanted to apply for 2005-2006, that might mean you would have to write the MCAT in April. Calling up OMSAS might give you the answer.

 

Tweep

[Guest Ollie]

I wouldn't worry about having to write in April. UBC's deadline has always been before the MCAT scores are released, but they will still accept the august MCAT once it is released a couple of weeks later. I would imagine that OMSAS would be the same. If they were not going to accept the August MCAT this year, they would have had to advertise that a long time ago (or they will have a lot of angry applicants on their hands).

The only disadvantage of the earlier deadline is that you don't know your score before applying, and therefore, you have to risk paying the application fee in the hopes that you make the MCAT cutoffs (personally I think it's a conspiracy to get more money from applicants who would otherwise not have applied ). The other theory is that this past year the system crashed due to so many people getting MCAT scores at the same time, and then all logging on OMSAS to submit. I think they are hoping this new way will prevent that mad rush of people a few days before the deadline.

[Guest dopetown]

Why does OMSAS want students who write in August to apply without knowing their MCAT scores?

 

Do they want to prevent overflooding of applicants to schools that do not require the MCAT?

[Guest aneliz]

With the change in OMSAS deadlines, UWO is 'recommending' that people that plan to apply write the MCAT no later than the April before. While they have not outright said that you cannot write the August before...I think that if it came down to some kind of 'power-outage' type delay in the MCAT in August and your scores were not available in time, they would wave the 'recommendation' to have written no later than April at you and you may endanger your application. Use this information as you see fit.

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi there,

 

Why does OMSAS want students who write in August to apply without knowing their MCAT scores?

 

Three years ago, this is the way things were, i.e., the OMSAS application deadline date preceded that of the MCAT score release. That very year, the number of applications to Ottawa and McMaster spiked, while the number of applications to schools requiring the MCAT dropped.

 

There could be a litany of reasons for the earlier OMSAS deadline this year including: 1) the provision of a little more time to the medical schools to process the applications received; 2) financial (more applicants may pay the extra $75 for schools on an MCAT gamble); 3) avoid a crunch of application submissions in the days following the MCAT score release.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[Guest PhantomPhoenix]

I don't see how this should make a difference at Western for next year.

 

It's not like they set the cut-offs before January.

[Guest aneliz]

True enough...but it takes awhile for them to get all of the numbers from OMSAS so that they can set the cuts...just pointing out that they have 'recommended' that people not write any later than April...so if something *did* happen and they didn't have your scores when you wrote in August (they are still missing some right now from this year!) they would be justified in sending out the old PFO pre-interview if they chose to...it is not what they do right now...but they could do it in the future now that they have a 'disclaimer' on the OMSAS site...do what you like...but keep in mind you assume all risks!