ontario med school application process

[Guest s sadry]

hi there..while everyone's experiences are unique, i wanted to get a sense of how strenuous applying to med school was for you guys.

 

i ask this because i'm trying to figure out if i want to apply in 3rd year...but i don't want it to affect how i perform in my 3rd your courses, in case i need those marks if i apply in 4th year.

 

can i get a sense of how time consuming preparing for interviews, writing auto sketches etc. was, and the kind of toll the application process took on you personally, and academically?

 

thanks

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi there,

 

Overall, I found the whole experience quite time-consuming. This year I applied during the second year of my MSc degree. Here's a rundown of the time each stage took, as well as the effect:

 

1) Completing applications: ~3 months' worth of work (~10-15 hours per week). This included brainstorming, editing, asking others to edit and awaiting their responses, completing on-line forms and double-checking for accuracy. Effect: I finished most of the above before the academic year started up again, so it had little impact on the one course that I had left to complete.

 

2) Interviews: ~5-10 hours per week reviewing information, keeping up-to-date, and attending interview preparation sessions. I started preparing for my first interview (mid-March) mid-February. I found the couple of days leading up to the interview to be a bit of a write-off in terms of concentrating on any other work other than interview preparation.

 

3) Post-interview: just trying concentrating on work during the week when acceptances are sent! If you can, then you're a better person than I.

 

There are plenty of folks around here who were on the interview circuit and performed enviably, i.e., they carried a full and demanding courseload while balancing all of the above activities, and most importantly, gaining eventual acceptances. Thus, it can be done by some!

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[Guest coastal79]

Hi,

 

What Kirsteen doesn't mention is that she applied applied to a whole wack of schools in the US as well, which is why the initial application process took so long. If you are just applying to the Ontario schools, it won't take you nearly that long. Still, it is a very time consuming process, if you want to do it well. I wasn't in school this year, and I felt that gave me a huge advantage over many other people in terms of preparation. Because I didn't have much in the way of time constraints, and the fact that I work way better under pressure, I also wasted alot of time getting the initial applications done.

 

From the beginning of January, through to my last interview at the end of March, I probably spent about an hour and a half a day preparing. Ironically, while I spent lots of time reading about biomedical ethics and problems in our healthcare system, and was very well versed in these areas, I got accepted at the two schools where these issues were not even touched upon in the interview.

 

If you want to be a physician, aren't too concerned about finishing your undergrad, and feel that you have a shot this year, I would definitely apply. I think I've gained alot of valuable experience by not heading to med school until now, at the age of 24, but, those are choices each person must make for his or herself. Also, applying this coming year, even if you are unsuccessful, will give you an idea of where you stand vis a vis other applicants. I only applied to one school last year and, when I was rejected without an interview, I was unable to gauge how I would do applying to other schools. Consequently, until I got some interview offers, I was nervous as hell and spent alot of time researching med schools in Australia. Applying to OMSAS is expensive, but I'd give it a whirl anyways.

 

Cheers

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi there,

 

coastal79: you're right, I should have clarified. Although I did apply to a swath of US schools this year (which ate even more time, much earlier in the summer) the lengths of time that I mentioned above were for tackling only my Canadian applications (UofT, Ottawa, Queen's, Calgary and UBC).

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[Guest Koppertone]

I applied to nine Canadian med schools, and I will say that it was incredibly time consuming. I started writing the apps mid August but had no idea that it'd take me all the way until mid October to finish them all. I thought I was starting early, but there really are a lot of things to do in those applications. Basically my process was that I spent a month on my UBC application (the majority of it on the essay I might add... it went through about 10 COMPLETE revisions). Then I used that to write my other applications. The one school that I did get accepted to, Manitoba, was the one where I did NOT use my initial essay to write the new essay (as the Manitoba essay wasn't needed until January). It might be a coincidence but it should tell you something; if your first essay sucks and you base the rest on it then maybe that's to your disadvantage.

 

If you're just applying to Ontario schools I would say that you're in a better situation but start your applications now just to get a head start on things so you're not scrambling to write about your personal experiences at the very last minute.

[Guest s sadry]

ok what i'm interpreting is that an applicant has done a large bulk of the work by the end of october...after that it's the interview to worry about. is this correct? is the application deadline usually the same from year to year...mid october?

[Guest s sadry]

also important..for those who applied in 3rd year and 4th year..did you find the second time around easier because you had learned the ropes? was applying in 3rd year a valuable experience nonetheless?

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi there,

 

ok what i'm interpreting is that an applicant has done a large bulk of the work by the end of october...after that it's the interview to worry about. is this correct?

That's pretty much correct for the Ontario schools, unless you are a graduate applicant and are required to submit a graduate productivity portfolio to Ottawa and UofT.

 

Also, a good few hours can be saved if you submit your electronic OMSAS application about a week or earlier before the deadline. It seems to be chronic that large numbers of applicants leave the submission of their application to a week before the due date. As such, if you try to submit yours around that time, the system tends to become very slow and the submission processes can take considerably longer than if you had started earlier.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[Guest noncestvrai]

I did not apply very wisely in Ontario, as an OOP applicant. I went for Western with a marginal chance since of my verbal score and no chance at Mac and Ottawa, the latter was quite a disapointment, since they asked me my graduate portfolio...

 

Anyhow, in retrospect I should have applied to UofT, but at that time around October I didn't have enough time to write the essay (preparing for sci. meetings) and it was tough to do research and work diligently on my application.

 

I only got in my home province (McGill), and nothing in Alberta and Ontario...I guess I practised on these school, but it did cost me a lot moneywise.

 

I would advise you to work on it during the summer (I couldn't because I had to write the MCATs and study for it, on top of normal work for my MSc) as much as you can.

 

noncestvrai

[Guest Lactic Folly]

As Koppertone mentioned, Manitoba does not ask for the essay and references until January, and Saskatchewan sends you reference forms in February, so you need to get in touch with your referees again.. not to mention the need to check with every school that all the pieces of your application have been received (less convenient with those that don't have an online system).

[Guest dr deelish]

..did you find the second time around easier because you had learned the ropes? was applying in 3rd year a valuable experience nonetheless?

 

Definitely. I applied in 3rd year .. and in retrospect, the experience was invaluable. I had a chance to work on essays and have some idea as to the type of skills medical schools are looking for (prior to this, I hadn't so much as glanced at the autobiographical sketch/personal statement stuff from the schools). I also learned a lot about the referee process and the fact that for OMSAS schools, you need to have a letter of reference accompany the form (d'oh!). I also got an interview that year (Queen's) and had a chance to go through that for practice for the next year of applications.

 

When applying in fourth year, I left everything until the last minute (which was a similar situation as last year), so I didn't have time to write out a new UT sketch. However, the sketch I wrote last year was pretty good .. because I will be attending UT this fall.

 

If you have the dicipline, start early ... I wish I did .. it would have saved me much stress in October. I only had my essay revised by one person (my friend who's an english major) .. which in my opinion is a pretty wise decision .. I'm not a fan of having a million people tell me how I should express myself (I also didn't have time to get it revised a million times )

[Guest JSS02]

I applied in 3rd year to the 5 Ontario schools. It was time consuming and a pain to get the intial application done, but at least it was out of the way by early October, so I can't say that it really affect me personally or academically during the first term. My interviews were spread out over a month from the second last weekend of March until mid April, just before my undergrad finals started at U of T. During this period there were more conflicts with assignments/tests (e.g. major project due the day before an interview) and I did find it more stressful, but certainly not unbearable. There was just less time to take it easy. The whole application process affected me only for my last final exam, but in this case I couldn't use "not enough time to study" as a good excuse for not being prepared enough... it was more due to the fact that the summer holidays were coming up and I'd be hearing from the med schools (whether it was good or bad news) in just a few short weeks...

 

Overall, the personal/academic effect depends a lot on how many places you apply to, and where you interview. It wasn't too bad for me, but if I had applications and interviews out of province, in the States, etc. I'm sure the process would have been a lot more of a pain...