Guest cause2003 Posted July 6, 2003 Report Share Posted July 6, 2003 Summervirus, I have some questions about the admissions process. First, when does the essay portion come into play (ie mcat WS section)? Do they use it to decide if you get an interview or is it used after you've been interviewed. Second, for the masters and PhD folks when do they add the 2 or 3 points (pre- or post interview)? What exactly does 2 or 3 points mean? Later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest summervirus Posted July 6, 2003 Report Share Posted July 6, 2003 Hmm. I can't answer your first question because I don't know! :\ (If I find out though, I'll post an answer here). Second, from what I've been told, the bonus points are awarded after your interview. They are added to your final score as bonus percentages. Like, for example, if you scored a total of 35/50 on the academic portion and 35/50 on the non-academic (interview, etc.) portion of your application, your final total would be 35+35=70%. But, with the bonus points, if you hold a Master's Degree, you would get 70+2=72%. All the applicants are scored like this and the candidates with the top ~125 scores are offered admission. Hope this makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fox Posted July 6, 2003 Report Share Posted July 6, 2003 The extra points dealing with graduate degrees are definitley added on after the interview process. They are not included in determining who is called for an interview, and the points are only added on once you have already submitted your thesis to graduate studies (even if you defend before U of A's deadline (ie June 15), you won't get the extra points unless grad studies has your thesis in hand). This doesn't seem like a big deal, unless you are cramming to specifically meet this deadline. I couldn't get my thesis in on time last year and I was so close to getting in that those extra points may have put me in last year's class. Your other question is a little more difficult to answer because who gets called for an interview is determined by your overall GPA, pre-req GPA, and MCAT scores. However, in the past the writing sample wasn't taken into consideration and the essay you had to write was only scored AFTER interviews were done. So, if I had to guess, I would say the MCAT essay doesn't determine if you get an interview. But I don't know for sure. I hope that wasn't too convoluted of an answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dokkktor Posted July 6, 2003 Report Share Posted July 6, 2003 cause2003, They discuss the criteria used for interview selection at the FAQ section of the U of A medschool admissions website. It seems as though the criteria has changed since they now look at non-academic materials as well... Here's what they have to say... "We use the Cumulative Average of University Years completed, the Prerequisite course average and the MCAT average, as well as non-academic materials to determine whether or not you receive an interview." Hope this helps!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cause2003 Posted July 7, 2003 Report Share Posted July 7, 2003 Thanks for your reply guys. I'm just trying to figure out what it takes to get an interview, my grades and MCAT definitely fall within the range UofA publishes on their site. However, for some reason I scored pretty high in the WS section, so obviously I want that considered for getting an interview. Take Care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest summervirus Posted July 7, 2003 Report Share Posted July 7, 2003 dokkktor: thanks for the post. I made a mistake in the FAQ but I just updated it now with the correction. Thanks for pointing it out! cause2003: good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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