marks?

[Guest uofaman]

I was looking at the stats from the class starting sept 2001, and it looks like the avg marks increased from the previous, especially in the MCAT section. Does anyone know if this years pool will be even more competitive than last year.

 

thanx

[Guest EB]

uofaman,

 

what year are you in?

 

I think it will be more competitive this year... in my own classes, it seems like there's a trend among my classmates... it seems like a small group of people are consistently getting 8.8-9.0 every year... and they're all applying to U of A! So, they're all going to recieve close to full marks for the pre-req and overal averages and it will really give them an advantage over the people with an 8.4 - 8.5 (still an awesome GPA!)

 

as for the MCAT, I'm glad they dont count the WS section at U of A, b/c I know a couple people with T or S... But, I'd say the average mark of the people I know applying is 11.3... which is also very high.

 

anyways, i think competition will be even higher this year. for example, a friend of mine was rejected last year for 2nd year admittance. he was about 32 on the list, they took 25... and that's a decent ranking for someone with a 3/5 interview, 8.3 prereq, 8.6 overall and in the second year pool. now he's had a year to increase his GPA, prepare for the interview and rework his essay package. personally, when I look at competition from my classmates, i wonder why i wasted my money to apply this year.

 

sorry for such a pessimistic view...

 

EB

[Guest UofAman]

I am applying for the 4th year or more group, so I think the pool I will be applying with is a little bit lower. I missed getting an interview by about a mark, so I have upgraded one of marks, so I just wanted to know if upgrade I made was enough

[Guest shkelo]

Here's a little tidbit of news for you guys. Even though the interview is worth 25% of the admission process, it is likely to be the determining factor in gaining acceptance to U of A. True, applicant interview scores are rated out of 5 (with no half marks awarded), but this mark is then converted to a score out of 25. So, as you can see, there are only 5 possible scores in the interview section (5, 10, ..., 25). A 5 mark difference is huge! I'm not surprised that your friend didn't get in with a 3/5 on the interview (supposedly, an average score) despite a great academic record. Granted, 2nd-3rd year students have to meet a higher cutoff than applicants with at least one degree, but I've heard of 2nd-3rd year students in the past with GPAs in the mid 8's admited.

 

In contrast, consider the prerequisite and cumulative GPA range of most applicants is between 8-9. That whole grade difference may represent as much as 5 marks (35% of total score). MCAT scores? Add them up and divide by 3. Even the lowest range of three 7's (which virtually nobody applying would ever have) to a great score of three 12's is a difference of 5. Realistically, the top 400 applicants chosen for the interview will only be within 2-3 marks of each other on the high and low end and a bulk of them will be within a single point in both the MCAT and GPA categories. Reference letters and the essay? C'mon! Reference letters are usually great and the serious applicant will spend a great deal of time on the essay, many of which will have had guidance from other medical students, professors, and, in general, people with good writing skills.

 

So I would have to say that the interview, as is the case for most other Medical schools as well, is the most important component of the whole application process. Something to ponder while you're preparing for the interview.

[Guest yingw]

One thing that the admissions officer told me was that getting 5 out of 5 on the interview is very, very difficult. Interviewers are told to reserve perfect interview scores for really exceptional applicants (personally, I think all people who have made it to the cut are outstanding people - think about how much we've had to do to get to this point).