Guest madison2001 Posted July 10, 2005 Report Share Posted July 10, 2005 I've read a few posts where people have mentioned that they're worried the next application cycle is going to be really tough. Is there any foundation to these theories or are people just freaking out? I know its the double cohort and all, but is it really going to be THAT bad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest frenchfrog Posted July 10, 2005 Report Share Posted July 10, 2005 What does everyone mean by "double cohort" ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Silverbullet Posted July 10, 2005 Report Share Posted July 10, 2005 The Double Cohort is what happened after Grade 13 was eliminated from Ontario. When that happened there was an influx of applications to the Universities and many people who were smart enough to attend university were not admitted to their first choices and could not go to University. I do not know if this will affect med school applications as much as people think it will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest uteng Posted July 10, 2005 Report Share Posted July 10, 2005 The reason its called Double Cohort is because the Ontario government removed grade 13 (about time... I don't think other provinces have it). So in that year, both grade 12 and grade 13's applied for undergraduate spots at the same time. The government made efforts to increase class sizes in universites, but they could not create enough spots for everyone. The number of med school seats will also increase next year, but only minimally. I'm guessing it will be slightly more difficult next year, but we'll see. Not everyone wants to be a doctor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Meddream Posted July 11, 2005 Report Share Posted July 11, 2005 I think it would be harder to get in next year just because double the usual number would apply to schools...do you guys think so also? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aktpkb Posted July 11, 2005 Report Share Posted July 11, 2005 I wouldn't say there will be twice the number of applicants this coming year just for the reason as uteng said: not everyone wants to be a doctor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest madison2001 Posted July 11, 2005 Report Share Posted July 11, 2005 So, maybe a slight increase in applicants... Anyone have any guesses on how significant this will be in terms of MCAT and gpa cutoffs? It's becoming apparent that all 9s just won't cut it any more it seems... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rubberoduck Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 don't forget that people in the double cohort applying in the upcoming cycle have just finished their 2nd year. although they are allowed to apply during their third year, the medical schools prefer those who are in the process of finishing their program so they tend to favor people in their fourth year or are completing their degree. If you factor this in, there is a greater obstacle for people who apply from the double cohort. I think those of you in the upper years can breathe a slight sigh of relief. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pazas Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 but those of us in the double cohort are really really worried. it seems like almost everyone in my faculty who are in my year (just finished second) want to apply to medical school. and some just do it cuz they don't know what else to do. this seems really weird but just seeing ppl studying hardcore in the libraries with their mcat books makes me really worried. i think that there would be double the number of ppl applying. true not everyone wants to be a doctor, but most people in science do (at least at my school). the same number of ppl in each cohort would want to be a doctor, and this number would be the same as any other previous cohort times two, so applications would roughly double. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest opiedog Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 It shouldn't be double the number applying, but it will increase to some degree. There are numerous people in the count (as in, thousands) who are reapplying after not being offered a seat from the year before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rubberoduck Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 I maintain that with the double cohort and the re-applying applicants this cycle, there will certainly be discrimination toward the double cohort who will not be completing their degree as they apply. It is rather tragic (as I am part of the double cohort) so I'm making an effort to fastrack so I can complete my degree next year It would make sense to favor the old students, because that way with the new policy for next year (required to complete a 20 credit degree) all the younger students will be eliminated so that the preference is shifted back to the double cohort students who don't get in this cycle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest satsumargirl Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 I am not part of the double-cohort so I'm not sure about this. But my understanding is that while at the time there were double to students applying (grades 12 and OAC) to universities, twice the number of students were not accepted. Although more students than previous years were obviously since class sizes did increase. How much did they increase by? So I don't think the applicant pool is going to increase from say 3000 to 6000 next year. Maybe it will increase a little though. But there are already thousands of applicants to each school and only a hundred or so spots. So adding a few more applicants probably won't significantly change things. Even if 2X the applicants apply (which I highly doubt) there is nothing anyone can do about it. So no sense worrying. Just do your best to have a competitive application package. And class sizes are increasing a little and this year the new Northern med school is opening it's doors so there are more spots now than before with the extra program Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Steve U of T Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 The double cohort did not double the number of applications to undergrad universities, so it wouldn't double the number of applications to medical school. Many people who would have graduated from the grade 13/OAC year during the double cohort opted to finish high school a year early in order to avoid the double cohort. Also, I've heard that many students who would have been finishing grade 12 during the double cohort felt they weren't ready for university and remained in high school a year longer. Since the double cohort was spread over several years instead of one, many schools saw only a 30-40% increase in applications. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JiJi Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 Those that finished high school 1 year early as mentioned Steve's post would have completed 3 years of University by this point, assuming some of them applied to medical school, we should have seen an increase in the number of applicants for 2005. OMSAS just released their 2006 booklet: # of individuals applying in 2005: 4,863 # of individuals applying in 2004: 4,797 Not a big change at all! In fact, with the new Northern Medical School and the slight increase in the number of spots at existing medical school, the odds of gaining admissions was actually higher this year than last year. As Steve U of T has mentioned, the effects of the double cohort have been smoothed over many years (combinations of 4 or 5 years high school, 3, 4 or 5 years undergrad) and 2005 should have seen some effect, so if this year was any indication, then you should not have much to worry about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mosquitoba Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 I’m not part of the double cohort, and I’m not from Ontario (hence the name)… but even though the number of high school grads in that year doubled, that (as others have pointed out) didn’t double university applications. Additionally, this only occurred in Ontario, not in any other province – it doesn’t seem likely that medical school applications would DOUBLE if the double cohort is only from ONE province. There are numerous medical schools across the country that have increased the number of medical school seats, or are planning to in the near future – U of M did this year (and will be adding additional seats next year as well), UBC just added two new sites recently, U of C is planning on adding new seats, and NOSM is adding more as well. If you are concerned about the double cohort making admissions more competitive, you could increase your chances by applying to more schools, particularly those in western Canada, which will now be admitting more students (including OOPs). I don’t know about increases in seats in Ontario schools (besides Mac), but maybe those schools will be increasing the number of spots as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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