kaymcee Posted February 18, 2007 Report Share Posted February 18, 2007 I was reading the Admission Requirements of Canadian Faculties of Medicine put out by the AFMC and noticed that Queen's seems to have a lot of declined offers of admission (99 declined in 2005/06 compared to the 97 that enrolled). What's up with this? Is it just a "second choice" school? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuantum Posted February 18, 2007 Report Share Posted February 18, 2007 Queen's has a high MCAT cut-off, so I'm assuming that a lot of those who make the Queen's cut-off tend to obtain interviews and subsequently, acceptances for many other schools. Not to bash Queen's (because it is an excellent school), but there are a few other schools I think I might prefer before Queen's. I'm assuming I'm not alone in this either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingalongdong Posted February 18, 2007 Report Share Posted February 18, 2007 At my interview last year and as you too may find, people come from all over Ontario (and Canada). A large percentage of those people may prefer to live near their friends and family which is more often than not, far away from Kingston. A prof did an informal poll of the class on who has actually lived in Kingston outside of their post-secondary years, nobody. Also, a lot of folks think Kingston is a "one horse town." All other med schools in Canada are situated in large cities (NOSM excluded). This is more enticing to most premedical students who themselves often come from similarly sized cities. Personally, I love Kingston. It's a good size for the poor student w/ no car. I can ride my bike / walk to pretty much anywhere I need to go. Also, Botterel Hall is just a stones-throw away from the lake. In warmer weather I will bring my Washburn Rover guitar down the lake and play some tunes during my lunch breaks. When you come to for your interviews, make sure that you spent a good deal of time exploring Kingston to see if it's right for you. D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante Posted February 18, 2007 Report Share Posted February 18, 2007 hearing this makes me worry that i may sound insincere when i say that queens is one of my top choices... i truly do like the city (visit it a lot in the summers) and i can actually say i would enjoy a smaller city (living in TO all my life doesn't really help with credibility... but it's true! i do like kingston!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaegwon Posted February 18, 2007 Report Share Posted February 18, 2007 That's an interesting question. I think Kuantum and D made some really good points. I'd add that Queen's being one of the few schools to not have any provincial quotas or regional bias in there admissions criteria probably contributes as well...combining that with Kuantum's suggestion about a higher proportion of applicants to Queen's receiving multiple offers, probably goes a long way to explaining the high number of people who decline here. When you open up the admissions process so that people have an equal opportunity at multiple schools, it becomes the norm for schools to have to give out many offers to fill the class (i.e Quebec schools, US schools open to OOS applicants). I also think that the idea of living in Kingston is a tough sell for people who see themselves as big city people, which definitely make it a second choice school in that sense. However, as D mentioned there are some tremendous advantages to living here. I'd really recommend coming without any pre-conceived notions and judging for yourself when you interview here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sensfan Posted February 18, 2007 Report Share Posted February 18, 2007 sounding insincere in your interview when you say you really like the city was a big worry i had when i interviewed last year - queens was my #1 choice far FAR above any of the other schools, and i was SO worried that i would not be able to project that in a way that would make it believable! i would bet that pretty much everyone who interviews says they like the city, even if they don't mean it, and you know what, i have a feeling that the interviewers can pick out the ones who are more likely to be honest! throwing in something like the fact that you like to visit kingston in the summer goes a long way toward your credibility, i think!!! in my interview, i mentioned the fact that i think the city is really beautiful and i like its size, but i also threw in some more "unique" things like the fact that my family is close (in ottawa), and that frankly, i really want to be in kingston because i would still be able to drive up to ottawa for sens games. that's right. i brought up hockey in my interview, lol. i think they really appreciated that honesty... so as long as you're honest about your reasons for ranking queens/kingston high, and you don't give them a generic vague answer, you should be ok! as for the topic of this thread, i have to agree that location and size has a lot to do with the declined offers. i remember around the time we were getting our acceptances, a lot of ppl on the forum who got into queens and were waitlisted elsewhere said they were waiting for western/TO because they wanted to stay close to home... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Soccer Guy Posted February 19, 2007 Report Share Posted February 19, 2007 I agree with the fact that the location is the key to people accepting other schools over Queens. I know for a fact that I would choose Western over Queens just because it is closer to my home. I have nothing against Kingston, in fact I like it more than London but I think that being closer to my friends and family is more important to me. But I still have a long way until I start applying, so this may all change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarzi Posted February 23, 2007 Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 Personally for me - Queen's is my #1 choice. I do love TO but I also love the northern areas of ON, with all the trees and lakes, etc - I haven't been to Kingston yet, but I know there is a lake beside the school - so I'm assuming that Kingston would be ideal for the outdoors/camp type of person - which I sorta am...but I'm also the city type too. Anyway, for me - I'm kinda sick of the big city pace of Toronto...so Queens is def ideal. At the sametime, Toronto has all this great research going on... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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