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How did we do this year?

haiku_guy

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NLengr Newbie

NLengr

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I was accepted to Queen's today, and Dalhousie a few weeks ago. Both places as an OOP.

 

Still waiting for MUN (my IP) to come out over the next few weeks. I had no luck with U of Calgary. I didn't even hear back from them, I'm pretty sure something went amiss a while back.

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lucy98 Newbie

lucy98

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I was waitlisted at Queen's and Calgary, but I will be withdrawing my name from those lists as I was accepted to Western, my first choice.

 

Obviously, I have no idea where I am on those waitlists, but hopefully withdrawing from them opens up a spot for you, Haiku Guy, or anyone else waiting on either of those schools.

 

Best of Luck to you all. Having a collection of past rejection letters myself, I feel your pain. Waitlists aren't fun, but at least there's still plenty of reason to hope.

 

Lucy :)

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lennis Newbie

lennis

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I was waitlisted at U of A and am still waiting to hear from UBC. I'm a bit cranky right about now!

 

Here's who I am:

 

I a 35 year old living in Calgary but am a BC resident as well (I lived in Kelowna for 20 years until 2 years ago) This was my second year applying with interviews at U of A and UBC last year (U of C doesn't like me!!) :) I decided to go for medicine 6 years ago when I went to University in Kelowna to get my Biology Degree. This has been the most difficult 6 years of my life and I certainly hope that everything works out cause I'm starting to get disillusioned and ready to get on with things. If I was 10 years younger maybe I would be less concerned.

 

On the lighter side...there is still hope and I think of all the character this is building in me!!

 

Good luck to everyone :)

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kahone Newbie

kahone

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I was hesitant to post but this seems an appropriate forum.

 

Background:

Originally from BC, but living in Ontario since 1994

Undergrad GPA = lowish, as in just sub-3.0, I think it's between 2.9-3.0

Grad GPA = excellent (A average, >80%, whatever that is on a 4 scale, but that never enters into the OMSAS application of course).

Most recent MCAT 10/10/11/R

 

Undergrad - Queen's Life Sciences

MSc - Queen's

PhD - Queen's (I can almost hear the snickers)

31 yrs old, applied to medicine 4 times to a variety of schools (Queen's, U of T, Ottawa, Mac, NOSM, UBC, Calgary, Western):

 

1-rejected all over

2-interview at UBC and U of T, waitlisted at TO but rejected at UBC

3-rejected all over

4-applied to UBC, TO and Queen's; interviewed only at Queen's, accepted at Queen's (snickers now gales of chuckles) - I think I might be setting a record!

 

I rewrote the MCAT to get 31R at a time when the convention was: "get a 30, you're good to go for Queen's" Then the cutoff went up to 32 <DOH!>; this year it dipped just enough to let me be competitive. Re. my undergrad GPA-first year was typically mediocre, ONE term of second year was a disaster, the other term was good, 3rd and 4th year's were good. Overall then, not stellar, but fulfills the "rising trend" that Queen's looks for in grad applicants.

 

Grad school:

9 papers published; 4 of which are first-author. Over 12 conference presentations. OGS, CIHR, CPS grad scholarships. I was externally funded for most of my grad work, which over 2 degrees is something I'm proud of, considering my undergrad marks. Volunteered/served for most years of grad school on departmental committees, Lab demonstrator, prosector, TA etc - I did a lot of stuff in my Dept. Handful of community-related activies like fundraising and participation in community events - nothing that I would call exceptional by task or time spent, but a reasonable smattering of a handful of things over a period of several years.

 

I'm pretty confident that my reference letters were as strong as they reasonably could be this year. The interview was hard to gauge - quite literally I could not tell if I had the panel bored to death or at all interested. They did a good job in that way but there was very little for me to be either confident or distressed about. In addition - with the caveat that I have NO IDEA whether or not this played a role in my acceptance - on the Queen's PIF, I put in a response for the last question. The "Provide any other information that would aid the Admissions Committee in assessing your application" optional question. It wasn't a sob story, it wasn't dramatic, and in retrospect it was a bit fluffy and didn't really follow the instructions, since there is not really much chance that me learning to play guitar in a sel-taught manner actually helps the AdComm assess my application. But I did it to tell something else about me, and something else that I have done, outside of science and research, and how and why I did/did not hold the hand of AIDS babies in equatorial Guinea or whathaveyou (BTW, I have not ever held the hands of...you get the idea!). It was lighthearted and fun, though not trivial, and that was the point....Just in case anyone out there has debated putting something in there.

 

I'm pretty excited to be going back to Queen's for meds, it'll be odd in many ways, but fun. It's been a tough slog to get in and if I was unsuccessful this year, it would have been difficult to justify trying yet again, but I probably would have. I'm by no means the oldest to get admission but hopefully my little "saga" gives some people with similar experiences/difficulties/backgrounds the realization that it isn't so far-fetched after all.

 

Anywho, all the very best to those waiting still (having spent a summer on a waitlist I KNOW how very much it can suck) and to those non-trads thinking of submitting (again?) next year, best of luck to you as well!

k

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supa76 Newbie

supa76

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wow, congrats kahone!

 

i am also 31, third time applying, and now just waiting to hear from UBC! killlllll me! i do have an acceptance in the US (Detroit), but I really want to stay in Vancouver.

 

maybe only one more day of waiting...

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Diabetes dude Newbie

Diabetes dude

Posted
Posted
I was hesitant to post but this seems an appropriate forum.

 

Background:

Originally from BC, but living in Ontario since 1994

Undergrad GPA = lowish, as in just sub-3.0, I think it's between 2.9-3.0

Grad GPA = excellent (A average, >80%, whatever that is on a 4 scale, but that never enters into the OMSAS application of course).

Most recent MCAT 10/10/11/R

 

Undergrad - Queen's Life Sciences

MSc - Queen's

PhD - Queen's (I can almost hear the snickers)

31 yrs old, applied to medicine 4 times to a variety of schools (Queen's, U of T, Ottawa, Mac, NOSM, UBC, Calgary, Western):

 

1-rejected all over

2-interview at UBC and U of T, waitlisted at TO but rejected at UBC

3-rejected all over

4-applied to UBC, TO and Queen's; interviewed only at Queen's, accepted at Queen's (snickers now gales of chuckles) - I think I might be setting a record!

 

I rewrote the MCAT to get 31R at a time when the convention was: "get a 30, you're good to go for Queen's" Then the cutoff went up to 32 <DOH!>; this year it dipped just enough to let me be competitive. Re. my undergrad GPA-first year was typically mediocre, ONE term of second year was a disaster, the other term was good, 3rd and 4th year's were good. Overall then, not stellar, but fulfills the "rising trend" that Queen's looks for in grad applicants.

 

Grad school:

9 papers published; 4 of which are first-author. Over 12 conference presentations. OGS, CIHR, CPS grad scholarships. I was externally funded for most of my grad work, which over 2 degrees is something I'm proud of, considering my undergrad marks. Volunteered/served for most years of grad school on departmental committees, Lab demonstrator, prosector, TA etc - I did a lot of stuff in my Dept. Handful of community-related activies like fundraising and participation in community events - nothing that I would call exceptional by task or time spent, but a reasonable smattering of a handful of things over a period of several years.

 

I'm pretty confident that my reference letters were as strong as they reasonably could be this year. The interview was hard to gauge - quite literally I could not tell if I had the panel bored to death or at all interested. They did a good job in that way but there was very little for me to be either confident or distressed about. In addition - with the caveat that I have NO IDEA whether or not this played a role in my acceptance - on the Queen's PIF, I put in a response for the last question. The "Provide any other information that would aid the Admissions Committee in assessing your application" optional question. It wasn't a sob story, it wasn't dramatic, and in retrospect it was a bit fluffy and didn't really follow the instructions, since there is not really much chance that me learning to play guitar in a sel-taught manner actually helps the AdComm assess my application. But I did it to tell something else about me, and something else that I have done, outside of science and research, and how and why I did/did not hold the hand of AIDS babies in equatorial Guinea or whathaveyou (BTW, I have not ever held the hands of...you get the idea!). It was lighthearted and fun, though not trivial, and that was the point....Just in case anyone out there has debated putting something in there.

 

I'm pretty excited to be going back to Queen's for meds, it'll be odd in many ways, but fun. It's been a tough slog to get in and if I was unsuccessful this year, it would have been difficult to justify trying yet again, but I probably would have. I'm by no means the oldest to get admission but hopefully my little "saga" gives some people with similar experiences/difficulties/backgrounds the realization that it isn't so far-fetched after all.

 

Anywho, all the very best to those waiting still (having spent a summer on a waitlist I KNOW how very much it can suck) and to those non-trads thinking of submitting (again?) next year, best of luck to you as well!

k

 

Great work, Kahone! Looks like you were meant to be back at Queen's in the end. :D

 

It just goes to show you that perseverance and hard work pays off in the end. I just love seeing cases like this because I had a similar experience and learned so much because of it. Your case will no doubt be an inspiration to other non-traditionals out there in a similar boat. The lesson is: Never give up (especially because of 'low' undergrad GPA)!

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kahone Newbie

kahone

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lol, it's "low" when compared to undergrad premed superstars. Queen's grad school didn't convert my undergrad GPA on the OMSAS scale, they took the raw % that it was. The requirement for grad school was "a B average" when I applied - I really don't recall if there was a Departmental requirement as well back then, but a B avg = >65 or 70 at Queen's, by their grading. My references were solid, I had already completed a 4th year thesis project (submitted for publication) and was co-authored on 2 papers in the same year (1999)...getting into grad school with that was easy. The fact that my most recent 2 undergrad years were much better than my 1st 2 undergrad years was also helpful I'm sure. But when an undergrad applies to grad school with 3 papers either published, accepted/in press and submitted, all things being equal, it's not going to be hard to get accepted. I hope that doesn't sound asinine, I was very fortunate at the time and the practical considerations of my admission to grad studies/research were very evident.

 

The fact that my undergrad marks were ALSO included, and assessed, for the various graduate scholarships I won over the years should indicate that they aren't wholly abyssmal; just not terribly competitive for med school admission. It is all that I have done and achieved SINCE 1998 (when I finished undergrad) that got me admitted this year...that's what I have to believe anyway!!

 

k

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Paule Newbie

Paule

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Dr. dave.... what do you do if you are waitlisted for one place but accepted at another? You must have a time limit for accepting UBC. So if your decision is either to definately be in UBC med or waitlisted for U of C, would you choose being waitlisted and not knowing if it'll happen for you this year? That's a tough decision. Let us know how it turns out.

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