wisdom_tooth Posted May 19, 2007 Report Share Posted May 19, 2007 hey! congrats on everybody who has received an offer of admissions or is waitlisted or who even got an interview, it's really competitive so getting to any of those levels is quite the achievement. Anyways, I'm planning on applying to UofO med school, I'm doing a 5th year but I've completed a four year honours degree. My WGPA (assuming they look at my 2nd, third, and fourth year, I just emailed them today to ask them about that) is a 3.73. I'm a ontario resident, applying through the english stream. I'm very upset that Ottawa unfortunately, does not look at volunteer experience prior to university. I began volunteering at the age of 13, 4 years straight, in a hospital, and have over 500+ hours. I have plenty of work experience, 5 years in a pharmacy. I'm currently at CAMH doing clinical research (mood disorder clinic). First, what is an extracurricular activity? for example, hypothetically speaking if I enjoy playing basketball during my free time can I realistically put that down as an extracurricular or for example they expect that I have played for a varsity team and require a reference from the team head coach, association etc. I'm assuming being apart of clubs would be an extracurricular activity, correct me if I'm wrong. Also, if I mention that I volunteered at a hospital even though it was prior to university will ottawa just ignore it or completely ignore my application as a result? I completed my honours thesis, just this year and did very well in it, can this be classified as research (even though I got a uni credit for it)? Is my GPA competitive (WGPA 3.73)? I did very poorly in first year and I have no excuse, my second year I drastically improved and in my third and fourth year I had nothing below a 3.8 (As and A+'s and each year was a full course load). I know this might be stretching it, and I guess it might be wishful thinking, but will U of O see that I have improved through out my four years, and take that into consideration? and finally, since the applicant poor changes ever year, how do I know if my GPA meets the cut-off before I apply? Your advice is appreciated, if you have any suggestions please be free to express them. It doesn't matter to me if it's bad or good, any opinion, suggestion, or criticism about my situation is welcomed! thanks -Wisdom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wisdom_tooth Posted May 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2007 okay well I just looked through a couple of pages ahead, and it seems as though a 3.7 is too low hmmm, but I'm still open to hear what others have to say Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satsuma Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 Hey Wisdom, To address some of your concerns/questions. For you GPA don`t forget that Ottawa uses a wGPA (3rd year GPA*3 + 2nd year GPA*2 + 1st year GPA*1 all dived by 6). So if you haven`t already, try recalculating your wGPA. You mentionned you are doing a 5th year bu that you completed your 4year degree. From what I remember Ottawa doesn`t count "special student" years, you actually have to be registered in a program for the year to count. So if you were planning on doing a special student year please contact to school to inform on the issue before making your plans. If you didn`t actually apply to graduate from your 4 year degree and you just do a 5th year and then graduate all is well as far as I know. If you put your hospital volunteer work that was completed prior to undergrad, they won`t consider it. As far as I know though, it won`t be counted against you, but it won`t help either. The reason for this is that they want to compare students at the same life stage so to speak....how do applicants with similar workloads etc compare? If there is something that you enjoy and that makes up a large part of who you are then sure it could be extra-curricular. So your sport doesn`t have to be varsity to be put on. But I suspect it would carry a bit less weight since it may be harder to verify? I would guess if all your extra-curriculars were filled with things like, I like to bake and go for walks then it would look like you were padding. So as long as it is mixed with something substantial. There is no way of knowing if you will meet the GPA cut-off before you apply since the cut-off is determined based on that year's applicant pool. Hope that helps a little. You never know if you will get it until you try. Good LucK Sats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 Well, I just wrote the exact same post as satsuma, so I'll just say that I second everything she said A few personal examples though, just to give more weight to my seconding Just like you, I had many hospital volunteering & other ECs before I finished high school, and I included them. Most people are applying to many Ontario schools which count everything since they were 16, so they'll add it too, unless they really have 50 great things to put since high school;). As far as non-organized activities, I put a home yoga practice, with my roomate as a verifier! Hehehe... it probably didn't help my application much, but since you have room to write about 50 activities, I used that one to fill the last spot... yoga had been such a big part of my life that I felt the need to include it anyway, even if I practiced alone for most of the years since I started. Well, best of luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shehpar786 Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 But isn't it true that Ottawa's GPA cutoff for Ontario residents hasn't changed for years? I believe it was 3.83 this year and will probably remain the same next year as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 hum... yeah, could be. I know it doesn't usually change much, so you definitely have a ballpark, but there's no guaranty for the exact number. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riona55 Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 hey wisdom, I too agree with what has been previously posted. I actually also had a bunch of extra-curriculars prior to university that I included in both my autobiographical sketch (the general omsas one) and my detailed sketch (specific to ottawa) last year when I applied, and it didn't seem to have done any harm (I got an interview.....which i did horribly on:( ...oh well). The stuff they asked me though, during the interview all only pertained to university. So I would guess that including your extra-curriculars prior to university if you feel strongly about them would not harm you. As for gpa, i do believe that it will probably be lower than the cutoff. That being said though, you never know, anything can happen! Look at the UofT stats: their website says that they would most probably not consider candidates with MCAT scores less than 8 in any section, but when you look at the admission stats from 2006 (or 2005? i dont' quite remember anymore...), the minimum verbal score for grp of matriculants was a 6! If you're truly interested in medicine, I would definitely give it a shot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wisdom_tooth Posted May 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 Hey thanks for all the replies and kind words this definately helped me with my decision to apply this coming cycle and to Riona, don't worry I'm not sure if you got in this year or not but even if you didn't get in this year you got an interview, that being said your marks and extracurriculars were probably impressive and you definately have a shot at getting an interview next year and hopefully an acceptance good luck to you and anyone else who is applying next year! -Wisdom_tooth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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