Underserviced Applicants Clarification

[steelie]

Does anyone know how underserviced area applicants are scored? I understand that there is a lower wgpa cut off for them (roughly 3.55), but does this mean that they are scored differently than the "normal" category? Does this mean that if you have the minimum wgpa for an underserviced area that you will offered an interview, and placed on even par with the remaining interviewees? I also heard that final scoring encompasses the following: 90% interview, 10% wgpa. If this is true, I can see how people who have a 3.55 who do excellent in an interview can get accepted. Can anyone clarify this for me?

[Julie]

I would guess they are scored the same but the applicants don't need as high a score to be offered an interview. I don't know what happens after that... I know for CNFS they pick the best 8 scores out of those interviewed with the program and offer them a spot, but I don't think it works like that for other categories...

[Talon01]

If you are from an underserviced area as defined by UOttawa you only need to meet a lower wGPA to be considered for an interview.

[steelie]

Are there any underserviced applicants out there who were accepted that can comment? Also, I heard the minimum wgpa for underserviced applicants is going up.... from what was 3.55. Does anyone know anything about this?

[MissLou]

hey,

 

i'm from an underserviced area. here was my take on the whole situation...

 

I only needed a wGPA of at least 3.55 for them to look at my autobiographical sketch. after i met that 3.55 requirement for them to look at my sketch, my wGPA was weighted 50% and my sketch was weighted 50% and that determined whether or not i got an interview. so basically, you still want high marks to be competitive because you're being compared with people who had to meet the out-of-province wGPA cutoff, which is a lot higher. your only advantage in coming from an underserviced area is that they will look at your sketch with lower marks (i.e. if you were from out of the province and only had a 3.55 then they wouldn't bother to score your sketch) so if you had low marks, you would need an exceptional autobiographical sketch...i think.

 

any comments? does that sound right?

[steelie]

Hmmmm, so if I am from an underserviced area in Ontario, why will I be competing with OOP applicants? Also, is the scoring to get an interview 50% wgpa and 50% sketch for everyone? - regardless of area?

 

I guess I'm still slightly confused with Underserviced Applicants.

 

MissLou or anyone else help me out?

[Julie]

Hmmmm, so if I am from an underserviced area in Ontario, why will I be competing with OOP applicants?

 

Maybe it's because they don't have a special no. of seats reserved to applicants from underserviced areas in Ontario? If they don't, I could see how you'd be competing with everyone else, at least for the sketch part...

 

What makes less sense to me is the idea that you would be competing with the general pool for your GPA ... I don't see how that system would result in many people being favored for their underserviced region status, or how the cutoffs could end up being so different...

 

The way I imagined it was that they first looked at your GPA, and if it met the cutoff, you passed that step (so this is where the underserviced advantage would come in). Then, if your sketch was good enough, you got an interview. After that, you were considered as part of the general aplicant pool. Can someone clarify?

[PHANTOMPHOENIX]

The way I imagined it was that they first looked at your GPA, and if it met the cutoff, you passed that step (so this is where the underserviced advantage would come in). Then, if your sketch was good enough, you got an interview. After that, you were considered as part of the general aplicant pool. Can someone clarify?

 

You can find it right on Ottawa's webpage. They have a flow chart.

 

I am pretty sure the WGPA is only used as a tie-breaker after interview scores unless they have changed their system recently.

[Julie]

Alright, so from what I understand in the flowchart, I had it right in my last post Just to make it easier, here's the link : http://www.medecine.uottawa.ca/admission/eng/AdmissionPolicy.html

 

The flowchart is under "selection process".

[steelie]

Thanks guys... that makes it a lot more clear.

 

Have you guys heard of the wgpa for underserviced applicants going up in the next few years? (ie - up from 3.55). I talked to someone in the admissions office and they mentioned that the underserviced minimum wgpa will be going up in the year/couple years to possibly 3.6 or 3.65, but she wasn't completely certain.

[Julie]

Haven't heard about it, but if someone at the admission office said it, it's probably more reliable than what me might know on here... unless they've been saying that for a while or something...

[MissLou]

i haven't seen the flowchart yet, but don't forget that the weighting system changed this year. the admissions criteria were changed slightly (i.e. 50% grades/50% sketch pre-interview and 90% interview/10% grades post-interview). it's no longer acceptable to just meet a minimum wgpa requirement. in fact, i remember talking to someone at the school of medicine who told me that once you meet that initial lower cutoff as an underserviced applicant, there is no other advantage. we're not considered part of a separate application pool. our grades needed to be competitive with everyone else's.

 

this sucks because while i know that things are tough everywhere in terms of recruiting doctors, it's especially bad in rural/underserviced areas.

[Julie]

So that would be new for this application cycle? I hadn't heard of it, but it could be. I guess maybe their website hasn't been updated yet...

[steelie]

So the only advantage in being an underserviced applicant is that the school will consider your sketch (ie - will review it and score it) along with your wgpa, to come up with a final score of the two (50%/50%) to determine whether or not you are invited for an interview - whereas if you are a regular applicant and don't meet the wgpa min., you are immediately rejected, and the sketch isn't even reviewed - is this right?

 

Based on the new scoring system, this may be why the school is increasing the min. wgpa for underserviced applicants. They probably realize that an applicant with a low wgpa who meets the underserviced wgpa min. (currently 3.55), doesn't have much of a chance at getting an interview unless their sketch is stellar.

 

(side note - any idea how they score the sketch?)

[premedgirl101]

So the only advantage in being an underserviced applicant is that the school will consider your sketch (ie - will review it and score it) along with your wgpa, to come up with a final score of the two (50%/50%) to determine whether or not you are invited for an interview - whereas if you are a regular applicant and don't meet the wgpa min., you are immediately rejected, and the sketch isn't even reviewed - is this right?

 

Based on the new scoring system, this may be why the school is increasing the min. wgpa for underserviced applicants. They probably realize that an applicant with a low wgpa who meets the underserviced wgpa min. (currently 3.55), doesn't have much of a chance at getting an interview unless their sketch is stellar.

 

(side note - any idea how they score the sketch?)

 

 

this new system that ottawa has encorporated does not seem to make sense according to their system of applicant ranking based on area... for instance if underserviced individuals now compete with the regular population in ottawa's system (let's say the g.p.a is a bit lower) then while some of these people may have gotten a seat before they will not now.... in my opinion if ottawa is changing the system like this now... then shouldn't aboriginal applicants have be classified to the same regulations....such as if they make the g.p.a cut .... then 50 % g.p.a , 50 % sketch... etc etc...