Sept 19th Release?

[palindrome]

I dunno, 20th writer here. I was disappointed in the VR and Writing as VR was comparable to my BS during practice and I was scoring R's to T's on my WS but what can you do?

 

28Q

 

PS - 10

VR - 7

BS - 11

 

Suprised with the PS though, i usually do ****ty. Oh well...and suprised with the VR, like i said, not expected. Oh well,

 

 

SO...which schools does this make me unavailable to? I am second year btw so as of yet Saskatchewan, Alberta and Calgary are the only open ones. But other uni's for next year, if i am too lazy to retake it

[Jochi1543]

What province are you a resident of? And what's your GPA?

[palindrome]

SK. GPA ---I don't know...last time i checked according to omsas? was...3.9 with summer courses and 3.9 without summer courses...hope that helps. (Note I didn't take majority of bird courses, I had one for the whole year)

 

But my MCAT is ****ty, non?

[Orchid]

question......

 

for Calgary, OOPs are ranked using that formula ONLY?

 

i.e.

the 15% MCAT, 50% academic record, etc etc is SOLELY for Albertan applicants?

 

thanks!

 

i'm still a bit confused as to the whole score 450 in the formula... is that a strict cut, or just an implied cut... and the 'rank order' is the order for OOP interviews?

or do we have the formula AND that same breakdown for pre-interview weighting... ?

[Jochi1543]

question......

 

for Calgary, OOPs are ranked using that formula ONLY?

 

i.e.

the 15% MCAT, 50% academic record, etc etc is SOLELY for Albertan applicants?

 

thanks!

 

OK, my understanding is that the formula is to pick the 125 people who will be chosen for the 100 interview spots. After that, they "look at the whole application," at which point, I think, the 15/50% breakdown comes in. But I'd e-mail them to confirm.

 

i'm still a bit confused as to the whole score 450 in the formula... is that a strict cut, or just an implied cut... and the 'rank order' is the order for OOP interviews?

or do we have the formula AND that same breakdown for pre-interview weighting... ?

 

It's a fluctuating cut that is made to result in 125 people meeting the cut. I think last year it was ~451 and the year before it was ~448, so it does change depending on the applicant pool.

[tiger15lily]

how does Manitoba compare to this 'calgary formula?'

 

thx.

 

For regular or OOP Manitoba is 50% MCAT, 10% GPA, 40% ABS, Interview points

[Inspired17]

For regular or OOP Manitoba is 50% MCAT, 10% GPA, 40% ABS, Interview points

 

Does anyone else think that it's CRAZY to place the MCAT above GPA as a selection factor? MCAT is a one-time exam with outcomes related to many factors beyond the applicant's abilities. GPA, however, is a cumulative look at your performance over time. I can't believe that MCAT is weighed 50% vs 10% on GPA and 40% on ABS!

 

No offense to Calgary, but I think that their priorities are a little skewed...

[Inspired17]

Oh sorry... I mean Manitoba has skewed priorities

[Freedom]

Does anyone else think that it's CRAZY to place the MCAT above GPA as a selection factor? MCAT is a one-time exam with outcomes related to many factors beyond the applicant's abilities. GPA, however, is a cumulative look at your performance over time. I can't believe that MCAT is weighed 50% vs 10% on GPA and 40% on ABS!

 

No offense to Calgary, but I think that their priorities are a little skewed...

 

Nope. It's extremely difficult to get your GPA to a competitive level if you've had a few bad years. However, a poor MCAT score can be remedied/replaced by a good score. It's a one time exam that can be taken numerous times. As well, GPA depends on factors like which courses, where taken, grading scales, etc. On the other hand, ideally, the MCAT is more standardized.

 

So in conclusion, it's not crazy, in fact, it may be the only chance I have.

[Alastriss]

An mcat is a standardized test that everyone is subjected to and is (was more when it was a written test) universal in the sense that most people were subjected to the same scenarios. It is a means of ranking people according to percentile as well. GPAs can vary quite significantly and is in my opinion not as good as the mcat. That is not to say the mcat is ideal, but i think it is closer to the ideal than the gpa. Someone who loads themselves up with tougher and probably more relevant courses such as anatomy, physiology, neuroendocrinology in the 400 levels can't be compared to someone's gpa who has taken 100 level introductury courses to boost up their gpa. Also, it is undoubtedly true that there is a significant discrepancy in the gpas attained at different institutions.

 

The mcat has more power in this sense; it is standardized. Of course factors such as poor test writing conditions, differences in test difficulties (with the CBT) and people getting lucky with passages with topics that they know really well is overcome, at least partially, by the fact that you can write the test more than once.

[sbrugby]

I believe when comparing MCAT and GPA scores, there is some variance for different reasons... finding the right balance betwee the two for assessment of applicants is very hard.

 

One important thing about the MCAT, however, is that a strong student is likely to eventually get a score they deserve, even if not on the first try. While there is variance in the MCAT (as with anything in life), I think some people overestimate how much variance there actually is. For example, over at SDN, lots of people were complaining about how tough the Aug 20 test was, and how big a role luck may have played into it. That was way too much of an overestimation, in my opinion.

 

Although possible, a very poor student is unlikely to score a 40, much in the same way a top student is very unlikely to score a 15 on the MCAT.

 

If you work hard, you should get a MCAT score close to what you deserve at some point (of course economic factors, etc. also affect the truth of this...). It's for this reason that I think the MCAT should play a fair role in the admissions process, but I think 50% is pretty excessive...

[Averance]

/me wishes it was all based on MCAT . That would be cool...... or better yet, it is based on latest 2 MCATS (to minimize standardize it even more). At least that way it would make some people want to take courses the are interseted in, but know it would rip apart their gpa.