Full-year GPAs good but part-time years bad

[Guest FockI'mOld!]

This question is directed to students at Ottawa who've heard of similar situations.

 

I currently have two full years under my belt and three non-fulltime years:

 

1st year = 3.81 Full

2nd year = 3.74 Non-full

3rd year = 2.91 Non-full

4th year = 3.1 Non-full

5th year = 3.92 Full

(All GPAs are omsassed)

 

I've been very involved with extracurricular, leadership, employment, etc. and since Ottawa uses a wGPA system that includes only full time years, technically I should be a competitive candidate.

 

I really badly want to go to Ottawa. The early clerkship/observership opportunities, the e-curriculum, the block format. It all seems perfect for me. However I'm worried that the adcom will look at my 3rd and 4th year then toss my application aside. After all, they did state on their website that all grades including those not used in the wGPA calculations will be looked at.

 

So if anybody out there knows of applicants like me who have made it, it would really make my day. Also, I'd appreciate any kind of advice, should I explain in my detailed sketch why my marks suddenly dropped? Should I send a seperate letter to the adcom explaining my situation and how badly I want to go to Ottawa?

 

P.S. I'm currently taking a year off and applying next year.

 

Go Sens!

[Julie]

I don't know anything specific to part time-years, but I can tell you that I got admitted in spite of a very, very bad first yr. I did state the reason for the bad marks in the reserved spot of the OMSAS application, I don't know if that changed something or not. Anyway, for me the bad yr didn't seem to be too much of a problem. So my guess is that the part-time years won't hurt you, but it's still just a guess... If I were you I would apply, give it my best shot, explain the "why" in the omsas form, and re-apply if ever you don't get in the first time, cause there is much luck involved (especially for ec's &. I think your chances are pretty good though.