Open letter to Dean of Queens University School of Medicine

[kimpark]

Found this on todays STAR "Letters to Editor"

 

Dear Dr. Walker

 

I am writing to you as I have had no responses from either Queens University or the Ontario Minister of Heath regarding the above matter even though it is urgent. I am aware that you will do what is right. Here are the facts.

 

This is Interview season for Medical Applicants to the Ontario Schools. All Ontario Medical Schools post their cutoffs for an Invitation to the Interview on their website. For some strange reason Queens School of Medicine has not posted their cutoffs for this year inspite of sending out invitations.

 

Queens has dramatically changed their cutoffs this year for Interviews. (Gathered from forums, as not posted officially.) Last year's cutoff had an MCAT score of 30 with a Written Sample WS score of P. The WS score gives some indication of your literary skills in English. Most medical schools look for an average score for WS as these are Medical Schools we are talking about and not Schools of Journalism.

 

The unofficial cutoff this year for Queens Interviews is a MCAT score of 27 with a WS R. I say this is unofficial as Queens has not yet posted their cutoffs. There is a lot of talk on the forum that Queens Admission Committee has manipulated the scores this year to keep out Asians who had disproportionately made the cutoff in previous years. If this is true this is a very grave accusation and has to be investigated.

 

I agree that Queens Admission Committee has a right to determine its cutoffs, but to be fair there have to be explanations for it . Currently there is a lot of talk that the changes had a Race prejudice to it. There may be no truth to this, but Queens owes an explanation as to the sudden jump in the written sample score from a P to R with a drop in the requirement for the Phy Science, Biol. Sc and Verbal Reasoning components.

 

Please treat this matter urgently as I have spent the last 6 years working hard to get into Med School and would not like to be denied an Interview at Queens on the basis of my Race.

[The Law]

Would this person like some cheese with their whine?

 

I find it unbelievable that someone would take the time to even write this. First off, the accusation that they're trying to keep "Asians who had disprportionately made the cutoff" out is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.

 

Second, yes the MCAT WS cutoff is high - but some schools do not even use the MCAT. Not every medical school in Ontario posts cutoffs, so the letter writer should check their facts. It is up to each school to decide how they want to approach finding interviewees. It's tough being rejected, but it happens. The process isn't always fair to everyone, but as someone mentioned before... it'll look that way at each school, but since each school is different, if you don't make it at one school then there is hope at another.

 

Finally, spent 6 years to work hard to get into medical school - so what? Who hasn't been working hard to get in? lol

[Alastriss]

Wow.. does anyone else think that the author of that just wants to pull out the race card to scare queen's SOM?

 

I think for them to actually be jacking up the R for the sake of race is stupid. I dont think your race is even disclosed anywhere in the application. AAMC stats say that the average score of WS is P for "asians" and for "whites".

[Alastriss]

Would this person like some cheese with their whine?

 

I find it unbelievable that someone would take the time to even write this. First off, the accusation that they're trying to keep "Asians who had disprportionately made the cutoff" out is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.

 

Second, yes the MCAT WS cutoff is high - but some schools do not even use the MCAT. Not every medical school in Ontario posts cutoffs, so the letter writer should check their facts. It is up to each school to decide how they want to approach finding interviewees. It's tough being rejected, but it happens. The process isn't always fair to everyone, but as someone mentioned before... it'll look that way at each school, but since each school is different, if you don't make it at one school then there is hope at another.

 

Finally, spent 6 years to work hard to get into medical school - so what? Who hasn't been working hard to get in? lol

 

 

not even do some schools not post cutoff..but most schools DON'T HAVE CUTOFFS!

[lostintime]

LMAO! That's so ridicuous. Thanks for making Asian people look very irrational.

[Guest FockI'mOld!]

As a canadian-asian, I'm shocked and embarassed that this issue was even raised. At what point does this applicant think that the admissions commitee came together and systematically agreed that they had reduce the proportion of asians? I'm not surprised that Queen's has not formally responded to this because there is no merit to these accusations. It simply reeks of a bitter medschool reject desperately playing the race card.

 

What also offends me is the implicit belief by the accuser that asian premeds are poor writers, and that it is the system that's discriminating him/her. For some strange reason, this person thinks that their writing skills are bounded by their ethnicity! Ludicrous.

 

Next year will be my 6th year of premed as well, and I'll be writing the MCAT for the first time this summer. If I don't make the WS cutoff, I'm attributing it to my writing skills, not my ethnicity.

[Guest begaster]

Whine, whine, whine.

 

I was unaware that Asians had inferior English skills from the womb. Learn something new every day!

[0T6]

 

What also offends me is the implicit belief by the accuser that asian premeds are poor writers' date=' and that it is the system that's discriminating him/her. For some strange reason, this person thinks that their writing skills are bounded by their ethnicity! Ludicrous.[/quote']

 

That's the biggest thing that jumped out at me when I saw this.

[Jochi1543]

[Guest begaster]

[Jochi1543]

[Jochi1543]

[Guest begaster]

[Jochi1543]

[Guest begaster]

[Jochi1543]

Oh hai giuse.

 

 

 

[Guest begaster]

 

And with that, I'm off to bed.

[Jochi1543]

[Jochi1543]

 

And with that, I'm off to bed.

 

[kaymcee]

I'm so very happy to see this thread has received the treatment it deserved.

[Jochi1543]

I'm so very happy to see this thread has received the treatment it deserved.

 

[In_Valid]

While I agree that pulling the race card is ridiculous, I do however agree that the WS cutoff is unreasonably high. Getting a 9 in a the core sections is equivalent to scoring in the 70th percentile, or thereabouts. Scoring an R in the WS is in the 90th percentile.

 

What really pisses me off is someone who with a 28S got an interview yet my 37P was not "sufficient" to get me an interview.

 

If you look at the percentile of the overall test, the 28S is in the 75th percentile . My score was in the 98th percentile... The numbers speak for themselves.

 

Of course, no offense to anyone who got an interview with a 28S.

[AMmd]

Oh hai giuse.

 

 

 

 

omg this is an atrocity!!!

[Jochi1543]

 

What really pisses me off is someone who with a 28S got an interview yet my 37P was not "sufficient" to get me an interview.

 

Of course, no offense to anyone who got an interview with a 28S.

 

LOLLOLLOLOLOLOOLOL, where's LAW!?

[scatthecat]

I've thought this for awhile, but didn't feel I needed to mention it until now.

 

Has anyone considered that there WERE NO CUTOFFS for Queen's to post?

 

Maybe they did it differently- MAYBE you had to score higher in one section if you did poorly in another.

 

Maybe Queen's looked at the essays before they did cutoffs.

 

Maybe we all are speculating WAY too much from what other people post (which we cannot 100% verify) and assuming things without all of the facts.

 

The fact is, I am certain Queen's has valid reasons for changing their system. Whether or not they worked in one person's favour or another is a different story.

 

For those who have an interview, congrats. For those who don't- I'm sorry. But really, life is not fair a lot of the time. It sucks but it's true.

 

As my father tells me when I start to whine about things like this, at least I do not have terminal cancer. I mean, there are FAR worse things that cutoff changes for med school. And who knows- maybe it will be a blessing that you don't go to Queen's.