do i give up?

[cowens]

so it looks like i won't be getting an interview from mun. this was my third time applying. first time - nothing. last year - had an interview, but didn't get in. i spoke to someone in the admissions office to see what the reason was. i was told that my reference letters were excellent, that i had great ecs, she showed me the interview pages that the people interviewing me filled out and i had almost all 5s and a couple of 4s [on a scale of 1-5], and she said that their comments were all excellent, my mcat was ok - pretty much in the middle. she said that the only issue was my undergrad marks - they aren't stellar, though i do have a masters in counselling psychology and i finished the 2 year program with a 4.0. she then proceeded to tell me that i had been 'on the cusp' and that it had been very close, but i didn't quite make it for an offer.

 

so in my bitterest voice, i now ask - if i had been soooo close last year, how come this year i didn't even get an interview? there's nothing that i can do to change my undergrad marks. my question is, do i give up and say forget about it? as a newfoundland resident, i know that my best chances of being accepted anywhere are at mun. i told myself that when i started this process, i'd give it 3 tries and that would be it. i know a lot of people who have gone to mun and 2 - 3 tries seems to be the average for acceptance. i have an ok career in the education field, but that's not where my heart lies. plus i'm already 33 years old. do i give up or keep trying, knowing that the 'apparent' reason for not being accepted is nothing that i can do anythign about? [lower undergrad gpa - though i know a crap load of people who have gotten in with both a lower gpa and a lower mcat - there's someone in school right now who got a 17 on the mcat. i mean c'mon! how did they even get an interview?????]

 

sorry, turned into a bit of a rant / pity party, but advice would be appreciated.

[verbally_abused]

got a 17 on the mcat. i mean c'mon! how did they even get an interview?????]

 

.

 

17 ...that must be like a recrod

[mac]

cowens,

 

I hear you...I applied for the first time last year and was waitlisted- but I did not receive an interview this year. My mcat was only 24 last year-but is a 29 this year. Plus I have additional volunteering including shadowing two local physicians weekly. It feels very defeating/hopeless to have been deemed good enough to be on the waitlist last year and not good enough for an interview this year- even with a better application. I didn't apply to Dal last because of residency issues, but interviewed there this year as a PEI resident...here's hoping it works out...

Hang in there. All the best to you.

[Jwells]

Something you need to consider is the strength of the applicant pool from year to year. MUN typically has a smaller IP applicant pool than most universities which I imagine leads to a greater fluctuation in the quality of the applicants. That is why what may be good enough to be wait listed one year might not be good enough for an interview the fooling year. It also means it might be good enough for admission in subsequent years. It can be frustrating but it can also give us a glimpse of hope.

 

With you grad GPA as strong as it is you leave me wondering if you would be better off applying to schools outside of Newfoundland (maybe you have?). Some schools simply look at your most recent or strongest years when calculating GPAs. Some give bonus points to grad GPAs while still considering your undergrad GPA. I know in most cases it is very difficult to be admitted as an OOP applicant but not all schools treat OOP students differently than IP students.

 

There are also the less attractive options. You could consider doing another undergrad degree or additional undergrad courses to help boost your GPA. Unfortunately, once you already have a large number of courses completed it takes a large number of additional courses to significantly increase your GPA.

 

Sadly, at the end of the day you do need to ask yourself if you have travelled all the paths you are willing to travel in your attempts. Some people will say continue to apply against all odds, but only you can decide when enough is enough.

[cowens]

thanks for the advice.

 

doing more undergrad courses really isn't an option - i've already done a lot and trying to increase the gpa would be very difficult. i guess being a slack ass for a few years in your early 20s really can come back and bite you in the ass.

 

i am considering re-doing the mcat. i was a full time grad student and working 3 part time jobs when i studied for it and wrote it last time. so let's just say it didn't get the time it deserved. i scored a 28S. ok for memorial, but i know that if i did it again i'd score much better as i'm in a better position to actually but the time into it now. i just wonder if increasing the score will help enough.

[Dal07]

so it looks like i won't be getting an interview from mun. this was my third time applying. first time - nothing. last year - had an interview, but didn't get in. i spoke to someone in the admissions office to see what the reason was. i was told that my reference letters were excellent, that i had great ecs, she showed me the interview pages that the people interviewing me filled out and i had almost all 5s and a couple of 4s [on a scale of 1-5].

wow ... last year when my best friend reviewed her application with the admissions office, she was told there was no scoring method for the interview. it seems like everyone gets a different answer from them!

[cowens]

that's weird. they actually showed me the pages that the 2 interviewers filled out and then she read some of the comments that they had [after the scales]. i swear they tell you anything.

now i'm trying to figure out whether or not to redo the mcat. i have a 29S, which for mun is quite competitive. I just wonder if i redo it and score higher [which i know i would - didn't really do much for it the last time] if that would help improve my application. but then i know a lot of people with lower mcats who have gotten accepted, so i wonder if it would just be a waste of time.

[Jwells]

If I was reapplying and concerned about my MCAT mark I would rewrite simply because I don't know if MUN gives out marks for scoring higher on the MCAT. As has been mentioned, no one seems to truly know what sort of a scoring system MUN uses.

 

Personally I would rather rewrite the MCAT and later learn that I wasted my time rather than to not rewrite and learn I could have potentially been accepted had I rewritten and scored higher.

 

One caution though, be sure you are better prepared than you were before. I have heard of people scoring slighter lower on their second MCAT and being turned away because their score decreased by a single point (despite still scoring a respectable score). I believe there is a comment on this forum about someone in that situation but I don't recall where. Like anything, this could simply be hearsay.

 

Don't forget you have the option to speak with a rep from MUN regarding why you didn't get an interview (that's assuming you don't get one, seeing as the rejections have not yet been released). They may be able to say plainly yes or no to your MCAT.

 

On a separate note, didn't you mention the interview you received last year was for the end of March and you weren't notified until the beginning of March?

 

Has anyone received a semi-official word on if all interviews have been released? I wonder if we are jumping the gun with the whole "I didn't get an interview" thread (I say this to myself as well).

[cowens]

i think that i am leaning towards re-writing. if it makes no difference, all i've wasted is a few hundred dollars and some time. [but i will check with someone at admissions when i review my application to see what they say, maybe i won't actually register for the mcat until i speak to them].

 

with regard to the interview - yes last year it was march when i found out i had an interview. but they started the interviews late last year. also, cuz i'm presently living in the middle east, i requested an interview date of march 7 [if i was selected for an interview] as it would be possible to get a few days off of work at that time. now, of course, i realize that march 7th will be out of province interviews, so i probably wouldn't have gotten one for that date anyway. but i figured i'd check and i emailed the admissions office and said that i knew that there were oop people that had heard about interviews and that i knew that they were usually the last people interviewed, so i asked if all ip people had been contacted [if they had an interview]. they of course couldn't come right out and say yes, but she did say that if you hadn't heard by now, the chances of you being contacted now were 'extremely slim'. so basically everyone's heard by now [at least ip]

 

any advice on how i could fatten up my ecs when i'm living in the middle east and volunteering here is pretty much non existent?

[Jwells]

I figured as much with regards to the interviews. I have also unofficially heard "the chances of you being contacted now were extremely slim" at this stage.

 

With regards to your ECs remember volunteering is not the only way. EC stands for extra curricular, not volunteering. People seem to get so wrapped up in the view of ECs that volunteering often seems to be the only way. In reality school love it when they see you involved in sports and other activities that you do for yourself. They are looking to see if you are a well rounded invidividual that can 'play nice' with others. So ifnd something you enjoy, and do it. Naturally, something organized is easier to reference on your resume but don't let that hold you back. Be creative.

[mikkey]

I really hate to break this to you, but the process is just so random that getting an interview last year doesn't mean anything for this year. The person who evaluated your file last year may have liked the fact that you have done 12 years of figure skating for example, because they were also an athlete and understand just how much work and dedication it takes. Hence he granted you an interview. But this year, you are being reviewed by a PhD who has never practiced any sport and hence doesn't see what you see or what last year's guy saw. So you didn't get an interview.

The point is to never give up if its what you truely want. Also, maybe consider applying to the US; in Canada only 23 % of all applicants make it, while in the US it is closer to 50%. Keep in mind that returning to Canada will be very hard and that you will have monster debt to pay back which can be done faster in the US as the salaries are higher.

Good luck!