Seeking much needed advice

[medhopeful5]

First of all, congratulations to all of those that have been accepted to the McMaster medical program, it must feel great when all of your hard work pays off.

 

I'm hoping to get some much needed insight on applying to McMaster for the following academic year. A little background - I graduated from a competitive business program with a cumulative gpa in the high 3.6s (omsas)-which was amongst the higher graduating averages. After completing my undergrad, I went into a competitive investment banking analyst position working for a leading international i bank and have been there for the last 2-3 years. Aside from my work experience, I also founded a health-related charitable organization while in school, played intramural sports, did pro-bono consulting and other extra curricular activities.

 

My motivation for pursuing medicine is much more than prestige or making $ (as you can see, I've been there and done that). I was wondering if anyone can give any insight as to my chances of atleast getting an interview at McMaster. I realize this is a difficult question to answer, and I've been through the forum before positing, but it's difficult to find others that have made the same move that I am considering. Also, would it be advisable to consider taking distance ed (ie. Athabasca courses) to bring up my GPA - say to the 3.7 level?

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

[cleboman]

First of all, congratulations to all of those that have been accepted to the McMaster medical program, it must feel great when all of your hard work pays off.

 

I'm hoping to get some much needed insight on applying to McMaster for the following academic year. A little background - I graduated from a competitive business program with a cumulative gpa in the high 3.6s (omsas)-which was amongst the higher graduating averages. After completing my undergrad, I went into a competitive investment banking analyst position working for a leading international i bank and have been there for the last 2-3 years. Aside from my work experience, I also founded a health-related charitable organization while in school, played intramural sports, did pro-bono consulting and other extra curricular activities.

 

My motivation for pursuing medicine is much more than prestige or making $ (as you can see, I've been there and done that). I was wondering if anyone can give any insight as to my chances of atleast getting an interview at McMaster. I realize this is a difficult question to answer, and I've been through the forum before positing, but it's difficult to find others that have made the same move that I am considering. Also, would it be advisable to consider taking distance ed (ie. Athabasca courses) to bring up my GPA - say to the 3.7 level?

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Hi medhopeful,

 

It's great that you are following your dream and it sounds like you want to do this for the right reasons. It certainly has becoming more competitive in the past few years with the application pool rising each year and the gpa certainly has a large part in gaining admission. On the other hand you can somewhat offset a lower gpa if you can really impress the selectors with your experiences highlighted in the 5 questions you are required to fill in the OMSAS application for mac.

 

Not exactly sure what the numbers are but i recall something in the range of 53ish percent weighting on gpa and 43 percent weighting on the 5 questions in the omsas app. the other 4 percent is based on the 3 reference letters that are sent to them.

 

If you can really give them what they want with the application it certainly is possible to get an interview and every year a few people in your gpa range are offered interviews.

 

If you can do this, post interview the weighting on gpa is 33.3 percent and interview is 66.6 and this is your chance to really use the skills that your past experiences have offered you.

 

Keep in mind that it will be difficult as their are a lot of people with more competitive gpa's who really stream into volunteering and extracurrics that make them stand out.

 

I myself am an undergrad student and got accepted after applying just after my second year. my gpa was 3.88 and I had a few international and local volunteering experiences both health and non-health based.

 

I believe that the selectors during the interview really try to assess your genuine interest in the betterment of other individuals and if this is really what you want to do, you should really give it a shot.

 

(on the DE courses to bring up your GPA, i honestly have no idea how mac looks at that type of stuff. sorry)

 

Hope this helps, this was my perspective and I'm sure others will share their's with you. The people in this forum are amazing and I hope you get in.

 

Good luck!

[notERDoc]

 

Not exactly sure what the numbers are but i recall something in the range of 53ish percent weighting on gpa and 43 percent weighting on the 5 questions in the omsas app. the other 4 percent is based on the 3 reference letters that are sent to them.

 

/snip/

 

(on the DE courses to bring up your GPA, i honestly have no idea how mac looks at that type of stuff. sorry)

 

Hey medhopeful,

 

I think the advice cleboman gave you is excellent and I completely agree! However, to avoid the rumor mill running rampant, I believe the 4 percent remaining after the GPA and 5 question sketch is to be given to grad students. Holders of a masters degree at the time of application will be given a 1% "bonus", and a PhD gets the full 4%. According to Mac, this gives a "significant but not decisive" (paraphrasing) advantage.

 

As for DE courses, I don't think mac cares.. they just average all undergrad courses regardless of when/where and come up with the mark they use in the rank formulas. (I'm not certain if they have to be taken working towards a degree, or if they can be "for interest"/non-degree.)

 

Good luck!