siobhansiobhan Posted June 23, 2008 Report Share Posted June 23, 2008 I surf this forum every now and then and what I see here is troubling. Guys take it easy, you can't possibly predict and take into account all the circumstances and factors. A lot of unpredictable crap has happened in the past. For example, I know a guy on the waitlist who was in Africa vounteering who was given a deferral. Yeah I know, they "don't" give deferrals to wailistees. Just breathe. Honestly. Because once you start med anyways, and any doctor will tell you, life is busy and demanding. Maybe another year off is good. When you're a 50 year old physician, are you gonna wish you were 48? No, you'll want those years in your youth. And just so you know, I am am also on the waitlist in 69s. I won't say where just because I don't want to participate in this pseudoranking. My ability to predict my position on the list will not affect whether or not I get called. I do this out of genuine concern for the psyche of fellow applicants. Take care poopscoop, I hope you find a way to be o.k. that others are happy to participate in this dialogue, and prefer to have more information than less. Carefull with your assumptions - that everyone here is young, that what we are doing is a ranking rather than an organization of information for predictive value, that the desire to predict is somehow for trying to change the future, rather than simply planning for more or less certain outcomes. this will sound wacky, but when you say that you are doing something for other people, you can often find a gem if you turn that back and ask what concern you have for yourself right now, and also what benefit you may get from being concerned for the psyche of others instead. now, those are personal growth questions, take them or leave them. warmly - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premed03 Posted June 23, 2008 Report Share Posted June 23, 2008 I spoke to the admissions on Friday and I explained to them that I was considering taking a 6 week trip to sub-Saharan Africa and it would be rather difficult to get a hold of me if I were to be called off of the waitlist. I told them that I would postpone the trip to a later date (well after first day of classes). They said that I should go ahead with the trip as planned and that they would somehow contact me. I found this very unnerving considering I had explained to them that it would be very difficult to get a hold of me (and that if I were accepted I would in effect lose my investment in the trip). It suggested to me that they knew I was too far down the list to have a reasonable chance of being accepted. My score is 69.12. I will be out of the country as well until July 10. I asked admissions if it was okay for someone else to be checking my e-mail and to respond in my place. They said to simply e-mail them the name and contact information of this other person, and they would accept his reply. So if you trust someone with your e-mail account, you can do the same. My score is way below yours(68.39) , but she didn't seem to say anything unusual. On the other hand, she may have simply not looked up my unusual name on her computer while we were talking... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siobhansiobhan Posted June 23, 2008 Report Share Posted June 23, 2008 Well, I just called both the MPP offices, legislative office numbers, to highlight that my email had been sent, and what it was about and to ask for a phone-call back. If you're sending in an email, make sure to phone too, since their email inboxes are so full that it's usually a 10-day turnaround for even a response from their office. usually government offices consider that 1 email represents 20 other people who haven't written (not sure of the specifics of those numbers) but what that means is that the more people who write in, the more people they feel are thinking the same thing. and then it's power in numbers as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poopscooppremed Posted June 23, 2008 Report Share Posted June 23, 2008 poopscoop, I hope you find a way to be o.k. that others are happy to participate in this dialogue, and prefer to have more information than less. Carefull with your assumptions - that everyone here is young, that what we are doing is a ranking rather than an organization of information for predictive value, that the desire to predict is somehow for trying to change the future, rather than simply planning for more or less certain outcomes. this will sound wacky, but when you say that you are doing something for other people, you can often find a gem if you turn that back and ask what concern you have for yourself right now, and also what benefit you may get from being concerned for the psyche of others instead. now, those are personal growth questions, take them or leave them. warmly - Wow sorry for trying inject some love and perspective into this thread. It was clearly rejected by those that comb the thread. And IIconan, I just mentioned by position so as to let you know that I am not someone who is looking down from top telling you guys to chill. I am in the same situation as you. It's just that I have come to terms with the fact that I am on a waiting list. And so I wait. It sucks, but I can't do much more other than email the minister in solidarity with you guys. Please differentiate between what I was previously referring to and what I do support. Siobhansiobhan and everyone else who are actively lobbying ministers and everything -- great. That is something constructive. But making a list of scores and trying to calculate your chances some how based score estimations etc. does nothing except stress you out more. We don't have enough info to be accurate and many people have pointed that out. Take care guys. If anything, be like siobhansiobhan and contact the gov't. Siob buddy I feel for you...you are in a tough situation. I hope you get accepted and everything clears up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siobhansiobhan Posted June 23, 2008 Report Share Posted June 23, 2008 poopscoop (good grief what a handle!) i've got this forum as something i get to take a break with while writing my final paper, and looking for a moving company. i just want to say to you - keep on keepin' on. it took me five tries before i got an acceptance to a top 12 in the states, and a waitlist in canada. this time of year really sucks - and there is no doubt that eventually things change. sounds like you are younger than me, and this may be your second try? (you wrote wishing being 48 instead of 50). thanks for also drafting something to the ministers. i know what you're talking about, when nervous energy goes into combing forums for info. it does pay off in weird ways. i know quite a lot about the application process in two countries that i didn't know before! but ultimately, as much info as is found, it can't help get off a waitlist. but it can help us plan and process accordingly. well, i've reached my limit for posting for the next little while i think starting to procrastinate with this tool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premed03 Posted June 23, 2008 Report Share Posted June 23, 2008 Just sent an e-mail to Doug and Ron. Hope it works! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer J. Posted June 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2008 Any IP waitlist movement today? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SitRep Posted June 23, 2008 Report Share Posted June 23, 2008 Someone should hear something soon, I just finalised my withdrawal to accept UofA's offer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poopscooppremed Posted June 24, 2008 Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 poopscoop (good grief what a handle!) i've got this forum as something i get to take a break with while writing my final paper, and looking for a moving company. i just want to say to you - keep on keepin' on. it took me five tries before i got an acceptance to a top 12 in the states, and a waitlist in canada. this time of year really sucks - and there is no doubt that eventually things change. sounds like you are younger than me, and this may be your second try? (you wrote wishing being 48 instead of 50). thanks for also drafting something to the ministers. i know what you're talking about, when nervous energy goes into combing forums for info. it does pay off in weird ways. i know quite a lot about the application process in two countries that i didn't know before! but ultimately, as much info as is found, it can't help get off a waitlist. but it can help us plan and process accordingly. well, i've reached my limit for posting for the next little while i think starting to procrastinate with this tool. Haha I am proud of my name! Dude I get you completely...that is straight-up perserverance. You deserve it no doubt and you will get it. I think you were just above 70 and someone was accepted at like 70.15 or something. You will probably get accepted even before they announce the new seats. I wouldn't invest to much down south. Now's the time siob. It would be exceptionally cruel for there to be >10 people in between you and the last accepted applicant. Unfortunately you never know (and they won't tell you). For sure, this forum is useful for application information. I wish I knew about it prior to the MCAT. Honestly, we just got to wait and see what happens. And pepper the government, and people who can actually influence the situation, with emails. The one thing that I have noticed for certain about the June waitlist is that emails go out on Fridays. June 6th, 13th, 20th. Check the thread. It makes sense since it will be useful for the office to organize the deadline to respond for a batch of people instead of each waitlistee having their own specific deadline. So let's just wait till Friday. Siob I am hoping that you will be accepted...please let me (us -- we should all go for beers after this) know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poopscooppremed Posted June 24, 2008 Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 I was thinking a bit. For all of us on the IP waitlist, our chances could be a lot better then they appear. Think about the percentage of people that apply to only one Medical school. It's probably fairly low. Hold that thought. All of us on this forum are so bloody close to medical school (1 pt or less). That could be one MMI station that you slightly screwed, one MCAT point etc. What I am saying is that we are in fact terrific applicants and there is no reason why we could not get accepted at another school had we done slightly better at their interview etc. So perhaps many people who were on the waitlist May 15th in between each of us were accepted at other schools and removed themselves from the waitlist? I personally know a few people who took themselves of this waitlist when they received an acceptance elsewhere. And as we have seen also, people who were accepted at U of C on May 15th or off the waitlist are ditching their spots for other schools. The waitlist may be a bit shorter then we think. We just gotta wait and see what happens. Take care Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siobhansiobhan Posted June 24, 2008 Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 I heard back from the minister's office today, and I asked if I could share this information, and I can. there is an announcement planned regarding a seat increase, and there will be an increase commencing Fall 2008 in alignment with the minister's mandate letter to have 295 new graduates by 2012. we will have to wait for when the announcement is, and what the actual number is for this year. however, we now know that an announcement is imminent. what i don't know is if the movement of the waitlist last week reflected gearing up for that announcement, or if the school is waiting until the announcement to start filling the new seats. i don't want to call and ask that! edit: I'm not sure if I wrote down the 295 number correctly, so best to say, 'in alignment with the minister's mandate letter for increasing graduates by 2012' and that is for all of alberta, between the two current schools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer J. Posted June 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 How many seats does the U of A currently have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premed03 Posted June 24, 2008 Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 what i don't know is if the movement of the waitlist last week reflected gearing up for that announcement, or if the school is waiting until the announcement to start filling the new seats. i don't want to call and ask that! When I had spoken to April, it sounded like until an arrangement is made, they wouldn't prematurely add seats. Also, at the interview we were told that we would be among the first to know if there are extra seats. So I don't think they are gearing up...yet. I am so glad to hear about your conversation with the minister's office! Good for you for having the initiative of contacting them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siobhansiobhan Posted June 24, 2008 Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 Hi there, I just wanted to say that contacting our MPPs and MPs is about contacting our elected representatives. I grew up in a family that was taught about grass-roots organizing. For instance, there were hardly any women in medical school when I was born, perhaps a few more by the time the bulk of this year's cohort was born. That was change that happened because of grass-roots organizing. I remember learning about writing in to complain about sexist advertising, and to organize a community to ask for change when something like needing funding for family violence came up. i just wanted to say that although we are in a time when on the whole politicians wonder about why so many young people don't vote, it truly is meant to be a system where a person can contact their elected government, and i think not a lot of us have been taught that in schools or in our families - that we are in a participatory democracy, and that citizenship is meant to be about being engaged. actually, i take note of the politicians who respond - as the office for higher education did - since that is what is meant to happen. each politician has a whole staff devoted to being in communication with constituency. some politicians are not so wonderful about that. but i just wanted to say that when it comes to canadian politics, we are meant to be in dialogue not with an info line, but with the people who were elected or the person they have hired to answer their phone. i'm so glad i got a response, and i'm glad that i was taught in my grass-roots home that it's important to write and make a phone call, and that this can make a difference - it's why we have women represented in medicine, why we have health policy to begin with, it's what we'll need more and more of as the environmental picture gets bleaker. i recognize that i'm being a bit preachy right now. but i am so glad that i was responded to. it gives me renewal of faith in the system. and i hope that you'll feel comfortable advocating for just causes too, because there are so many people out there who need those articulate voices. in this case, i happened to be advocating for the articulate voices, but there are other things too. thanks for the encouragement i send the same encouragement to you too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aceresearcher Posted June 24, 2008 Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 hey everybody, this is my first time posting and I think this list gives one a pretty good idea of where they sit on the waitlist. I am sitting on the waitlist with a score of 69.67. Keep emailing the MLA's! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer J. Posted June 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 Purple 70.20 (just arbitrarily started with Purple) Alanna 70.16 Hopefuls: Siobhansiobhan 70.06 JordanW 69.68 aceresearcher 69.67 Dudeman42 69.14 IIconanII69.12 Triguy 68.88 Firsttimer 68.81 SexyBeast 68.51 Premed03 68.39 Tooty 68.38 Homer's Wife 68.28 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JordanW Posted June 24, 2008 Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 Yes, Siobhan your 295 number is correct. I heard back from the Education Unit, Workforce Policy and Planning Branch of Alberta Health and Wellness, which said "... in 2008/09 a minimum of 295 undergraduate medical education spaces will be funded, representing an increase of 35 % from five years ago. Further expansions are anticipated in 2009/10." The respondent went on to describe the changes taking place to increase numbers of practitioners in Alberta, initiatives which included (but were not limited to) opening up more residency positions, as well as positions for IMG's. I applaud these initiatives, but still feel the focus should be on increasing Canadian university seats. Methinks we can still do better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IIconanII Posted June 24, 2008 Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 I met a wait-lister today and he said that he has not been contacted so far. His score is a 70.11. Some other bad news, he knows of others who are waiting for the U of C and have scores of 70.09 and 70.01. How friggin' huge is this wait-list? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooty Posted June 24, 2008 Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 pretty ****ing huge, apparently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
On the other hand... Posted June 24, 2008 Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 I don't think the 68's have a prayer, even if the gov't increased the enrollment by 10 seats. Like I previously mentioned, the U of takes the cautionary path by keep a large pool of waitlisters in anticipation of a sudden increase in enrollment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premed03 Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 ... there is an announcement planned regarding a seat increase, and there will be an increase commencing Fall 2008 in alignment with the minister's mandate letter to have 295 new graduates by 2012. U of C's graduating class of 2012 will start in 2009, but not this year. Is the 295 figure applicable for only next year's applicants as far as the U of C is concerned? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamer Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 I was sitting in a team building meeting for Geriatricians today with the doc I'm working for and they were discussing the curriculum for the geriatrics unit next year. They mentioned exact numbers in terms of how many students will be in this years class + the next (and subsequently how they were supposed to work around it in terms of small groups). I don't know if I'm supposed to say the number (is it public? I haven't seen anything posted), but I'll ask my doc when I get a chance if I'm allowed to. If nothing else, apparently the government has until July 1st to make the decision official, so you won't have to wait for long to hear. Regardless, the number is increasing though, this year and next, by a pretty decent number Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siobhansiobhan Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 Hi Jamer - You're right, it's not totally public yet. I like how we've all been doing our own investigating, and asking what we can share. The picture is starting to come together in a respectful way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamer Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 I guess I can at least say this: If the number does increase by what they're saying, you're a shoe-in if you're only 0.10 points back from a spot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kite Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 any idea how many of the extra seats would go to OOP students? or all they all for IP? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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