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FAQ: What are my chances?


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I was hoping I could grab some insight to which schools, with my stats, I should avoid and which I should apply to.

 

- Ontario Resident

- Going into fourth year at the University of Guelph 

- MCAT: 128(PS)/127(CARS)/128(BS)/130(Psych)

- cGPA: 90.64% / 3.90

- First year = 3.81, second year = 3.89, third year = 3.99  

 

UofT = 3.99

Ottawa = 3.92 

Mac = 3.89 

Queens = 3.94

UBC = 92.12 (I think if it's the most recent 2 years, if not then 90.64) 

 

ECs

- Wellness centre senior peer (mostly health promotion events, social justice things (LGBT+ oriented), peer-based support for mental and sexual health) - 240 hours (will continue in fourth year) 

- Day camp for Syrian children new to Canada - 40hours 

- Part of an on-campus committee for International Day to End Violence Against Women - 12 hours (will continue in fourth year)

- Volunteer at an acquired brain injury outreach service - (just started, 3 hours a week, will continue in fourth year)

- Student representative/exec for my majors club - 20 hours (only did it for one year, clashed with my schedule)

- Student ambassador (small one day event)

- Student ambassador for Student Accessibility Service (one day event, required training)

- Student Mentor for a first year student - around 10 hours (met biweekly)

- Chemistry and physics tutor - 50-100 hours including to one student who needed tutoring and help dealing with her test/school anxiety 

- Undergraduate Research Assistant 4 months (will continue during the year, but not under the job title) - 560 hours + 2 Publications (1 first author, 1 second author, both peer reviewed) + 1 authorship for a conference paper [The research was social and policy based looking at the following issues: end-of-life/palliative care care, LGBT patients in healthcare, Alzheimer's and related dementias 

- Human Anatomy Outreach program (2 five-hour sessions teaching the public about human anatomy using cadavers) - 10 hours

- and lastly I'm in contact with a geriatrician so I will hopefully add shadowing experience on there as well.

 

I also project 2/3 of my letters of reference to be very strong and the third to be decent

 

I'm thinking this year I'm going to apply to Toronto, Mac, Queens, Ottawa, and maybe Dal? Next year I'll add UBC and McGill to the list once my ECs are stronger (UBC only looks at ECs before June 1st :(

 

I'd love any input about where I should apply/avoid from anyone! Thank you! :) 

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ahh, I understand Sunny. Yeah UofT is one of the few schools I can apply to given their more lax OOP screening process. I'm gonna start up my essays today so I'll definitely put a lot of thought into them and hopefully can highlight the passion I have for my activities well enough. 

 

Do you have any thoughts on other schools I'd stand a chance at? Queens, UofA, UofC....Mac or Western (depending on whether I can get 130 CARS)? Mac really played against my GPA so I'm not sure if 3.92 is the mean competitive score. As for Western, could a strong MCAT ex. 518+ and a GPA of 3.94 make it a strong candidate?

 

Would you suggest applying to Manitoba and Sask? I'm wary of flooding my references with letter requests.

Look, I wouldn't normally say this, but use please think twice about those questions before asking repeatedly.

 

Your GPA is above average for basically any school in the country. For example, if you had looked at the stats on the Mac website, you'd know your GPA is well above their average. I'm not sure if you're looking for an ego boost or what, apply where you might want to go. That's all there is to it. Stats are on basically every website. 

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I was hoping I could grab some insight to which schools, with my stats, I should avoid and which I should apply to.

 

- Ontario Resident

- Going into fourth year at the University of Guelph 

- MCAT: 128(PS)/127(CARS)/128(BS)/130(Psych)

- cGPA: 90.64% / 3.90

- First year = 3.81, second year = 3.89, third year = 3.99  

 

UofT = 3.99

Ottawa = 3.92 

Mac = 3.89 

Queens = 3.94

UBC = 92.12 (I think if it's the most recent 2 years, if not then 90.64) 

 

ECs

- Wellness centre senior peer (mostly health promotion events, social justice things (LGBT+ oriented), peer-based support for mental and sexual health) - 240 hours (will continue in fourth year) 

- Day camp for Syrian children new to Canada - 40hours 

- Part of an on-campus committee for International Day to End Violence Against Women - 12 hours (will continue in fourth year)

- Volunteer at an acquired brain injury outreach service - (just started, 3 hours a week, will continue in fourth year)

- Student representative/exec for my majors club - 20 hours (only did it for one year, clashed with my schedule)

- Student ambassador (small one day event)

- Student ambassador for Student Accessibility Service (one day event, required training)

- Student Mentor for a first year student - around 10 hours (met biweekly)

- Chemistry and physics tutor - 50-100 hours including to one student who needed tutoring and help dealing with her test/school anxiety 

- Undergraduate Research Assistant 4 months (will continue during the year, but not under the job title) - 560 hours + 2 Publications (1 first author, 1 second author, both peer reviewed) + 1 authorship for a conference paper [The research was social and policy based looking at the following issues: end-of-life/palliative care care, LGBT patients in healthcare, Alzheimer's and related dementias 

- Human Anatomy Outreach program (2 five-hour sessions teaching the public about human anatomy using cadavers) - 10 hours

- and lastly I'm in contact with a geriatrician so I will hopefully add shadowing experience on there as well.

 

I also project 2/3 of my letters of reference to be very strong and the third to be decent

 

I'm thinking this year I'm going to apply to Toronto, Mac, Queens, Ottawa, and maybe Dal? Next year I'll add UBC and McGill to the list once my ECs are stronger (UBC only looks at ECs before June 1st :(

 

I'd love any input about where I should apply/avoid from anyone! Thank you! :)

 

You sound like you have a pretty good chance with your stats. Due to CARS, I don't think your best shot would be at Mac or Western, but you should still apply to Mac, its possible that your gpa and CASPer could make up for it (I would not bother with Western). You seem like a good candidate for U of T, Ottawa, and Queens. Also, remember high school activities count as well, and I would definitely try to add activities that show you are a person with interests/hobbies outside of medicine i.e. if you play any sports, instruments, other hobbies etc.  

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You sound like you have a pretty good chance with your stats. Due to CARS, I don't think your best shot would be at Mac or Western, but you should still apply to Mac, its possible that your gpa and CASPer could make up for it (I would not bother with Western). You seem like a good candidate for U of T, Ottawa, and Queens. Also, remember high school activities count as well, and I would definitely try to add activities that show you are a person with interests/hobbies outside of medicine i.e. if you play any sports, instruments, other hobbies etc.  

 

Thanks for the advice! I definitely ruled out western a while ago (130 CARS lol no way), and I'm crossing my fingers for Mac. Do you have any suggestions for good OOP schools? I think UofA and UofC are both off the list due to my mcat CARS ... sigh if only I could transfer my points from my other sections ahah 

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Hello  :)

 

I would appreciate some thoughts about schools I could apply to (including out of province schools) and areas of my application which I could improve. 

I am a student in Ontario, and will be entering my 4th year in the coming fall. 

 

Following are a few details of my application: 

 

cGPA (McMaster): 3.80 

U of T wGPA: 3.93 

U Ottawa wGPA: 3.85 

Queens wGPA: 3.83 

 

MCAT: 126 (C/P); 128 (CARS); 129 (Bio); 131 (Psych) 

 

Main extracurriculars

- Work study position at university (non healthcare related position) [20 months]

- Clinical research assistant (one publication) [10 months volunteer, 7+ months employment]

- Assisting community organization with research [5+ months]

- Various tutoring activities (tutoring elementary school and highschool students, helping ESL students with verbal communication, helping with ESL classes) [2+ years]

- Hospital volunteer [currently 5+ months, in addition to 1 year at a different hospital while in high school]

- Peer support volunteer [upcoming year]

 

Thank you so much for your time and for any feedback you may provide! 

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Hello  :)

 

I would appreciate some thoughts about schools I could apply to (including out of province schools) and areas of my application which I could improve. 

I am a student in Ontario, and will be entering my 4th year in the coming fall. 

 

Following are a few details of my application: 

 

cGPA (McMaster): 3.80 

U of T wGPA: 3.93 

U Ottawa wGPA: 3.85 

Queens wGPA: 3.83 

 

MCAT: 126 (C/P); 128 (CARS); 129 (Bio); 131 (Psych) 

 

Main extracurriculars

- Work study position at university (non healthcare related position) [20 months]

- Clinical research assistant (one publication) [10 months volunteer, 7+ months employment]

- Assisting community organization with research [5+ months]

- Various tutoring activities (tutoring elementary school and highschool students, helping ESL students with verbal communication, helping with ESL classes) [2+ years]

- Hospital volunteer [currently 5+ months, in addition to 1 year at a different hospital while in high school]

- Peer support volunteer [upcoming year]

 

Thank you so much for your time and for any feedback you may provide! 

 

I can only speak about ON schools, but I would apply to all of the ones you listed above. I think you have a shot at any of them. However, your GPA is a bit on the lower side for Ottawa and Queens. I think you have a better chance at U of T and Mac (your CARS/gpa combo is not bad). In terms of activities, I would try to add more diversity, most of your activities are very research-related or hospital volunteering, so if you have other volunteering interests/hobbies/extracurriculars I would include those, and continue to build them up. Overall, though, your activities look really good, I would just try to show a bit more balance. I think whether you get interviews will depend on how well you can write about your ECs in your ABS/U of T essays and doing well on CASPer will help for Mac and Ottawa. Good luck!

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Hello  :)

 

I would appreciate some thoughts about schools I could apply to (including out of province schools) and areas of my application which I could improve. 

I am a student in Ontario, and will be entering my 4th year in the coming fall. 

 

Following are a few details of my application: 

 

cGPA (McMaster): 3.80 

U of T wGPA: 3.93 

U Ottawa wGPA: 3.85 

Queens wGPA: 3.83 

 

MCAT: 126 (C/P); 128 (CARS); 129 (Bio); 131 (Psych) 

 

Main extracurriculars

- Work study position at university (non healthcare related position) [20 months]

- Clinical research assistant (one publication) [10 months volunteer, 7+ months employment]

- Assisting community organization with research [5+ months]

- Various tutoring activities (tutoring elementary school and highschool students, helping ESL students with verbal communication, helping with ESL classes) [2+ years]

- Hospital volunteer [currently 5+ months, in addition to 1 year at a different hospital while in high school]

- Peer support volunteer [upcoming year]

 

Thank you so much for your time and for any feedback you may provide! 

I agree with the above poster, apply to all of the ontario schools except for NOSM unless you have a geographic advantage. Overall, your application seems good. In terms of breaking it down school to school... For Ottawa they heavily weigh your GPA and the cutoff is quite high, therefore your chances at an interview are lower. This year Western cutoff was 127 Bio 127 CP and 130 CARS. It may change for the upcoming cycle so I would apply anyways but probably a lower chance at Western as well. If you do well on CASPER you should have a decent shot at an interview at Mac. I'm not too sure about Queens but I would for sure apply and I would work really hard on your UofT essays because they are an important component of your application. You could have a decent shot at an interview there as well! 

 

I would suggest working hard to get a 4.0 for this upcoming year just in case you don't get in. I wouldn't do too many extracurriculars in your fourth year if that means compromising GPA and especially if you do get interviews you will need significant time to practice for them. Let me know if you have any questions!

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I agree with the above poster, apply to all of the ontario schools except for NOSM unless you have a geographic advantage. Overall, your application seems good. In terms of breaking it down school to school... For Ottawa they heavily weigh your GPA and the cutoff is quite high, therefore your chances at an interview are lower. This year Western cutoff was 127 Bio 127 CP and 130 CARS. It may change for the upcoming cycle so I would apply anyways but probably a lower chance at Western as well. If you do well on CASPER you should have a decent shot at an interview at Mac. I'm not too sure about Queens but I would for sure apply and I would work really hard on your UofT essays because they are an important component of your application. You could have a decent shot at an interview there as well! 

 

I would suggest working hard to get a 4.0 for this upcoming year just in case you don't get in. I wouldn't do too many extracurriculars in your fourth year if that means compromising GPA and especially if you do get interviews you will need significant time to practice for them. Let me know if you have any questions!

 

I can only speak about ON schools, but I would apply to all of the ones you listed above. I think you have a shot at any of them. However, your GPA is a bit on the lower side for Ottawa and Queens. I think you have a better chance at U of T and Mac (your CARS/gpa combo is not bad). In terms of activities, I would try to add more diversity, most of your activities are very research-related or hospital volunteering, so if you have other volunteering interests/hobbies/extracurriculars I would include those, and continue to build them up. Overall, though, your activities look really good, I would just try to show a bit more balance. I think whether you get interviews will depend on how well you can write about your ECs in your ABS/U of T essays and doing well on CASPer will help for Mac and Ottawa. Good luck!

 

Thank you iamnatedawg and m_jacob_45 for your helpful feedback!! I really appreciate it! 

I will try my best for CASPer, the U of T essays and the rest of my application and hope for the best. 

Thanks again and have a nice day :) 

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Hi guys, 

 

New to these forums. I am a Canadian citizen and Ontario resident who has lived in the US since 2006. I currently attend undergrad in the United States but am not a permanent resident and thus understand the difficultly of financing and gaining acceptance to a US MD school. As such, I am planning to apply to some Canadian schools as well. I mainly need help with a school list as I am not well versed in Canadian medical school admissions requirements. Appreciate any input! 

 

- Top 20 US private undergrad. 

- 3.96 cumulative GPA, 3.99 science GPA

- Biochemistry major, Chemistry and Spanish minor 

- 519 MCAT (130 C/P, 130 CARS, 130 B/BC, 129 P/S)

- 3+ years of research in undergrad lab, no pubs, good recs, honors thesis

- lots of campus involvements with leadership 

- on campus job 

- global health experience abroad for a summer

- abroad research experience for a summer

- lots of clinic and non-clinical volunteering (500+ hours)

- shadowing (50ish hours)

- some prestigious awards

- solid letters

 

I am planning to apply to all the Ontario schools and maybe 2-3 other top schools in Canada. Let me know what you think. Appreciate it. 

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Hi guys, 

 

New to these forums. I am a Canadian citizen and Ontario resident who has lived in the US since 2006. I currently attend undergrad in the United States but am not a permanent resident and thus understand the difficultly of financing and gaining acceptance to a US MD school. As such, I am planning to apply to some Canadian schools as well. I mainly need help with a school list as I am not well versed in Canadian medical school admissions requirements. Appreciate any input! 

 

- Top 20 US private undergrad. 

- 3.96 cumulative GPA, 3.99 science GPA

- Biochemistry major, Chemistry and Spanish minor 

- 519 MCAT (130 C/P, 130 CARS, 130 B/BC, 129 P/S)

- 3+ years of research in undergrad lab, no pubs, good recs, honors thesis

- lots of campus involvements with leadership 

- on campus job 

- global health experience abroad for a summer

- abroad research experience for a summer

- lots of clinic and non-clinical volunteering (500+ hours)

- shadowing (50ish hours)

- some prestigious awards

- solid letters

 

I am planning to apply to all the Ontario schools and maybe 2-3 other top schools in Canada. Let me know what you think. Appreciate it. 

There's no such thing as "top" med schools in Canada the way there is in the states. I would say don't bother applying to NOSM since you've been away from Canada (and therefore any rural areas within Canada) for so long, but you should be set for all other Ontario schools. I believe Sask/Manitoba are MCAT-heavy so those could be good options, and you'd be fine applying to Calgary, UofA and UBC (assuming very good ECs for the latter). It's your pick, really!

 

Edit: Omg, as a future (almost current?) MUN student I should mention that with your stats you'd be very likely to get an interview with MUN - although there are only 5 seats for OOP applicants and the application fee is relatively expensive - so that's another option as well!

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Hi guys, 

 

New to these forums. I am a Canadian citizen and Ontario resident who has lived in the US since 2006. I currently attend undergrad in the United States but am not a permanent resident and thus understand the difficultly of financing and gaining acceptance to a US MD school. As such, I am planning to apply to some Canadian schools as well. I mainly need help with a school list as I am not well versed in Canadian medical school admissions requirements. Appreciate any input! 

 

- Top 20 US private undergrad. 

- 3.96 cumulative GPA, 3.99 science GPA

- Biochemistry major, Chemistry and Spanish minor 

- 519 MCAT (130 C/P, 130 CARS, 130 B/BC, 129 P/S)

- 3+ years of research in undergrad lab, no pubs, good recs, honors thesis

- lots of campus involvements with leadership 

- on campus job 

- global health experience abroad for a summer

- abroad research experience for a summer

- lots of clinic and non-clinical volunteering (500+ hours)

- shadowing (50ish hours)

- some prestigious awards

- solid letters

 

I am planning to apply to all the Ontario schools and maybe 2-3 other top schools in Canada. Let me know what you think. Appreciate it. 

 

I agree with everything nbgirl said, just make sure to calculate your GPA using the OMSAS scale (I'm not sure if the one that you posted is converted to that scale, also your sGPA is irrelevant for Canadian schools). Good luck! Your application looks strong overall. 

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Hi everyone,

 

Just looking to get some feedback and hopefully create a school list as money is a bit tight for me. I'm looking to apply to like 4-8 schools and I would love your guys input into which schools I should be looking at, as well as if I am a competitive applicant or not. I'm a little bit worried about GPA especially at ontario schools (OSMAS conversion hurts).

 

UG: Health Sciences (4th year)

School: Calgary (I do qualify for Alberta Residency)

GPA: 3.82 

OSMAS GPA: 3.76

 

MCAT: 517 (CP129 CARS128 BIO130 PSY130)

 

EC's

I've had a ton of employment, especially over the last couple of years. Some activities pick up intensity during the summer months when School isn't a factor.

1. Cook at a fine dining restaurant ~20 hrs/w (1.5 years (Continuing))

2. Research Associate (30hrs/w (6mo continuing) -- No pubs, but will likely have one at the end of the year (like next april).

3. Basketball referee (5 years, and now sit on a referees committee for Calgary minor basketball)

4. Started my own window washing and construction business with a friend of mine for summer 2014 just to pay some bills, we worked like 25 hrs/w over the summer.

5. Percussion instructor in a large community music ensemble. (600 hrs) (Same organization as the world class ensemble below)

 

Unpaid/volunteer Ec's

1. Hospital Volunteering in the ER ~70 hours (Continuing)

2. Started my own brass music ensemble and ran it with another friend of mine (250 hrs total)

3. Was a performer in a world class music ensemble for 5 years, totally 3500 hrs. (Also won 3 world championships during that time.)

4. Community Basketball coach, all age groups from 13y/o all the way to 18+ Year olds. (For last 5 years, estimated 1000 hrs.)

5. Currently the social media executives for two health charities run out of the university, (2 years, est. 300 hrs).

 

Also I don't know if it's relevant but I've traveled a bunch internationally, not for volunteering but more for tourism. A big experience that stuck with me was my group did a bit of volunteer work in an impoverished area in Brazil for a day and man that was an eye-opener. Additionally, I helped build a dam in a river for an elephant sanctuary in Malaysia. 

 

Thanks so much guys. With applications approaching I'm extremely nervous like everyone else ahahaha.

 

 

 

 

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Hi everyone,

 

Just looking to get some feedback and hopefully create a school list as money is a bit tight for me. I'm looking to apply to like 4-8 schools and I would love your guys input into which schools I should be looking at, as well as if I am a competitive applicant or not. I'm a little bit worried about GPA especially at ontario schools (OSMAS conversion hurts).

 

UG: Health Sciences (4th year)

School: Calgary (I do qualify for Alberta Residency)

GPA: 3.82 

OSMAS GPA: 3.76

 

MCAT: 517 (CP129 CARS128 BIO130 PSY130)

 

EC's

I've had a ton of employment, especially over the last couple of years. Some activities pick up intensity during the summer months when School isn't a factor.

1. Cook at a fine dining restaurant ~20 hrs/w (1.5 years (Continuing))

2. Research Associate (30hrs/w (6mo continuing) -- No pubs, but will likely have one at the end of the year (like next april).

3. Basketball referee (5 years, and now sit on a referees committee for Calgary minor basketball)

4. Started my own window washing and construction business with a friend of mine for summer 2014 just to pay some bills, we worked like 25 hrs/w over the summer.

5. Percussion instructor in a large community music ensemble. (600 hrs) (Same organization as the world class ensemble below)

 

Unpaid/volunteer Ec's

1. Hospital Volunteering in the ER ~70 hours (Continuing)

2. Started my own brass music ensemble and ran it with another friend of mine (250 hrs total)

3. Was a performer in a world class music ensemble for 5 years, totally 3500 hrs. (Also won 3 world championships during that time.)

4. Community Basketball coach, all age groups from 13y/o all the way to 18+ Year olds. (For last 5 years, estimated 1000 hrs.)

5. Currently the social media executives for two health charities run out of the university, (2 years, est. 300 hrs).

 

Also I don't know if it's relevant but I've traveled a bunch internationally, not for volunteering but more for tourism. A big experience that stuck with me was my group did a bit of volunteer work in an impoverished area in Brazil for a day and man that was an eye-opener. Additionally, I helped build a dam in a river for an elephant sanctuary in Malaysia. 

 

Thanks so much guys. With applications approaching I'm extremely nervous like everyone else ahahaha.

 

Re: an OOP school you could apply to - what's your yearly GPA breakdown? If it's 3.7+ for each year on the OMSAS scale you could consider applying to Dal, if you have any connection to the maritimes and/or interest in studying there. Your ECs look unique, and Dal's a pretty EC-heavy school, so it could be a good fit! They do require medically-relevant experience though, so be sure to keep volunteering in the hospital setting to keep it open as an option again next year, should you need to reapply. 

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Hello everyone,

 

I’ve been a long time stalker of these forums and I finally decided to make an account and post on here. My biggest concern for this year’s cycle is my ECs. I’d really appreciate any feedback on my chances of scoring an interview. I’m applying to 9 Canadian med schools.

 

Residency: Ontario (Aiming for Mac, Queen’s, UOttawa and UofT)

 

Academics: Health Sciences Bachelor’s Degree, doing another year in Human Kinetics to get the prereqs for UBC, MUN, and UofM.

 

GPA:  3.96 average on OMSAS scale

Year 1: 9.8 (3.98 OMSAS)

Year 2: 9.8 (3.98 OMSAS)

Year 3: 9.7 (3.97 OMSAS)

Year 4: 9.4 (3.91 OMSAS; if summer courses are included, 9.5)

 

Dalhousie: 4.0

MUN: 93%

UofM AGPA: 4.48

Unsure of UAA for USask, but definitely should meet the cutoff

UBC: 92.73 (AGPA: 93.25)

 

ECs:

 

Employment:

1. Worked in retail since I was 14 at 3 different locations.

-First: Cashier and customer service rep for 3 years, worked on average 16 hours/week

-Second: Department rep for 4 months on contract, 16-20 hours/week

-Third: Cashier for 2 years and ongoing, 10 hours/week while juggling other ECs

 

2. Did some private tutoring for a year in high school and did 30 hours currently as a second job to get some travel money.

 

3. 2 hours/week of beginner level piano tutoring during this summer and last summer.

 

Volunteer work:

 

1. Regretfully, I only did the bare minimum of volunteering hours in high school, and now I wish I knew how important this was for my sketch. Did 10 hours of piano tutoring during my spare period at a music teacher’s class, and 30 hours in a week of supervising and teaching martial arts students at a summer camp.

 

Picked up the slack in recent years to make up for lost time.

2. 50 hours of shadowing with a dentist. It was pretty cool. I got to see a couple of root canals and crown implants. I even got to see how they use algorithms and CGI to sculpt a model for a crown before it gets made.

 

3. Volunteering at a hospital for the last two years, ongoing. I would stock medical supplies and linens, clean beds, mostly maintenance work in the emergency ward. Got tired of it and switched to patient visitation at the telemetry ward, and now I’m loving every moment of it. 4 hours/week.

 

4. Assistant activity coordinator at a retirement home last summer, 3 hours/week. I’d play the piano in the lobby during spare time, otherwise the activities were usually playing cards, or warming up the residents with a morning exercise session.

 

5. Food preparation and line service at the homeless shelter in my city, ongoing, 3 hours/week. Get to practice my knife skills and make some awesome food.

 

6. 3 hours of shadowing with a renowned cardiologist in the city, who’s also the chief of internal medicine. Got to see him interact with patients, observe and ask questions about a cardiac ultrasound, and witness him dictate patient records in record time.

 

7. Going to volunteer in Morocco for a week in childcare. This where all the travel money went. I’ll know more about the whole experience when I get there.

 

Personal interest:

 

1. Taekwondo since age 11 and got my first degree black belt.

 

2. Piano player since age 10, grade 8 Royal Conservatory. Stopped taking classes, but I keep practicing during my free time.

 

3. Played in my school’s varsity badminton team for 3 years.

 

4. Outdoor basketball during the summer for 2 years

 

5. Squash at the gym, 1 hour/week. The rest is cardio and weightlifting.

 

6. Member of a club focused on public speaking improvement.

 

7. Do some gardening in my backyard when season comes

 

8. Trail biking and hiking occasionally with my outdoorsy group of friends.

 

Not sure if my research component is enough. Did a poster presentation at symposium at the university in my third year. I got a scholarship for my presentation (then again, everybody does). That summer, I volunteered at the hospital’s research institute. Put some wet lab work into a project on exercise potentially protecting rats from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease after being injected with organochlorines. It ended up turning into an honours thesis and an oral presentation.

 

I sincerely appreciate any comments you guys may have regarding my potential as a candidate.

 

Good luck to everyone applying this cycle :)

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Hello everyone,

 

I’ve been a long time stalker of these forums and I finally decided to make an account and post on here. My biggest concern for this year’s cycle is my ECs. I’d really appreciate any feedback on my chances of scoring an interview. I’m applying to 9 Canadian med schools.

 

Residency: Ontario (Aiming for Mac, Queen’s, UOttawa and UofT)

 

Academics: Health Sciences Bachelor’s Degree, doing another year in Human Kinetics to get the prereqs for UBC, MUN, and UofM.

 

GPA:  3.96 average on OMSAS scale

Year 1: 9.8 (3.98 OMSAS)

Year 2: 9.8 (3.98 OMSAS)

Year 3: 9.7 (3.97 OMSAS)

Year 4: 9.4 (3.91 OMSAS; if summer courses are included, 9.5)

 

Dalhousie: 4.0

MUN: 93%

UofM AGPA: 4.48

Unsure of UAA for USask, but definitely should meet the cutoff

UBC: 92.73 (AGPA: 93.25)

 

ECs:

 

Employment:

1. Worked in retail since I was 14 at 3 different locations.

-First: Cashier and customer service rep for 3 years, worked on average 16 hours/week

-Second: Department rep for 4 months on contract, 16-20 hours/week

-Third: Cashier for 2 years and ongoing, 10 hours/week while juggling other ECs

 

2. Did some private tutoring for a year in high school and did 30 hours currently as a second job to get some travel money.

 

3. 2 hours/week of beginner level piano tutoring during this summer and last summer.

 

Volunteer work:

 

1. Regretfully, I only did the bare minimum of volunteering hours in high school, and now I wish I knew how important this was for my sketch. Did 10 hours of piano tutoring during my spare period at a music teacher’s class, and 30 hours in a week of supervising and teaching martial arts students at a summer camp.

 

Picked up the slack in recent years to make up for lost time.

2. 50 hours of shadowing with a dentist. It was pretty cool. I got to see a couple of root canals and crown implants. I even got to see how they use algorithms and CGI to sculpt a model for a crown before it gets made.

 

3. Volunteering at a hospital for the last two years, ongoing. I would stock medical supplies and linens, clean beds, mostly maintenance work in the emergency ward. Got tired of it and switched to patient visitation at the telemetry ward, and now I’m loving every moment of it. 4 hours/week.

 

4. Assistant activity coordinator at a retirement home last summer, 3 hours/week. I’d play the piano in the lobby during spare time, otherwise the activities were usually playing cards, or warming up the residents with a morning exercise session.

 

5. Food preparation and line service at the homeless shelter in my city, ongoing, 3 hours/week. Get to practice my knife skills and make some awesome food.

 

6. 3 hours of shadowing with a renowned cardiologist in the city, who’s also the chief of internal medicine. Got to see him interact with patients, observe and ask questions about a cardiac ultrasound, and witness him dictate patient records in record time.

 

7. Going to volunteer in Morocco for a week in childcare. This where all the travel money went. I’ll know more about the whole experience when I get there.

 

Personal interest:

 

1. Taekwondo since age 11 and got my first degree black belt.

 

2. Piano player since age 10, grade 8 Royal Conservatory. Stopped taking classes, but I keep practicing during my free time.

 

3. Played in my school’s varsity badminton team for 3 years.

 

4. Outdoor basketball during the summer for 2 years

 

5. Squash at the gym, 1 hour/week. The rest is cardio and weightlifting.

 

6. Member of a club focused on public speaking improvement.

 

7. Do some gardening in my backyard when season comes

 

8. Trail biking and hiking occasionally with my outdoorsy group of friends.

 

Not sure if my research component is enough. Did a poster presentation at symposium at the university in my third year. I got a scholarship for my presentation (then again, everybody does). That summer, I volunteered at the hospital’s research institute. Put some wet lab work into a project on exercise potentially protecting rats from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease after being injected with organochlorines. It ended up turning into an honours thesis and an oral presentation.

 

I sincerely appreciate any comments you guys may have regarding my potential as a candidate.

 

Good luck to everyone applying this cycle :)

 

MCAT?

 

Your application so far looks pretty strong to me. 

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MCAT?

 

Your application so far looks pretty strong to me. 

 

Oh man. I completely forgot to put that in. Thank you for reminding me.

 

MCAT: 518 (131 CHEM; 127 CARS; 131 BIO; 129 PSY)

 

I'm also going to remove the piano tutoring from my employment section, since the only person available who can verify for me is my aunt (I tutored my cousins for period of time). It's a loss I'll have to accept. I'd rather not have it on my sketch than have a red flag on my applications that will follow me around in the future.

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I finished my undergraduate degree with no interest in medicine. I have taken a year off and have become interested in medicine. by the time I apply for medical school I will be three years out of school. I am from ontario and did Bsc in Psychology (honours).

This is the breakdown of my grades:

1 year: 3.3 , 27 credits

2 year: 3.27 , 27 credits

3 year: 3.86, 27 credits

4th year: 3.98 , 30 credits

My cgpa is 3.66 including three summer courses and my two last year is 3.92. Unfortunately I dont think I qualify for western because I haven't taken full year course load in my third year and I also didnt take a lot of 3rd year level courses in my third year because I had to take some of my prerequisite as I changed my major. If back then I knew I wanted to do medicine I would have chosen my courses and my course load properly, but what is done is done. I'd like to know what I should do now.

I have not written the MCAT yet but I am a very studious and hardworking person and I know I can get a good score.

I have 3 years of research experience, work as a private teacher, I have done a lot of community volunteering etc...

Now what are my chances? which schools I should look into? what should I do at this point (other than clinical experience and writing my MCAT) ?

Sorry for the long question, I appreciate any response.

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Into my 4th year undergrad at UofT life science. I feel like my ECs are at a weak point right now. 

 

Residence: Toronto, Ontario

 

OMSAS GPA:

 

Year 1: 3.81

Year 2: 3.87

Year 3: 3.9

Year 4 : ?

 

MCAT: 517 (129 CHEM, 128 CARS, 130 BIO, 130 PSY)

 

ECs: 

  • Exec in two campus clubs.
  • A summer job at Wonderland during high school.
  • A job in the summer of Year 1 and 2 at Harveys.
  • Currently doing volunteering at a hospital for 2 years.
  • Played the Cello but don't have any tangible certifications so I will probably leave it out.
  • A few high school subject rewards.
  • Volunteered to build playgrounds in the Toronto community.
  • Volunteered for the Liberal party ( I am really not sure if I should put this in because it might send messages if someone has different views)
  • A few DECA awards (though not an achievment anymore since DECA gives a ton of awards now, really inflated)
  • Was offered a chance to go to the ICDC DECA conference but turned it down because of the costs. 
  • No research experience

I feel like everything right now is too dull. There really is not much that I stand out in. Even GPA and MCAT is average or on the lower side. I'm also from a low-income household. Household income of about $50k with me included. 

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Into my 4th year undergrad at UofT life science. I feel like my ECs are at a weak point right now. 

 

Residence: Toronto, Ontario

 

OMSAS GPA:

 

Year 1: 3.81

Year 2: 3.87

Year 3: 3.9

Year 4 : ?

 

MCAT: 517 (129 CHEM, 128 CARS, 130 BIO, 130 PSY)

 

ECs: 

  • Exec in two campus clubs.
  • A summer job at Wonderland during high school.
  • A job in the summer of Year 1 and 2 at Harveys.
  • Currently doing volunteering at a hospital for 2 years.
  • Played the Cello but don't have any tangible certifications so I will probably leave it out.
  • A few high school subject rewards.
  • Volunteered to build playgrounds in the Toronto community.
  • Volunteered for the Liberal party ( I am really not sure if I should put this in because it might send messages if someone has different views)
  • A few DECA awards (though not an achievment anymore since DECA gives a ton of awards now, really inflated)
  • Was offered a chance to go to the ICDC DECA conference but turned it down because of the costs. 
  • No research experience

I feel like everything right now is too dull. There really is not much that I stand out in. Even GPA and MCAT is average or on the lower side. I'm also from a low-income household. Household income of about $50k with me included. 

Your GPA and MCAT are great. You're good to go (as good as anyone can be) for all ON schools but Western, unless your SWOMEN and Northern, unless you're rural, etc. 

 

Now, about your money concerns, My advice as well is to spend time now making your UofT essays as genuine and articulate/concise and personal as you can. Then, apply for the Admissions Bursary (they'll tell you about it if you interview). The bursary covers virtually the entire tuition, and theres at least 10 given per year....and keep in mind that the average med applicant doesn't exactly come from an average income family. My family made slightly more, although I have several siblings which may influence things, but you would (I think) have a good shot at the bursary, which I'm sure you would agree is pretty close to life-changing. Sounds cheesy, but it is. Even if you don't get the UofT bursary, my experience has been that once you're in, finances are not a worry for most. You'll be ok.

 

So work hard on your essays, practice like crazy for interviews with anyone who will listen (even better if they aren't all other med applicants! Perspective is good) and you have the potential to be in the clear from needing to re-apply. I get that the fees to apply are scary, and applying 2 years in a row would be challenging, but just worry about that if it happens

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Hey guys, long time lurker, first time poster. Thought I'd make an account just for this.

 

Province of residency: Saskatchewan

 

Degree: Bachelor of Science, honors

 

Averages:

 

1st Year: 88.4  3.8 GPA

2nd Year: 94.0 4.0 GPA

3rd Year: 93.7 3.99 GPA

 

MCAT: 522  (132 C/P, 131 Bio, 130 Psych/Soc, 129 CARS) Sadly CARS is my lowest. :(

 

EC's:

 

About 100 hours volunteering at a hospital, portering patients, changing beds, assisting nurses, training volunteers.

About 150 hours at a clinic, preparing food, babysitting children of patients, and supervising the volunteers (approximately 15 per shift).

 

Both of the above are in an underprivileged and largely aboriginal part of the city.

 

Volunteer physics and organic chemistry tutor, approximately 75 hours between three different people, and various other people that have requested help.

 

I recently just joined the student society for my program. I'm responsible for free drop in tutoring and putting together lectures and tutorials for the intro level classes.

 

I also participated in many sports in high school and was the captain of the football and basketball team in my senior year.

 

Work:

 

Worked for a school division for two summers in high school, mainly did maintenance work. 40 hr/week for 8 weeks per summer for two summers.

 

Worked for a construction company for two summers during my freshman and sophomore year. 40-60 hr/week for 16 weeks per summer, and drop in work occasionally in my junior year when they had projects and needed an extra worker.

 

Worked for the universities athletic department, working at football, volleyball, and basketball games. Approximately 50 hours in total. The only thing about this is my supervisor got let go, and I decided I was too busy to continue working with the new supervisor. I do not know who to put to vouch for this, but I do have the paycheque history that I could show them.

 

Research:

 

A summer of research in a lab. Will have one poster at a school competition, likely will be an author on a paper or two but will not be published by the time I apply to med school. My contract was for 40 hours/week but I averaged 50-60 hours a week so I don't know what to put for hours.

 

My honours thesis will be research based. Will not have started the research before I apply for schools though.

 

Awards:

 

A few awards through my school, mostly program related so I don't know if I should put them on my application or not.

NSERC URSA, funded my research over the past summer.

 

 

I just want to know what you guys think would be my chances at the schools, particularly the western schools. (UBC, Sask, Calgary, Alberta, Manitoba), and maybe some of the ones in Ontario and Quebec. I know it's a stretch, but would it even be worth it to apply to McMaster, Mcgill or Western?

 

 

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read through this, any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

Xaphoon

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Hey guys, long time lurker, first time poster. Thought I'd make an account just for this.

 

 

Province of residency: Saskatchewan

 

Degree: Bachelor of Science, honors

 

Averages:

 

1st Year: 88.4 3.8 GPA

2nd Year: 94.0 4.0 GPA

3rd Year: 93.7 3.99 GPA

 

MCAT: 522 (132 C/P, 131 Bio, 130 Psych/Soc, 129 CARS) Sadly CARS is my lowest. :(

 

EC's:

 

About 100 hours volunteering at a hospital, portering patients, changing beds, assisting nurses, training volunteers.

About 150 hours at a clinic, preparing food, babysitting children of patients, and supervising the volunteers (approximately 15 per shift).

 

Both of the above are in an underprivileged and largely aboriginal part of the city.

 

Volunteer physics and organic chemistry tutor, approximately 75 hours between three different people, and various other people that have requested help.

 

I recently just joined the student society for my program. I'm responsible for free drop in tutoring and putting together lectures and tutorials for the intro level classes.

 

I also participated in many sports in high school and was the captain of the football and basketball team in my senior year.

 

Work:

 

Worked for a school division for two summers in high school, mainly did maintenance work. 40 hr/week for 8 weeks per summer for two summers.

 

Worked for a construction company for two summers during my freshman and sophomore year. 40-60 hr/week for 16 weeks per summer, and drop in work occasionally in my junior year when they had projects and needed an extra worker.

 

Worked for the universities athletic department, working at football, volleyball, and basketball games. Approximately 50 hours in total. The only thing about this is my supervisor got let go, and I decided I was too busy to continue working with the new supervisor. I do not know who to put to vouch for this, but I do have the paycheque history that I could show them.

 

Research:

 

A summer of research in a lab. Will have one poster at a school competition, likely will be an author on a paper or two but will not be published by the time I apply to med school. My contract was for 40 hours/week but I averaged 50-60 hours a week so I don't know what to put for hours.

 

My honours thesis will be research based. Will not have started the research before I apply for schools though.

 

Awards:

 

A few awards through my school, mostly program related so I don't know if I should put them on my application or not.

NSERC URSA, funded my research over the past summer.

 

 

I just want to know what you guys think would be my chances at the schools, particularly the western schools. (UBC, Sask, Calgary, Alberta, Manitoba), and maybe some of the ones in Ontario and Quebec. I know it's a stretch, but would it even be worth it to apply to McMaster, Mcgill or Western?

 

 

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read through this, any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

Xaphoon

Your numbers are strong. Apply everywhere.

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