Questions for third year applicants!

[nerv12]

Just some questions for the third year applicants.....

 

1. How many schools can you apply to?

2. When did you take your MCAT? (im guessing summer of 2nd year?)

3. Do schools look at you differently as compared to students with a degree? preference wise?

4. Is this true? - you have to maintain a certain GPA for the whole year in order to keep your admission.

5. Were you able to complete all of the med school pre-requisites in 3 years?

6. Where did you go for undergrad? if you don't mind sharing

 

thanks and I hope this helps others too

[nerv12]

ahhh common there were so many 3rd year applicants accepted :/

[abcwxyz]

Just some questions for the third year applicants.....

 

1. How many schools can you apply to?

2. When did you take your MCAT? (im guessing summer of 2nd year?)

3. Do schools look at you differently as compared to students with a degree? preference wise?

4. Is this true? - you have to maintain a certain GPA for the whole year in order to keep your admission.

5. Were you able to complete all of the med school pre-requisites in 3 years?

6. Where did you go for undergrad? if you don't mind sharing

 

thanks and I hope this helps others too

 

1. I applied to 5. Sask, UT, UofO, Queen's, Mac. You could probably apple to Alberta, BC and Manitoba as well depending on what prerequisites you have.

 

2. Summer of 2nd year.

 

3. Not at Mac, Queen's or Sask. Definitely at UT and Ottawa.

 

4. Yes, but it's usually pretty lenient. We aren't talking 4.0. For example, you have to maintain 3.0 cGPA after 3rd year to keep your Mac offer.

 

5. Yes for the ones I applied to, but not English which is why I didn't apply to BC or Alta.

 

6. I went to U of T.

[future_doc]

......3. Not at Mac.....

 

I disagree. I believe at Mac as a third year applicant, you need to be heads and shoulders above a graduating student for serious consideration. I say this based upon my learning experience with my application this now almost completed admissions season. where I never got to the interview stage:( at Mac.

[abcwxyz]

I disagree. I believe at Mac as a third year applicant, you need to be heads and shoulders above a graduating student for serious consideration. I say this based upon my learning experience with my application this now almost completed admissions season. where I never got to the interview stage:( at Mac.

 

 

Mac uses a very unbiased way of deciding who does and does not get an interview, and your interviewers do not have any idea what year you are in during the interview.

 

I think that two years ago, the majority of students matriculating at Mac were from 3rd year. Last year, http://fhs.mcmaster.ca/mdprog/documents/2011stats_000.pdf

[ontariostudent]

I didn't apply as a 3rd year, but my guess is that there are two possible strikes against you when you do.

1) Some schools prefer 4th years over 3rd years just because.

2) 3rd years are usually younger with less experience, so even with a stellar GPA and MCAT, they will often be at a disadvantage because they just had fewer chances and less time to beef up the non-academic part of their applications.

 

This is similar to what happens when a graduate student applies to a school with no grad review policy. Being a grad student may not automatically give you extra points, but because graduate students tend to have a wider range of experience than undergrads (this is a generalization and obviously doesn't apply in every situation), they will often have an advantage.

 

If two people with identical stats apply, they will look at your ECs and other parts of the applications. Those in 4th year have usually had more time to work on these, so they will stand out more. If you're applying in 3rd year, it's therefore important to have an impressive range of ECs that will allow you to compete with people who have had more years to work on theirs.

[future_doc]

Mac uses a very unbiased way of deciding who does and does not get an interview, and your interviewers do not have any idea what year you are in during the interview.

 

I think that two years ago, the majority of students matriculating at Mac were from 3rd year. Last year, http://fhs.mcmaster.ca/mdprog/documents/2011stats_000.pdf

 

Yes, I fully understand that Mac has a good process of selection, but somehow, I got the impression that 3rd years must be above the cut for serious consideration when deciding for the interview cut and are at a disadvanatge to those entering their final year of undergrad, i.e., that they have to be better than 4th yr applicants.

 

I looked at the site you referenced and note that they only accepted "1" in a 3 yr programfor Bachelors in Progress. Perhaps, I don't understand the question or the stats, but I thought by 3rd year, we are referring to an applicant who applies 2 years before obtaining a degree instead of just one year before obtaining a degree. I am entering my last year of undergrad in Sept '09 and applied to Mac in Sept '08. I aplogize for being confused.

[abcwxyz]

Yes, I fully understand that Mac has a good process of selection, but somehow, I got the impression that 3rd years must be above the cut for serious consideration when deciding for the interview cut and are at a disadvanatge to those entering their final year of undergrad, i.e., that they have to be better than 4th yr applicants.

 

I looked at the site you referenced and note that they only accepted "1" in a 3 yr programfor Bachelors in Progress. Perhaps, I don't understand the question or the stats, but I thought by 3rd year, we are referring to an applicant who applies 2 years before obtaining a degree instead of just one year before obtaining a degree. I am entering my last year of undergrad in Sept '09 and applied to Mac in Sept '08. I aplogize for being confused.

 

Well, I don't think you can tell from the bachelor's in progress link because it just means that someone was doing their bachelors at the time of application. 3 year program means they were doing a 3 year program, not that they were in 3rd year of a 4 year program.

 

I think the more descriptive stat is that 34 people were 19 or younger at the time of application. Assuming a conventional progression through the school system, you'd be 19 at the time of application if you were 3rd year born after October.

 

I'm unsure of any hidden bias pre-interview but I guess I don't know for sure.

[future_doc]

....I'm unsure of any hidden bias pre-interview but I guess I don't know for sure.

 

I am not suggesting a hidden bias pre-interview, rather that the other applicant with more university behind him/her is considered bringing more to the table b/c of greater academic history....so, things being equal, I believe you need to be exceptional as an earlier applicant. My GPA was 3.74, loads of volunteering and ECs and my ABS was vetted by more than one physician and was told, my answers were 'excellent'. Now, my cGPA is 3.80, I have hundreds of more hours of experience working with patients in EMS and rehabilitation, [my weighted GPA for U/T is 3.88] and so, I am a more attractive applicant, bringing more to the table this year.

[nerv12]

awesome replies! thanks guys

 

since you need to have a lot of EC's and stuff, if you are planning to apply in your 3rd year, is it better to start the volunteering and stuff in your first year of university?

[ontariostudent]

awesome replies! thanks guys

 

since you need to have a lot of EC's and stuff, if you are planning to apply in your 3rd year, is it better to start the volunteering and stuff in your first year of university?

 

It's never too early to start, but be careful not to let your ECs get in the way of GPA.

[future_doc]

since you need to have a lot of EC's and stuff, if you are planning to apply in your 3rd year, is it better to start the volunteering and stuff in your first year of university?

 

Absolutely. Ontariostudent said it well in both comments. Remember, the transition to university can be challenging and you want to maintain the best possible grades, so know your priorities, budget your time well and pace yourself, this is a marathon not a short race. In my case, I don't have a social life, there is just no time for one, and I am always busy with classes, assignments, interning with patients for credit, doing volunteer EMS, other volunteering and my ECs. Literally, I have no free time. I am not complaining, I am glad being so busy and enjoy everything I do.

[sbrugby]

I disagree. I believe at Mac as a third year applicant, you need to be heads and shoulders above a graduating student for serious consideration. I say this based upon my learning experience with my application this now almost completed admissions season. where I never got to the interview stage:( at Mac.

 

Well, Mac only looks at GPA + your 5 questions for determining who moves on to the interview, so I don't see why 3rd years would be disadvantaged in any way.

 

I knew of and/or met a lot of 3rd years who had a Mac interview this year, as well as quite a few who were accepted.

[ontariostudent]

Answering the questions well takes life experience and maturity. They may not directly look at your ECs, but it's the job of the applicant to convey in 5 short answers why they are good candidates. From what I've heard from people who read these essays, they expect to see your experiences and how they have influenced you.

[sbrugby]

^Oh yah, I agree with all of that, I just meant that Mac doesn't evaluate your application differently just because of what year you are in. All applicants are on equal ground in that sense.

[steveoph]

awesome replies! thanks guys

 

since you need to have a lot of EC's and stuff, if you are planning to apply in your 3rd year, is it better to start the volunteering and stuff in your first year of university?

 

Definitely start in your 1st year; that way in 2nd and 3rd year you can take on leadership roles.

 

Also I really don't think being in 3rd year decreases your chance of success at McMaster in any way; like someone said they don't even now what year you're in (Although one interviewer did ask me, just as a curiosity question though since she was super friendly/nice). Lots of 3rd years got in, judging by the fellow 2010's in the facebook group.

[Exia]

Just some questions for the third year applicants.....

 

1. How many schools can you apply to?

2. When did you take your MCAT? (im guessing summer of 2nd year?)

3. Do schools look at you differently as compared to students with a degree? preference wise?

4. Is this true? - you have to maintain a certain GPA for the whole year in order to keep your admission.

5. Were you able to complete all of the med school pre-requisites in 3 years?

6. Where did you go for undergrad? if you don't mind sharing

 

thanks and I hope this helps others too

 

 

1. I applied to 7 personally (the other ones were shown from that other guy's posts): UofA, UofC, Queen's, Sask, UBC, UofT, UOttawa

2. Took it twice, first time after 1st year and second after 2nd year. (did competitively on both though, just retook it the second time to improve my application).

3. UofA has a limited amount of seats available to 2nd/3rds. UofC I believe does, but I don't remember any specific weighting against (statistically speaking there's a lot less of us). Queen's, I dont think so. Sask, UBC, UofT and Uottawa I have no idea though.

4. See above

5. Yup, had them all done by second year (only had biochem/physics left for 2nd year, I crammed all my pre-req's into first year).

6. Ualberta.

7. As for ECs, I actually had started my ECs a lot earlier, most (and especially the big ones) dating back to high school. Some as far back as Grade 10/11 (I did high school in alberta, and we have Grade 1 - 12).