Guest Bleepo Posted February 18, 2003 Report Share Posted February 18, 2003 In light of this GPA talk, does anyone know if we need to send in our final transcript (at the end of April) for the current year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bleepo Posted February 18, 2003 Report Share Posted February 18, 2003 Oh, one more thing about GPA's ... do they use the ones calculated by OMSAS? Or does UT have their own method of calculating GPA's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peachy Posted February 18, 2003 Report Share Posted February 18, 2003 U of T uses OMSAS GPAs, and applies a weighting scheme if you've completed enough years and maintained a full courseload. There are full details on their website. I don't have a clue about updating transcripts, but I feel confident that if it's necessary they'll let us know I doubt that they are going to have successful candidates not get in cause they don't know about updating transcripts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest vanquish444 Posted February 25, 2003 Report Share Posted February 25, 2003 are u 100% sure? cuz i will be extremely happy if thats true a friend of mine is currently in windsor studyin art he took all the basic required courses (bio, chem, etc) but then he only did okay on those (most are just B+) yet he did extremely well in his art programs (4.0 gpa) if u compare a life sci student with him using only gpa, i would say that is totally unfair>: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UWOMED2005 Posted February 25, 2003 Report Share Posted February 25, 2003 Oh no - not this topic again! Oh well, I enjoy discussing it. I did a combined biochem and micro/immuno degree, but also took a lot of arts (humanities - history, classics, philosophy, and the like) courses as well. From my experience it was WAY easier to get great marks (ie 90+, even true for 80+) in the science courses than in the Arts courses I took. Why? The science courses used objective tests for evaluation - if you knew your stuff, you'd regurgitate it back or fill in the right bubble on the exam. In arts courses, most of the evaluation was essay based, and the profs opinions on essays could vary widely. It was usually easy to pass the courses with little effort, but extremely difficult to excel (I found the opposite true in my science courses.) I also found many arts profs only gave high marks if you really impressed them. . . some thought an a A- was a phenomenal mark. One arts course I took gave 2 'A's and seven "A-"s to a class of 230 students - that same course had given out only one "A+" in the 25 years of the program - bad news if your goal is med school! From my experience, to CONSISTENTLY get A- marks and above is pretty impressive - it means you must be blowing the pants off ALL your profs with ALL your essays. Of course, a lot depends on the school and what program your studying - I'm sure there are departments out there where the marking is easier, and I have noticed that many social science programs use a lot of multiple choice tests to evaluate students - which are much easier to "ace" than essays. But categorically suggesting that it's easier to get 'A's in arts program than Human Biology is a bit ignorant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest vanquish444 Posted February 26, 2003 Report Share Posted February 26, 2003 but then, some are definitely easier, u cant deny that, yo its just like this at ut, different programs require different course levels some require 250, 350 some require 210, 310 ............. how about that? know what im sayin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chieka Posted February 26, 2003 Report Share Posted February 26, 2003 Wow UWOMED2005 - you very nicely articulated something I've thought for ages! I took A LOT of art courses in undergrad and I agree with you 100%. Now if only the admissions committee thought the same way. :rollin C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UWOMED2005 Posted February 26, 2003 Report Share Posted February 26, 2003 No, I don't. Then again, U of T wasn't my undergrad school. Yeah, some courses are definitely easier than others. The easiest course I ever took was a 4th year Immunology course - you can't tell how easy a course is from its course codes. The hardest course I ever took (at least in terms of getting that magic A-) was the aforementioned course with one 'A+' in 25 years of the program. . . it was a first year combined english/history/philosophy course. Course codes can be deceiving. I think the reason med schools take all schools and all courses at par is that to give people fair weighting, they'd have to assess every course at every school, and probaly have to do that every year. That's a ridiculous proposition. But I will point out two things. First, the MCAT was developed with this exact thing in mind, to assess applicants coming from a wide range of backgrounds. Two - you're right, there are people who choose bird courses or even perceived bird majors to try and get in med school. It browns me off too, considering I chose my double major (Biochem & Micro) specifically because I didn't want to get in because I took the biology program (which I felt was easier at my school.) That tactic can backfire, thought. I've known people who chose arts degrees thinking they'd be easier to get a good GPA in. . . and then had it backfire when they realized the program they thought was "bird" was actually pretty tough. Plus - even if it does work, you still have to hack med school once you're in the system - I can see nothing in worse than getting into med school without being capable of finishing the MD, getting a few years and tens of thousands of dollars in debt, and THEN having to give up the MD dream. I agree with your point that it's unfair that some people get penalized for taking harder courses. But there's not really anything you can do about it. And it's not a good idea to assume programs you aren't in are easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest vanquish444 Posted March 1, 2003 Report Share Posted March 1, 2003 ya, i totally agree but then.... why do med schools weigh gpa and mcat with the same %? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cheech10 Posted March 1, 2003 Report Share Posted March 1, 2003 Med schools DON'T weigh GPA and MCAT equally. Most Ontario schools only use the MCAT as a cut-off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest V Posted March 3, 2003 Report Share Posted March 3, 2003 except at western... 25% each Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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