high chances for admissions??

[Guest ioncannon97]

I was thinking about the admissions processes in the three MCAT Ontario Schools and am starting to believe that the admission process after the interview stage is not that difficult. From what I have read on these boards, Toronto Western, and Queen's call approximately 400-450 people for an interview. The process for getting an interview at Western and Queen's is almost identical (isn't it??) and Toronto is similar (though the essay counts for a lot there). Thus, I think that the 400-450 interviews at each school must have many people which attend 2 or even 3 interviews so that the total # of people is probably 600-700. Considering that the total # of spots in these three schools is over 400, and that some of these 600-700 people attend Ottawa, Mac, or out of province schools, the chances for admission if called for multiple interviews at these three school is really high. Am I getting something wrong here in my math or assumptions made?? Does anyone agree with me?? Also, for those med students that help or have helped out with interviews, do most interviewees at Toronto also have interviews at Western and/or Queens??

[Guest aneliz]

I would agree that the process for getting an interview at these three schools is pretty much the same (especially UWO and Queens). UofT adds some variety by factoring in the essay which means that some of the people with high GPAs and MCATs that are interviewed by UWO and Queens get a rejection from UofT presumably due to their 'personal factors'.

 

You are correct in your thinking that there are over 400 seats between these three schools (133 at UWO, 198 at UofT and 96 at Queens?). However, I would estimate that there are probably about 800-900+ people in the total pool of interviewees for these three schools. Western will interview about 400 people, UofT interviewed about 400 last year and I assume that Queens did the same.

 

Last year, I had interviews at UofT and UWO (didn't apply to Queens). From the students that I talked to (other interviewees), I would say that about half of them had other med school interviews that year...including all five Ontario, out of province and US schools. The rest only had one interview - either because they only applied to one school or because they had missed the criteria for an interview at one of the other schools by a really small margin....As an example, if you have a 9 VR you made the UWO cuts last year but not the Queens cuts (needed 10) or if you had an 11 VR but a 3.64 best year GPA you would have been interviewed by Queens but not UWO. I would say that very few of the people I talked to interviewed at all three of these schools and even fewer interviewed at all five Ontario schools....keep in mind that most people (according to OMSAS stats) apply to 2 or 3 schools.

 

Of course after the interview, it is your interview that will make or break your application. At Queens your personal factors become worth 100% of your admissions decision, at UWO the interview is worth 50% and I think at UofT its 20%. If you interview poorly at all three schools, your chance of admission is probably pretty low despite the ratio of pool to seats. If you interview well, your chances are probably pretty good. Given that one person can ultimately only hold one seat, I would say that if you interviewed well at all three schools, your chances of admission are probably about 50% - much better then the 17% chance if you consider the entire pre-interview applicant pool! However, I think more people end up initially on a waiting list then there are individual people initially accepted (and a lot of people end up on multiple waiting lists)....because the top *star* candidates get accepted first round by all three schools. Whether you will move off of these lists will be a function of how well your interview went. And remember....getting an interview doesn't provide any guarantees....both UWO and Queens (not sure about UofT) send out a number of rejections to people that were interviewed....Last year, UWO offered 234 acceptances to fill 133 seats...after interviewing 420 people. Chances of getting in once you have an interview are about 50%.

[Guest Biochem10]

Hi, I can't speak for anyone else, but out of those 3 schools I only applied to U of T. I didn't apply to Queen's because of a 9 in VR and I didn't apply to Western because I didn't have 3 non-science courses. I'm sure that there are others like me out there, so I think aneliz is right when she says that between the 3 schools there is probably 800 + interviewees, which means that there won't be that many candidates accepted at all three schools. Too bad because it would be nice if being interviewed was almost a guaranteed acceptance.

[Guest therealcrackers]

Once you get an interview, it's a sign that you have the qualifications on paper to be a medical student. Now they have to find out who you are. This process will repeat when it comes to electives, and residency matches, and career opportunities. It's a bit of a crapshoot at this point. But the interview is your best chance to show them the 4-dimensional person you are, rather than that which has been compressed onto a 2-dimensional computer screen or piece of paper. If you have the personality and attributes that make you the person the med schools are looking for, just be yourself and it will reflect accordingly in your interview results. If you get anxious etc. and can't show that, practice getting comfortable.

 

Out of those 800 to 900, about 400 will get seats eventually at the three schools mentioned. Playing the odds games and intellectualizing the process is not the point here---you've already proven that you can do that with your 2-D application. Doctors are people. And now the admissions people want to get to know you, because your 2-D self can be contained in a Palm Pilot on the wards, but you as a person have to go in the room and talk to the patients, the family, the colleagues. The interview is the time to show you can do that.

 

Good luck!

 

Moderator, UWO Med 2 --- and yes, I am the bagel guy from FSS

[Guest PhantomPhoenix]

If you're applying to one of the cut-off schools..it looks like a 50/50 shot once u get an interview.

 

The people that get accepted to 3 or so schools hold the cards...once they choose where they want to go...everyone else falls into place

 

I figure the majority that get accepted to UofT are also accepted to at least at Queens or Western.

 

I know someone who got accepted at Ottawa, Queens, Western and Toronto...and he didn't bother applying to Mac.....once people like him...then it becomes a trickle down effect.

[Guest Sil]

I am one of those people that made the Western cuts but not the Queens with a 9VR. I also tend to think that if you interview at multiple places your chances go up. I know of at least one classmate who got accepted to 4 medical schools in Ontario (no Mac) and two that got into both U of T and U of O. I have not asked all of my classmates but it seems like a lot of people held more than one acceptance.