Good idea to do undergrad away from Ontario in another province?

[xi88]

I'm a NS resident right now. If I were to take my undergrad at UofC, would I be able to apply to UofC AND Dal as an IP?

 

No you cannot. Dal's website states that if you apply to more than one med school, Dal will only consider your application if you applied to all the schools with the same residency status.

[HBP]

Yea, but read my post above (post #22). If you've been in Ontario for high school, you actually do qualify as an Ontario resident, meaning you are one of those 90% who can get an interview. Am I missing something here?

 

edit: just out of curiousity, if you knew about the disadvantage, why didn't you move out? (im sure you have good reasons, im just wondering is all)

 

You're missing something. Ultimately, they still give advantage to Ontario students. Your post implied no school does that (except for SWOMEN and Northern applicants).

It's analogous to saying, "IP status doesn't exist at any school because you can just go live there". (Obviously, not all schools have that possibility, but you can see the faulty reasoning)

 

Dunno, don't have a good reason. Didn't want to leave. I also went to UTSG even though practically everyone says it's a tough school to get the GPA for med...

 

Maybe I like to make things interesting?

[DOC_Ma]

It is a good strategy man, I regret not doing it. Now its just damn too late, I just hope I get into a med school from this application cycle

[HBP]

It is a good strategy man, I regret not doing it. Now its just damn too late, I just hope I get into a med school from this application cycle

 

I'm considering moving to Alberta over the summer if I don't get in...

 

Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

[KamG]

CALGARY Cutoff Scores (for reference) LAST Cycle (from their website):

 

Cutoff Score for invitation to MMI: Albertan - 68.4374 / Non-Albertan - 74.5626

i.e. this is the lowest pre-MMI score of applicants offered an interview.

 

Post-MMI Cutoff Score for Admission on May 15: Albertan - 69.86 / Non-Albertan - 72.98 i.e. This is the lowest total score for applicants offered an admission on May 15th.

 

Post-MMI Cutoff Score for Placement on the Waitlist on May 15: Albertan - 63.305 / Non-Albertan - 63.65 i.e. This is the lowest score for applicants placed on the waitlist on May 15th.

 

Cutoff Score for Admission 2008/09: Albertan - 66.31

Cutoff Score for Admission 2008/09: Non-Albertan - 63.65

i.e. This was the lowest score of an applicant admitted to the class of 2012.

 

 

 

Moving to alberta for ip status isn't that good of an idea in my opinion. Last year it was easier to get into calgary as an oop (63.65/100 required) than an ip (66.31/100 required). There were some ip applicants that could have gotten in had they been oop (ie, people with final scores between 63.65 and 66.31)

[Strategy99]

CALGARY Cutoff Scores (for reference) LAST Cycle (from their website):

 

Cutoff Score for invitation to MMI: Albertan - 68.4374 / Non-Albertan - 74.5626

i.e. this is the lowest pre-MMI score of applicants offered an interview.

 

Post-MMI Cutoff Score for Admission on May 15: Albertan - 69.86 / Non-Albertan - 72.98 i.e. This is the lowest total score for applicants offered an admission on May 15th.

 

Post-MMI Cutoff Score for Placement on the Waitlist on May 15: Albertan - 63.305 / Non-Albertan - 63.65 i.e. This is the lowest score for applicants placed on the waitlist on May 15th.

 

Cutoff Score for Admission 2008/09: Albertan - 66.31

Cutoff Score for Admission 2008/09: Non-Albertan - 63.65

i.e. This was the lowest score of an applicant admitted to the class of 2012.

 

 

 

Moving to alberta for ip status isn't that good of an idea in my opinion. Last year it was easier to get into calgary as an oop (63.65/100 required) than an ip (66.31/100 required). There were some ip applicants that could have gotten in had they been oop (ie, people with final scores between 63.65 and 66.31)

 

Where would you suggest we go instead of Alberta?

 

I think the thing you're missing here, is that Alberta/Calgary reserve these seats specifically for the residents of Alberta. Sure, OOP was easier last year but there are only like 8 seats for OOP, whereas there are 160 (guess) reserved specifically for Albertans.

 

What we need now to come to a final consensus is the % who get interviewed as IP compared with the % who get in. (as IP). If it's something like 50%, then that is pretty darn good, no? At Western, 480 are interviews and 160 are accepted (about 33%).

[Strategy99]

It is a good strategy man, I regret not doing it. Now its just damn too late, I just hope I get into a med school from this application cycle

 

I am seriously considering doing it. I am looking at the pros/cons right now of going to Alberta vs. going to Western here in Ontario.

 

Of course, before I decide, I am going to visit U of A and U of C to decide which is better for me (if any) and see which environment suits me best. Of course, I have to feel like I am comfortable or else I won't do well, which defeats the purpose of going in the first place

[HBP]

CALGARY Cutoff Scores (for reference) LAST Cycle (from their website):

 

Cutoff Score for invitation to MMI: Albertan - 68.4374 / Non-Albertan - 74.5626

i.e. this is the lowest pre-MMI score of applicants offered an interview.

 

Post-MMI Cutoff Score for Admission on May 15: Albertan - 69.86 / Non-Albertan - 72.98 i.e. This is the lowest total score for applicants offered an admission on May 15th.

 

Post-MMI Cutoff Score for Placement on the Waitlist on May 15: Albertan - 63.305 / Non-Albertan - 63.65 i.e. This is the lowest score for applicants placed on the waitlist on May 15th.

 

Cutoff Score for Admission 2008/09: Albertan - 66.31

Cutoff Score for Admission 2008/09: Non-Albertan - 63.65

i.e. This was the lowest score of an applicant admitted to the class of 2012.

 

 

 

Moving to alberta for ip status isn't that good of an idea in my opinion. Last year it was easier to get into calgary as an oop (63.65/100 required) than an ip (66.31/100 required). There were some ip applicants that could have gotten in had they been oop (ie, people with final scores between 63.65 and 66.31)

 

These stats are messed up because OOP goes DEEP into the waitlist.

 

Let me explain:

 

- To get an interview, OOP needed a much higher score ( (74.5 vs. 68.5).

 

- After the interview, they recalculate score, and admission was offered to OOP at a higher score ( 73 vs 70)

 

- Thus, to get admission, you needed a higher score. However, it seems there was one individual who BOMBED his MMI (score reduction from >74.5 to get the interview to 63.5 to become the bottom of the OOP waitlist)

 

- This individual was offered admission because OOP waitlist runs quick, while the IP one doesn't. (As you can see, even the OOP waitlist had marginally higher stats than the Albertan waitlist).

 

Overall, you need outstanding stats as an OOP to get an interview in the first place (74.5 vs 68.5). Thus, IP works to your advantage. After that interview, things get funky, but it is clear that even though the OOP student had a lower score to get admitted, his stats were better than the lowest IP student (again, 74 vs 68 to get the interview).

[KamG]

a strong IP student would have had a good enough pre-interview to surpass the OOP pre-interview cutoff. And in the end someone like this would have been better off being OOP since the OOP final score cutoff was lower. I know the May 15 oop was higher but the waitlist number was lower.

 

I also don't think that there was one low scoring oop on mmi, there were probably many. Bottom line every oop that made the waitlist got an offer. Also, any ip with a preinterview of >74.5 got screwed over (unless they got in ofcourse).

[HBP]

I agree, but the point of gaining IP status is that you don't need ridiculous stats to get the interview. Sure, there are IP students who probably could have made the OOP cutoff, but not all of em...

 

As OOP applicants you need ridiculous stats to even get an interview (think Sask).

[O'Neill]

IMO, IP status in Quebec would be the best option. Chances are very good if you apply to the MDCM program IP.

[future_doc]

And obtain your UG degree IP in PQ, thereby mitigating MCAT commencing next year.

[Strategy99]

Would you say going to Manitoba is better since there are less applicants, or Alberta is better because, even though there are more applicants, there are two schools there? Tough call.

[HBP]

Would you say going to Manitoba is better since there are less applicants, or Alberta is better because, even though there are more applicants, there are two schools there? Tough call.

 

Too much strategy man...

[AndreaM]

You might want to look at the stats of IP applicants who were accepted and base your choice on that. If you are deciding between Alberta, Sask and Manitoba you also need to look at where your stengths are in terms of academics, extra-curriculars and MCAT.

 

Manitoba weights your GPA/MCAT/Personal Assessment Score as 15%/40%/45% respectively so GPA isn't a heavily deciding factor and your MCAT and personal qualities are huge. Also the BS and VR sections are weighted more heavily than PS and WS.

 

The weighting of academic performance to personal qualities for Saskatchewan residents is 35:65 (OOP it is based solely on percent for getting an interview and then the interview is the only criteria for admission offers). MCAT is no longer required if you have pre-requisite courses with a minimum of 78% in them. GPA is based on best 2 years.

 

For UAlberta the weighting is cGPA/MCAT/WS/Personal Activities - 30/15/5/20 which is then added to Interview/LOR of 25/5 for a total out of 100. So in the total academics and personal qualities/interview are weighted about 50/50.

 

UofC to get to the pre-interview the formula is 62.517 (GPA) + 12.122 (MCAT,VR) + 6.757(MCAT,BS), then they weight Academic record/EC and work/MCAT/Refernce letters as 50/25/15/10 respectively. After the interview it is Preinterview score/MMI/MMI written stations are 40/50/10 respectively. GPA is based on best two years.

 

So for Alberta schools GPA is weighted higher than for Sask or Manitoba.

 

Mean GPA and MCAT scores by school last year (IP):

UManitoba: 4.19/10.63 (OOP GPA averages were lower than IP, GPA is out of 4.5)

USask: 89.86% (range of academic scores were 82.07-95.25%)

UAlberta: 3.80/10.71Q (GPA is out of 4)

UofC: 3.82(3.62)/10.71Q (GPA is out of 4, score in brackets is overall GPA)

 

Based on the stats I would probably choose Manitoba. You can do the MCAT until you get a good score, Manitoba's marking scale gives an A at 80% and they drop your worst courses based on how many credits you have completed. If you have completed a degree and have 120 credits they will drop the worst 30, which is a whole years worth of courses.

[tooty]

alberta has 2 schools

 

you need to consider that when comparing your chances vs. other provinces.

 

either way, gtfo of ontario.

[Tara21]

alberta has 2 schools

 

you need to consider that when comparing your chances vs. other provinces.

 

either way, gtfo of ontario.

 

Indeed!

 

Darn Ontario....

[Strategy99]

alberta has 2 schools

 

you need to consider that when comparing your chances vs. other provinces.

 

either way, gtfo of ontario.

 

Yep, it's just a matter of which school to go to now. I think my chances are equally as good in both Alberta/Manitoba, since even though Alberta has 2 schools, it has more than double the applicants that Manitoba has.

 

Manitoba is closer to home though, although it doesn't really matter since both are really far.

[Star1234]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this but UBC also reserves wayyyy more seats for IP than OOP (they only take 12 OOP/year I believe).

 

And to be considered IP, you basically need to live in BC for 2 years, regardless of whether you're studying or not.

 

http://www.med.ubc.ca/education/md_ugrad/MD_Undergraduate_Admissions/Selection/BC_Residency_Definitions.htm

 

 

As for Quebec, be careful....you need to live in Quebec for 12 months BEFORE THE APPLICATION DEADLINE to be considered IP....and if you're a student during this time, it doesn't count.

[AdamP]

 

either way, gtfo of ontario.

 

Lol I like.

[NewfieMike]

yeah I discovered this idea a while ago. I live/am doing my undergrad in newfoundland. I move to calgary in early july 2010

[AndreaM]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this but UBC also reserves wayyyy more seats for IP than OOP (they only take 12 OOP/year I believe).

 

And to be considered IP, you basically need to live in BC for 2 years, regardless of whether you're studying or not.

 

http://www.med.ubc.ca/education/md_ugrad/MD_Undergraduate_Admissions/Selection/BC_Residency_Definitions.htm

 

 

As for Quebec, be careful....you need to live in Quebec for 12 months BEFORE THE APPLICATION DEADLINE to be considered IP....and if you're a student during this time, it doesn't count.

 

The reason why no one mentioned UBC is that your ip chance isn't much better than Ontario. You only have a 20% chance based on the applicant to spaces ratio which is only about 2% better than Ontario.

[DOC_Ma]

The numbers sometimes don't really tell the truth about oop's acceptance rate vs ip's acceptance rate post interview. For example, for Sask, in order to get an interview last year, you need 92.4+ average for your best two years and that is insanely high. Therefore as a result a vast majority of the applicants didn't receive an interview. However of the 50 lucky ones that did get an interview, all you have to do is become the top 60% to make to the waitlist and basically the waitlist moves all the way through. Therefore the schools acceptance rate post interview is like 60% for oop's and much much higher than the acceptance rate for ip's post interview, however you can't conclude that it's easier to get in as an oop than Ip because as an oop you had to meet that crazy pre interview average. Even after you receive an interview, you are competing with the top top students that all had 92.4 + average in the oop pool as supposed to less competitive students (in general) in the ip pool so making to that top 60% after the interview might seem not too bad in ip but it could be uber competitive in the oop pool. Conclusion is the seemingly high rate of acceptance means very little if you know the entire process and Ip is def easier to get in than oop.

[DOC_Ma]

alberta has 2 schools

 

you need to consider that when comparing your chances vs. other provinces.

 

either way, gtfo of ontario.

 

Sincere advice!

[future_doc]

(DOC_Ma)