Ws=p

[Sarah_2020]

So I was going through the western mcat cutoffs for this year and apparently, the WS score min is P...I havnt taken the mcat yet so I was hoping I can get some feedback from those that have.

 

Is a score of P considered on the low end and would it be easy to obtain such a grade...my initial reaction was that it was quite low.

 

Is it easier to score better on the VR section or writing sample (in your opinion)?

 

Is it quite probable that the WS will go up significantly for 2011 western cutoffs?

 

thanks

[JediMaster]

So if you do your research, you'll see that for majority of schools in Ontario, the ACCEPTED average mark in WS tends to be a Q. So from that perspective, yes, a P is lower. It is difficult to say if a P is 'easy' to obtain but if you study and prepare hard for the WS, it is certainly do-able.

 

Personally (and likely most will agree) that the VR section is harder to get a higher score in than WS. VR tends to be the hardest section on the MCAT especially for science students, there are always exceptions to this of course.

 

The WS dropped this year for Western's cutoffs. It is impossible to guess really if it will go up, stay the same or go down for 2011. Best advice would be to simply aim higher than the current cutoff so that you are not eliminated straight away if the cutoff does increase!

[supafield]

There are no certain answers to these questions but IMO I agree with most of what the poster above me said.....

 

1) P is pretty average... as long as you put practice in and understand how to formulate a good writing sample... a P should be very attainable. I think if you look at MCAT stats broken down by region... it's either an O or P that is the mean score.

 

2) For most people the writing sample is easier than verbal (but not all). Writing sample is much more straight forward and less time pressured.

 

3) No way to tell what Western will do.... for 3 or 4 years before last year they had a Q cutoff. Queen's has had an R cutoff for 2 of the last 3 years. So, if I were wanting to feel safe I would want an R or at least a Q.... The P might work for Western, but it could also fall short.

[NewfieMike]

well if you think about how it is curved, VR should be harder than WS. Since your score in VR depends on what everyone else does, it could be a challenge. On the contrary, WS is not scaled on a curve. Every single writer could get a T, or every single writer could get a J. Just practice WS and you'll do fine.

[medhopeful64]

 

3) No way to tell what Western will do.... for 3 or 4 years before last year they had a Q cutoff. Queen's has had an R cutoff for 2 of the last 3 years. So, if I were wanting to feel safe I would want an R or at least a Q.... The P might work for Western, but it could also fall short.

 

Where did you find the stats for Queen's? I couldn't find it on their website (ie the strict cutoffs). They say "The MCAT and GPA cuts fluctuate each year depending on the overall marks of our pool of applicants. Therefore, we cannot predict what the cuts will be from year to year." On another thread, someone mentioned it was a 10, 10, 10 Q (though I don't know where they got these)

 

Just wondering where/how you found those (maybe I just missed them on the site) ...I couldn't find them for McMaster either (6 is minimum for VR, but I'm sure the actual average score of the entering class is much higher), nor could I find the GPA requirement for ottawa...

 

any help/guide me to the webpage please?

 

thanks

[nemesis]

...their yearly GPA and MCAT cut-offs.

 

That said, based on the forum responses this year, it was presumed that the 2010 MCAT cut-offs were VR=10, PS=09, WS=R, BS=09 (Total Score=30?), and the GPA cut-off was ~3.70.

 

Where did you find the stats for Queen's? I couldn't find it on their website...

[thatonekid]

Where did you find the stats for Queen's? I couldn't find it on their website (ie the strict cutoffs). They say "The MCAT and GPA cuts fluctuate each year depending on the overall marks of our pool of applicants. Therefore, we cannot predict what the cuts will be from year to year." On another thread, someone mentioned it was a 10, 10, 10 Q (though I don't know where they got these)

 

Just wondering where/how you found those (maybe I just missed them on the site) ...I couldn't find them for McMaster either (6 is minimum for VR, but I'm sure the actual average score of the entering class is much higher), nor could I find the GPA requirement for ottawa...

 

any help/guide me to the webpage please?

 

thanks

It's because supafield was the king of Queen's stats this year and collected all the info from applicants on pm101 this past cycle to determine the cutoffs (unofficially), as seen by this post:

 

Ok.... I'm just as guilty as the rest of you.... but the idea behind stickying this thread was to merely determine the cutoffs via stats. Since there are some minor discrepancies and little work done on the G.P.A. I'm going to make a quick list of all the stats so far... and will ask for the rest of the conversation to take place in http://premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38515&page=25 the thread for discussing the interview.

 

Haha I'll also try my best to keep my own theories over there as well.

 

Soooo....

 

Invited

- 3.8 (N/A), 10/11/12 R

- 3.79 (cGPA), 13/12/13 S

- 3.97 (cGPA), 14/11/11 S

- 3.69 © 3.77 (2 yr), 11/10/11 S

- 3.93 (N/A), 13/10/12 R

- 3.85 (cGPA), 12/11/11 S

- 3.78 (cGPA/grad), 11/11/11 S

- 3.92 (cGPA), 10/11/10 S

- 3.83 (cGPA), 11/11/11 S

- 3.79 (cGPA), 12/10/14 T

- 3.98 (2 yr), 9/10/12 R

- 3.96 (cGPA), 13/11/12 R

- 3.83 (cGPA), 12/10/14 R

- 3.97 (2 year), 11/10/14 S

- 3.86 (cGPA/grad), 10/10/10 S

- 3.85 (2 year), 12/11/12 T

- 3.40 (cGPA/grad), 3.50 (2 year GPA/grad), 11/11/12 R

- 3.92 (cGPA), 12/10/11 S

- 3.89 (cGPA), 11/11/11 R

- 3.76 (cGPA?), 10/10/10 R

- 3.5 (2 yr GPA/Grad), 10/11/11 R

- 3.95 (cGPA), 12/11/11 R

 

Rejected

- 3.85 (2 yr), 11/10/13 Q

- 3.73 (cGPA), 11,13,10 Q

- 3.55 (grad), 10,11,15 Q

- 4.00 (cGPA), 14,13,11 Q

- 3.91 (cGPA), 12/9/10 Q

- 3.79 (cGPA), 12/11/10 Q

- 3.64 (cGPA), 11/11/12 Q

- 3.86 (2 year), 13/9/10 R

- 4.00 (cGPA), 11/9/13 R

- 3.90 (2 yr), 13/13/10 Q

- 3.4 (N/A), 8/11/10 Q

- 3.81 (cGPA), 12/9/12 R

- 3.98 (cGPA), 13/11/14 Q

- 3.70 (cGPA, grad), 12/11/10 O

- 3.87 (N/A), 9/11/9 S

- 3.84 (N/A), 12/10/13 O

 

One claimed waitlist for an interview, which I have received an interesting PM about.... so I've decided to omit it from this list until we're able to make more sense of the situation.

 

So there is some wiggle room, but the mcat is fairly narrowed down, and as for G.P.A. we'll need some more low 3.7's high 3.6's with big mcat scores before we know what the GPA cuts are.... hopefully for those of you still waiting like myself, you'll be able to figure it out when they start sending more invites in the New year, which as we have heard will be the earliest time we see more invites come out.

 

Happy holidays everyone.

[supafield]

...their yearly GPA and MCAT cut-offs.

 

That said, based on the forum responses this year, it was presumed that the 2010 MCAT cut-offs were VR=10, PS=09, WS=R, BS=09 (Total Score=30?), and the GPA cut-off was ~3.70.

 

As nemesis said... it's been deduced on these forums and as thatonekid pointed out... mostly by me lol.

 

2007/08 was R (9P, 9V, 9B) 28 overall?

2008/09 was Q (9,10,9) 31 overall

2009/10 was R (9,10,10 or 9,10,9) 30 overall

 

There may be an error or two in there, but it's pretty close to these.. and the writing sample was fairly definitive.

[nemesis]

Haha, after all that MCAT analysis paralysis, you ended up at non-MCAT-requiring medical school!

 

Funny how life works out, eh?

 

Congrats again, buddy!

 

As nemesis said... it's been deduced on these forums and as thatonekid pointed out... mostly by me lol...

[supafield]

My life's nothing if not ironic lol....

 

and thanks.... and congrats right back at you.

[medhopeful64]

...their yearly GPA and MCAT cut-offs.

 

That said, based on the forum responses this year, it was presumed that the 2010 MCAT cut-offs were VR=10, PS=09, WS=R, BS=09 (Total Score=30?), and the GPA cut-off was ~3.70.

 

whoa, that's insanely helpful! you're awesome

thanks, this forum has some invaluable info