Guest tweep0 Posted September 10, 2003 Report Share Posted September 10, 2003 Hi everyone, I know many people (non-francaphones) who have great marks (3.89-ish)and great autobiographical sketches and do not get interviews. Whats the deal? They got interviews everywhere else, but Ottawa seems to have some "special" requirements. Can someone explain or prove me wrong? Thanks Tweep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Shahenshah Posted September 10, 2003 Report Share Posted September 10, 2003 I don't think UofO has a special requirement or some sort of a hidden weeder system..I think one aspect that might make UofO a little different is that almost everything you do in terms of extra curricular activity has a particular weight..for instance when you fill out the detailed auto sketch, EVERYTHING is categorized and I think there could be marks for each category..in this way they are able to quantify all your subjective experiences to a certain extent..now this is very different from a lot of other schools who evaluates answers to questions (queens and mac) or who waits for the interview to ask you things (western)..uofT again looks at the essay as one of the parameters in granting an interview..so while marks are important at UofO, I think they are trying their best to get the person with the most complete package in their own style (I'm sure all schools ultimately want to get the student with the best package and have their own unique style via strict cut-offs etc)..again please remember this is entirely my opinion as none of us really know what goes on with the ad com except that each school tries to pick the students that best fits their program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mollybear Posted September 10, 2003 Report Share Posted September 10, 2003 Hey Shahenshah.......what are you doing on here? Aren't you supposed to be working on PBL?? =) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Shahenshah Posted September 11, 2003 Report Share Posted September 11, 2003 pbl? what's that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest g22g Posted September 11, 2003 Report Share Posted September 11, 2003 Hey Mollybear, Don't YOU have PBL? I am done til Monday :rollin . Hi Tweep, Ottawa is more unorthodox than tough. First let me say that it is a weighted average where your last three years of undergrad are given a weight of 1X, 2X, and 3X. So you can have some room to mess up your first year (of the three) but not your last year. But even if you make the GPA cut off but haven't done any health releated, research, or volunteer activity you could be cut. Next from another thread I pulled off the 2002 cutoffs for the various applicant pools. 1. Franco-Ontario 3.40 2. Aboriginals 3.40 3. Underserviced areas in province 3.55 4. Regional (Ottawa-Outaouais) 3.60 5. In-province 3.83 6. Out of province 3.87 There are also at least two special programs that can also grant an interview beyond the cutoffs that you see here. 1. CFNS is a programe for Francophone students that are outside of Ontario and Quebec, there are ususally 8 spots. 2. Graduate subcommittee: This track will allow you to get an interview if you fail to meet the undergrad cut off but at least have a 3.3 WGPA and must have an "A" average for your graduate work. Then you submit a profolio of your research and additional letters. The subcommittee takes into account what degree you are pursuing how many publication with what authorship, etc. This promotes you to interview and there is a bonus of increasing the undergrad WGPA (let's say you just made it at 3.3) by 1/2 the difference between a 4.0, thus the WGPA becomes a 3.65. This elevation is important because your interview scores determine your initial rank but your WGPA serves as the tie breaker. Finally, I say it is unorthodox and not tough because they DO NOT consider the MCAT, which is a significant barrier to many Canadian schools. Take care and good luck, g22g Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tweep0 Posted September 15, 2003 Report Share Posted September 15, 2003 HI, Wow! thanks for all the great answers. Tweep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peachy Posted September 15, 2003 Report Share Posted September 15, 2003 I think that Ottawa is tough to get an interview at for same reason why McMaster is tough to get an interview at: they don't use the MCATs. At the other Ontario schools, by the time they cut off people who don't make the MCAT cutoffs, you just aren't competing against that original huge applicant pool, but rather a much smaller pool. By the numbers alone, it should be a lot more difficult to get an interview competing against a larger effective applicant pool, imho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest V Posted September 18, 2003 Report Share Posted September 18, 2003 I dont think its that tough to get an interview here at Ottawa... the numbers are the exact same across ontario... We interview ~450 people for about 2000+ applicants. I think the factor that is different, is that the Ottawa application SPECIFICALLY requires research. A lot of people have not taken a summer to do research and thats what hurts them with this application. I know many people who didnt get interviews after the first trial (no research)... did some over the summer.... handed in the same/similar application and got an interview. Ask around.... im sure all the people here on the forum and in our classes had some sort of research experience. If you go to the UWO page for eg., the same probably wouldn't be true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peachy Posted September 18, 2003 Report Share Posted September 18, 2003 Maybe, but I know three people who had very strong research backgrounds (also very strong extracurriculars in general) and still didn't get interviews... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UOMeds06 Posted September 18, 2003 Report Share Posted September 18, 2003 I'd have to say that the application does not REQUIRE research. I'm sure it helps. There are a number of people in my class who don't have ANY research at all. However, the trend this past year speaks for itself. 30% of the new class have post-graduate work under their belts. UOMeds06 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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