Chances?

[whystress?]

So today I got my mcat score and I scored a 10.4-10.5 (don't remember off the top of my head) on the U of M's MCAT scale. I have a >4.2 AGPA, so what do you think my chances of being accepted are?

I'm a 4th year genetics major and my second time applying.

[liszt]

If you're an in-province student, and your interview goes well (ie you're in the upper quintiles), you have a good chance at being accepted. If you're OOP, it's not likely you'll get an interview.

[liszt]

You're right about it being a deciding factor for most applicants. Even those with a unfathomably high MCAT scores can miss admission if they perform poorly in the interview.

 

I'm afraid I don't have any actual experience with the MMI, as I was admitted way back in the days of panel interviews. From my experience in the panel interview and the bellringer-style exams we do in med school, however, I can say that practice and preparation do help!

 

How to prepare? Everyone has their own approach, but I would start by browsing these forums and other internet sites for information on the MMI along with commonly asked interview questions. Think about your own life experiences and volunteer work/ECs/whatever, and try to figure out how you can weave them into your answers. A good approach to some of the tricky ethical questions can be found in the book Doing Right by Hebert. It's a quick and good read if you don't have any background in medical ethics.

 

After preparing, sign up for the practice MMIs run by the med 1s and see how it goes. Consider their feedback and your own feelings about what you did well and where you fell short. Find other people to practice with if you feel you still need it. And when the real thing comes around... take a deep breath, cross your fingers, and hope that it all comes together.

[PhoenixFlare500]

As for preparation I'd say liszt summed it up pretty well. I actually spent the night before my last MMI reading up on Canada's health care system and different issues like two tier health care. Probably did an hour of that, only came up maybe one up on my MMI. But hey, whatever, I'm sure it helped. It's probably a good idea to read up on that stuff well in advance, especially on current issues, so you have a good understanding of things.

 

I think I did a practice MMI once, two previous MMIs also helped but obviously you don't want to have to do that. I think the biggest thing for me was to just relax. Remember that each station is a new one, the person in that room has no idea what kinda crap you said in the previous one. Good thing for me 'cause I totally bombed a couple of them. One thing that really helped was that I was able to draw on a lot of my more recent experiences and really personalize some of the questions.

 

Oh random tip, make sure you go to the washroom before the interview process begins, and try not to drink too much water while you're in there. I had to go to the washroom at one of my stations and ended up going in without getting to read the question first.

 

That's all I can think of for now, I hope it's somewhat helpful.