LostLamb Posted March 5, 2011 Report Share Posted March 5, 2011 I hear you about the laptops. I use a very small netbook habitually (9" eeepc) and I still had a lot of trouble with the hypersensitive touchpad on the ones we used. If a full-time netbook user found them awkward, I can only imagine what someone used to desktops would have felt... I do not own or use a laptop, so was one of those desktop-only users. I was fine, but just not used to the tiny screen. For 40 minutes, it wasn't a big deal either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChemPetE Posted March 5, 2011 Report Share Posted March 5, 2011 To be honest about the laptops, I thought they weren't too bad. They had a decent keyboard with a full sized shift key, which may not have fit everyones needs but it met mine. Screen was fine, although I do agree the trackpad was indeed sensitive. I was just impressed they managed to procure 100 laptops for the occasion; I had just assumed we would be writing in a computer lab of sorts. The topic I did find surprising and unconventional, but it sounds like I wasn't the only one, so I'm not as concerned about it as I initially was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HBP Posted March 5, 2011 Report Share Posted March 5, 2011 I wish we had a full size keyboard. My hands are kind of large to type on netbooks (which is why I don't own one!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatonekid Posted March 6, 2011 Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 As someone who also generally uses desktops, I didn't find the little laptops were that bad. Before the essay, the timer guy (Peter?) told us that it was sensitive and to make sure your cursor doesn't jump, so I was watching out for that. Otherwise, the people I talked to agreed that it wasn't really an issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarathonRunner Posted March 6, 2011 Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 Originally Posted by EverlastTo be honest I'm really distraught about the whole thing. There was one station that really baffled me, and now I'm afraid that I won't be able to become a doctor because I never took a specific type of non-science class that could have helped me for that station. I know that it's important to be well-rounded, but I felt at a disadvantage for being a science-geek. I know what you are talking about, and I am in the same boat with you. Dr. Walker actually talks about this station here: http://mdadmissions.ucalgaryblogs.ca/2011/02/26/end-of-the-first-day/#comments Scroll down to his comment at Mar 3, 2011 at 4:25 pm He states that it could have been one of his children's drawings - it wasn't about knowledge of the topic they were assessing there. As he said, it wasn't there to assess your knowledge of a particular non-science area. So don't worry if you never took a particular type of non-science class. Your knowledge of that subject area is not what they were assessing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRR Posted March 6, 2011 Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 So if you are in province I guess you'd have to be in the top third post-interview to eventually matriculate, if around 100 of the 644 interviews were OOP, up to 25 seats can be OOP and there are maybe 50 IP waitlist offers or so. Does anyone know what is happening with class seats this year? I am guessing it will stay the same, at 170. Anyone else given some thought to our likelihood of matriculating? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erk Posted March 7, 2011 Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 Anyone else given some thought to our likelihood of matriculating? Nope, no thought at all, completely off my mind until may * I think it basically boils down to 'be in the top ~25% of interviewees'. Getting more precise numbers than that is quite difficult, as I don't believe the precise size of the class or waitlist this year have been posted, and it's hard to say how far up the waitlist will move. * lie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatonekid Posted March 7, 2011 Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 So if you are in province I guess you'd have to be in the top third post-interview to eventually matriculate, if around 100 of the 644 interviews were OOP, up to 25 seats can be OOP and there are maybe 50 IP waitlist offers or so. Does anyone know what is happening with class seats this year? I am guessing it will stay the same, at 170. Anyone else given some thought to our likelihood of matriculating?Well, during the post-interview information session, someone asked Dr. Walker what he thought about how many seats UofC would have this year. He said he didn't know anything, but if he had to speculate he'd go with 165 and no more than 170. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewfieMike Posted March 7, 2011 Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 So if you are in province I guess you'd have to be in the top third post-interview to eventually matriculate, if around 100 of the 644 interviews were OOP, up to 25 seats can be OOP and there are maybe 50 IP waitlist offers or so. Does anyone know what is happening with class seats this year? I am guessing it will stay the same, at 170. Anyone else given some thought to our likelihood of matriculating? I've given this a lot of thought, actually. Some assumptions of which I don't know the answer to: -# of OOP interviewees (assume 120) -% of students who will receive acceptances to more than one university (especially those who get dual acceptance at UofA and UofC) -of those dual matriculants, those who would choose one school over the other. I would assume (based on some of the opinions I see on the site) that there would be an overall preference for UofA (myself would have UofC as a #1 pick but I guess that would not be the majority) -pre-MMI score is not as important anymore (which is the truth, not an assumption) So, time for some math (if you are an IP applicant) 108 interviewees/session x 6 sessions = 648 - 4 no shows = 644 (but unsure if those missing were OOP (most likely, so let's assume all the IPs showed up). 648 - 120 = 528 IP interviews. 165 spots x 85% IP preference = 140 spots. 140/528x100% = top 26.5% of the applicants. BUT, if we use my assumption that the dual matriculants will prefer UofA and UofC, then that number will be closer to 30-35%. I have a few more assumptions that I think will actually boost the number closer to 40% if you fit a few criterion, but I'm not gonna get into it on fear of triggering an emotional battle in this thread. But that is just my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larrivee Posted March 7, 2011 Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 Does OOP waitlist typically have a lot of movement?? (fingers crossed) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erk Posted March 7, 2011 Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 Does OOP waitlist typically have a lot of movement?? (fingers crossed) I would think more. OOP applicants are more likely to have applied to multiple universities, and those that make it to acceptance at one OOP probably get accepted to many. However, I think it's all one waitlist. It's just that there's a cap of OOP students, and whenever a student is ready to exit the waitlist they check if s/he is OOP and if there is a free OOP seat before allowing him/her in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewfieMike Posted March 7, 2011 Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 I would think more. OOP applicants are more likely to have applied to multiple universities, and those that make it to acceptance at one OOP probably get accepted to many. However, I think it's all one waitlist. It's just that there's a cap of OOP students, and whenever a student is ready to exit the waitlist they check if s/he is OOP and if there is a free OOP seat before allowing him/her in. +1 to that whole post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skp1187 Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Does OOP waitlist typically have a lot of movement?? (fingers crossed) I've heard that if your OOP and waitlisted, you have an EXTREMELY good chance of getting in. I think one year, every person on the waitlist was given acceptance. As previously mentioned, pretty much everyone will have multiple acceptance offers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicmaestro Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 I dont know how valid this document is but it has some trend info and number of declined offers in 08/09 is 121 therefore thats probably how many got off waitlist. Since we dont know how many of these are OOP and IP its still tricky to tell of exact chance http://www.afmc.ca/pdf/2011AdBk.pdf id say about about 33% chance for IP... if it was a random draw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurknomore Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Sorry to be a downer but I don't see what the point of all this hardcore speculation is. Most of the numerical figures seem to be based on previous data/conjecture/assumptions. These calculations cannot and will not provide any accurate predictions, all they'll do is provide a false sense of security! The interview is done and all we can do now is hope for the best. In the meantime, I will be pondering some back-up plans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 I've heard that if your OOP and waitlisted, you have an EXTREMELY good chance of getting in. I think one year, every person on the waitlist was given acceptance. As previously mentioned, pretty much everyone will have multiple acceptance offers. Yeah that is quite common actually with the OOP to all the schools out there - big waitlist movement Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RNtoMD40 Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 Hello everyone, Well...to start off...I didn't receive an interview...MCAT just a little too low. I'm rewriting this August. However,I would like to reply to this thread. I can't wrap my head around the fact that no-body made a comment regarding the error in time allowed. I mean really...nobody said anything??!! If I was there, you can all be assured I would have said something...I am told I am outspoken and a little type A... I wonder...What is this was a test?? I mean really...a test to see if any of the 108 interviewees had the self-direction, autonomy, advocacy and leadership skills to speak up and say..."Excuse me...but based on my calculations...we have more time" Anyway, Just my thoughts... A quote I would use here in keeping with the above idea..."Those who fail to rise; will never stand up". Good luck everyone!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RNtoMD40 Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 I really think they were testing you... I have been an educator in the U of A nursing program and I purposefully have interrupted students. I am trying to teach the student proper communication skills and I am looking for the student to say "I notice I am being interrupted frequently. If you would be able to wait until I am finished, I would be able to reply to you then" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewfieMike Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 Hello everyone, Well...to start off...I didn't receive an interview...MCAT just a little too low. I'm rewriting this August. However,I would like to reply to this thread. I can't wrap my head around the fact that no-body made a comment regarding the error in time allowed. I mean really...nobody said anything??!! If I was there, you can all be assured I would have said something...I am told I am outspoken and a little type A... I wonder...What is this was a test?? I mean really...a test to see if any of the 108 interviewees had the self-direction, autonomy, advocacy and leadership skills to speak up and say..."Excuse me...but based on my calculations...we have more time" Anyway, Just my thoughts... A quote I would use here in keeping with the above idea..."Those who fail to rise; will never stand up". Good luck everyone!! there's absolutely no way it was a test. Why would they do it to only 108 students? Totally unfair to the rest of them. Also, Dr. Walker seemed to have genuine truth in advertising that there were no gimmicks or games. Just read the med blog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkles3288 Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 Hello everyone, Well...to start off...I didn't receive an interview...MCAT just a little too low. I'm rewriting this August. However,I would like to reply to this thread. I can't wrap my head around the fact that no-body made a comment regarding the error in time allowed. I mean really...nobody said anything??!! If I was there, you can all be assured I would have said something...I am told I am outspoken and a little type A... I wonder...What is this was a test?? I mean really...a test to see if any of the 108 interviewees had the self-direction, autonomy, advocacy and leadership skills to speak up and say..."Excuse me...but based on my calculations...we have more time" Anyway, Just my thoughts... A quote I would use here in keeping with the above idea..."Those who fail to rise; will never stand up". Good luck everyone!! That's because there was NO time error. I was in that group and there was indeed 40 minutes, but what happened was that many students used the time on the board as the time to go by from their computers, when in actuality the time written on the board was from another source (a watch or something). The people who complained said that because we stopped at 11:58 and the time initially written down was 11:28, we only got 30min. Untrue as again, if one timed the essay themselves using their computer clock, we definitely got 40min. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HBP Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 But if you look at the responses on the blogs, it appears that it might have been an error with regards to writing the start time on the clock. Nevertheless, there are quite a few who believe that they got 40 minutes on the dot. Again, because of this mass confusion, there is no telling what will result. Nothing will result. The dude was using a timer, not just math and a clock. He set the timer for 40 minutes, and then it counted down. The clocks on the netbooks weren't synced, he shouldn't have been writing the time down, he should have been writing the time left. That was the only error. They still got 40 minutes, more than enough to write one page. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0593202 Posted March 9, 2011 Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 I was also in that group and there was no time error. The clocks on the computer just weren't synchronized. It was unfortunate but we still got 40 mins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RNtoMD40 Posted March 10, 2011 Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 Thanks for the opinions...great conversations. I have also been the interviewer in these types of interviews, so it shouldn't be a problem for me when the time comes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*HopefulMD Posted March 10, 2011 Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 Nothing will result. The dude was using a timer, not just math and a clock. He set the timer for 40 minutes, and then it counted down. The clocks on the netbooks weren't synced, he shouldn't have been writing the time down, he should have been writing the time left. That was the only error. They still got 40 minutes, more than enough to write one page. 30 minutes is definitely enough time to write an essay, but the thing that happened, is that you look up at the board... see it started at 11:28... then you check your watch and notice it is 11:50, and you still have 18 minutes left, so you start to talk more in detail and develop your ideas, etc, then 5 minutes later, they put on the board "3 minutes remaining" and you haven't even finished what you're talking about let alone a conclusion, because you thought you had 13 minutes left, and bam... its over. I agree, we got 40 minutes, but they definitely screwed us with that time mistake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pubert Posted March 10, 2011 Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 I went to the 12:30 Sunday interview and if it's any consolation, our timing was a bit of a mess too. Seeing a different time on the board than the computer was confusing, and wearing earplugs as someone suggested to me meant that I missed the audio queues as to time remaining. I went out the next day and bought a Timex watch, so now I'll look like the nerd I am, but at least I shouldn't run out of time unexpectedly for any other interviews. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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