With r-score=37 and lots of Extra-curriculum activities, not even an interview???

[xch]

Hi guys, I recently heard from a friend that there is a student who excels in school (r-score over 37) and who did really a lot of things (volunteering, lifeguard trainings, four or five jobs, plays an instrument and won lots of prizes in many contests) and who even didn't get an interview from McGill. Is this possible that McGill thinks that all of this is fake (which is not true) so that the student had no chance at all.

 

I am very puzzled... Can something like this happen?

 

Many thx.

[DoctorDouche]

was your friend a Quebec Resident? Look at their stats last year they took 93% quebec residents. It is very hard to get in if you don't live there to begin with.

[CREA.tive]

If the student really did all these wonderful things without making it look like padding, it is possible that he underestimated the importance of the autobiographical letter + abstracts.

 

It happens every year:(

[MD2015]

^ you hit the nail on the head.

[thebouque]

was your friend a Quebec Resident? Look at their stats last year they took 93% quebec residents. It is very hard to get in if you don't live there to begin with.

 

If he had an r score then yeah he was a quebec resident

[Corie]

McGill looks heavily into your motivation to become a doctor. If you don't have the right motivation, then no interview. People with 39 CRCs have reportedly been rejected pre-interview. Its the letter.

[doc5]

I thought they don't read the letter pre-interview.....because I, myself, thought I had a good letter but was still refused pre-interview:(

[Marty]

I can only comment as a university applicant. They went over it briefly in the post MMI chat. If I remember correctly it may be something like 60% GPA 40% abstracts pre-interview. Post interview its heavily weighted with the MMI (80% MMI 20% full length letter/CV - i don't think GPA is considered at all after the MMI). Can someone verify my numbers?

[over9000]

I can only comment as a university applicant. They went over it briefly in the post MMI chat. If I remember correctly it may be something like 60% GPA 40% abstracts pre-interview. Post interview its heavily weighted with the MMI (80% MMI 20% full length letter/CV - i don't think GPA is considered at all after the MMI). Can someone verify my numbers?

 

Numbers post-interview are correct, but I can't remember exactly for the abstracts. I thought it was separated between the letters and the C.V.

 

Maybe you got bad reference letters. They don't use them to rank you, but you can be excluded if one of your referee did not recommend you. Also, keep in mind that this year was extremely competitive.

[Corie]

They have atlast 14 people reading your letters (or more accurately, atleast your abstract was read by atleast 14 people). The letter is the most scary part of the applications as it could go either way.

[r201]

Well, I also did not even get an invite to the interview with an r-score of 36,4 and an excellent CV, in which I had over 25 entries (And I only mentioned important engagements (hospitals, work experience, volunteering at school, in other countries, and more than 10 awards that I received for my grades and volunteering). And I really spend time on my letter and abstracts too, to show them my real motivation and experiences that inspired me. I even showed them to my french teachers to make sure the language level is good. I was really confident since I knew I always had the right motivation and I was sure the admission committee will be able to see it.

 

The 24th : big shock. Not even an interview. When I told friends and teachers at school, they were pretty shocked too and many of my cegep teachers sent emails to the admission committee to reconsider my application since they know me really well and they know my engagements and motivation. Even, the college counselor called the admission office to reconsider my file, so they could at least give me an invite to prove to them why I really want to become a doctor. I even helped so many people (who got invited) doing their abstracts. When I showed mine to my references, they told me very clearly that they liked them a lot, even more than many other abstracts written by people who got invited (with 33-ish r-scores). I also thought for a moment that maybe there was a problem with my reference letters, but when my references showed me what they said about me and the exceptional letters they made me, I decided to ask the committee for a review. It didn`t work unfortunately, because the policy states that a decision could be changed only if there was a mistake during the evaluation of the file, or if some document were not sent on time.

 

I don`t understand how motivation could be really evaluated when so many students (who always wanted to become engineers) decided at the last minute to apply because they had 35ish r-scores and who got refused after the interview.

 

By the way, I`m not the only one at my college who got refused with high grades and a good CV, a girl with a 37.XX r-score got refused too (before the interview) and she had an amazing personality and a phenomenal CV. And very recently we both (among only few people) had bursaries because we were able to have excellent r-scores and to find time to volunteer at so many places at the same time. At least, we got accepted at the 3 francophones, while so many people I know, who got invited to mcgill, got refused everywhere.

 

I believe people who got accepted are wonderful people who really deserve to become doctors and to inspire others (fortunately, there`s the interviews to show the real motivations). But I also think, that trying to evaluate the motivation with a 10 lines abstract (that I didn`t use to only enumerate my volunteering experiences) is not appropriate. I believe a lot of good students don`t have the chance to show who they really are with mcgill selection process. I`m far from being perfect, but I really think that, like so many other motivated students, that I deserved to get an invite. I`m not saying UdeM selection process is perfect, no, but at least when you have academic competencies, you will have the chance to show them who you are at the interviews.

 

Well, let`s forget that (it`s in the past) and let`s enjoy summer for now and relax before next year.

 

And congratulations to all those who got accepted, and for those who didn`t, don`t lose hope, if you really want to become a doctor, then you will.

[MD2015]

Congratulations upon your success. That is all that is important.

 

The McGill process is somewhat subjective no matter what anybody believes. And regardless of the flaws within the system, they do select amazing candidates from the pool and that is what is essential to them; not those whom they have missed by not giving them an opportunity for an interview.

[Capucine]

I think that McGill's way to choose applicant is very mysterious. It is a very subjective process and many good applicant are refused without valid reason (like you r201). I think that they should send invitations to more students because an interview is highly more representative then some abstracts.

[xch]

Thank you guys!!! You are all very kind to share your thoughts and experiences. I agree with you all: motivation and personal abstract do matter (esp. the motivation). Anyway, I guess it is really up to them to decide whether you should be a doctor or not. We should do our best, and success does not matter anymore.

 

Enjoy the process, not the result!

 

Thanks again!!!

[AR12]

 

This is interesting!! Can anyone confirm this?

 

If it is true it seems they value gpa..

[FinallyPreMed]

r201, just out of curiosity, do you go to Marianopolis? Lot's of people there with high r-scores got refected pre-interview..

[r201]

r201, just out of curiosity, do you go to Marianopolis? Lot's of people there with high r-scores got refected pre-interview..

 

No, actually I go to a francophone Cegep and I know a lot of students with really high r-scores who got rejected as well pre-interview.

[Robin Hood]

No, actually I go to a francophone Cegep and I know a lot of students with really high r-scores who got rejected as well pre-interview.

 

Maybe they lie when they say abstracts are read by 14 people... Their selection process seems very subjective.

[over9000]

You would be surprised how CaRMS is even more subjective then

[MD2015]

Their selection process seems very subjective.

 

I agree...