anon1234 Posted September 12, 2011 Report Share Posted September 12, 2011 hi everyone i am wondering, in Ontario medical schools like UToronto, Western and Queens, how is the MCAT factored into the scores.....is it used simply to make sure applicants are above a certain cutoff and that's it, or does a lower score, very close to the minimum cutoffs, damage your chances? i would appreciate any responses! thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehumanmacbook Posted September 12, 2011 Report Share Posted September 12, 2011 Except for VR at McMAster, higher is not better. OOP maybe (ex. Manitoba). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Femto Posted September 12, 2011 Report Share Posted September 12, 2011 I don't think we can know for sure. Except for VR at McMAster, higher is not better. OOP maybe (ex. Manitoba). For sure cut offs are used to get interviews at Western/Queens, but is this true still post interview? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bilirubin3 Posted September 12, 2011 Report Share Posted September 12, 2011 It depends on the school, I know the adcom looking at the U of T applications don't even see your MCAT score if it meets cut-offs. For Ontario schools, McMaster (For VR), Western, and Queen's consider higher MCAT scores more favorably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shikimate Posted September 12, 2011 Report Share Posted September 12, 2011 It's a mystery as to what UWO does with the MCAT score post interview. Remember that SWOMEN have lower MCAT cutoff, so I would suspect MCAT mark distributions isn't the same for SWOMEN and non-SWOMEN (just my guess, I don't know for sure). I suspect MCAT doesn't play a hugely significant role past the interview stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anon1234 Posted September 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2011 thanks for the responses guys! i'm actually concerned about my MCAT score - i wrote it relatively unprepared and took a risk, and i will only be getting my scores after i have already applied to medical school. i know that everyone keeps saying that it doesn't matter if you do really badly if you are able to re-write and do better - however i am worried about the "behind the scenes" views on a bad MCAT score. when you re-write, med schools can still see your past MCAT scores right? can the ADCOMs also see your old MCAT scores (that is, is that info available to them) or they only see the newest/best ones when they are reviewing your file? and also, is it true that mac throws out the other sections of your MCAT before your file goes for review? as in the ADCOMs only see your VR score and nothing else? i am not sure if this is true or just a rumour i heard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted September 13, 2011 Report Share Posted September 13, 2011 It's a mystery as to what UWO does with the MCAT score post interview. Remember that SWOMEN have lower MCAT cutoff, so I would suspect MCAT mark distributions isn't the same for SWOMEN and non-SWOMEN (just my guess, I don't know for sure). I suspect MCAT doesn't play a hugely significant role past the interview stage. Yeah it is a big mystery Although the last time it was official reported it was a 25% MCAT component and that was after the SWOMEN system was put in place (granted that was 6 years ago now, but it is the only hint officially we have and during that time nothing significant in any other way seems to have changed at Schulich. Still of course it doesn't clearly tell us what is going on). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted September 13, 2011 Report Share Posted September 13, 2011 and also, is it true that mac throws out the other sections of your MCAT before your file goes for review? as in the ADCOMs only see your VR score and nothing else? i am not sure if this is true or just a rumour i heard. Well they only consider the VR score so the other sections are pointless to them. There is no place in their scoring scheme for considering them - ie GPA and MCAT evaluation there are not used subjectively but just run through a formula, and only point of the MMI is to prevent something like your GPA/MCAT score affecting your interview score (think computerized scoring here - no human every has to look at your mcat). Mac is VERY transparent in how they use things to evaluate you. They say they don't use the other sections, they don't use the other sections Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsm Posted September 13, 2011 Report Share Posted September 13, 2011 It depends on the school, I know the adcom looking at the U of T applications don't even see your MCAT score if it meets cut-offs. For Ontario schools, McMaster (For VR), Western, and Queen's consider higher MCAT scores more favorably. You sure about Queens? I thought they only considered GPA and MCAT for cutoffs to determine interview, and then MMI + reference letters to determine offers of admission. I found this page through a google search regarding Queens Method of Selection http://meds.queensu.ca/education/undergraduate/prospective_students/method_of_selection'>http://meds.queensu.ca/education/undergraduate/prospective_students/method_of_selection But interestingly, its no longer linked from their Prospective Students website (at least I cant find it) http://meds.queensu.ca/education/undergraduate/prospective_students So maybe its changed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anon1234 Posted September 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2011 Well they only consider the VR score so the other sections are pointless to them. There is no place in their scoring scheme for considering them - ie GPA and MCAT evaluation there are not used subjectively but just run through a formula, and only point of the MMI is to prevent something like your GPA/MCAT score affecting your interview score (think computerized scoring here - no human every has to look at your mcat). Mac is VERY transparent in how they use things to evaluate you. They say they don't use the other sections, they don't use the other sections hi rmorelan! thanks for the reply the bolded part, is that true only at mac, to reduce bias on the part of the interviewers, or is that true at other medical schools also? i guess in simple terms what I am asking is, during file reviews, do the people who will be looking at your file get to see your MCAT score, and if so, do they get to see your entire MCAT history or just the most recent/relevant one? i am a bit worried about the effect of bias i suppose. a person with no bad MCAT vs. a person with a couple of bad scores might be viewed differently when being considered for an interview right? even if they might not say it directly. so that's why i'm curious about who actually sees the scores. if it's just a computer and it gives a yes or no answer, or compute a score for cutoffs, then that would reduce that concern for me, lol, but i'm wondering what happens at places like U of T where some leeway for the MCAT score does exist and the cutoff is not too stringent. does a human look at your score and score history to judge you or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatonekid Posted September 13, 2011 Report Share Posted September 13, 2011 You sure about Queens? I thought they only considered GPA and MCAT for cutoffs to determine interview, and then MMI + reference letters to determine offers of admission. I found this page through a google search regarding Queens Method of Selection http://meds.queensu.ca/education/undergraduate/prospective_students/method_of_selection'>http://meds.queensu.ca/education/undergraduate/prospective_students/method_of_selection But interestingly, its no longer linked from their Prospective Students website (at least I cant find it) http://meds.queensu.ca/education/undergraduate/prospective_students So maybe its changed? No, you're correct. At Queen's, the MCAT is only used as a cutoff for interviews. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsm Posted September 13, 2011 Report Share Posted September 13, 2011 hmmm I'm not so sure now ... any source to confirm? I cant find the "selection" page (http://meds.queensu.ca/education/und...d_of_selection) on their current site And McMaster (and UWO?) have started using MCAT scores beyond as cutoffs only recently I believe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bilirubin3 Posted September 13, 2011 Report Share Posted September 13, 2011 Sorry I was referring to pre-interview for those schools I mentioned,as a higher MCAT will increase the chances you get an interview. Though McMaster uses the VR for the final desicion as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsm Posted September 13, 2011 Report Share Posted September 13, 2011 Sorry I was referring to pre-interview for those schools I mentioned,as a higher MCAT will increase the chances you get an interview. Though McMaster uses the VR for the final desicion as well. No but even that is incorrect for Queens, because they are known for ONLY using MCAT as a cutoff...meaning if you're 1 pt higher or 5 points higher, it does not make a difference. Unless you mean that higher MCAT scores = greater chance of making the cutoffs - then yes. But still its different concpetually than how many American schools would use MCAT. For example, for Queens, there seems to be no different between 12-15 for any section (since no cutoff is likely to be greater than 12). Anyway, Im wondering whether this has changed though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.