vanillabear Posted April 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2012 I feel a bit empty I guess. Spending 3+ years on GPA, 4+ months on MCAT, 4+ years on ECs, 1 month on application and then 70% of my admission is what 10 strangers thought of me after I spoke to (or at) them for 8 minutes... Am I the only one that thinks that the 70% of my admission was determined rather INDIRECTLY by my 3 years on GPA and 3 months on MCAT and 4+ years on my ECs? All the time I spent learning how to think critically in university classes, or for MCAT, or developing communication through my ECs... seems definitely related to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anastomoses Posted April 3, 2012 Report Share Posted April 3, 2012 I too have put a great deal of time into the variety of experiences I detailed on my sketch. In the fall, I thought it was disheartening that McMaster wouldn't consider them. I don't feel that way about it anymore, though. I did those activities ultimately to grow as a person, and how they look on paper is not necessarily reflective of that growth. I am proud of my ABS, but I understand why McMaster would choose not to use it. I really feel some of what I learned from my sketch activities showed indirectly during both CASPeR and the MMI. And isn't that the point of evaluating an ABS, anyway? To determine whether the candidate has developed the soft skills and maturity befitting a future physician? You could argue that ignoring the ABS also corrects for the differences between what applicants may have gained from similar activities. Six weeks until we all get our news! So close, and yet so far . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mions Posted April 3, 2012 Report Share Posted April 3, 2012 I think the MMI went a lot better than I expected... even though I had a bit of trouble on some of the stations (I don't think I did terribly on any of them but there were definitely things I wished I had expanded on) I felt relieved afterwards. The problem is that everyone in my group felt relieved as well! GAH I really don't know how to interpret that... Well anyways, I wish everyone good luck and hope to see some of you guys next September! *fingers crossed* May 15th is way too far away...I even have an awesome trip planned to distract me but atm I can't stop thinking about how much I want this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ontariomed0002 Posted April 3, 2012 Report Share Posted April 3, 2012 Hey I may be missing a piece of information with regards to this but does Mac still not look at the sketch during the full file review as stated in this paragraph I pulled from their website? The Undergraduate Medical Program uses two formulae to rank applicants - the first provides a rank order list for invitation to interview, and the second provides a rank order list for advancement to Collation (full file review). The overall weightings reflect our commitment to consider the cognitive and professional qualities of applicants equally. I too have put a great deal of time into the variety of experiences I detailed on my sketch. In the fall, I thought it was disheartening that McMaster wouldn't consider them. I don't feel that way about it anymore, though. I did those activities ultimately to grow as a person, and how they look on paper is not necessarily reflective of that growth. I am proud of my ABS, but I understand why McMaster would choose not to use it. I really feel some of what I learned from my sketch activities showed indirectly during both CASPeR and the MMI. And isn't that the point of evaluating an ABS, anyway? To determine whether the candidate has developed the soft skills and maturity befitting a future physician? You could argue that ignoring the ABS also corrects for the differences between what applicants may have gained from similar activities. Six weeks until we all get our news! So close, and yet so far . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anastomoses Posted April 3, 2012 Report Share Posted April 3, 2012 Hey I may be missing a piece of information with regards to this but does Mac still not look at the sketch during the full file review as stated in this paragraph I pulled from their website? The Undergraduate Medical Program uses two formulae to rank applicants - the first provides a rank order list for invitation to interview, and the second provides a rank order list for advancement to Collation (full file review). The overall weightings reflect our commitment to consider the cognitive and professional qualities of applicants equally. They don't require a sketch from their applicants, so students applying only to McMaster may not complete one. I can't imagine they would look at the ABS for some applicants and not others, so I assume that's not part of whatever the full file review means at McMaster. But, your guess is as good as mine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonchiu Posted April 3, 2012 Report Share Posted April 3, 2012 I agree that it seems like they do consider all that stuff. Based on that paragraph on the website, I think they go through the following process after the interview: (I could be completely off, and probably am) 1. The second formula is used to rank all interviewees, let's say from 1 to 500 (rank order). 2. Top 300 applicants advance to collation (the rest are out), and following full file review another 50 are knocked out due to boring sketches, mmi red flags, etc. 3. 220 applicants are offered positions based on their rank order, and the remaining 30 are waitlisted. My reasoning: - It says they make a rank order for advancement to collation, meaning not every file is reviewed following interview. - If they only looked at the 2nd formula result, offers could be made within a week. They need to review something during that time. (I approximated with the numbers.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParkourParkour Posted April 3, 2012 Report Share Posted April 3, 2012 But hypothetically, if one were applying to only McMaster, the ABS is an unnecessary step that the school has said in the past, isn't required. Perhaps you're right about 300 going to collation based on raw 70/15/15 score, but perhaps from that point on, they look closely at comments from LORs and MMI evaluation since the ABS would not be considered. I agree that it seems like they do consider all that stuff. Based on that paragraph on the website, I think they go through the following process after the interview: (I could be completely off, and probably am) 1. The second formula is used to rank all interviewees, let's say from 1 to 500 (rank order). 2. Top 300 applicants advance to collation (the rest are out), and following full file review another 50 are knocked out due to boring sketches, mmi red flags, etc. 3. 220 applicants are offered positions based on their rank order, and the remaining 30 are waitlisted. My reasoning: - It says they make a rank order for advancement to collation, meaning not every file is reviewed following interview. - If they only looked at the 2nd formula result, offers could be made within a week. They need to review something during that time. (I approximated with the numbers.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ontariomed0002 Posted April 3, 2012 Report Share Posted April 3, 2012 Ah that's true I forgot that you don't even have to complete the sketch if you're only applying to Mac so I think you guys are right about reviewing comments, letters of reference, etc... to determine final acceptances/waitlists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon Posted April 3, 2012 Report Share Posted April 3, 2012 I agree that it seems like they do consider all that stuff. Based on that paragraph on the website, I think they go through the following process after the interview: (I could be completely off, and probably am) 1. The second formula is used to rank all interviewees, let's say from 1 to 500 (rank order). 2. Top 300 applicants advance to collation (the rest are out), and following full file review another 50 are knocked out due to boring sketches, mmi red flags, etc. 3. 220 applicants are offered positions based on their rank order, and the remaining 30 are waitlisted. My reasoning: - It says they make a rank order for advancement to collation, meaning not every file is reviewed following interview. - If they only looked at the 2nd formula result, offers could be made within a week. They need to review something during that time. (I approximated with the numbers.) Seems probable but I'd like to add that the waitlist is probably significantly larger than 30, based on rumours and hearsay, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robinre Posted April 3, 2012 Report Share Posted April 3, 2012 it must be, since the waitlist fluctuation in 2008/09 was 79 people (most recent data released). even if its less now, 30 still seems pretty low Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sfire Posted April 3, 2012 Report Share Posted April 3, 2012 I agree that it seems like they do consider all that stuff. Based on that paragraph on the website, I think they go through the following process after the interview: (I could be completely off, and probably am) 1. The second formula is used to rank all interviewees, let's say from 1 to 500 (rank order). 2. Top 300 applicants advance to collation (the rest are out), and following full file review another 50 are knocked out due to boring sketches, mmi red flags, etc. 3. 220 applicants are offered positions based on their rank order, and the remaining 30 are waitlisted. My reasoning: - It says they make a rank order for advancement to collation, meaning not every file is reviewed following interview. - If they only looked at the 2nd formula result, offers could be made within a week. They need to review something during that time. (I approximated with the numbers.) I think the waitlist is more like 75-100 people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comeon Posted April 4, 2012 Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 Last year, it was leaked from an AdCom member that the waitlist included 145 individuals. I think the number of people on the waitlist would be the same this year. The waitlist historically moves ~70 spots (not sure whether this number includes waitlist withdrawals + acceptance withdrawals). I think the waitlist is more like 75-100 people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon Posted April 4, 2012 Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 Last year, it was leaked from an AdCom member that the waitlist included 145 individuals. I think the number of people on the waitlist would be the same this year. The waitlist historically moves ~70 spots (not sure whether this number includes waitlist withdrawals + acceptance withdrawals). 70? That seems REALLY high... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davjw Posted April 4, 2012 Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 70? That seems REALLY high... U of T has seen similar movement in the past, as well. I imagine a lot of the movement is due to overlap between acceptances... stronger students get into multiple places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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