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Another "What are my chances?" thread (my apologies)


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In-province, completed 3rd year

 

Microbiology major at UVic

Overall GPA: 87.2

Pre-req: 87.4

MCAT to be taken in August

 

(Academically: about average, based on the admission stats for the last couple years?)

 

NAQ: Pretty weak I think. Standard hospital volunteering (~300 hours), started and ran a club (~400 hours), volunteered around campus for various things (~100 hours), assorted event volunteering. 4 work terms in research labs, 2 publications, worked part-time for most of my undergrad.

 

Any thoughts? Do I bother to apply to any out of province schools with these kinds of stats? Thanks in advance :)

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In-province, completed 3rd year

 

Microbiology major at UVic

Overall GPA: 87.2

Pre-req: 87.4

MCAT to be taken in August

 

(Academically: about average, based on the admission stats for the last couple years?)

 

NAQ: Pretty weak I think. Standard hospital volunteering (~300 hours), started and ran a club (~400 hours), volunteered around campus for various things (~100 hours), assorted event volunteering. 4 work terms in research labs, 2 publications, worked part-time for most of my undergrad.

 

Any thoughts? Do I bother to apply to any out of province schools with these kinds of stats? Thanks in advance :)

 

Do you think you're being funny?

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I think you are lacking some sports in your EC.

School varsity teams are too cliche now. Try to win some kind of sports event at national or international level or work a bit to get onto a national youth team.

 

And you should aim for at least 4+ publications near Nature/Science caliber to compensate for your average AQ. Continue with all your activities to make sure you hit at least 500+ hrs on each one of them and add just 3 to 4 more regular-volunteering positions.

 

Oh btw everyone has one of the Africa things on their EC's nowadays. It's summer so take advantage of that and start a project on your own and build a city in Africa over the summer. You can achieve it easily within 3 weeks if you are diligent. Good luck with your application.

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[...] It's summer so take advantage of that and start a project on your own and build a city in Africa over the summer. You can achieve it easily within 3 weeks if you are diligent. Good luck with your application.

 

i built Rome in a day. beat that.

 

edit: here's the link http://premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28154 just post in there or browse around. again, this is if srs, lololol.

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Thanks for the help, I suppose. Is there a close thread function here?

 

Edit: Apparently there isn't. Just stop responding I guess (although I would like to know why this is being responded to so negatively)

 

Take a look at your application in terms of GPA and ECs....take another step back and take a look again and I think you'll realize why.

 

If you're serious though....you're in really good shape for getting an interview. You have more than a competitive GPA, some great commitment in your ECs, and some research (with publications!) to boot. Other than keeping up what you're doing (and maybe making sure your ECs are versatile), I can't think of any way you could improve your application.

 

Maybe you can try and solve world hunger? Or discover the magic bullet for curing cancer? :D

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lol it's 'cause one of these threads is up every other week, if not weekly. just pm a mod and ask them to close it, or report your post in which you say "mods please close this" lol. i'm really not sure which method (open to alternatives...) they prefer.

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Edit: Apparently there isn't. Just stop responding I guess (although I would like to know why this is being responded to so negatively)

 

I'm sorry some people on this forum are so *****y sometimes, I guess you should have put the thread in a better place. I'd say you have a good shot IP at getting an interview, but unlikely out of province. Best of luck and sorry for the rude posts from the people above.

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I'm sorry some people on this forum are so *****y sometimes, I guess you should have put the thread in a better place. I'd say you have a good shot IP at getting an interview, but unlikely out of province. Best of luck and sorry for the rude posts from the people above.

 

Depending on the breakdown of his GPA, he could very well be eligible for the Ontario schools and Dal. Depends on the spread of his overall grades and whether there are any major differences in terms of GPA between his 3 years at UVic. As long as he meets the hard-cut offs for those schools, I'd say he has as good of a chance as anyone for landing an interview.

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Thank you for the responses. I guess I was mostly worried about the fact that I really only have 4 volunteer things happening, and everyone else seems to have an entire list of things going on. But yeah, grades were pretty stable year to year, so I'll probably look into Ontario then.

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Thank you for the responses. I guess I was mostly worried about the fact that I really only have 4 volunteer things happening, and everyone else seems to have an entire list of things going on. But yeah, grades were pretty stable year to year, so I'll probably look into Ontario then.

 

Remember, its quality over quantity. Having a few activities which you have spent years on is much better than having a bunch of short term (1 day, few months, etc.) activities. In terms of diversity, it may be beneficial to have more, but not just for the sake of it. The only thing you have to watch out for though is to make sure you explain the 4 ECs you have very well because that is ultimately what will determine your non-academic score...

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Sorry to hijack this thread but can someone tell me my chances, please?

 

UBC

 

GPA: ~89%

OMSAS cGPA: 3.88

 

EC:

 

Costco : Summer Job ~ 3 months

SUS First Week/ SwabME/ Strathcona Dental Fair : Small 1-7 days events

VP PreDental Club - 1 year (will this hurt me, lol, since I decided to go into Med after I got the position)

Imagine UBC - Squad Manager ~ 2 years (~10 months total I guess)

Shadowing Family Doctor - ~ 3 months

Let's Talk Science - SMaRT - Science projects with school children: 2 years (~6-8 months, really spread out though)

Peer Tutor- 4 months/ 1 semester

 

Looking to volunteer at a research lab this summer (currently emailing profs), and will apply to do an NSERC next summer, hopefully.

 

 

I know my EC's are pretty weak, which is what I'm worried about.

 

No MCAT yet.

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What never ceases to amaze me is how people get an 89% average and yet not have the wherewithal judge their own med chances.

 

I know my GPA is "fine" even though I've noticed in the accepted thread people with high GPAs still get rejected, which is why I'm mainly worried about my EC's.

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I know my GPA is "fine" even though I've noticed in the accepted thread people with high GPAs still get rejected, which is why I'm mainly worried about my EC's.

 

I think with a high GPA and decent ECs you have a very good chance of getting an interview. Then a lot depends on the interview.

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I think with a high GPA and decent ECs you have a very good chance of getting an interview. Then a lot depends on the interview.

 

Post-interview what is looked at? Is it just the interview? Or do they add the TFR score with the interview score and the top 288 get accepted?

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I think with a high GPA and decent ECs you have a very good chance of getting an interview. Then a lot depends on the interview.

 

I use to think so too - but if so much depends on the interview, how are people with above average interviews getting rejected? You'd think that if you can manage an above average interview, you should be able to get accepted. I'm still puzzled by the two people who posted on here with above average interviews and didn't get in, or even waitlisted...

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I use to think so too - but if so much depends on the interview, how are people with above average interviews getting rejected? You'd think that if you can manage an above average interview, you should be able to get accepted. I'm still puzzled by the two people who posted on here with above average interviews and didn't get in, or even waitlisted...

 

me too, friend, me too. Blew my mind.

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So how important is your TFR post-interview? Does anyone know? I'm pretty sure I can reach the cut-off for the interview, but if it's important to maximize my TFR in order to get accepted post-interview then I really need to improve my ECs/NAQ.

 

Nobody on here knows, so you won't get a reliable answer, though I think it is logical to assume that a high NAQ score isn't going to hurt your chances.

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Do they tell you your TFR if you get an interview?

 

No, but I know several people with below average AQs and average NAQs (by that, I mean run-of-the-mill volunteering and research) that have gotten in. The interview then, I personally believe, plays a fairly important role in the shifting the decision process.

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