Official "What are my chances for McMaster" Thread

[VigoVirgo]

Would appreciate if anyone here could please chance me as well.

OOP

cGPA 3.65 (I know it's bad but I can maaaybe bring it up to 3.7 over the next 2 semesters).

CARS 130 (should I rewrite to aim for 131/132? Still on the fence about this, someone told me no but since Mac is so competitive..I don't know).

Assume that I do well on CASPer (fast typer, BA, able to think quickly/critically and have taken a biomed ethics class).

Is it possible? What's the lowest GPA you've seen someone OOP get in with? My reasoning is that my lower than average GPA can be made up with my slightly higher than average CARS but I don't know if it works like that in reality lol.

[LloydRedStan]

16 minutes ago, VigoVirgo said:

Would appreciate if anyone here could please chance me as well.

OOP

cGPA 3.65 (I know it's bad but I can maaaybe bring it up to 3.7 over the next 2 semesters).

CARS 130 (should I rewrite to aim for 131/132? Still on the fence about this, someone told me no but since Mac is so competitive..I don't know).

Assume that I do well on CASPer (fast typer, BA, able to think quickly/critically and have taken a biomed ethics class).

Is it possible? What's the lowest GPA you've seen someone OOP get in with? My reasoning is that my lower than average GPA can be made up with my slightly higher than average CARS but I don't know if it works like that in reality lol.

Generally, high Casper > high CARS > high GPA (because of the skew)

So you are better off with a low GPA than low CARS or CASPer. I think if you ace Casper you have a pretty good shot

[ONMED17]

19 hours ago, vino said:

 

Out of curiosity are you IP or OOP?

Why, what are your thoughts? So much time to go before interview invites... I’m banning myself from premed101 until the new year lol

[MedMaybe3563]

56 minutes ago, ONMED17 said:

Why, what are your thoughts? So much time to go before interview invites... I’m banning myself from premed101 until the new year lol

 

I was thinking that for IP it's slightly easier and maybe your chances are better? But correct me if I'm wrong. 

[AVM]

Hey everyone!

I applied last year and didn't get an interview. Then, I retook the MCAT to improve my overall score. It worked, BUT my CARS dropped 1 point. :,(

So, for this application cycle I have:

IP

GPA: 3.87 (I think, but still waiting for the official OMSAS calculation. If they would account for only my current UG, it would be around 3.95, but I have another UG and independent courses along the way)

CARS: 128

Casper: I think it went okay, but given that I didn't even get waitlisted last year with a 129 CARS, I feel like I'm probably not great at this test. Not a social pariah or sociopath by any means though. Actually, a nursing student with plenty of love and empathy in my heart! LOL

I'm also a non-traditional student, previous journalist, turned nursing student, turned pre-med, newcomer to Canada from South America. I wish Mac would live up to their self-proclaimed "holistic" approach to selecting candidates. Anyway, I digress...

Would anybody care to share their thoughts on my chances for an interview invite this year?

Thank you!!

 

[VigoVirgo]

2 hours ago, AVM said:

Hey everyone!

I applied last year and didn't get an interview. Then, I retook the MCAT to improve my overall score. It worked, BUT my CARS dropped 1 point. :,(

So, for this application cycle I have:

IP

GPA: 3.87 (I think, but still waiting for the official OMSAS calculation. If they would account for only my current UG, it would be around 3.95, but I have another UG and independent courses along the way)

CARS: 128

Casper: I think it went okay, but given that I didn't even get waitlisted last year with a 129 CARS, I feel like I'm probably not great at this test. Not a social pariah or sociopath by any means though. Actually, a nursing student with plenty of love and empathy in my heart! LOL

I'm also a non-traditional student, previous journalist, turned nursing student, turned pre-med, newcomer to Canada from South America. I wish Mac would live up to their self-proclaimed "holistic" approach to selecting candidates. Anyway, I digress...

Would anybody care to share their thoughts on my chances for an interview invite this year?

Thank you!!

 

Very good chance with an average-slightly above average CASPer score. You're much more likely to get than interview than I am lol.

 

However please keep in mind that I am a clueless premed with very little knowledge of how the world works and I'm going to be applying for the 1st time next cycle. Full disclosure. 

[Raads]

Don't think my chances are too high, but wondering what I should aim for in my next year of UG to have a chance of getting in by the time I graduate.

GPA: 3.40

CARS: 127 (planning on rewriting, need to bring it up to a 132 considering where my GPA is right now)

CASPer: I think it went okay, did it because I applied for this cycle thinking my GPA was much higher than it actually was (stupid miscalculation on my part)

Currently in my third year, but I still have at least another year to try and pull my GPA up to maybe a 3.6? I could really use some motivation right now, starting to think maybe medicine isn't the career for me.

[TalsKnight]

On 11/12/2018 at 6:28 PM, Raads said:

Don't think my chances are too high, but wondering what I should aim for in my next year of UG to have a chance of getting in by the time I graduate.

GPA: 3.40

CARS: 127 (planning on rewriting, need to bring it up to a 132 considering where my GPA is right now)

CASPer: I think it went okay, did it because I applied for this cycle thinking my GPA was much higher than it actually was (stupid miscalculation on my part)

Currently in my third year, but I still have at least another year to try and pull my GPA up to maybe a 3.6? I could really use some motivation right now, starting to think maybe medicine isn't the career for me.

 

Don't get your hopes up too much. Both your GPA and CARS are below the average you need. But if you can bring it up to a 3.6+ and get 130+ on CARS you have a much better shot. Consider also taking a 5th year perhaps and make sure you take full course loads so you meet the weighing forumlas for other schools. Honestly your GPA is salvageable just work hard. 

And I know what you mean. It can be disheartening comparing your stats to others and the whole process has become a rat race. But there is nothing you can do except do your absolute best and try to get in after a few cycles. If you think medicine isn't the career for you, keep your options open, but as I said to someone else on this forum before, if you don't have any luck at Canadian med schools, consider applying to the US, and possibly international schools in the UK or Ireland and Australia. Seriously everyone makes a huge deal about it but the whole IMG terror thing is completely overblown. As long as you don't go to some no name school in the Caribbean you're fine. The UK/Ireland/Australian schools have a very good education that is on par with the Canadian system. These are medical schools in first world countries vs diploma mills in developing nations. The only thing is you need to be very flexible when it comes to where you will settle down for at least 8-10 years. If you do in fact go overseas write the USMLE and apply broadly to residency spots in Canada and the USA and the country you studied medicine in. Australia is relatively friendly/accommodating towards foreign med students but Ireland and UK is a bit harder without an EU passport. But bottom line is you'll probably end up practicing medicine somewhere as long as you're not trying to get into an ultra competitive specialty like neurosurgery.  So if you truly feel that medicine is the only thing you see yourself doing, your stats are fine for a school overseas. I wish you the best of luck and much success. Work hard and don't give up. 

[asdasdasd]

.

[conbrio]

lol do me too

 

GPA: 3.59

CARS: 131

CASPER: No idea, probs average

IP

[Mathmaximum]

GPA: 4.00

CARS: 125

CASPER: Felt I articulated my answers well and was confident in them (but who knows?)

[Raads]

On 11/16/2018 at 2:24 PM, TalsKnight said:

 

Don't get your hopes up too much. Both your GPA and CARS are below the average you need. But if you can bring it up to a 3.6+ and get 130+ on CARS you have a much better shot. Consider also taking a 5th year perhaps and make sure you take full course loads so you meet the weighing forumlas for other schools. Honestly your GPA is salvageable just work hard. 

And I know what you mean. It can be disheartening comparing your stats to others and the whole process has become a rat race. But there is nothing you can do except do your absolute best and try to get in after a few cycles. If you think medicine isn't the career for you, keep your options open, but as I said to someone else on this forum before, if you don't have any luck at Canadian med schools, consider applying to the US, and possibly international schools in the UK or Ireland and Australia. Seriously everyone makes a huge deal about it but the whole IMG terror thing is completely overblown. As long as you don't go to some no name school in the Caribbean you're fine. The UK/Ireland/Australian schools have a very good education that is on par with the Canadian system. These are medical schools in first world countries vs diploma mills in developing nations. The only thing is you need to be very flexible when it comes to where you will settle down for at least 8-10 years. If you do in fact go overseas write the USMLE and apply broadly to residency spots in Canada and the USA and the country you studied medicine in. Australia is relatively friendly/accommodating towards foreign med students but Ireland and UK is a bit harder without an EU passport. But bottom line is you'll probably end up practicing medicine somewhere as long as you're not trying to get into an ultra competitive specialty like neurosurgery.  So if you truly feel that medicine is the only thing you see yourself doing, your stats are fine for a school overseas. I wish you the best of luck and much success. Work hard and don't give up. 

Thank you so much for this thorough response! I definitely want to get into med school, so I'm willing to do whatever it takes. Thanks for restoring some of my hope, i really appreciate it!! 

[Caribbean Med]

.

[futureMD95]

GPA: 3.90
CARS: 128
CASPER: no clue at all...

IP

[FeAtom]

Is it worth applying for the next year?

GPA: 3.97

CARS: 127

Casper: haven’t written it yet

oop

[bruh]

3 hours ago, FeAtom said:

Is it worth applying for the next year?

GPA: 3.97

CARS: 127

Casper: haven’t written it yet

oop

It's very competitive for OOP to get an interview at Mac. Only 10% of interview invites are given to OOP.

Your GPA is above average, but your CARS is below average. I would say it's still worth applying but you'll definitely need to perform way above average on CASPer. 

[aneilm]

On 6/13/2019 at 10:25 AM, FeAtom said:

Is it worth applying for the next year?

GPA: 3.97

CARS: 127

Casper: haven’t written it yet

oop

I'm an OOP student who recently got accepted to Mac for this August. My GPA was a 3.83 and CARS a 129. Frankly, considering only about 55 OOP students are selected for interviews I must have absolutely killed my Casper, which I did feel really good about at the time. I wasn't sure about applications last year around this time and just went for it and it worked out so I think it's worth a shot.

[Medfool25]

4 hours ago, aneilm said:

I'm an OOP student who recently got accepted to Mac for this August. My GPA was a 3.83 and CARS a 129. Frankly, considering only about 55 OOP students are selected for interviews I must have absolutely killed my Casper, which I did feel really good about at the time. I wasn't sure about applications last year around this time and just went for it and it worked out so I think it's worth a shot.

Congrats on your acceptance! Do you have any tips for the Casper you'd be willing to share?

[maenyt]

Just received my MCAT score: I re-wrote on June 1st, 2019 and did much better than last time.

GPA: 3.91

CARS: 129

Casper: Haven't written it yet

In-province.

What do you think?

[BernieMac]

On 7/3/2019 at 5:17 PM, maenyt said:

Just received my MCAT score: I re-wrote on June 1st, 2019 and did much better than last time.

GPA: 3.91

CARS: 129

Casper: Haven't written it yet

In-province.

What do you think?

-

[maenyt]

No, I'm paranoid as lots of people seem to have 4.0's these days.

[DNM]

13 hours ago, maenyt said:

Just received my MCAT score: I re-wrote on June 1st, 2019 and did much better than last time.

GPA: 3.91

CARS: 129

Casper: Haven't written it yet

In-province.

What do you think?

Slightly above average accepted stats. Don't botch casper and you should get an interview.

Note: casper isn't that hard to botch imo - I've missed out on a Mac interview with arguably higher stats last year. 

[FutureERDoc]

Estimator calculator here: https://casperfect.ca/mcmaster-medicine

[premed0104]

cGPA: ~3.7

CARS: 130

CASPER: unwritten

IP

5th year UG

Honestly not sure with the lower gpa but does anyone think I have a chance at Mac :/

[Meridian]

Great job at raising CARs from 125 to 129 !      You got this !

 

On 7/3/2019 at 7:17 PM, maenyt said:

Just received my MCAT score: I re-wrote on June 1st, 2019 and did much better than last time.

GPA: 3.91

CARS: 129

Casper: Haven't written it yet

In-province.

What do you think?