Third Year Applicants

[FutureDoc6666]

Does anyone know anyone personally who was accepted to an Ontario medical school as a third year applicant? What should I be aiming for to be competitive GPA and MCAT wise? How can I stand out?

[IamIDP]

Changes year from year. I know someone with less than 3.7 GPA and about 10VR if I remember and he got into Mcmaster. However, with this year's formula it's highly likely he wouldn;t have even gotten an interview. But that doesn't matter, he got into mac med and thats all that matters.

[aryastark]

There are a lot of 3rd years in our class. I can't speak to their stats though (I imagine they would have to be more impressive), so it might be helpful to check last year's accepted/ rejected/ waitlisted thread. Sorry that I can't be more specific!

[RiverCityJill]

According to what Mac says about their application process, being a third year applicant shouldn't have any impact on your chances directly. However, who knows what really happens behind closed adcoms doors. Also, being a 3rd year applicant may affect your chances indirectly by affecting other factors. For example, many undergrad students perform better grades-wise in the later years of their degree. Having a 4th year of higher grades could bring up your cGPA and affect your odds that way.

 

In terms of what GPA and VR to aim for, taking a look at the admission stats from previous years:

http://fhs.mcmaster.ca/mdprog/selection_process.html

will give you a sense of what's competitive. But, as IamIDP said, the formulae they use change from year to year so it's just a ballpark idea.

 

Other than that you've just got to throw your hat in the ring and see what happens.

Good luck!