nelsojc Posted May 11, 2013 Report Share Posted May 11, 2013 -I have just completed 4 years in Biology at McMaster -I am considered on Ontario resident (outside of Ottawa) wGPA: 3.97 ECs: 2 months as a summer research student at a hospital (clinical research, no publications), 3 months as a research student (scientific research, no publications), 1 year volunteer at a nursing home, camp counselor 5 years, camp director 1 year, volunteer TA for 1 term, a few other small volunteer things (short in length), 3 McMaster scholarships based on grades, played on many different sport teams. What are my chances? In my opinion my wGPA is better then my ECs...does anybody know how GPA is weighted in reference to ECs in order to get an interview?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savac Posted May 11, 2013 Report Share Posted May 11, 2013 You're above the wGPA cutoff, and that's all that matters! Just apply and hope for the best Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelsojc Posted May 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2013 well don't ECs matter significantly as well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savac Posted May 12, 2013 Report Share Posted May 12, 2013 well don't ECs matter significantly as well... Undetermined, particularly when your wGPA is high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missmathematics Posted May 12, 2013 Report Share Posted May 12, 2013 No one on here can tell you what your "chances" are...only the admissions committee can determine whether you get an interview or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockeynut Posted May 12, 2013 Report Share Posted May 12, 2013 This may sound stupid but you miss every shot you don't take. No harm in sending in an app. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSJ Posted May 12, 2013 Report Share Posted May 12, 2013 This may sound stupid but you miss every shot you don't take. No harm in sending in an app. So true. You don't know how many people that I know who sent in their application just to "give it a shot" and ended up getting in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nwo4life2011 Posted July 16, 2013 Report Share Posted July 16, 2013 If you have a wGPA above 3.9, there is no reason not to apply to Ottawa. Let the administrators evaluate your ECs. No one on this board will be able to give you a definitive evaluation of your ECs. Let the chips fall where they may and hope that the person(s) looking at your application has a positive view of it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serine Posted July 17, 2013 Report Share Posted July 17, 2013 Aaah...just the thread for me since I'm contemplating the same question. The problem is my wGPA for Ottawa will be 3.87. So would you guys advise that I apply? I also just finished my 4th year. I do have fairly good ECs (research, leadership, volunteer, employment to put it vaguely) but nothing too special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelsojc Posted July 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2013 I applied last year after 3rd year and my wGPA was a 3.88 with decent ECs (listed at the start of the thread)...I did not receive an interview (I am from Toronto). I believe it is decently rare but not impossible to get an interview with such a GPA but you most definitely need very good ECs. I am hoping now that since my wGPA for Ottawa is 3.97 I will be offered an interview. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT1 Posted July 17, 2013 Report Share Posted July 17, 2013 Aaah...just the thread for me since I'm contemplating the same question. The problem is my wGPA for Ottawa will be 3.87. So would you guys advise that I apply? I also just finished my 4th year. I do have fairly good ECs (research, leadership, volunteer, employment to put it vaguely) but nothing too special. I was in a similar boat as you. I applied 3 times with wGPA 3.9, 3.85 and 3.87 after graduating. All times straight rejected. I would still advise to apply since you meet the 3.85 cutoff and you never ever know....i would be interested in how others worded their abs as that can have a huge impact... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fireflakes Posted July 17, 2013 Report Share Posted July 17, 2013 I had a slightly higher GPA when I applied last year (3.90) with average ECs (no pubs or international volunteering) and I got an interview invite (and was later accepted) so definitely apply. Dont quote me on this but I believe a strong ABS with GPA above cutoffs should give you a fighting chance so make sure you have a well rounded ABS! GL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
champ Posted July 17, 2013 Report Share Posted July 17, 2013 Aaah...just the thread for me since I'm contemplating the same question. The problem is my wGPA for Ottawa will be 3.87. So would you guys advise that I apply? I also just finished my 4th year. I do have fairly good ECs (research, leadership, volunteer, employment to put it vaguely) but nothing too special. I feel like students applying after their 4th year are at an advantage when they apply. Its probably because they have more time to build up the EC component vs a 3rd year student. However, no one on here really knows what the committee officially looks for. My advice, just make sure you are doing something meaningful with this upcoming year after your graduation. If you end up getting an interview, I would bet the question, "what have you been doing with your time?" will come up lol. Interview performances are huuuuge for people with lower wgpa's. Either way, assuming you are an in province out of Ottawa applicant you are above cut off so just do it and see what happens! My wgpa wasn't ridiculously high either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10wattbulb Posted July 25, 2013 Report Share Posted July 25, 2013 Ottawa is a very tough med school to get in on the English stream. In the most recent application cycle, there were 3476 candidates on the English stream, and 116 got in. So technically, you've got 3-4% chance of getting in. However, your wGPA of 3.97 is above the cutoff and clearly better than average, so you've probably got 3X the chances because they probably cut off ~2/3 of the applicants with the 'excellence of marks' (So they might be down to 1100 applicants after this stage). Hence, you've really got a 9-12% chance. After the 'excellence of marks', they probably cut off ~55% of the remaining applicants with the autobio sketch and ref letters. So they might be down to 500 applicants after this stage. This is where you need to shine & improve (but the fact that you've got 1 more year under your belt will definitely help you this time around)! If you make it to the interview, you have ~25% chances of making it in (with waitlist movement and all, maybe as high as 33%). I assume that they probably interview ~500 applicants on the English stream (no more than that!). Disclaimer: this post contains a lot of speculation on my part - I'm trying to answer your question directly by giving you an actual guess of your % chance of getting in, and my guess for you is 10%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelsojc Posted July 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2013 Thanks for the input. Do you really think though that 1/3 of the applicants have a wGPA greater then or equal to 3.97? Also even if you make the high cutoff (about 3.87 or so) I don't think Ottawa treat all these GPAs equally at that point...I think they treat it as though a 3.98 has a much higher chance then say a 3.92. Im hoping I am at for sure guaranteed an interview...but I dont know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thestar10 Posted July 25, 2013 Report Share Posted July 25, 2013 Thanks for the input. Do you really think though that 1/3 of the applicants have a wGPA greater then or equal to 3.97? Also even if you make the high cutoff (about 3.87 or so) I don't think Ottawa treat all these GPAs equally at that point...I think they treat it as though a 3.98 has a much higher chance then say a 3.92. Im hoping I am at for sure guaranteed an interview...but I dont know No one is guaranteed an interview. Your odds are higher but no school guarantees one. (Western is the only possible exception but they can still reject based on LOR) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelsojc Posted July 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2013 Ya I guess I should not say guaranteed ....I guess I mean "very high chance". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10wattbulb Posted July 26, 2013 Report Share Posted July 26, 2013 Thanks for the input. Do you really think though that 1/3 of the applicants have a wGPA greater then or equal to 3.97? Also even if you make the high cutoff (about 3.87 or so) I don't think Ottawa treat all these GPAs equally at that point...I think they treat it as though a 3.98 has a much higher chance then say a 3.92. Im hoping I am at for sure guaranteed an interview...but I dont know No, I don't think that 1/3 of applicants have a wGPA greater than 3.97, but there's at least 1/3 who have a wGPA above 3.85, which used to be their wGPA cutoff for Ontario applicants who live outside of Ottawa (for OOP applicants, the wGPA cutoff was of 3.87 or 3.89 I believe). However, on their website, they now state this: " The minimum WGPA cut-offs are determined by the quantity and the quality of the applications that we receive. Candidates who would like to learn the WGPA cut-off for their category are invited to contact the admissions office at admissmd@uottawa.ca." So in reality, the cutoffs may very well fluctuate from year to year and actually be higher than 3.85, and it seems that in the last application cycle very few (if any) applicants with a wGPA below 3.90 were invited for an interview. But to me, it still seems that once you make a given wGPA cutoff, your application will advance to the next step of the selection process, which is the evaluation of the detailed autobio sketch & letters of reference. So making it above a given wGPA cutoff (which may be as high as 3.92 for OOP applicants) is what really matters to move on in the process, and your 3.97 wGPA will not help or compensate for a lacklustre autobio sketch or a mediocre interview. Hence, for Ottawa, excelling at every step of the selection process counts! Therefore, you are not guaranteed an interview, but you are guaranteed to have your autobio sketch reviewed given your high wGPA (and I estimate that you have slightly less than a 50% chance of getting an interview - which is not a bad odd at all). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savac Posted July 26, 2013 Report Share Posted July 26, 2013 No, I don't think that 1/3 of applicants have a wGPA greater than 3.97, but there's at least 1/3 who have a wGPA above 3.85, which used to be their wGPA cutoff for Ontario applicants who live outside of Ottawa (for OOP applicants, the wGPA cutoff was of 3.87 or 3.89 I believe). However, on their website, they now state this: " The minimum WGPA cut-offs are determined by the quantity and the quality of the applications that we receive. Candidates who would like to learn the WGPA cut-off for their category are invited to contact the admissions office at admissmd@uottawa.ca." So in reality, the cutoffs may very well fluctuate from year to year and actually be higher than 3.85, and it seems that in the last application cycle very few (if any) applicants with a wGPA below 3.90 were invited for an interview. But to me, it still seems that once you make a given wGPA cutoff, your application will advance to the next step of the selection process, which is the evaluation of the detailed autobio sketch & letters of reference. So making it above a given wGPA cutoff (which may be as high as 3.92 for OOP applicants) is what really matters to move on in the process, and your 3.97 wGPA will not help or compensate for a lacklustre autobio sketch or a mediocre interview. Hence, for Ottawa, excelling at every step of the selection process counts! Therefore, you are not guaranteed an interview, but you are guaranteed to have your autobio sketch reviewed given your high wGPA (and I estimate that you have slightly less than a 50% chance of getting an interview - which is not a bad odd at all). Hmm this new rule is interesting. I can definitely see the cutoffs going up as a result. Last year the OOP cutoff was 3.88 if I recall (pretty sure that somebody received confirmation from admissions). At some point last year I checked the interview thread and 3.88 was the lowest OOP wGPA that I saw, thought that's not necessarily definitive proof. I'm actually very curious to see what the new cutoffs will be, if they're changed. If I had to make a prediction, and I really suck at predicting the actions of admissions departments, I would predict the OOO cutoff to go from 3.85 up to 3.90. As for OOP, the 3.92 figure that you proposed is feasible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riskybusiness Posted July 26, 2013 Report Share Posted July 26, 2013 OOO going to 3.9 would be a drastic increase. I would be surprised if it even went up to 3.87. Besides, grade inflation in university isn't shifting THAT quickly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savac Posted July 26, 2013 Report Share Posted July 26, 2013 OOO going to 3.9 would be a drastic increase. I would be surprised if it even went up to 3.87. Besides, grade inflation in university isn't shifting THAT quickly It's practically 3.90 anyway, lol... just not officially Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockeynut Posted July 26, 2013 Report Share Posted July 26, 2013 It's practically 3.90 anyway, lol... just not officially Your definitely right there BUT if you are even only slightly above the cut-offs it is worth applying if you have some ABS items that will catch their attention. I know OOO people who got in this past cycle with wGPA's below 3.9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gametime24 Posted July 26, 2013 Report Share Posted July 26, 2013 The out-of-province last year was a 3.88, I received confirmation from the admissions committee about that last year. The wording on their site was the same then though, so I don't think that the ambiguous wording means it will go up, it just gives them wiggle room if it does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelsojc Posted July 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2013 If you pass the cutoff (e.g. 3.88) is everybody then considering equal and differentiated based on ECs?..or is a 3.98 still considered a significant advantage to a 3.9? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penguin92 Posted July 27, 2013 Report Share Posted July 27, 2013 If you pass the cutoff (e.g. 3.88) is everybody then considering equal and differentiated based on ECs?..or is a 3.98 still considered a significant advantage to a 3.9? I think 3.98 is still considered an advantage over 3.9. It seems like they are more "forgiving" abt EC's when your GPA is like 3.98, 3.99, 4.0 etc. This is just purely my speculation though, I could definitely be wrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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