Life_Sci_Guy Posted November 5, 2013 Report Share Posted November 5, 2013 Hey all, Had a question about the GPA I need to maintain in my last (4th) year, should I get accepted to Ottawa this cycle. I am currently in 4th year. If I understand the website correctly, I must maintain a wGPA equal to 3.85 (the wGPA cutoff for non-Ottawa Ontario students), which includes my 4th year (x3), 3rd year (x2), and 2nd year (x1). This doesnt make sense to me though, since what if someone is applying with a wGPA of 3.86~ (years 1-3) and they end up finishing 4th year with a 3.83~. This would mean they do not achieve the wGPA requirement (using year 2-4), even though they received the same GPA essentially. Maybe someone here has experience with this/has heard about this? Is this indeed the cutoff, and is it a HARD cutoff? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goingplaid Posted November 5, 2013 Report Share Posted November 5, 2013 OK So I am going to give this a go. Someone can correct me if I am wrong. Essentially your wGPA needs to be above a certain value (and I am 99% sure that is a hard cut off) If you did not take enough courses in 4th year to use it as part of your wGPA (i.e. 7 courses or less (generally)), then your marks are "inconsequential" given that you didn't drop 20% in overall average. Example, I took 6 courses in my last year (3 each semester) so it was not used in my wGPA. Your acceptance is given based on maintaining a specific wGPA. That's all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockeynut Posted November 5, 2013 Report Share Posted November 5, 2013 No offence but I would approach your final year as if you were to have to reapply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savac Posted November 6, 2013 Report Share Posted November 6, 2013 OK So I am going to give this a go. Someone can correct me if I am wrong. Essentially your wGPA needs to be above a certain value (and I am 99% sure that is a hard cut off) If you did not take enough courses in 4th year to use it as part of your wGPA (i.e. 7 courses or less (generally)), then your marks are "inconsequential" given that you didn't drop 20% in overall average. Example, I took 6 courses in my last year (3 each semester) so it was not used in my wGPA. Your acceptance is given based on maintaining a specific wGPA. That's all. Yes, your wGPA absolutely must be above the cutoff for your geographical area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Life_Sci_Guy Posted November 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2013 Thanks. Am I the only one who thinks this is odd though? That a 3.86 applicant would get rejected for getting a 3.83 in their last year. It should be based on a percentage based on how your grades currently are Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockeynut Posted November 6, 2013 Report Share Posted November 6, 2013 Thanks. Am I the only one who thinks this is odd though? That a 3.86 applicant would get rejected for getting a 3.83 in their last year. It should be based on a percentage based on how your grades currently are I do think it is a cheesy way to get rejected but they can do whatever they want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savac Posted November 6, 2013 Report Share Posted November 6, 2013 Not really, I know stories of far worse reasons to have an offer rescinded. (No, I won't be sharing) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockeynut Posted November 6, 2013 Report Share Posted November 6, 2013 Not really, I know stories of far worse reasons to have an offer rescinded. (No, I won't be sharing) That's like me telling you I know a secret about you but won't tell you. Why'd you post if you weren't going to share!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savac Posted November 6, 2013 Report Share Posted November 6, 2013 That's like me telling you I know a secret about you but won't tell you. Why'd you post if you weren't going to share!? Well I won't share them without their permission, but I'm just trying to say that there are WAY worse reasons to lose an acceptance. If your wGPA falls below the cutoff, it's pretty fair in my opinion to have the offer revoked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockeynut Posted November 6, 2013 Report Share Posted November 6, 2013 Well I won't share them without their permission, but I'm just trying to say that there are WAY worse reasons to lose an acceptance. If your wGPA falls below the cutoff, it's pretty fair in my opinion to have the offer revoked. Shouldn't have said you know of reasons, my brains been running wild with crazy scenarios. haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savac Posted November 6, 2013 Report Share Posted November 6, 2013 Shouldn't have said you know of reasons, my brains been running wild with crazy scenarios. haha Sorry, I didn't mean to cause unnecessary panic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockeynut Posted November 6, 2013 Report Share Posted November 6, 2013 Sorry, I didn't mean to cause unnecessary panic In all honesty it's not panic, if anything I'm laughing at the crazy scenarios that I'm cooking up in my head haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Life_Sci_Guy Posted November 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2013 By "way worse reasons" are you talking about GPA reasons? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockeynut Posted November 6, 2013 Report Share Posted November 6, 2013 By "way worse reasons" are you talking about GPA reasons? Judging by the context of his previous statement it is not GPA related reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnDakota Posted November 6, 2013 Report Share Posted November 6, 2013 The firm wGPA cutoff, to even be considered, is 3.5. The mean accepted applicant for last cycle was 3.91. https://www.afmc.ca/pdf/2013_ad_bk.pdf Page 23 It all depends on how competitive your particular year was/is, regarding if you get an interview/accepted. I got an interview in 2008, good-wait listed at uOttawa, and was rejected late August. Brutal. I re-applied, figuring since I got an interview last time around I'd probably get one this time around too - Nope. The recession had hit 2007-2008, and applications went through the roof, pushing the bell curve higher than where I was competitive. Since then I've done a PhD and am working out east - Hopefully I'll land at Dal, or UofT fall 2015. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loodogg Posted November 9, 2013 Report Share Posted November 9, 2013 The firm wGPA cutoff, to even be considered, is 3.5. The mean accepted applicant for last cycle was 3.91. https://www.afmc.ca/pdf/2013_ad_bk.pdf Page 23 It all depends on how competitive your particular year was/is, regarding if you get an interview/accepted. I got an interview in 2008, good-wait listed at uOttawa, and was rejected late August. Brutal. I re-applied, figuring since I got an interview last time around I'd probably get one this time around too - Nope. The recession had hit 2007-2008, and applications went through the roof, pushing the bell curve higher than where I was competitive. Since then I've done a PhD and am working out east - Hopefully I'll land at Dal, or UofT fall 2015. Wow that's crazy, power to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savac Posted November 9, 2013 Report Share Posted November 9, 2013 I don't know why that document claims that the minimum acceptable gpa is 3.5. Even the Ottawa cuttoff is notably higher than that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnDakota Posted November 9, 2013 Report Share Posted November 9, 2013 It's not the minimal accepted gpa. It's the minimal acceptable gpa. Score a 3.4? Your ap goes in the trash before any evaluation. Score a 3.5? Your ap gets scored, but probably still goes in the trash because the competition is stiff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnDakota Posted November 9, 2013 Report Share Posted November 9, 2013 Wow that's crazy, power to you. Thanks. Heh. Pretty ridiculous way to go about an education, but I've never been one to know precisely what I want without lots of personal experience. The challenge of research is amazing and the thrill/high you get when you make a breakthrough is unbelievable - but the lack of personal or meaningful connections with community, a sense of doing a job that positively impacts people in need directly, and hope for a real job all have forced me to re-evaluate and go med or bust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z12345 Posted November 9, 2013 Report Share Posted November 9, 2013 I don't know why that document claims that the minimum acceptable gpa is 3.5. Even the Ottawa cuttoff is notably higher than that... Could it be due to special access seats (i.e. Aboriginal and CNFS)? So 3.5 is the minimum but only under special circumstances and for the majority of people, >3.85 is required? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnDakota Posted November 9, 2013 Report Share Posted November 9, 2013 Could it be due to special access seats (i.e. Aboriginal and CNFS)? So 3.5 is the minimum but only under special circumstances and for the majority of people, >3.85 is required? Just read the .pdf page 23. It's all explained there. Frankly, everyone here should read that entire document. It answers essentially every question anyone could have about minimal requirements to be considered and typical/minimal profiles that get accepted for all Canadian medical schools. At uOttawa 3.5 is the minimum to get considered. That could be for the french stream though. Aboriginals fall under 'special considerations' and they have an even lower wGPA cutoff. Just keep in mind there's a difference between 'acceptable' and 'accepted.' One is a bureaucratic mechanism to cut applications quickly (ie. <3.5 wGPA), the other is a function of the applicant pool on any given year (ie. why the minimum wGPA for cohorts changes from year to year). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockeynut Posted November 9, 2013 Report Share Posted November 9, 2013 Figured I would post the cut-offs from last year. Ottawa - 3.70 OOO - 3.85 OOP - 3.88 (up from 3.87) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savac Posted November 9, 2013 Report Share Posted November 9, 2013 Ok, good point. Allow me to clarify myself. If you're applying to either the English or French stream (not CNFS), then 3.5 will not meet cutoffs. This is of course assuming that there you are not a special applicant. As Hockeynut posted (which I think might be a direct quote from me a few months ago), the English stream cutoffs are notably higher than 3.5. By the way, the wGPA cutoffs don't typically change from year to year. They CAN change (as you've mentioned), but they often don't. The only major change last year that I'm aware of was that the English OOP cutoff increased to 3.88 from 3.87. The OOO cutoff of 3.85 has been solid for years, for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockeynut Posted November 10, 2013 Report Share Posted November 10, 2013 Ok, good point. Allow me to clarify myself. If you're applying to either the English or French stream (not CNFS), then 3.5 will not meet cutoffs. This is of course assuming that there you are not a special applicant. As Hockeynut posted (which I think might be a direct quote from me a few months ago), the English stream cutoffs are notably higher than 3.5. By the way, the wGPA cutoffs don't typically change from year to year. They CAN change (as you've mentioned), but they often don't. The only major change last year that I'm aware of was that the English OOP cutoff increased to 3.88 from 3.87. The OOO cutoff of 3.85 has been solid for years, for example. I can't believe you could recognize your witting, considering it's virtually all numbers. Oh and if your from Ottawa the French cut-off last year was 3.6 (friend of mine emailed them just prior to the application deadline) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goingplaid Posted November 10, 2013 Report Share Posted November 10, 2013 I believe only the Aboriginal stream stayed at a 3.5gpa cut-off last year. Everyone accepted was well above that. Funny how interview skills and academic ability went hand in hand, for that category, last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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