Late but I need advice/ encouragement

[Melly731]

Regrets

Gpa: 3.55cGPA; 3.81 wGPA (Biomed at Laurentian 2013)

ECs: Life guard, Big Sisters, Club president 2 years, Research experience + publication, hospital and cancer center volunteering, shadowing doctor, etc.

Trad or Non-trad?: Traditional

 

This was my third time applying, interviewed 3 times and I didn't get on the waitlist once. I am currently doing my masters at U of T. I am terribly discouraged. The reason my GPA is so low is that my father passed away during first year and I still continued my studies. It feels horrible seeing all your friends get in while you are left behind.

Does anyone have any success stories of them taking multiple years to get in? I really need some encouragement .

 

Sincerely,

A NOSM hopeful

[5th time the charm]

Regrets

Gpa: 3.55cGPA; 3.81 wGPA (Biomed at Laurentian 2013)

ECs: Life guard, Big Sisters, Club president 2 years, Research experience + publication, hospital and cancer center volunteering, shadowing doctor, etc.

Trad or Non-trad?: Traditional

 

This was my third time applying, interviewed 3 times and I didn't get on the waitlist once. I am currently doing my masters at U of T. I am terribly discouraged. The reason my GPA is so low is that my father passed away during first year and I still continued my studies. It feels horrible seeing all your friends get in while you are left behind.

Does anyone have any success stories of them taking multiple years to get in? I really need some encouragement .

 

Sincerely,

A NOSM hopeful

 

5 years of applying to Mac, interviewed the last 4 years I applied, never waitlisted once, got in on my 5th try. It's possible!! If you get interviews you are a competitive applicant and try to remember that...if you keep applying you are bound to get in. That's what I kept telling myself and good things can happen!! Perseverance can be a very important quality that you are learning now for med school!! Try not to lose hope, your day will come!!

[Real Beef]

Melly: I moved a copy of your post to its own because we want to keep the accepted/rejected thread clean from other posts so people can quickly cruise through the thread looking at names/stats.

 

To answer your question, I applied to NOSM twice before getting in however that doesn't reflect the total of 5 applications to medical school that I put in before getting in. So it can be done with strategic persistence ... that is improving each time, getting advice/assistance moving forward ... not the house fly against the window act where you just keep doing the same thing.

 

A girl in my class applied 7 times, while another a year below applied 6 times. The important thing with multiple applications besides what I already mentioned is to have other things happening in your life ... a back up plan on the go if medicine doesn't work out and not holding your breath before you start enjoying life. You need to be happy and feel successful now, not just when you get an MD because that is a myth that you will all of the sudden become happy once you become an MD. Good luck.

 

Both the people mentioned had other careers on the go while I worked as a health professional so we weren't living in our parents basements hoping to be saved by NOSM.

 

 

Beef

[Melly731]

Hey Beef,

 

You' re absolutely right. That's why I'm doing the masters and then I plan to start working as a lab technician. I honestly enjoy lab work and think it would be fulfilling for myself. It just hurts right now, but I will get back up stronger and more determined than ever!

[Melly731]

5th time is the charm,

Thank you for your encouragement! It's really motivational. Congrats to you.

[Rex Tyrannus]

How is your wGPA 3.81?

Even with a graduate degree shouldn't be 3.75?

[MDwannabe02]

Hey Melly,

 

I just got my third consecutive rejection from NOSM. I wasn't on the waitlist this year or my first time applying, but I was #26 on the list last year.

 

I can definitely relate to the sting of getting shot down multiple times, but I still believe we can do it. I think pursuing graduate studies is absolutely a good idea. I am heading to physiotherapy school at Mac in the fall which is exciting to me because it's a master's degree that will also give me employable health care skills.

 

I agree with what Beef said about being really critical with yourself and actually building your application instead of just hoping for blind luck and applying several times with the same app. I believe you're on the right track, just stay the course and find things to motivate you along the way. We'll get there

[Melly731]

Rex

A weighted GPA is for Ottawa where they take your last 3 years as such:

1st year x1

2nd year x2

3rd year x3

Since my last years are much better than my earlier ones I have a wGPA of 3.81.

MDWannabee I'm sorry that happened, I wonder if the pool is getting more competitive? Did anything feel different during your interview? A master's in Physiotherapy should definitely help. I hope our year comes soon!

[MDwannabe02]

MDWannabee I'm sorry that happened, I wonder if the pool is getting more competitive? Did anything feel different during your interview?

 

I felt like the interview this year was better than previous years. I do have a theory about falling off the wait list, but I don't think I want to share it publicly. You can PM me if you want more details though.

[Rex Tyrannus]

Rex

A weighted GPA is for Ottawa where they take your last 3 years as such:

1st year x1

2nd year x2

3rd year x3

Since my last years are much better than my earlier ones I have a wGPA of 3.81.

MDWannabee I'm sorry that happened, I wonder if the pool is getting more competitive? Did anything feel different during your interview? A master's in Physiotherapy should definitely help. I hope our year comes soon!

 

Well NOSM does not modify your GPA in that way so you should definitely consider doing a masters degree in order to get the 0.2 boost for your GPA and bring it to 3.75

[Real Beef]

The average GPA was higher last year and will be interesting to see what happens this year once the stats are released therefore you will want to maximize this aspect of your application.

 

However if you did not make the wait list 3x in a row this suggests weakness in other areas of your application which you may want to seriously consider because realistically will an extra 0.2 on your GPA get you from not wait listing all of the way to getting in? with a different applicant pool it is possible however there may be more going on with your application then the GPA (i.e. interviewing, references, sketch, etc). You may need some third party honest review of your application.

 

Beef

[Melly731]

I'm not sure what aspect of the process I'm weak in. I wish they gave you some feedback. I feel like I might have mediocre interviews and the GPA doesn;t help but I feel like my ECs and research experience are good. I am willing to take advice/ constructive criticism form anyone who is willing to help.

[Real Beef]

I'm not sure what aspect of the process I'm weak in. I wish they gave you some feedback. I feel like I might have mediocre interviews and the GPA doesn;t help but I feel like my ECs and research experience are good. I am willing to take advice/ constructive criticism form anyone who is willing to help.

 

You mentioned that your friends have got into medical school so this might be a place to start. It is obviously hard on the pride to ask a peer to look over one's application but it might be useful. Of course they only know their own application and have no idea how much luck was involved in their application.

 

A second place you can use as a resource is the university at which you will be doing your masters. I am sure that the career counsellor has helped individuals prep for medical school applications in the past and may have a broader sample of successful applications versus borderline apps.

 

NOSM is not as receptive to giving feedback as they once were and don't give feedback post-rejection or so is my understanding. Doesn't hurt though once things calm down in their administrative office to see if you can get an appointment with an admissions officer to review your application in general. Again they do not give specific advice on the previous application cycles but may be able to look over your information you bring in and give you some general advice which may or may not be helpful. Sometimes the advice is so general that it is not useful and you have heard it from the forum. But again if you don't know what to do it can't hurt.

 

Good luck.

 

Beef

[leijona88]

I'm not sure what aspect of the process I'm weak in. I wish they gave you some feedback. I feel like I might have mediocre interviews and the GPA doesn;t help but I feel like my ECs and research experience are good. I am willing to take advice/ constructive criticism form anyone who is willing to help.

 

 

I hear ya, I was rejected twice and it left me with an empty feeling, not knowing where to start when it comes to improving my application. Last year I emailed NOSM and they said they don't review individual applications, nor do they give advice on how to optimize your application. The assistance they provide is basically limited to answering questions about application process (GPA calculation, etc). This is understandable though, considering the volume of applications they get relative to class size, and also because their goal isn't to help people get in. It might seem harsh but NOSM doesn't owe us anything. Their goal is to fulfill their mandate. So I would suggest finding all info you can about NOSM's mandate and why the school came into existance. Also, there isn't one specific formula for getting in. There are successful applicants from many different backgrounds. So it's hard to give specific advice. But I would agree with previous posts and say talk to your friends who were accepted, see if you can get someone to review your application and try to spot any weaknesses. How much did you prep for the interview? Maybe it's just a matter of improving your interview skills.

[bikekp]

I personally think getting in is about 20% luck. It is really hard for anybody to give you a lot of feedback unless they release how your application was scored ( calgary and ubc for example). I have gone over my OMSAS application and my Interview for NOSM over and over again in my head, and I honestly can't figure out how I got in. My GPA was below last year's average, I'm young, first time applicant, I seriously fumbled in 3 stations and I have never even been to N. Ontario. I got lucky this year, maybe next year it will be your year.

[Panicpsycho]

Regrets

Gpa: 3.55cGPA; 3.81 wGPA (Biomed at Laurentian 2013)

ECs: Life guard, Big Sisters, Club president 2 years, Research experience + publication, hospital and cancer center volunteering, shadowing doctor, etc.

Trad or Non-trad?: Traditional

 

This was my third time applying, interviewed 3 times and I didn't get on the waitlist once. I am currently doing my masters at U of T. I am terribly discouraged. The reason my GPA is so low is that my father passed away during first year and I still continued my studies. It feels horrible seeing all your friends get in while you are left behind.

Does anyone have any success stories of them taking multiple years to get in? I really need some encouragement .

 

Sincerely,

A NOSM hopeful

 

I know you're hurting man and I really feel bad. Just keep your head up and re-apply! Happens to the best of us. And to make things easier, just remember that NOSM isn't a real med school anyways. Apply to a greater range next year?

[Melly731]

I wrote the MCAT 3 times with no success. Maybe the new format will be more my style of test?? I have applied to Ottawa U also with no interview invites. NOSM has great student outcomes, most student get matched to their first choice residency (yes even the specializations). So I would be honored to go here. Although at this point I'm willing to go anywhere that would take me as long as I could come back and practice in Canada.