Do you think I have my chances ?

[anaelle23]

Hi,

 

Here is my situation: I'm wondering if I should take the MCAT or not, because if I take it, it's only for McMaster and Queen's (I apply as an Ontario Resident).

 

Therefore, could you please tell me if I should take the MCAT this summer(depending on if I have a good shot at McMaster) regarding my informations below:

 

I have a 3.492 gpa (I had 3.96 just for the last year, but because it was my 5th year, it does not count too much), and I know the average gpa for McMaster is 3.75. Also, I have a good resume.

 

Please could you tell me if I you think that I have a good shot at Mcmaster and therefore if I should take the MCAT or not.

 

Thanks a lot,

 

Ana.

[Panicpsycho]

I think you should take it. Not only for Mac and queens but for Toronto and western as well. Ottawa unfortunately I doubt you have any hope. Western looks at best 2 years and Toronto will drop a few of your lowest course grades which may help you make up for what you lack in GPA. In my opinion I don't think you have a shot at McMaster or queens. Really just western and Toronto.

[Tdot2014]

To have a decent chance at McMaster, I would think you will need at least an 11 in verbal reasoning, more likely a 12. And then if you do well on Casper I think you have a shot at an interview. If you do get to the interview stage, it is worth 70% of your final score and so ultimately it will determine whether or not you get accepted.

 

As panic said, if you do really well on the MCAT you may have a good chance at Western. Queens is not very transparent so I can't comment on your chances there. U of T seems to love high GPAs in combination with good ECs since they only use the MCAT as a cutoff.

 

Hope this helps!

[anaelle23]

Hi,

 

Thanks for your answer. I never wrote the MCAT. But let me specify my question:

 

I am a Quebec resident (but I attended the University of Ottawa so I qualify as ontario resident for McMaster), and I already had an interview at University of Montréal (it didn't work).

 

Also, I have the minimum gpa for Ottawa. (They look at your 3 most recent full-time years, and it's less than 3.8 when you live in the region). I asked them and told me that I have the minimum gpa.

 

For Western, I only have two 5 full courses years within my bachelor, and one of them is my worth year.

 

So my question is, do you think:

 

1) I should spend the whole summer studying to have a good MCAT score, or

2) Should I only focus on University of Ottawa and Quebec universities ?

 

Thanks a lot!

[daftypatty]

I think you should take it. Not only for Mac and queens but for Toronto and western as well. Ottawa unfortunately I doubt you have any hope. Western looks at best 2 years and Toronto will drop a few of your lowest course grades which may help you make up for what you lack in GPA. In my opinion I don't think you have a shot at McMaster or queens. Really just western and Toronto.

 

What does Toronto/Western emphasize that differs from McMaster/Queen's?

[anaelle23]

Hi,

 

Thanks for your answer. I never wrote the MCAT. But let me specify my question:

 

I am a Quebec resident (but I attended the University of Ottawa so I qualify as ontario resident for McMaster), and I already had an interview at University of Montréal (it didn't work).

 

Also, I have the minimum gpa for Ottawa. (They look at your 3 most recent full-time years, and it's less than 3.8 when you live in the region). I asked them and told me that I have the minimum gpa.

 

For Western, I only have two 5 full courses years within my bachelor, and one of them is my worth year.

 

So my question is, do you think:

 

1) I should spend the whole summer studying to have a good MCAT score, or

2) Should I only focus on University of Ottawa and Quebec universities ?

 

Thanks a lot!

[anaelle23]

Answers please ?

[dassy]

You have to decide which is going to help your application more:

1) Spending the summer doing ECs that are going to bump your application in the Quebec pool

or

2) Spend the summer writing the MCAT and opening up your chances at Mac and Queens.

 

I got into Mac with a 3.48cGPA so it can be done...but you will have to score pretty high or verbal (likely a 12 or 13).

 

But if you're last/best two years are higher than 3.8 then for queens you pretty much only need 10 in each section and an overall >32. But they also weight heavily on ECs.

 

I think you have to consider where you would rather go to university and whether your ECs to date are good enough for these schools. Are the ECs that you'll gain in the next 3 months going to make a difference? Ottawa I hear tends to favor good ECs, so that's something to think about. Also if you've already got an interview somewhere, it typically means that your application is good enough, you just have to work on your interviewing skills.

[anaelle23]

Thank you,

 

Do you need a good english to do the Verbal Reasoning part ?

 

Thanks,

[dassy]

You need to be able to read comprehensive passages quickly and answers questions based on how well you understood the passage. So you're reading comprehension in English is what's important. Many people who are ESL find trouble with the verbal section because of the time limits.

 

EDIT: Please keep your posts to one forum and don't double post. Just saw this exact post in the general med forums.

[Aetherus]

Anaelle, my first language is french and I was able to get 11 in verbal, so it is possible.

[anaelle23]

Thank you for your answers! And sorry for the multiples messages!

 

What is a good score, or what is the minimum score for VR ? 11 out of 40 questions?

 

Thanks!

[simons]

No, he means 11 out of 15, the scaled score. Each section is scaled to give you a score out of 15. I think a score of 10 or higher is considered competitive, 12 or higher is very good. Not sure exactly what you have to get out of 40 to get a scaled score of 11, but it will vary with the difficulty of that particular test (they compare it to everyone else who wrote the same test as you), so on a relatively difficult verbal test, you can afford to get a couple more mistakes- what matters is how you do relative to everyone else.

[Aetherus]

An 11 is 95th percentile for verbal reasoning. It will make all cutoffs and is considered a good score. I was able to get into McMaster with this score and McMaster is the school who values verbal the most. 11 also makes the cutoff for western. Ideally you want to aim for a 10P-11V-12B to be competitive for all Canadian schools.