Interview chances

[Guest newbietomed]

Okay,

Two students are granted a interview at a medical school. One student (lets name him Bob) has a 3.7 GPA, and the other student (lets name him Billy) has a 4.0 GPA.

 

So my question is would Billy have a greater chance of "getting in" than Bob? Or dose the GPA not matter once you are granted a interview?

[Guest JD]

That really depends on the school. They each have their own policies regarding how your application is considered once the interview stage is reached. A school like U of T counts your interview for only 20% of your final evaluation, while at Ottawa it's worth 100% (with GPA used only to break ties).

[Guest Liana]

Yeah, you need to look at the admissions policies of each individual school. Some schools like Queen's set a cutoff; if you make that cutoff they no longer care what your marks are.

[Guest clinicalchief]

Thats right. Some schools still review your whole file, but others give you a clean slate at the interview stage.

[Guest newbietomed]

thanks for replying guys

[Guest sos2002]

Hi guys..any one have an idea how McMaster apply to such a matter..Thanks

[Guest UWOMED2005]

At Western, GPA and MCAT count for 25% each for the final evaluation for whether you get in. The interview is 50%. But GPA and MCAT don't really separate the candidates. . . I don't know the actual formula, but a 3.7 GPA is worth perhaps 20/25 vs a 4.0 GPA getting 25/25. It's similar for the MCAT. . . you get a lot of credit for just making the cutoff (don't know, but it's close to 20 out of 25.)

 

Pardon my editorialization - but I kind of like that formula. It's good to give some credit for great academic performance, but it shouldn't be the be all and end all of meds acceptance. Don't forget - a 3.7 GPA is an excellent GPA! It's easy to get into the "premed bubble" and begin to think anything less than a 90% average in every course isn't good enough, but the fact is many students don't achieve that level of marks.

[Guest newbietomed]

Hey,

Do you guys know how UofAlb. and UofCal. weights the application process?

[Guest Liana]

While on paper, it may appear that McMaster is fairly lax about their academic requirements, don't be fooled. Your marks still determine whether or not you are granted an interview, unless you're a superbly exceptional applicant (ie, Olympic athlete, saved 100 orphans from a burning orphanage in Africa which you built with your own hands, ++), in which case they are willing to ignore your marks in comparing your percentile rank with other students. I have heard of students with a 3.6 GPA and an autobiographical submission in the 80th percentile still being turned down for interviews, so marks do count.

 

I'm not sure about U Calg or UA's admissions policies, but this information is easily available on their respective websites. I do recall several schools in the prairies (not sure if these schools are included) employing a system of dropping some of your lower marks in calculating your GPA, although I'm not sure ultimately how much the GPA actually counts.

 

Most often, marks play the largest role in determining whether or not to grant an interview; usually you need to make some defined cutoff, or come close to a set GPA, before they will even consider inviting you. After that point, the school will use a combination of scores (GPA, MCAT, interview, references, autobiographical submission) to ultimately rank you, but I think at this point the GPA often counts for maybe 25% of your total score. Some schools won't use it beyond picking you for interview at all. At other places, having a strong GPA will clearly help you, but won't make or break you (once you've actually gotten an interview).