ArdentMed Posted September 8, 2014 Report Share Posted September 8, 2014 So if I went to a prestigious school with a challenging major ie: UBC Sciences (where only 3% of the first year Chemistry class gets 90%+, and 0.6% of students in any first year English class earn 90%+ according to their grades distribution website), and ended up with, say, a 3.5 GPA, would I be worse off (from a medical schools admissions purposes) than going to an "easier" university, such as Capilano, and earning a 4.0 GPA? Isn't there a flaw in that logic? Does the university's prestige truly not matter? Does this only apply for Canada, or is it also applicable for the States as well? Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MD2015 Posted September 8, 2014 Report Share Posted September 8, 2014 In Canada, so-called prestige is utterly meaningless and is worth nothing to you! GPA is king - period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duoduoa Posted September 8, 2014 Report Share Posted September 8, 2014 no wonder so many people go to york... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MD2015 Posted September 8, 2014 Report Share Posted September 8, 2014 The formula is quite simple. GPA is by far the most important. And only the francophone medical schools take into account the difficulty of the program in assesing the relative value of a high GPA from an easier program vs a lower, and more worthy GPA, from a difficult program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savac Posted September 8, 2014 Report Share Posted September 8, 2014 So if I went to a prestigious school with a challenging major ie: UBC Sciences (where only 3% of the first year Chemistry class gets 90%+, and 0.6% of students in any first year English class earn 90%+ according to their grades distribution website), and ended up with, say, a 3.5 GPA, would I be worse off (from a medical schools admissions purposes) than going to an "easier" university, such as Capilano, and earning a 4.0 GPA? Isn't there a flaw in that logic? Does the university's prestige truly not matter? Does this only apply for Canada, or is it also applicable for the States as well? Thanks in advance. Precisely, all that matters at the end of the day is the number. It would be overly complicated to try and evaluate the "difficulty" of every single program at every institution Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MD2B2019 Posted September 8, 2014 Report Share Posted September 8, 2014 That's why there's MCAT for, to verify your GPA. For most MD schools in USA and Canada, you need both GPA and MCAT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
two0nine Posted September 8, 2014 Report Share Posted September 8, 2014 Go to whatever school you'll be happy at. Suck it up and do the amount of work necessary at that school to get an A. Take it from someone who went to an easy school first, failed and dropped out, then went to a hard work and got straight As. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sit Posted September 8, 2014 Report Share Posted September 8, 2014 It's sad, but that's essentially the truth. I've heard rumours of some schools taking into account the 'difficulty' of your degree, but such a thing is obviously difficult for the committee to agree on, if they even attempt to. UBC Sciences isn't too bad. Study hard, utilize the resources and get involved with the brightest students. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
011235813 Posted September 8, 2014 Report Share Posted September 8, 2014 University Location Count UNIV OF ALBERTA AB 4 UNIV OF CALGARY AB 2 SIMON FRASER UNIV BC 1 UNIV OF BRITISH COLUMBIA BC 8 UNIV OF VICTORIA BC 1 UNIV OF MANITOBA MB 1 UNIV OF NEW BRUNSWICK NB 1 ACADIA UNIV NS 1 DALHOUSIE UNIV NS 4 ALGOMA UNIVERSITY ON 1 MCMASTER UNIV ON 58 QUEEN'S UNIV ON 19 UNIV OF GUELPH ON 4 UNIV OF OTTAWA ON 10 UNIV OF TORONTO ON 66 UNIV OF WATERLOO ON 9 UNIV OF WINDSOR ON 4 WESTERN UNIV ON 35 YORK UNIV ON 3 MCGILL UNIV QC 17 UNIV OF MELBOURNE Australia 1 UNIV OF CAMBRIDGE UK 1 COLUMBIA UNIV USA 1 JOHNS HOPKINS UNIV USA 2 MIDDLEBURY COL USA 1 STANFORD UNIV USA 1 UNION COLL NY USA 1 UNIV OF ALABAMA BIRMINGHAM USA 1 UNIV OF WASHINGTON USA 1 TOTAL 259 This is the breakdown of UofT's entering class for 2013. Interpret how you will. There are a small number of matriculants from york. Most of the matriculants come from tough programs, like UofT and Mcmaster. That's not to say that they're looking at prestige. It could be that certain schools had less promising candidates. It is clear though, based on the numbers, that in 2013, more UofT students got in than york students, and more Mac students got in than Western students etc. Feel free to interpret this however you like. (Using UofT as an example: Other schools may be different) Source: http://www.md.utoronto.ca/admissions/statistics.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
011235813 Posted September 8, 2014 Report Share Posted September 8, 2014 In case my above post is misleading: University of _______ Province __ Number of students who entered the class __ i.e. YORK UNIV ON 3 means that 3 students from York matriculated at UofT in 2013. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mithrandir Posted September 8, 2014 Report Share Posted September 8, 2014 Precisely, all that matters at the end of the day is the number. It would be overly complicated to try and evaluate the "difficulty" of every single program at every institution Also, impossible, as different programs and subjects are completely different difficulties to different people. There's many people who can get a 90 in chemistry class that could never write a 90% essay for an upper year english theory class, and vice versa. People have different learning styles and different interests. Take whatever you'll get the best marks in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duoduoa Posted September 9, 2014 Report Share Posted September 9, 2014 University Location Count UNIV OF ALBERTA AB 4 UNIV OF CALGARY AB 2 SIMON FRASER UNIV BC 1 UNIV OF BRITISH COLUMBIA BC 8 UNIV OF VICTORIA BC 1 UNIV OF MANITOBA MB 1 UNIV OF NEW BRUNSWICK NB 1 ACADIA UNIV NS 1 DALHOUSIE UNIV NS 4 ALGOMA UNIVERSITY ON 1 MCMASTER UNIV ON 58 QUEEN'S UNIV ON 19 UNIV OF GUELPH ON 4 UNIV OF OTTAWA ON 10 UNIV OF TORONTO ON 66 UNIV OF WATERLOO ON 9 UNIV OF WINDSOR ON 4 WESTERN UNIV ON 35 YORK UNIV ON 3 MCGILL UNIV QC 17 UNIV OF MELBOURNE Australia 1 UNIV OF CAMBRIDGE UK 1 COLUMBIA UNIV USA 1 JOHNS HOPKINS UNIV USA 2 MIDDLEBURY COL USA 1 STANFORD UNIV USA 1 UNION COLL NY USA 1 UNIV OF ALABAMA BIRMINGHAM USA 1 UNIV OF WASHINGTON USA 1 TOTAL 259 This is the breakdown of UofT's entering class for 2013. Interpret how you will. There are a small number of matriculants from york. Most of the matriculants come from tough programs, like UofT and Mcmaster. That's not to say that they're looking at prestige. It could be that certain schools had less promising candidates. It is clear though, based on the numbers, that in 2013, more UofT students got in than york students, and more Mac students got in than Western students etc. Feel free to interpret this however you like. (Using UofT as an example: Other schools may be different) Source: http://www.md.utoronto.ca/admissions/statistics.htm people buying into the prestige hype may cause UofT having better applicant pool. Also, Mac has their health sci beasts so it has the natural advantage I believe in school prestige, just not for premed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tacrolimus Posted September 9, 2014 Report Share Posted September 9, 2014 That's the reality. Considering how much GPA is weighted, you would think they would consider difficulty of the programs/schools, but it is very hard to quantify. In the end though, we are the ones who make the final decision on the university or the program, fully knowing that there are "easier" options out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarvish Posted September 9, 2014 Report Share Posted September 9, 2014 Keep in mind that UofT is the only(?) school that takes into account the "difficulty" of your undergrad degree. No one really knows what they mean by that but they may very well favour some universities' students over others.At Mac, I believe I've heard that most of our students came from Mac's Health Sci followed by Western's BioMed with all other schools somewhere below that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xkittens Posted September 10, 2014 Report Share Posted September 10, 2014 I think the most telling number on that list is Waterloo... it's a considered a tough school yet only 9 students were accepted.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted September 10, 2014 Report Share Posted September 10, 2014 I think the most telling number on that list is Waterloo... it's a considered a tough school yet only 9 students were accepted.... tough school but only for particular programs (some of my degrees are from there). It also has a rep as a more technical school - so you may not see as many people interested in medicine even going to that school comparatively. Finally they is the issue where there may be self selection - smarter people initially may want to go to particular schools (the whole prestige thing again) and in the end that may produce some schools with higher numbers proprotionally going to medicals school. That has nothing directly to do with the school's though ability to get you in I will say in general there is still a huge difference between a 4.0 anywhere and a 3.5 anywhere regardless of how you do the math. GPA is still king, and you cannot fight against a computer scoring system that is evaluating you for pre interview selection. The universities are not lying when they tell you program doesn't matter (they have absolutely no reason to lie about that). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xkittens Posted September 10, 2014 Report Share Posted September 10, 2014 tough school but only for particular programs (some of my degrees are from there). It also has a rep as a more technical school - so you may not see as many people interested in medicine even going to that school comparatively. Finally they is the issue where there may be self selection - smarter people initially may want to go to particular schools (the whole prestige thing again) and in the end that may produce some schools with higher numbers proprotionally going to medicals school. That has nothing directly to do with the school's though ability to get you in This is what I was trying to say ^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArchEnemy Posted September 10, 2014 Report Share Posted September 10, 2014 From the above stats, it seems that York Students are less successful in gaining admission at UofT. Do any of you suspect a bias against York students? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xkittens Posted September 10, 2014 Report Share Posted September 10, 2014 From the above stats, it seems that York Students are less successful in gaining admission at UofT. Do any of you suspect a bias against York students? I think not because from the handful of york kids I know that got into med school, most were kinesiology students. York's life sciency degrees in terms of difficulty are biomed>biology>kinesiology=psychology and very few people from the first 2 get in, which makes me think the applicant's GPA is assessed independently of the person's degree. I would find it surprising for UofT to nit pick universities but not degrees within each university, especially york which UofT probably has close ties to. Anecdotes and speculation ftw! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzz_etrigan Posted September 11, 2014 Report Share Posted September 11, 2014 Keep in mind that UofT is the only(?) school that takes into account the "difficulty" of your undergrad degree. No one really knows what they mean by that but they may very well favour some universities' students over others. At Mac, I believe I've heard that most of our students came from Mac's Health Sci followed by Western's BioMed with all other schools somewhere below that. Where is this stated? Except for schools in Quebec (I know of McGill) I was under the impression no schools care WHAT degree or WHAT school you came from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W0lfgang Posted September 11, 2014 Report Share Posted September 11, 2014 ucalgary cared when I was applying. they were pretty transparent about it. i dont' think things have changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballislife123321 Posted September 11, 2014 Report Share Posted September 11, 2014 I know of at least 3 people from york that got accepted at u of t and at least 10 off the top of my head that got interviews. All undergrads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon Posted September 11, 2014 Report Share Posted September 11, 2014 Where you did your undergrad supposedly does not matter to medical schools, at least in Canada. That said, UofT does state that they consider things like the rigor of the program though I have no idea how exactly they evaluate that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzz_etrigan Posted September 11, 2014 Report Share Posted September 11, 2014 Where you did your undergrad supposedly does not matter to medical schools, at least in Canada. That said, UofT does state that they consider things like the rigor of the program though I have no idea how exactly they evaluate that. That makes me very happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehead321 Posted September 13, 2014 Report Share Posted September 13, 2014 That makes me very happy. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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