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2015 Post Interview Discussion


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I think interviews aren't a huge differentiator for getting in for UofT.

 

Before they had the MPI interview a couple years back and the interview was worth 20% of final score, I remember reading that the average score was around 15/20. To me, this means that if the average is centered around 15, there's not a lot of room to differentiate yourself at the interview; ie, if you perform extremely well and get perfect (which is probably impossible), you're only about 5% ahead of the average joe after the interview. It could be a dealbreaker, however, if you perform terribly, there's a lot of room to go down.

 

But yeah what did everyone think about yesterday and the day before's interviews?

 

I liked my interview day! Overall, I had a really good impression of the school (although the video was a tad too long and had me nervously checking the time). The interview itself was my favourite so far - I find that I like the MPI format the best. 

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Or, you know, the only people you heard from were the show-offs who think they did really well. No one with a bad interview (and I'm sure there was a sizeable fraction) would have told you that his interview sucked.

 

 

Of course, but there does seem to be a larger proportion of people feeling optimistic after U of T compared to other schools. 

 

Could just be my perception though. 

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I met someone at my interview (will keep him anonymous for safety sake, very nice guy) who knew an interviewer from the year prior. He said the interviewer found 0 correlation to who he thought did well vs who was accepted and figured it must not be worth very much.

 

Honestly, we can't know.

 

Interesting

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Interesting

 

A little weird to invite 600 applicants though when you know for the most part who you're going to take. 

 

No point speculating, though I wish they were just a little more transparent about it 

 

Good point about the increase in number of interview. Right? I think they interviewed 550 last year for the same number of spots.

 

My theory is: last year, they made the interview worth less because it was the first year they were trying out the MPI. That would explain the jump in cGPA from 3.92 to 3.94 as it would have given the academic sections more weight (although GPA has already been on an upward trend previously). 

 

This year, they might be giving more weight to the MPI after they decided last year the MPI went smoothly (I assume this is the case because they decided to keep this format). Maybe they are deciding now to interview more candidates because the interview is worth more than before.

> The logic here is that: say before they interviewed 550 candidates because even if they interviewed more, it will be impossible for the new candidate to make up their score differential in the interview (worth only 20%).

> Since they are interviewing more, it implies that there is a greater chance for those who have a lower pre-interview score to do well on the interview, move up in the ranking, and be accepted.

 

Of course this is probably all wild speculation. :P

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Good point about the increase in number of interview. Right? I think they interviewed 550 last year for the same number of spots.

 

My theory is: last year, they made the interview worth less because it was the first year they were trying out the MPI. That would explain the jump in cGPA from 3.92 to 3.94 as it would have given the academic sections more weight (although GPA has already been on an upward trend previously). 

 

This year, they might be giving more weight to the MPI after they decided last year the MPI went smoothly (I assume this is the case because they decided to keep this format). Maybe they are deciding now to interview more candidates because the interview is worth more than before.

> The logic here is that: say before they interviewed 550 candidates because even if they interviewed more, it will be impossible for the new candidate to make up their score differential in the interview (worth only 20%).

> Since they are interviewing more, it implies that there is a greater chance for those who have a lower pre-interview score to do well on the interview, move up in the ranking, and be accepted.

 

Of course this is probably all wild speculation. :P

Not sure about interviewing more. I think it has always been around 600 but I could be wrong. 

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http://www.md.utoronto.ca/Assets/FacMed+Digital+Assets/Undergraduate+Medicine+Education+MD+Program/Admissions$!2c+Awards$!2c+$!26+Financial+Services+Office/Considerations+for+unsuccessful+applicants.pdf

 

Look at slide 24

 

Applicant received interview, had a strong interview performance, no offer

 

So I guess it supports the idea that the interview can't be worth that much 

Wow, great find. Confusing process.

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http://www.md.utoronto.ca/Assets/FacMed+Digital+Assets/Undergraduate+Medicine+Education+MD+Program/Admissions$!2c+Awards$!2c+$!26+Financial+Services+Office/Considerations+for+unsuccessful+applicants.pdf

 

Look at slide 24

 

Applicant received interview, had a strong interview performance, no offer

 

So I guess it supports the idea that the interview can't be worth that much 

 

seems like LOR are worth quite a bit :| I am nervous about them, hopefully mine were well written. I did ask my referees to include the clusters so that they would all be covered in the 3 letters together. Now I am a little panicked as to what if one wasn't covered? oh God...

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Resident here and recent interviewer. 

 

Just so you guys know, the interview is worth a lot. I'm probably not allowed to break down the nitty gritty (so please don't ask) or else I'm sure Dr. Hanson would hunt me down....but the interview matters. I don't think so many of us would volunteer our Saturday/Sunday mornings, make you guys fly out from across Canada, and then take part in an elaborately organized interview....if it didn't matter a lot. Take that as you will. 

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Just as a side note, in the prior years the interview was worth 20% of your admission score.  I "KNOW" that they eventually want the interview to be worth 50% of the admissions score. Will it be this year?  Possibly!!

Seconded... Curious where did you hear this? 

 

And would it make sense that they would gradually phase in a greater worth of the interview over time?

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seems like LOR are worth quite a bit :| I am nervous about them, hopefully mine were well written. I did ask my referees to include the clusters so that they would all be covered in the 3 letters together. Now I am a little panicked as to what if one wasn't covered? oh God...

 

That really sucks in my opinion. You could be a great candidate, have a referee who really likes you/thinks you're great, but if they can't write well/don't know exactly how to structure the LOR, you won't get in? Seems rough to put so much weight on the one part of the application where you have the least control over.

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Resident here and recent interviewer. 

 

Just so you guys know, the interview is worth a lot. I'm probably not allowed to break down the nitty gritty (so please don't ask) or else I'm sure Dr. Hanson would hunt me down....but the interview matters. I don't think so many of us would volunteer our Saturday/Sunday mornings, make you guys fly out from across Canada, and then take part in an elaborately organized interview....if it didn't matter a lot. Take that as you will. 

 

Do you think that doing poorly on one station could significantly affect your chances of getting in or does the entire interview performance/score count towards the final decision? I'm worried I messed up one particular question at a station and might have "failed" that station as a result, although I do think I did fine for the second half of the station. I feel pretty content about the rest of the interview and the other components of my application. I know I'm posing this question to premeds who are in the same boat as me or to someone who can't disclose much of the decision-making process, but I thought to ask anyway, as my performance in that station is stressing me out grrr... Any current U of T med students feel that they didn't do well on some of the stations and still end up getting in? 

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Do you think that doing poorly on one station could significantly affect your chances of getting in or does the entire interview performance/score count towards the final decision? I'm worried I messed up one particular question at a station and might have "failed" that station as a result, although I do think I did fine for the second half of the station. I feel pretty content about the rest of the interview and the other components of my application. I know I'm posing this question to premeds who are in the same boat as me or to someone who can't disclose much of the decision-making process, but I thought to ask anyway, as my performance in that station is stressing me out grrr... Any current U of T med students feel that they didn't do well on some of the stations and still end up getting in? 

I think it depends on what you mean by "mess up" a question. This is hard to tell... it depends on your response

 

It's pretty big if you say something that would reveal yourself to be unethical/doing medicine for totally the wrong reasons.  It's quite another to be just nervous and stumped by a question, and take extra time or just not having the most logical answer. 

 

Seeing as it was only one question of one interview, it shouldn't affect you that much IMO. Did that question take up a good portion of that interview? (like over 3 minutes of it?)

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Yep. Just wait 'til you get to try the MMI (I assume from your post history that you've got Toronto and Mac). The Queen's one left me just completely confused as to what they wanted.

 

Does anyone else find that the more they think about their interview/analyze it, the worse it becomes in their mind? :( I know I shouldn't be analyzing it/thinking about it, but I just can't help it - especially the one station which felt shaky for me. 

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Yep. Just wait 'til you get to try the MMI (I assume from your post history that you've got Toronto and Mac). The Queen's one left me just completely confused as to what they wanted.

I know - I've had an MMI interview previously and it also left me completely confused. 

Oh well...guess we just have to wait and see! 

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