Does part time status affect admission ranking

[Guest sneakydog]

Hey,

I am applying this year to a few med schools, and I was wondering if going to school part time for most of my undergrad will affect my chances. I work full time to pay for school and as a result have not taken full time course ( 5/semester). I fluctuated between 3 and 4. I have not skipped a term or year. I have a competitive avg with a few ups and downs and my MCATS are 9V/7PS/RW/12BS. I could not get much help from the admissions boards from the schools I applied to. My real concern is that someone who did more courses in a term than I did but did not work full time will get ranked higher than I will. Any advice or help to ease my mind would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

SD

[Guest macdaddyeh]

Hey sneakydog:

 

I know that Mac has no bias toward part time and that can be found somewhere in their web information. Also, U of T does not explicitly discriminate against part timers but their policy is such that your GPA weighting will be treated differently.

 

So, in my limited knowledge many schools will allow you to apply but may, as you stated, treat your application differently. You could always if not this year but next year (or hopefully during interviews) explain the fact that you needed to work during school. Some adcoms may look favorably on this as a sign of your maturity, committment, resolve and dilligence.

 

If thus far you have not received a straight answer from the schools, check out the websites for each school which will probably, albeit sometimes vaguely, provide you with some PT status info.

 

Hang in there; I'm in the same situation.

[Guest UOMeds05]

you will probably get a lot more direction than from myself as i am not too confident about how your situation is handled... I would think that for your own peace of mind, your best bet is to contact the admissions officers of schools that you have applied to directly. They are probably the only ones with the exact answers. I know at Ottawa anyway, if this is a school that you have applied to, Nicole and Nina are two of the nicest ladies that do their very best to help out every applicant in any way possible. It may be in your best interest to find out early how your application is going to be handled so that you can take appropriate steps.

 

Best of luck... keep us posted.

[Guest aneliz]

To be eligible for UWO you MUST have done at least two full-time years as defined by UWO. A full time year is one in which you completed 5.0 full courses between Sept and April (and you also cannot be repeating any course that you have taken before). These two full time years are used to determine your GPA...you must have two full-time years that are above the GPA cut-off...if you have more than two full-time years above the cut then your best years are used.

 

I don't think that UWO will grant any exceptions to this...although they might if you have a really compelling reason to have done your degree part-time...you would have to contact the admissions office (Darla) to find out for sure.

 

Good luck!

[Guest sneakydog]

thanks for the advice. I applied to maritime schools, mac and alberta schools. The advice on UWO confirms some of my fears. It is sad to know that you are penalized for not going into debt. Does anyone know about MUN or Dal. UofA has it all out there on their site but the other schools do not. Any info is appreciated. If anyone has any advice on what to do in comming years if i am not successful this year please add it to the post.

SD

[Guest UWOMED2005]

My understanding is that the short answer for Dal is that, like Western, they won't look at any years you didn't take 5.0 full courses, and you must have two full years to be considered.

 

I asked the Dal admissions office a couple of years back when I was considering running for student office. No student union president at my undergrad school EVER took more than 3 courses - the demands of the office meant there wasn't enough time to take more courses than that. I asked Dal hypothetically if I decided to run for student body president whether I'd be penalized for not taking enough courses considering the extra workload. The response was "medical school involves a difficult workload so if you think you can handle med school you should be able to handle both courses and student union responsibilities." Personally I find that kind of ridiculous - but then again I had a number of friends fill student union positions and know what the work entails.

 

Not sure for MUN.

[Guest not rex morgan]

In the past, I have gotten the impression at UBC that at first, the full course load is what they're looking for. They do keep in mind that people may be working full-time. In situations such as this (or if a student comes from a school the admissions office has little knowledge of) they turn to the MCAT to give them more insight. (I know, booo, I think it's a stupid test) In your case, you cannot change the fact that you had to work full-time and take part-time classes. However, if you do not gain admission this year, and would like to improve your application for next year, re-taking the MCAT may work out in your favour.

[Guest sneakydog]

Thanks for the info on UBC. Is my MCAT really that bad? I thought a 28R was competetive. I got a 94 percentile on writing ® and a 97 percentile on biology (12). I guess that 7 in PS really sticks out eh? should i really consider writing the test again. I told myself that i would never write that test again. the thought of writing that 7 hour test gives me a cold chill. But cest la vie. I guess with a part time transcript i may have to consider writing the test again this year if i do not get accepted anywhere. what is considered a competetive score? does a high MCAT take emphasis off of your transcript? How high would i have to go?

in response to the DAL comment, they do sound rediculous. If they expect you to perform just as well with a full time job and full time courses as you would with only full time courses, why don't they just make having both a full time job and a full course load a requirement for the program(sarcasm). Do they really want robots as doctors? I wish i could focus 100% on my studies and not have to worry about paying bills, but that is not an option for many people in Canada right now. It is sad that there are attitudes out there like that but like they say, you have to play the game to get in.

thank you for all the replies, they are really helping.

SD

[Guest therealcrackers]

I think if you outline your reasons in all your applications (and I believe there is space to do so in the OMSAS application), you will be given some consideration. Often the best medical school candidates get brushed aside at first because of the tightness of the admissions criteria---sadly, that's the way the game goes. It's a crap shoot at this level, but if you can do a good job of representing the reasons your application is different, then you could get an interview. Once you're there, you have the chance to put your best foot forward.

 

One fly in the ointment for many of the medical school admissions ranks (eg. UWO, Toronto, Queen's) will be the 7 in physical sciences on the MCAT. I hated having to re-do that #$^%$*&%$&^$%@@!@ >: test, but I had to as well, and I had 37Q from the previous time. There are an increasing number of schools that don't require it for admission (Ottawa, Mac, etc.) so applications targeted to those schools may be a good route to go.

 

Good luck with your endeavours!

[Guest peachy]

You had to redo it with a 37Q??? :eek That's scary.

[Guest aneliz]

MCAT scores tend to be used as 'flags' in Canada...at least at the Ontario schools....if you get their cut-offs you are good to go...if not...no interview for you! (come back one year...) I don't think any of the Ontario schools will overlook GPA if your MCAT was really high...so trying to get 15's and T really won't help you....what you really need are the cut-offs or a little bit better.

 

Western's cut-offs usually hover around a 9-10 in each category and a P-Q. Queen's wanted 10's and a Q when I applied and UofT wanted no lower than 8's and N. Your 7 in PS has the potential to hurt you...your 12 and R are great but that 7 does stand out. Unfortunately, Canadian schools tend to look at your score in each individual area rather than looking at your cumulative score. So getting a 12 in one section won't erase a 7 in another....

 

And Crackers had to re-do the MCAT with a 37Q because his scores were more than 5 years old....(MCAT scores 'expire' and then you have to re-write that !@@()$&@)* test!)

 

Good luck!

[Guest not rex morgan]

Even the 9 will be a problem in some schools. I had a 9 in VR (odd as I got As in university-level English courses). I think Queens had an easy job rejecting me as their VR cutoff that year was 10. There are schools that don't require the MCAT, but bear in mind that they are also the most applied to. Mac usually has well over a thousand. If you really want to help your chances, you really need to re-write that MCAT. Have you been able to create an application that shows your "diversity?"

[Guest peachy]

Thanks for clarifying, aneliz, a 37 is a scary enough score without one of the sections being a 9!!

 

I would caution against writing the test hoping only to make the cutoffs, though. I didn't study for it, cause I figured I wouldn't have a problem making the cutoffs. And I didn't have a problem getting the magic 'Ontario triple-10's', but when I wanted to apply to American schools this year, suddenly my mediocre MCAT score became a liability....

[Guest sneakydog]

Is a triple 10 needed for all schools. I was looking at MUNs site and they say the avg score was 9s on all sections (agains puts me in a pickle with that damn 7), and that they prefer but do not 100% need full course loads. I was speaking with a friend who told me that prefer means must have. Like they prefer that you have at least one academic referee. Not too sure about Memorial. there is not much clear info out there for this school. Dal didnt return my emails. Anyone know about these two schools. If the sections of the MCAT are looked at individually i guess i should look at writing again in the spring or summer this year if i am not accepted.

SD

[Guest peachy]

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that triple 10's are needed for all schools. I'm sure they're not, though I don't know the details. Just that it's "magic" in the sense that if you get it, you're pretty much guaranteed of meeting the cutoffs at all the schools. That is, I've never heard of anyone *needing* an 11 in any section or an over-30 total to meet cutoffs.

[Guest aneliz]

Its true that the schools that don't require the MCAT do tend to have a much greater applicant pool...especially Mac with their lower GPA cut and no pre-reqs....Mac has well over 3,000 applicants for 130ish spots this year....scary!

 

I would definitely re-write the MCAT, triple 10's do seem to be magic in Ontario...as for American schools...it seems to be the higher the better (15's and T would be great for them) but this is not the case in Canada. If you make the cuts, most schools don't look at your MCAT again...no extra points for higher scores. (With the exception of UWO which bases 25% of your score on your MCAT - but even then, a 15 is not really going to get you that much farther...its all about your interview - worth 50%.)