Review of admission procedures

[Guest Chowchilla]

I just wanted to make sure I had the admission procedures in regards to cgpa right along with a couple of questions...

 

Queen's:

 

3.59 latest cutoff?

 

They have 2 cutoffs. First one is based on overall gpa, the second is based on your last 2 years of undergrad. Are those who make it with the 2nd cutoff at a disadvantage as compared to those who made it with the first cutoff?

 

U of T:

 

3.83?

 

They take everything into account, dropping your lowest course for each year of study, right? Darn...

 

McMaster:

 

GPA cutoff = ???

 

Their website says that you need to have a 3.0 for to be eligible. Nothing else...nothing too detailed. What are the exact procedures?

 

Western:

 

3.7?

 

The website says:

 

In calculating GPA admission cutoffs, Western looks at only two years: your best year in which you've taken at least 5 FCE (30 credit hours) (this could potentially be your first year of undergraduate study), and one other year in which you must have at least 5 FCE (30 credit hours). The results of all other years are inconsequential.

 

What does it mean by 30 credit hours?

 

Ok, the reason I ask all this is because I did extremely bad in my first year, and I need to redeem myself during the remaining years that I have.

 

So let's say I get a (omsas scaled) gpa of 3.7 for my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year...and a umm...2 point something for first year. Have I just ruined all chances of ever getting into med school? Or could I still be a competitive applicant?

 

Thanks.

[Guest JSS02]

As far as I know, some undergraduate institutions count a full course as 6 credit hours, and a half course as 3 credit hours. So a full course load would be 5 full course equivalents, or 30 credit hours. As the UWO website said, the current admissions policy has them only counting 2 years. So if you had two years with a full course load that made the cutoffs (e.g. 2nd and 3rd), your marks wouldn't be a problem with Western. They wouldn't even consider any other years in which you did badly.

[Guest peachy]

Hi Chowchilla,

 

Even if all the cutoffs that you have listed are correct, they can very easily change by the time that you apply, if you're just finishing first-year now. You can't apply next year anyways, so if I were you, I'd just focus on getting as high grades as possible next year, and then think about the admissions game afterwards... Don't make a 3.7 your goal, make a 4.0 your goal! You may not get there, but it's always good to aim high. No, you haven't ruined your chances of getting in, but yes, it will be harder. There's a very similar discussion at pub125.ezboard.com/fpreme...=418.topic

 

peachy

[Guest doctorfunk]

Just to clarify one little point - UofT does not consider your summer school courses in the gpa calculation.

[Guest UWOMED2005]

You should ALWAYS try your best and get the best GPA possible. That being said, don't worry about your chances if you don't have that almighty 4.0 when it comes to applying to meds. . . very, very few people get A+ in every single course in undergrad.

 

And I think the most important goal to set is to make sure you get at least an A- (80%) in every course, no matter how hard it is. You can make the cutoffs with a few marks in the 70s, but not many!! With the 4.0 system, you lose a lot more for getting below 80 (ie jump from 3.7 to 3.3 or -0.4 for an 80 to 79) than you get for getting above 84 (jump of 3.7 to 3.9 or +0.2 for 84 to 85) or above 89 (jump of 3.9 to 4.0 or +0.1 for 89 to 90.) What I'm saying is don't think getting a 98% in that relatively easy and interesting immunobiology course will allow you to fall below 80% in the organic chem class you despise.

 

And don't forget to maintain a life outside of medicine. Admissions committees don't want to admit people they are going to have to worry about burning out once they get into med school. . . it's a load of work, but if you become too obsessive about it, the work can destroy you.

 

So work as hard as you can to get as good marks as you can. As Peachy said, a 4.0 is an admirable goal and if you set your goals too low (ie start slacking every time you think your marks are good enough to get in) it's easy to slip below what you hope to accomplish. But if you are mortal and don't get 90%+ in every course, don't lose perspective.

[Guest peachy]

I totally agree with everything that UWOMED2005 said. As usual :lol . Especially about making sure that you don't get below A- in anything if at all possible.

 

The reason that I said that you should aim for 4.0's is because getting good grades is very much about attitude. If you treat every test as if you want to get 100 on it, then it changes how you study - you don't leave out sections because you figure they won't be worth much, and it's never acceptable to 'kinda' understand a topic, you need to completely understand it.

 

I treat every test as if my goal is to get 100. Do I get 100 on every test? Absolutely not!! I almost never get 100!! But I did pull up my marks enough to get into medical school.

[Guest bad hombre]

just to clarify the original post. for Queen's the first cutoff is EITHER all undergrad gpa OR last two years must be over cutoff (3.59)

 

second cutoff is based on mcats. hope this helps

[Guest aneliz]

For UWO:

 

The cut off THIS YEAR was 3.70...it can (and usually does!) change each year.

 

We do not know what the cut off will be next year...it will be set in January 2004 and will be base on the GPA's of the applicant pool.

 

Western requires that you have one full time undergraduate year in which you took 5.0 full or equivalent courses (10 half credits, 30 credit hours, etc) between Sept and April that is over the current cut off to be eligible for an interview.

 

If you should be given an offer of admission, you MUST have a second full time year over the cut off. This is an absolute necessity.

 

Don't be too concerned with UWO's cut offs...they are an ever moving target! Try and get the best GPA possible, but remember to have a life too!

 

Good luck!

[Guest Ibraheem]

i just wanna clarify this, the gpa is out of _/4 right?

[Guest aneliz]

Yes.

 

OMSAS calculates your GPA out of 4.0. As a general rule:

 

<3.40 = low for most schools

3.50-3.70 = competitive at some depending on the year

>3.80 = very competitive at all schools

 

As always, there are no guarantees and people with 3.20's have gotten in at some schools while people with 4.0's have been rejected. Med admissions is about a lot more than your GPA!

[Guest Ibraheem]

UofT is 96%.... WOW... HARD COMPETITION

[Guest aneliz]

Where did you get that number?

 

I applied to and was accepted by UofT and didn't have a 96....

[Guest therealcrackers]

Ibraheem, it isn't a straight conversion to a number out of 4. If you think the average GPA to get into U of T was 3.84, then dividing that by 4 would give you 96.

 

Keeping a 96 average at university is very very difficult to do, so I somehow doubt that number. Keep that in mind once you start undergrad. However, on the OMSAS scale, 80-84 (A-) gives a 3.7, and 85-89 (A) gives a 3.9, and 90+ (A+) gives a 4.0. Based on THAT scale, two A-, two A, and an A+ on a five-course year would give you a GPA of 3.84, which would be competitive for an Ontario medical school.

 

I would caution you very strongly about posting short statements that are likely to induce panic. It's better to supply your source, or list it as a hypothetical.

[Guest Dannyboy]

Ibrahem: you are still in highschool, correct? It is really great to see how much early planning you are doing but I wouldn't want you to stress out too much about things that we have limited control over. Grades are important but so is life and a life that is 100% devoted to getting A+'s and getting into med school will be pretty boring. Med schools are looking for BALANCE and variety.

 

I have personally NEVER met *graduate* with a 4 GPA (OMSAS converted which would make that a straight A+ average). I have, however, met many students who claimed to be A+ students who actually have had A+ *semester* and/or are very early on in their academic career. It is one thing to get A+'s in one semester or one year--getting that over the span of four years is an entirely different matter. I have also met too many students who lie about their grades. Whatever.

 

I don't entirely agree with the whole "go for the 4 GPA" advice. For sure, always try your best but a "4" is not only unnecessary but, as well, it could very negatively impact your life---I have counselled countless students who are devastated when they don't recieve a perfect mark. They are always newbees. No one needs or thrives under that type of pressure. Burn out is a huge factor in university---schools are looking for consistencey and for growth NOT perfect marks.

 

Medicine requires life-long learning--learn to learn effectively and efficiently. If you do this AND if you truly love to learn, the grades will happen.

[Guest Ibraheem]

thanks for the advice guys its helpful

[Guest Chowchilla]

you've been really helpful...all these replies within a day!

 

but i still have more questions ok, most med schools have this policy:

 

"No one pattern of academic preparation is identified as a prerequisite for the practice of medicine, rather the ideal candidate will have completed a rigourous and coherent course of study, which will provide evidence of an independent, self directed, and mature learning style."

 

how do they decide what is coherent? let's say i did a specialist degree in near and middle eastern civilizations at uoft ... would that be looked down upon when being compared to someone who's doing an immunology specialist (given that imm. is harder)?

 

what about people who were enrolled in a different program in first year, but later switched to something else?

 

thanks.

[Guest Dannyboy]

Coherent is...well, coherent (textbook definition: logically connected, consistent). Nothing tricky.

 

My understanding is that programs want someone who had a clear idea of what they wanted to study--that may take a year or so to discover. That's why schools have manditory breadth courses--they are not trying to torture you (but during poli sci it certainly felt that way...).

 

It isn't particularly relevant if you study immunology or women's studies as long as you have the required courses that your program (ie. med school) wants. You'd be surprised how many students do not have coherent studies--they are literally all over the place, no direction at all. It doesn't, as well, look good if you have 6 years worth of fulltime credits that are all over the map. If you don't have some sense of consistency, med schools might not be convinced that medicine is right for you (but I don't think it would rule you out).

 

Diversity is great but randomness is not. Back to work...

 

P.S. don't make the fatal mistake of thinking that middle eastern civilizations is easier than immun. There have been many, many, science victims who thought arts courses were "easy". Trust me--med schools certainly don't think one is easier than the other. I've done both successfully---science may not be inherently easier but it is much easier to get good marks in the science courses, in my opinion. Consistently getting high grades in the arts is BRUTAL and A+s? Ha, ha....you'll have more lluck hunting down unicorns....