ira4802 Posted June 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 Thank you to everyone who replied. I know in the end it doesn't matter because your MCAT scores and GPA are what count. I guess I was curious because no one ever talks about this topic because of it's irrelevance. Thank you thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnGrisham Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 Thank you to everyone who replied. I know in the end it doesn't matter because your MCAT scores and GPA are what count. I guess I was curious because no one ever talks about this topic because of it's irrelevance. Thank you thank you. Not necessarily true for all schools, re: GPA and MCAT are what "count". You can have a perfect GPA and MCAT and still not get into many schools if the rest of the package isn't present. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dk3what Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 Not necessarily true for all schools, re: GPA and MCAT are what "count". You can have a perfect GPA and MCAT and still not get into many schools if the rest of the package isn't present. To be completely honest tho, I haven't met a single person yet who hasn't got in (1-2 cycles) with a 3.9+ GPA and 34+ on their MCAT. So at least in my limited experience, GPA and MCAT are the primary determinants and should be the biggest focus of any Premed. This is Canada and extracurriculars cannot completely make up for bad GPA/MCAT like you see more often in the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Username92 Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 To be completely honest tho, I haven't met a single person yet who hasn't got in (1-2 cycles) with a 3.9+ GPA and 34+ on their MCAT. So at least in my limited experience, GPA and MCAT are the primary determinants and should be the biggest focus of any Premed. This is Canada and extracurriculars cannot completely make up for bad GPA/MCAT like you see more often in the US. HAaaaaaa I'd like to introduce you to my McGill friends then, so many 3.9+ and high mcat's who didn't even get an interview. SO MANY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnGrisham Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 To be completely honest tho, I haven't met a single person yet who hasn't got in (1-2 cycles) with a 3.9+ GPA and 34+ on their MCAT. So at least in my limited experience, GPA and MCAT are the primary determinants and should be the biggest focus of any Premed. This is Canada and extracurriculars cannot completely make up for bad GPA/MCAT like you see more often in the US. I dont disagree on the importance of GPA and MCAT, but disagree that they are the sole factors for some schools. UBC and Calgary for example, weigh ECs heavily in pre-interview. It's just that, the chances are, if you have a 4.0 and 3x MCAT, you're probably smart enough to know that you also need to be well rounded for SOME(not all) schools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indefatigable Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 MCAT only really matters at for admission at Western, UBC and to a lesser extent Queen's (+ now I've heard Manitoba and OOP Sask). GPA matters pretty much everywhere strongly in Canada, except at a few places (Manitoba, OOP Sask) and ECs do really matter almost everywhere (notably not McMaster). I would say the US has probably higher variation - ie high MCAT esp and strong gpa for admission (usually), but maybe also exceptional personal story or circumstances. It's not easy to understand admissions from an outside perspective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnGrisham Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 HAaaaaaa I'd like to introduce you to my McGill friends then, so many 3.9+ and high mcat's who didn't even get an interview. SO MANY Yep, also take a look at UBC's admissions statistics, hundreds of people with IP status and 85%+ averages who didn't receive an interview. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amichel Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 Yep, also take a look at UBC's admissions statistics, hundreds of people with IP status and 85%+ averages who didn't receive an interview. Yah, I'm guessing what this person meant was for people who apply broadly. I'd agree that if you have a 3.9+ and a 34+ you should very likely get in somewhere within 2 cycles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meer Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 Can confirm HAaaaaaa I'd like to introduce you to my McGill friends then, so many 3.9+ and high mcat's who didn't even get an interview. SO MANY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maybenow Posted June 8, 2015 Report Share Posted June 8, 2015 I've been wondering about retail or service industry or random jobs as well, so thank you OP for posting this. Seems like there is a consensus that the soft skills derived from experiences such as these would be very helpful to bring up during interviews. My query is, if it's an MMI style, when or how one would or should do that? Sorry I actually do not know this stuf. The other thing I felt was slightly alluded to was the extent to which it might not actually be looked upon favourably that you've done what, like 500 or 900 hours of sales work (haha). Obviously I am someone who's woeked A LOT (personal reasons). Not sure if I should draw attention to it... Or if I should de-emphasize it. Sorry OP for hijacking! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ira4802 Posted July 30, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2015 Thank you everyone! I agree that it doesn't matter when you realized you wanted to become a doctor nor does it matter if you part-timed at Burger King, etc. It definitely builds character and improves on one's patience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
older Posted July 30, 2015 Report Share Posted July 30, 2015 I've been wondering about retail or service industry or random jobs as well, so thank you OP for posting this. Seems like there is a consensus that the soft skills derived from experiences such as these would be very helpful to bring up during interviews. My query is, if it's an MMI style, when or how one would or should do that? Sorry I actually do not know this stuf. The other thing I felt was slightly alluded to was the extent to which it might not actually be looked upon favourably that you've done what, like 500 or 900 hours of sales work (haha). Obviously I am someone who's woeked A LOT (personal reasons). Not sure if I should draw attention to it... Or if I should de-emphasize it. Sorry OP for hijacking! Likely, you won't have an opportunity to bring it at MMI directly. However, a big part of MMI is "situational" ( i.e. dealing with a problem) and here your vast experience in customer service, and soft skills, would kick in automatically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GH0ST Posted July 30, 2015 Report Share Posted July 30, 2015 I've worked in both retail and academic based positions for over 8 years when I applied to med. I started at Save on Foods in Grade 11.... now I'm an ancient fossil. I think I clocked over 2000 hours over the years. Even if it wasn't for med school apps, these are useful for just experiencing different things about life. - G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GH0ST Posted July 30, 2015 Report Share Posted July 30, 2015 Likely, you won't have an opportunity to bring it at MMI directly. However, a big part of MMI is "situational" ( i.e. dealing with a problem) and here your vast experience in customer service, and soft skills, would kick in automatically. Agree.... your retail skills don't help on the MMI nearly as much. You still need to spend your time to learn more about the health care fields, different wicked problems etc.... - G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
equus Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Anyone I've talked to who are in med school have a pretty impressive background (not including university) with volunteer jobs, clinical research, etc. as if they already knew at age 3 they're going to be doctors. My question is has anyone who have gotten in med school here ever worked at places like McDonald's or bars? Dead serious. Thank you. lol....I delivered newspapers for 10 years, was a server at a concession stand for 6 years, had a job training racehorses, and worked on a berry farm picking strawberries. And yes, these were listed on my applications. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maybenow Posted August 13, 2015 Report Share Posted August 13, 2015 lol....I delivered newspapers for 10 years, was a server at a concession stand for 6 years, had a job training racehorses, and worked on a berry farm picking strawberries. And yes, these were listed on my applications. I've worked in both retail and academic based positions for over 8 years when I applied to med. I started at Save on Foods in Grade 11.... now I'm an ancient fossil. I think I clocked over 2000 hours over the years. Even if it wasn't for med school apps, these are useful for just experiencing different things about life. - G Thanks everyone. For those of you doing OMSAS, if you've done a number of jobs (like I have), how did you fill those in? Like say I've had 9 part time jobs. I'm really not going to use up 9 of those within my 48 available slots. I've actually done like 15 or 20 jobs haha. Did you clump them together? Like say flipping burgers at Mick Ds, at Dairy queen, and serving at some restaurant. Would you maybe use one slot (one of the 48) for these few jobs that all relate to each other? I mean I would love to (probably should) include the fact that I've worked a shit ton over the years (character, multi tasking, paying my through things), but honestly on the INDIVIDUAL BASIS they are all minuscule, so how can I work around that? (I do have "bigger" jobs too like a 1 year research post etc etc. but I'm just talking about the non-health care related part time jobs that you do in high school/throughout university here). Thanks everyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaxop Posted August 13, 2015 Report Share Posted August 13, 2015 Thanks everyone. For those of you doing OMSAS, if you've done a number of jobs (like I have), how did you fill those in? Like say I've had 9 part time jobs. I'm really not going to use up 9 of those within my 48 available slots. I've actually done like 15 or 20 jobs haha. Did you clump them together? Like say flipping burgers at Mick Ds, at Dairy queen, and serving at some restaurant. Would you maybe use one slot (one of the 48) for these few jobs that all relate to each other? I mean I would love to (probably should) include the fact that I've worked a shit ton over the years (character, multi tasking, paying my through things), but honestly on the INDIVIDUAL BASIS they are all minuscule, so how can I work around that? (I do have "bigger" jobs too like a 1 year research post etc etc. but I'm just talking about the non-health care related part time jobs that you do in high school/throughout university here). Thanks everyone FWIW, the official OMSAS response would probably be to just keep them separate and just pick your top 48 experiences, because they may think clumping experiences together is misleading or something. You may want to call them to double check. But personally I think you could make the case for it. If you're going to clump them, maybe clump the fast food ones together and clump the restaurant ones together so you can describe those different skillsets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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