General Inquiries

[yych208]

Hello,

I'm not too familiar with Ottawa medicine and I can't seem to find any information on their website.

I was just wonder what exactly is the evaluation criteria.

1. I know for Mac its CASPer, GPA, and CARS score.

What is it for Ottawa?

 

2. And also, what would be a competitive GPA? 

If I have a ~3.80 GPA (also around ~3.80 wGPA), do I have a shot?

 

3. From my understanding, MCAT is required but the score is not used. Is that correct?

 

Thanks in advance

[m_jacob_45]

1. Ottawa's criteria is not as laid out as Mac in terms of exact percentages, but they look at your GPA, OMSAS abs, and CASPer (they will most likely be including at least some part of the mcat in future cycles, but are not using it this year)

2. Last year for the English stream, they only interviewed people from outside Ottawa area (who are not aboriginal, etc) with 3.85+, but they use a weighted gpa, so its possible your gpa will pass the cutoff. The formula is: (most recent year x 3 + second most recent year x 2 + 3rd most recent year)/6. I think your gpa can be lower for the French stream.

3.Yes, that's correct

 

EDIT: Didn't see that you calculated your wgpa already, that is likely too low unfortunately.

[Artier]

Your GPA was below the cutoff for the English stream in previous years (I think it was ~3.85 ON, 3.87 OOP) and realistically you need like 3.9+

[yych208]

That's harsh...

I just recalculated my wGPA, which, if I include  the summer the summer for one of my years, I'd have a 3.84 wGPA. Are they strict about the cut off? 

[Lifeisawesome]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Ottawa U will consider summer marks. This is what their website says:

 

"Marks obtained on supplementary courses taken outside the usual academic session or during a summer session will not be included in the WGPA calculation."

 

  Also, I think they are quite strict about their cut-offs. The only problem is, the cut-offs will depend on the application pool. You will probably have to rely on historic cut-offs to give you a good idea. As posters above have mentioned, they are almost always above 3.85. Again, from OttawaU's website:

 

 "Candidates who meet the required minimum average set for their category will see their application advance in the selection process and those who do not meet the minimum cut-off will not advance further. The minimum WGPA cut-offs are determined by the quantity and the quality of the applications that we receive."

[HappyAndHopeful]

I agree with the others. Unfortunately Ottawa does not include summer courses in the GPA calculation. As for the MCAT, it is not required for this year, only "recommended".