For the people who got interviews or got accepted, I have ..

[Guest Retic2002]

I was just wondering what type of extracurricular activity you did. I know MAC is interested in a all around person.

 

Thanks

[Guest macmed]

Hi, I'm a first year Mac med student. I'd say my extra-curriculars were pretty standard. Most recently I worked as a receptionist in an after-hours family medicine clinic, and volunteered with Trillium's pediatric cancer clinic. That was during grad school. In undergrad I volunteered at a distress line/drop in centre, and I "worked" (didn't get paid but had to be interviewed to get in) as a learning consultant (counselling peers to study effectively). Nothing really in high school - no sports or student's council or music or anything like that. No travel or "work" experience.

Macmed

[Guest macmed04]

I didn't get the chance to do much extracurricular stuff for the past 5 years or so because I traveled lots for work. It's kind of hard to volunteer or joint a sports team if you're not around consistently - I think the admissions people agreed it was fair enough to decide not to do stuff if I wasn't able to commit to it fully. The one thing I did do was get involved in the Worker's Council (became chairperson of that after a couple years) to represent the employees in discussions with management, including changes to workplace policies.

In university, I did tons of intramural stuff and managed a couple intramural teams, and a friend and I organized the Christmas Carol service and food drive one year. In high school, I volunteered at a hospital for 4 years (didn't do anything too exciting there) and played piano.

And that's about it, apart from reading, cooking, biking...

Macmed04

[Guest macattack]

This whole application process baffles me. How can people so ordinary and standard get accepted while others who have devoted their lives to doing much more for the human race get slapped in the face and get turned around. No offence but there must be something else that made you attractive, was your grad work exceptional? Did you have other things going for you?

 

Sorry I am not trying to make you seem unworthy, Im trying to understand why people like you get accepted while so many who have easily surpassed what you have done get turned away?

[Guest Retic2002]

Did you get turned away with an amazing application??? I hear lots of people who get turned down. Their GPA is way over the cut off and the amount of extra work they did is in double digits.

[Guest tt]

Personally I think its cheesy when its obvious that people like the one at Mac get in and scramble for volunteer stuff etc at the last second to get in, yet somehow they still make it. It is total bullshit. I have met alot of people in med school who really dont belong there anymore than any other average applicant yet the adcomms cant see through their plainness and desperate attempts to "look good" at the last second by running around the year before they apply doing things that will make them look good .

 

thank you and good luck

tt

[Guest macmed04]

Some people in our class have done a ton of great extracurricular activities, others haven't had the chance to do as much. Some have worked for years in different fields before getting in, others got admitted right out of 3rd year undergrad. We've got a huge range of ages represented in the class. Having such a wide variety of classmates makes things that much more interesting for us all.

I wouldn't complain too much about some people getting into med school without long lists of "phenomenal" extracurriculars - take it as a sign that you don't have to be an absolutely stellar candidate to get in. Macmed doesn't sound that ordinary and standard to me, and the activities he/she listed show a committment to helping others over an extended period of time. As someone who read application essays this year, I know I didn't feel as positive about those applicants who only started doing things 1 year before applying or could only talk about what they planned to do over the coming few months. Most of the other student markers I talked to saw through the "desperate attempts to look good" too.

Lets face it, getting into med school takes a lot of luck. I'm sure there are a ton of wonderful people who get turned away from all the schools every year. I applied 5 years ago and cruised past the start of the school year on 3 waiting lists - and didn't even get an interview at Mac. This time around, I was lucky enough to be able to choose which school I wanted to go to. I'm sure my added life experience had a lot to do with that - at the very least, my career gave me a lot more interesting things to talk about on my application and in my interview.

Everyone knows how important it is to have a good written submission when applying to Mac. I think that people who can write well, come up with thoughtful and interesting answers to all those questions, can show some evidence of past committment to helping others, and who can somehow manage to let their nice personality shine through as well are the ones who (if their GPA is high enough) will get interview invitations. Show the people in admissions that you've really thought through medicine as a career choice and understand what Mac's program is all about.

You DON'T have to be a star to get in. I think it's better to pick a couple of meaningful extracurricular activites and have fun doing them. Don't devote 100% of your time to getting in to med school - if you do, you're not a particulary well-rounded person either. Let your enthusiasm for the things you've done shine through on your application. Try and figure out what you've gained from the experiences. Dare to be a little different so you'll stand out from the rest of the crowd...

But that's enough from me for now - Good luck to you all!

Macmed04

[Guest Retic2002]

I guess their is no secret formula to getting into med

 

 

 

THanks

[Guest Ian]

What I think is key to getting an interview is to make sure that you don't just answer the questions. Remember that the whole purpose of the exercise is to let them know who you are.

 

If you simply have clever answers your submission will be lifeless and you will seem like a smartypants. Mac does not churn out cold, lifeless, distant physicians. Keep that in mind and make sure that your presence shines forth from your words.

[Guest macmed]

After interviewing several applicants at Mac this weekend (as the medical student on the interviewing team), let me enlighten you poor baffled souls as to what Mac is "looking for." The things that ended up being the most important in my mind were

 

(1) did the applicant really know WHY he/she wants medicine as a career? Had they tried or considered other careers (eg nursing, teaching, research)?

(2) did the applicant really understand what Mac is all about, and can he/she appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of the program?

(3) probably most important: MATURITY.

 

Of course, this is just one person's opinion, but the maturity thing might explain some of the confusion about why such seemingly "model" candidates get the shaft.

[Guest MDWannabe]

I'd have to agree with you, MacMed, looking at it from the other side. I was interviewed this past weekend and stayed for about 8 hours, including participation in the interview study. One really appreciates the work and time that goes into this process, and clearly the focus of the endeavour is to determine the fit with Mac's program based on the criteria you mentioned. I thought the day was a lot of fun

[Guest TimmyMax]

Hey Macmed,

 

I just read over your post there and I was wondering if you could answer a question for me from an interviewer standpoint. You mentioned that you wanted to see something about the applicant knowing WHY (s)he wanted meds as a career as opposed to others. What exactly were you expecting as a demonstration of this prior consideration? Were you looking for it to come out in terms of discussion of prior life experiences (ie: found industry repetitive and boring), throughout the course of the conversation as a whole, or for someone to spend part of their interview time addressing this consideration (ie: I want to be in meds b/c other careers, such as research are not for me b/c...)? Was it something you were looking for people to consciously address in their interviews? Just wondering. Thanks a lot for your input!

 

Cheers,

Tim

[Guest gucio93]

Hey TimmyMax, I know your question is for Macmed, but I thought I would put my two cents in, too. I was also looking at that particular criterion when interviewing. It wasn't that I was looking for specific answers, and there was no one answer in particular that would be better than others, but what I did want to see was that someone actually put some organized thought into why they wanted to become a physician. That may have taken on a form of having tried a different career and in the course of working realizing the similarities/differences/shortcomings of said career with respect to medicine. It may also have taken on the form of significant life experiences and interests, which after serious self-reflection led the person to want to pursue medicine. However, that "serious introspection" had to be more than "I want to be a doctor because my grandmother was sick and I liked how they helped her" - because if that's what you tell me, I'm going to say to you that there were many othe professionals involved in her care, why have you not considered entering one of those professions. I wouldn't say this because I found your explanation not to have merit, but again, depending on your answer, I would be able too see if you have actually given some thought to other health care professions and why you would or would not want to work there, or if you just decided before application time that you wanted to be a doctor b/c "it seemed like a good idea at the time." I'm not sure if my rambling answers your question, but I guess what I'm trying to emphasize is that because medicine is a profession that requires a great deal of dedication, effort, and internal strenght, the applicants should really demonstrate that they have thought all of that through and are not making their decision on a whim.

[Guest macmed]

I think Gucio93 hit the nail on the head.