Guest Jane Posted October 11, 2001 Report Share Posted October 11, 2001 I know this is extremely premature, but does anyone know when MAC starts setting up interviews? On the other hand, if one is not granted an interview, when are rejection letters sent out? Fingers crossed ... let the waiting begin! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest siz Posted October 12, 2001 Report Share Posted October 12, 2001 Invitations are sent out early March. Applicants not making the 3.0 cutoff receive their rejections well in advance of that, early Feb I believe. Other rejections are sent out a week or two in advance of invitations, say mid to late Feb. Interviews are end of March / beginning of April. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest phattie Posted October 18, 2001 Report Share Posted October 18, 2001 Does anyone know how they choose applicants for interviews? What do they consider? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MC27 Posted October 20, 2001 Report Share Posted October 20, 2001 Hi guys! Regarding the selection for Mac interviews, I am not clear on a few things. I know they rank you by your GPA and by your Autobiographical submission and then they combine the scores to give you a mark. What exactly are they reading fo the 50% of the Submission? Is it just the questions, or the sketch too? When do they read the letters? Do all of those three things give you the 50% Submission? Thanks a lot MC27 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest timmymax Posted October 20, 2001 Report Share Posted October 20, 2001 Hey guys, I'm under the impression that the Mac questionnaire is worth 50% of your admission score, and your GPA makes up the other 50%. Unless I'm mistaken, I don't think that the Autobiographical Skectch counts for much at all- boo. This is what I know (or think I know), but if I'm mistaken, someone please set the record straight! Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cait Posted October 20, 2001 Report Share Posted October 20, 2001 I'm pretty sure that I've been told that the sketch is used when you are to be interviewed and that it is the only thing the interviewers have about you. I think I heard this when I was at the Mac info session? I too though am confused about when the letters come into play? Also, I'm wondering about the whole GPA/autobiographical submission thing...Do you think they may set a minimum mark that you have to score on the auto. submission (regardless of your gpa) to get an interview? It's my impression that a high gpa doesn't mean alot to them if your submission is pathetic. Along the same lines, I think they would rather interview someone with an amazing submission even if they have a low gpa. This might explain how people with VERY low gpa's (i.e 3.0-3.1) get admitted. Numerous people have pointed out before that it is mathematically impossible for people with gpa's this low to get an interview (even with perfect scores on their submission) based on the average gpa's of those applying. It also explains why people with near perfect 4.00 gpa's sometimes don't even get an interview at Mac (another mathematical impossibility). what do you think, anyone ever heard anything like this? (just my theory as I have all this crazy waiting time!) cait Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JSS02 Posted October 20, 2001 Report Share Posted October 20, 2001 They told me that they use your OMSAS GPA on a 4.0 scale, then give your non-academic submission (answers to those questions, and maybe your sketch and reference letters) another score out of 4, for a total out of 8. Since there's a maximum variation of 1 point in the GPAs across the applicants (3.0-4.0), the main deciding factor is almost always the non-academic score, which is subjective, and moreover can range from a very high score near 4.0 to a somewhat abysmal score (0, 1, or whatever the lowest score they give is). This is different from U of T, which likely counts your GPA in some other way (percentiles, or whatever) so that the difference between a 3.6 and a 4.0 is much more than 54/60 vs. 60/60. That would explain why an undergrad applicant needs a 3.8 to have a decent chance with U of T (unfair as it may be) while someone with a 3.3 but amazing experiences would be very competitive with McMaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jane Posted October 20, 2001 Report Share Posted October 20, 2001 Hello all, According to MAC's literature, they use GPA and auto submisson (15 questions) only to determine the top 400 applicants that are to be interviewed. Each is worth 50%. Once at the interview, you are assessed in the Simulated Tutorial and Personal Interview. The sketch is only used by the interviewers to give them some idea about the applicant and to draw their questions from (that is why it seems that everyone's personal interview is quite personalized). After interviews, all of the above - GPA, submission, interview scores as well as the references - are then reviewed to determine final selection. There is no mention of weighting procedures after the first selection process (for determining who will get an interview) but the "depth and breadth of experience, personal characteristics and preparation for medical school" that are displayed during the interview will carry a lot of weight. It appears as though the references are used only to "weed out" undesirables based on more intimate opinions of the individual (purely, my assumption) and all 400 interviewees have an equal chance of getting accepted (unless of course they royally mess up in the interview). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jane Posted October 20, 2001 Report Share Posted October 20, 2001 Hello all, According to MAC's literature, they use GPA and auto submisson (15 questions) only to determine the top 400 applicants that are to be interviewed. Each is worth 50%. Once at the interview, you are assessed in the Simulated Tutorial and Personal Interview. The sketch is only used by the interviewers to give them some idea about the applicant and to draw their questions from (that is why it seems that everyone's personal interview is quite personalized). After interviews, all of the above - GPA, submission, interview scores as well as the references - are then reviewed to determine final selection. There is no mention of weighting procedures after the first selection process (for determining who will get an interview) but the "depth and breadth of experience, personal characteristics and preparation for medical school" that are displayed during the interview will carry a lot of weight. It appears as though the references are used only to "weed out" undesirables based on more intimate opinions of the individual (purely, my assumption) and all 400 interviewees come into the interview process with an equal chance of getting accepted (their interview performance will likely be the driving force at that point). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MC27 Posted October 20, 2001 Report Share Posted October 20, 2001 Hello! I am happy I am not the only one confused about how they calculate your mark. Cait is right, there are two extremes where people still get in, but how exactly? I also heard that they only use the sketch during the interview, but it seems like no one knows what happens with the letters. Someone told me that they use the letters only after you have made the cutoffs for the interview (ie after the 50% plus 50% combination), otherwise they throw them away. I hope this is not the case because then they are not really reading your entire application to assess if you deserve an interview. Is there a Mac student out there who knows the specifics and can put our minds to rest? Thanks a lot! MC27 PS: Although it has no bearing on the Mac application, I hope everyone got good news from their MCAT letter! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest siz Posted October 20, 2001 Report Share Posted October 20, 2001 Okay, it works like this: Interviews are based 50% on GPA, 50% on autobiographical submission - not on auto sketch or letters of ref. Approximately 400 are invited for interviews (last year 384). Interviews are based solely on the auto sketch. Approximately the top 50% of interview scorers move on to a process called collation. The rest receive rejections. At this point, applicants' entire files are individually reviewed (GPA, auto sub, auto sketch, interview score and NOW letters of ref), and an admissions decision is made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest phattie Posted October 21, 2001 Report Share Posted October 21, 2001 ...how do they score the auto-submissions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cait Posted October 21, 2001 Report Share Posted October 21, 2001 The auto submissions are marked individually by three people. One is a doctor, one is a student and the last is a community member. They each read it and give it a mark. If any of their marks differ by more than 2 (I think) points, then it is looked at further to work out the discrepancy. If not then you get the average of the three marks. This is my understanding, others might have more info? cait Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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