my story

[Guest eye hope its my turn]

Hello everyone. This forum is awesome, I check it out as often as I check my e-mail. Well, I am also a med hopeful but what makes me different from everyone else here is that med is a long shot for me (my marks are very low) but I am trying to embellish my academic record with an MSc. I found reading other people’s stories very helpful, so I thought that I too, should contribute: I applied to only 1 med skool (mac). Actually it's my 2nd time applying there (last year being my first). Let me start by telling what happened last year. It was final year of undergrad (I'm an OOP student) and I had one of my semesters flagged as anomaly for no credit due to illness. However, the bad marks were not removed from my transcript and a symbol was put beside it and excluded from my U's CGPA. Anyhow, without that bad semester, I made the 3.0 cut off and I tried for Mac. I didn't expect an interview, but I just wanted my application to be assessed. Once I received the OMSAS verification letter, despite the fact that my U excluded those marks from my GPA, OMSAS included all marks on the transcript despite the fact my U excluded them from my GPA calculation. In order for them to exclude it, my U would have to remove them from the transcript. I went to my U's registrar, and told them about the situation, and they provided me with a letter explaining their regulations of not being able to remove grades from academic records and how my application should be considered as I met the OMSAS 3.0 on 4.0 scale GPA requirement without those marks. I FedExed that letter to both OMSAS and to Mac and I received a reject letter from Mac the 2nd week of Jan.2001. I didn't think that it was fair that OMSAS included those bad marks in my GPA despite the fact that they were not degree-credit courses (as I made up for them in the summer once I recovered from my illness). I then persisted nonetheless and wrote another letter to the chair of admissions. I received phone call from the chair of admissions saying that they (Mac) will consider my application excluding that flagged semester once my bach is conferred. So, I was happy to know that and I re-applied this year, now that my undergrad degree is done. In September 2001, I wrote a letter to the chair of admissions reminding them of my situation, and asking them if I am eligible to apply to their Med program. They were so nice about it and gave me a phone call telling me that if OMSAS wrongly calculates my GPA, to call them they’ll fix it. In the last week of Jan.2002, I received an amended verification form. And now I’m waiting like everyone else... No news so far is good news. Because I'm an OOP applicant with a low gpa, I have a better chance of going to the moon than getting admitted at Mac (or even one step back by getting an interview). But at least I can say that I tried. All the best everyone.

[Guest gucio93]

It was nice of you to share your story. I know how anxious you must be waiting to hear something. Good luck and be sure to let us know what happens . Cheers

[Guest eye hope its my turn]

Thanx gucio93... I'm doing my MSc in epidemiology right now. I thought about doing a 2nd degree and even taking an extra year for my undergrad, but I really wanted to finish off undergrad as fast as possible to keep on going. Although I find Epidemiology very dry, it'll be very helpful later on, should my med career dream come true. The waiting period just makes me realize how much I really really want to study medicine. The support system from the forum here really assuages many uncertainties and anxiety. I have a question regarding the 3.0 GPA cut-off: For all those who apply to Mac with GPA's in the 3.0-3.29 range, what is the admissions committee looking for in the autobiographical sketch in order to invite them for an interview? Also, on the Mac Undergrad Med Prog Class of 2004 Stats, there is a section titled "interview stream", where there were 362 ppl who were in the "Academic and Personal Qualities" category and 23 ppl were in the "Personal Qualities" category. I am assuming that those 23 ppl were invited solely based on their autobiography (or they may be Special Applicants). I am very puzzled as to what Mac is looking for (unlike Queen's U that has cut-offs that an applicant is to meet in order to get an interview). What I would like to know is what is the degree and breadth of experiences of the candidates who get interviews with GPA's in the 3.0-3.29 range?

[Guest gucio93]

It's hard to give a good definition of precisely "what" the admissions committee is looking for in the applicant with a lower GPA. I think it is safe to say that they are searching for "outstanding" qualities or achievements post graduation. I know I'm being vague, but unfortunately it is a bit of a subjective process. Obviously, they are looking for students with a sound knowledge and evidence of PBL and self-directed learning. It is very, very important to be able to demonstrate good self-evaluation skills and ability to work in groups. Leadership qualities, ability to show involvement in the community, etc. is also an asset. I realize that this is probably nothing new to you - it reflects precisely the questions you had to answer. The only thing I can say is that having the ability to present these things in the 7 lines you are given :rolleyes is probably the single most important thing you can do to increase your chance. Remember that on average, each person marks about 30 applications. Picture reading an answer to the same question 30 times :/ With so little space, you can only say so much, so most of the answers sound amazingly similar. Now multiply this by 15 different questions. You can begin to appreciate how "tedious" it begins to become after a while. I'm not saying this to criticize the process, but simply to point out that whatever you can do to make your application stand out and display your talents in a positive light, will only increase your chance of impressing the reader and drawing his/her attention to possibly readiing into the application more carefully (it's only human nature). I don't think that there is a clear cut answer to your question about the level and breath of experience for applicants with lower GPAs. It depends entirely on the pool of candidates that are applying that year. Like it or not, you are going to be compared to the other applicants (not because it is a specific criterion of the assessment process, but rather as an involuntary response on the part of the assessor, who is afterall looking for the "best possible" candidate. I hope that was somewhat helpful, and again - good luck. Cheers

[Guest eye hope its my turn]

thanx so much for your honesty and your input gucio93.