Rejected vs Waitlisted and other stuff

[Guest Tickles]

Hi I'm currently on the waitlist and I phoned the Mac admissions office today. The lady was really nice and told me that although I am on the waitlist, it is difficult to say if I will get accepted like last year where all the applicants got accepted.

 

 

She told me that the waitlist this year was longer than they have ever had it to make room for any extra spots.

She said that this year almost everyone was was not accepted got put on the waitlist except for a small handful of people who were clearly not suited at all for medicine.

 

Now that I know the waitlist is so long, should I toss any hope of getting in this year?

 

Should i start on next year's application?

 

tickles

[Guest Tickles]

Sorry in all my nervousness I made a typo

 

 

She said that this year almost everyone WHO was not accepted right away got put on the waitlist except for a very small handful of people who were clearly not suited at all for medicine and thus were rejected.

[Guest JSS02]

I think I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, as the above post could be completely fake, and started just for the sake of pissing off people. But if it's true, then that's quite an awful (i.e. unfair) thing to say based on a 45 minute interview and the simulated tutorial. Does that mean the other 2600 of us who didn't even get an interview are even less suited for medicine? :rolleyes

[Guest bubbagump]

I'm sorry, Tickles, but that sounds pretty fishy. If you checked out the number of people who posted that they were rejected and the number that were waitlisted, I think you would see that quite a few were rejected. Also, there was information circulating that there were 89 on the waitlist. 89 is significantly more than have ever been on the Mac waitlist (in previous years it was 50). And given Jessica's post that they are roughly about halfway through the waitlist, and they have added 10 seats, the number 89 sounds more and more believable. If true, that means there were 128 offers, 89 waitlisted, and ~180 rejected.

 

It sounds like whoever you talked to was talking smack, or was at best misleading. And regardless of the numbers, I doubt those that were rejected are completely unsuited to medicine.

[Guest sydney]

I know at least 2 people (who I know personally) who received rejections after interview, people who I know would do well in an interview and are totally suited and prepared for Medicine and more over, Medicine at McMaster. I honestly cannot believe that for years Mac would waitlist 50 then all of a sudden decide to waitlist 200...really that wouldn't be too smart on their part.

 

So, I would not hold too much stock in what was posted earlier...if you are still waitlisted, hang in (much easier said than done, I know...) there still may be some hope.

 

Take care guys,

Jessica

[Guest Tickles]

Guys/Gals:

 

I'm not trying to piss anyone off. I'm the one still stuck on this waitlist. Being told what I was told didn't give me much hope

 

I'm just conveying the message I was given. Do I agree? Heck no, If you ask me I think the most suited are the one's on the waitlist

 

The one's that were probably got accepted outright probably just were better performers and most likely better BS artists. Infact the rejected folks were probably the most honest, and suited!!!

[Guest Mamush]

Just to add to what was said, I have seen confirmation from a source at Mac (although not the AdCom, but rather a connected department) that 88 people was the number originally placed on the wait list. So don't give up hope!

[Guest macmed]

I think what Tickles was told by "whoever" at the admissions office has ticked some people off who got rejected, and rightly so! I'd just like to point out that it is possible that the people who answer the phone aren't privy to how the admissions process works. It doesn't sound right to me, so don't worry. And BTW, "not suited for medicine" is not the same as "not suited for the Mac programme," which is more likely to be the reason why someone is rejected. I agree that it's not fair to base on a 30 minute interview, etc, but that's all we have to judge you on, and it's more than other schools have.

[Guest anon]

what exactly do you mean by "it's more than other schools have?" -- other Ontario schools have interviews lasting for a maximum duration of 45 minutes.

 

Perhaps you wish to be more clear? I am not attacking you in anyway, but would just like to be more certain as to what direct point you are trying to get across.

 

thanks.

[Guest macmed]

Hi, no problem, I would love to clarify myself. You are correct, the personal interview at other schools are longer than at Mac. What I meant by "more than other schools" was that Mac bases their overall score on more than just an essay, interview and marks, but also the simulated tutorial and the video exercise.

Now personally, I thought both exercises were ridiculous and pointless when I applied. But now that I've been on the other side of the admission process (I marked essays and did interviews last year), I can see why they are useful and I think they make the process just a bit more fair.... because they give you more opportunity to show you belong here (or to screw up I suppose, if you're a pessimist!). Mac is such a unique program that it is necessary to see as many sides of the candidate as possible. Since you spend so much time in small groups at Mac, a personal interview is not likely to show the interviewers how you interact with your peers.

hope that clears it up. Sorry it was so long-winded!

Macmed