Is the Academic CV for graduate students assessed competitively?

[Albert]

I've been hearing a lot about how once applications are received, UofT analyzes them and creates a "competitive GPA cut-off", and as long as you meet that GPA, you're in the clear, and your chances of getting an interview invite offer solely depends on your score in the ABS, personal essay, LOR, and etc... 

Does anyone know if the same logic is applied to assessing graduate students, instead with their academic CVs? in other words, as long as you have a first author publication, then you are considered a graduate student, and then the rest relies on ABS, personal essays, LOR, and etc...? Or will there be a distinction between a single publication vs. two or more publications? or for that matter, the impact factor of the journals? 

[yohohoy]

I don't think your first point is true... I'm pretty sure they assess GPA competitively. Don't quote me on it tho lol

 

Also, I'd say they also assess the graduate work competitively. Surely someone who is more productive in their research is going to be looked at more favorably than someone who does the bare minimum.

[samc5]

I think when you're assessed as a graduate student the weighting for GPA is lowered (ex if in the undergrad stream your gpa is 70% of your score it may only be weighed 50% in the graduate stream), and then an increased weighting on your academic CV (publication record is one of the ways to assess) academic references, personal essays etc. 

[cw2lu4]

What if it works in your favour to be assessed as an undergrad rather than a grad student? So if we were to take my situation as an example: my wGPA for UofT is 3.98 but I'm currently doing my thesis-based M.Sc. I currently have no publications but I plan on getting only one first-author pub by the end of my M.Sc. Compared to a grad student with a 3.7 wGPA and multiple publications, would I be looked upon unfavourably? 

If so, should I purposely slack off in my lab to not get any pubs so that I maintain "undergrad" status? 

This is more of a rhetorical question because the only people that truly know the answer to this are the people on the admissions committee. 

[macmade]

I interpret the first author statement as something that will give you an edge over other grad student applicants. Not having a first author publication does not mean you will be considered an undergrad, you will still be considered a graduate student because that is what you are, but it will just not be as stellar of an application as those with first author pubs. 

[Eudaimonia]

40 minutes ago, macmade said:

I interpret the first author statement as something that will give you an edge over other grad student applicants. Not having a first author publication does not mean you will be considered an undergrad, you will still be considered a graduate student because that is what you are, but it will just not be as stellar of an application as those with first author pubs. 

Not all who apply in the graduate stream will be considered as a grad applicant. 

"You may be assessed in the undergraduate admissions stream unless you have substantial research productivity and are deemed eligible for a graduate review"

I think their criteria for productivity hinges on that first author pub among other things.

1 hour ago, cw2lu4 said:

What if it works in your favour to be assessed as an undergrad rather than a grad student? So if we were to take my situation as an example: my wGPA for UofT is 3.98 but I'm currently doing my thesis-based M.Sc. I currently have no publications but I plan on getting only one first-author pub by the end of my M.Sc. Compared to a grad student with a 3.7 wGPA and multiple publications, would I be looked upon unfavourably? 

If so, should I purposely slack off in my lab to not get any pubs so that I maintain "undergrad" status? 

This is more of a rhetorical question because the only people that truly know the answer to this are the people on the admissions committee. 

The way I understand it is that being considered in the graduate stream lowers the GPA cutoff (from 3.6 to 3.0) and so it benefits those who have lower GPAs. Since UofT has no grad applicant quota to fill, I don't believe being in this stream confers any other advantages.