Ottawa Ontario cut-off question

[Kirsteen]

Hi all,

I'm thinking of applying to Ottawa during this year's round of admissions as an Ontario applicant. As I understand it, the cut-offs for each year are not determined until November. Can anyone give me an idea of what Ottawa's Ontario cut-offs have been for the last 2-3 years, so that I can do some educated measuring up?

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[TimmyMax]

Hi Kirsteen,

From what I gather, the interview cutoff for non-Ottawa area Ontarians was a WGPA of around 3.83, but I haven't seen anything "official" (ie: website) to confirm this. The best approach may be to call the Ottawa admissions office and get it straight from the horse's mouth. If you do find it out, please let us all know!

Best of luck!
Tim

[Tanya23]

Hi guys, Nina told me the cut-off was 3.80 last year for Ontario. Another year it was 3.79, 3.82. It seems to hover around these figures quite closely.

[Kirsteen]

Hi there,

I zipped a wee note out to Nina at ~5pm today, so it was a bit late for her to respond. In any case I figured there could probably be some folks in the Ottawa know hereabouts so thank you for that. If I do receive a response from Ottawa regarding some recent figures, I'll post them.

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[MayFlower]

Tanya,

I applied with a 3.73 GPA (OMSAS scale) and received an interview this year.

edit: I was an in-province applicant.

MayFlower

[JSS02]

The cutoffs that Tanya mentioned are for applicants to the English program who aren't from the Ottawa region or an underserved area. Otherwise, the cutoffs are a little bit lower - I heard in the 3.6-3.7 range, but I don't know the exact number.

[OT6er]

last september when I was applying, I emailed U of O about cutoffs. They emailed me back about a week later and told me that the cutoff last year (2001 entry) for Ontario residents was 3.83, and the cutoff for 2000 entry was 3.85. I am not sure what it was this past admissions cycle, but for some reason I remember the number 3.81 as the cutoff for this year from the info session before my U of O interview in March.

Hope this helps

[Tanya23]

Hi Mayflower,

Do you have a grad degree? (I seem to remember that from your previous posts.) In that case, the required WGPA is 3.3 (in undergrad studies) to be assessed further. At least that's what the OMSAS booklet states. That could help explain things. Either way, congrats on a great WGPA and good luck with your application this year!!

OT6er, I think you're right -- 3.81 was the Ontario non-underserviced area cut-off for 2002 entry. Nina told me it was 3.80, so that's a pretty close estimate.

Good luck, everyone!
Tanya.

[Kirsteen]

Hi Tanya23,

A quick question: are all graduate applicants to Ottawa permitted a lower GPA (as to your allusion above)?

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[Tanya23]

Hi Kirsteen,

Here's what the 2003 OMSAS book says:

To be considered under the graduate policy, students must have an undergrad WGPA that meets the standard set for the current applicant pool. These applicants will be assessed like all the other undergrad applicants,

OR....

students must have at least 3.3 in their undergrad studies and be in the final year of a Master's program in which they have maintained an "A" average in their grad courses.

I believe this is the spirit of the grad policy -- to enable those students who did NOT meet the necessary cutoffs in UNDERGRAD, but who had "A" averages in GRAD (thus implying that their academic performance has improved since undergrad.)
Here's where I got that info: www.ouac.on.ca/omsas/pdf/b_omsas_e.pdf (http://www.ouac.on.ca/omsas/pdf/b_omsas_e.pdf)
If the link doesn't work, just head to the OMSAS homepage and read the "Application Booklet" for 2003.

Kirsteen, are you a grad student (or considering it?)
Tanya23.

[Kirsteen]

Hi Tanya23,

Thanks for posting the quotes, and I have read those before, but for some reason I thought you may have been alluding to some other sort of graduate policy that I had missed, different and separate from the above.

As to my personal grad status: both! I already have a graduate degree (MBA) and am off to pursue a M.Sc. (Epidemiology) in September at UT.

Cheers, and thanks again for your input.
Kirsteen

[Tanya23]

I must admit, I feel slightly intimidated applying to meds with all these grad students in my midst... :) Congratulations, Kirsteen, and I hope you enjoy the program! Good luck everyone....

[Kirsteen]

Hey Tanya23,

Try not to feel intimidated! Each year folks apply with all sorts of wild and woolly experiences (be those formal education or otherwise) from all over the map. At the end of August when that meds class finally comes together one of the true common denominators may become a little more apparent: decent people aiming to be the best doctors they can be; so no worries.

Best of luck in your applications this year,
Kirsteen

[MayFlower]

Hi Tanya23,

I do have a grad degree, however, I was not evaluated as an applicant with a grad degree...I believe you are only evaluated as a grad if your WGPA doesn't make the cut. Apparently, I made the WGPA cut for an in-province applicant with a 3.73 WGPA, as calculated by the OMSAS scale.

MayFlower