Open House

[logosmd]

Did anyone attend the open house held last week? If so, how was it? How structured was it? Are there any highlights I should not miss? I sure am excited to learn more and more about mac. Perhaps I will see some of you tomorrow!

[Ceds]

Just out of curiosity who is going tonight? I'm going to be heading there after work. Anyone know where I can park? I'm driving down from London.

[Kirsteen]

Hi Ceds,

I'm thinking of nipping by this evening, and like you, I've little idea where to park, etc.

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[Ceds]

Just got back from the session...

It was pretty good, reiterated a lot that was said in here (good advice has been given regarding honesty and discussing how experiences affected you etc...). Started with an overview of the program, admission requirements and selection criteria. Some aspects of their "desired qualities" were mentioned that I hadn't considered. Then there was a Q&A session with two med students which was neat because they gave some firsthand insight into their experiences of meds at Mac (just as the moderators do). Also I took a stroll around the campus as I have never been there before though I have been to Hamilton.

Overall I'm happy that I did go to the session tonight. Any thoughts from anyone else who went?

Ceds

[Kirsteen]

Hi there,

I too, attended last night and enjoyed the Chair of Admissions' candour and openness. Also, the Health Sciences Centre is quite the place. It seems like the undergrad health sciences programs, i.e., B.Sc., B.Sc.H. may be run from there; is that true? If so, it's a novel concept given that the monolith represents a health care facility and undergraduate teaching facility, combined.

There were a couple of interesting items brought to light which I'd never heard before. One, the oft-debated issue of male to female ratio in the class. If anyone was in a pickle about it previously then the matriculation stats for the latest class isn't going to tend to make them any happier: out of a class of 138 students, there are 109 females and 29 males. It was interesting how the Chair responded to the question of why such a skew. "Frankly, a 22 year-old woman is more mature than a 22 year-old male." <stirring of the crowd>

Another item of interest is the relatively large number of matriculants with graduate degrees. I can't remember the particulars offhand, but there were quite a few. Also, the fact that they do have an out-of-provice quota for interviews, that is, that one third of interviewees are selected from the out-of-province application batch. That was a new one.

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[Ceds]

What'd you think of the session Kirsteen? I found that a lot of the questions asked I knew about thanks to this board, which helps to reinforce that it is a useful resource (hey that rhymes). Overall I am glad that I went.

[NBsmurf]

Hi Kirsteen & Ceds;
Excuse me for butting into the conversation :)

The chair's reply to the male:female ratio is a bit surprising, I don't think I've heard of a med school representative stating that so directly before! Did the chair state what the ratio was like of those applying? Dalhousie is experiencing a bit of the lopsided ratio epidemic this year too. I think the number quoted to us was 37% male and 63% female among those accepted (Dal is usually pretty close to 50/50). However, the ratio of male to female applicants was also lopsided.

Just out of curiosity, what was the male:female ratio like of those at the meeting?

The health sciences centre is a monster isn't it :) The B.H.Sc. is located within it, as well as Nursing, Biochemistry, the Health Sciences graduate programme, vast numbers of research labs and probably others I don't even know about.

[Ceds]

Hey NBsmur:

How's Dal so far? My godparents' son just started in Meds 1 as well, he's loving it so far.

Anyways, as for the male/female comment made by the chair, I think he kinda of said it half-jokingly, not sure how much to take that to heart. Still he seemed to have been serious about it as well. One thing that I'm interested to look at is the age distribution with respect to the male/female ratio. Perhaps it is true (though as a guy I'd hate to admit it :P).

As for the ratio, there may have been more females there.

[Kirsteen]

Hi NBSmurf and Ceds,

The Chair didn't disclose the stats regarding the ratio of male/female applicants, and I'll agree with Ceds that there seemed to be a fair number of women present.

Getting back to your question Ceds, I was already pretty familiar with Mac's process, but I did learn a good few, new factoids, and for that, I feel it was worth the drive through the Ford Drive congestion!

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[Ceds]

So I take it you came from the GTA side Kirsteen? I was lucky, I came in from the opposite direction and traffic was smooth the whole way. That's one thing that I would like about being in Hamilton though, it's much closer to Toronto (traffic congestion notwithstanding).

[NBsmurf]

Hi Ceds and Kirsteen;
Dal is wonderful so far! We've only had orientation week so far though :)

Re: the age distribution and male:female ratio. Do you think there are more older male applicants accepted?

[Kirsteen]

Hi again NBsmurf,

Good to hear that you're enjoying Dal so far. As to Mac, no stats were provided re: the age distribution of the males that did make the final cut. However, the Chair did mention that, in general, the 22-24 year old category held the largest number of people admitted, out of all age categories. Also, at least two people admitted this year were in the 40-49 bracket, and nine people from nursing backgrounds shall be in the class, which may interest some reading Ian's boards.

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[aneliz]

Hey all,

I thought I would post the stats for UWO Meds 2006 for those that are interested:

total applications: 1489 (?)
total interviews: 417
total offers made: 234
total seats in class: 133

53% male, 47% female (reflected applicant pool)

120 are from Ontario
Rest are out of province, largest number of OOP are from BC but also some from Alberta and Nova Scotia, one from New Brunswick.

5 have or will have a masters degree
0 have Phd

Average age: 23
133 were single at the time of application

These stats were presented by the chair of the admissions commitee at the white coat ceremony on Aug 28, 2002.