apply in french?

[premedgirl101]

hello everyone

I was in need of some advice and thought this would be a good forum to do so. I am not francophone however prior to university I was always in french immersion. Now, with that being said... if offered an interview would you think it would give a bad impression if your french is well pretty good but not as fluent as a brought up francophone?

thanks!

[bonito23]

Hi Premedgirl, in applying in French they would expect that you would be able to write and speak french at a level that would not compromise your success in the program. With that being said they would want to know at the interview, if you are not francophone and did not have a degree in french instruction at University, why are you applying to the french stream. If you feel confident enough in expressing yourself and succeeding in french then apply. They will determine your french proficiency at the written level through an analysis of your DABS. Furthermore, if you are bilingual as indicated, and are from Ottawa, then you have an added bonus over most applicants as the cutoff is lowered for you.

I hope this helps
Good Luck

[hal]

a little bit of a tangent, but what's a "d"abs? and when do they do this?

[hal]

sorry, just realized its a detailed abs... i dont think you need to fill that out in french tho

[premedgirl101]

thanks for the replies

I think hal is right that for the dabs, it does not matter if you write it in english and apply to the french, I know of some that have done it. The reason I am considering applying to french at ottawa is that I really want to pursue medicine and with my g.p.a of around a 3.8 (I am an ottawa resident) and pretty good e/c's... that with the new weighting system as others have mentioned 50 % g.p.a and 50 % sketch, that chances for even an interview would be slim as compared to before.

For myself, like I said above I haven't done any courses in french in university but have the appropriate documentation (french immersion certificate). I had been in 75 % 25 % french between grades 7-10 then the curriculum turned into immersion. At this moment to converse regularly in french is not a problem however people who are french could tell that I am not french... so I do not know if this is a problem....

overall, applying to the french I think would give me a better chance at an interview if I get 3.9 something next year I will be around the 3.9 range weighted for the year after and then would apply for the english.... I am just thinking that at a likelihood of being offered an interview in french would be greater than one in english and I would be able to function in a french academic environment.

thanks again for the replies.

[Kyleh]

If you are an Ottawa resident isn't the cutoffs lower? BTW, your GPA is pretty darn good.

[Julie]

I think if you can converse very well in french, then you would stand a chance post-interview. However, you'd have to come up with a really believeable story about why you didn't apply in english, as the "bc the cutoffs are lower in french" obviously wouldn't cut it... They probably would be suspicious about your motivations, but if you can convince them that you had good reasons to apply to the french program and your french is really good, then you'd probably be ok, I imagine...

I'm not sure about the said 50% gpa, 50% dabs though...has this been confirmed? As Kyleh mentionned, your gpa is above the cutoffs for residents of Ottawa, even in the english program... so if the method didn't change, then your odds of getting an interview would probably the same or similar in both languages... might be good to check with the school to be sure...

[bonito23]

Thats a good point Julie made ! If you can go to the interview and argue that < Je pourrais améliorer le niveau de service qui existe pour les francophones dans la région en m'engageant et apprenant dans un environnement français.> That will certainly show them that you are concerned about the dearth of french speaking doctors in the Ottawa area, and not be a genuine francophone it concerns you enough to drive your passion to serve that community. But I agree if you have no difficulty expressing yourself fluently and articulating then "velis et remis" = go for it / give her.

Bonne chance
B

[phantom]

this is an interesting thread. I myself have been contemplating applying in french. I would say apply to the french side if you can speak french to a degree where you can have a proper conversation. I know I might get some backlash on this but by stats generally, its easier to get into uottawa med french than english. If you don't get in, then boost the g.p.a this year (presuming you are going into 4th) then your weighted would be higher for the next year and should have a better shot at tackling english for sure.... in the end I would think with the new system in place for preinterview weighting... why not apply in french if you can, I mean you either give X amount of money for a school thinking you have a 50:50 shot at an interview, or give an X amount of money to a school thinking you have a 75:25 shot... now its hard to say how you can factor in getting an interview but as long as you have a good sketch, the 3.8 from an ottawa resident should be fine for an interview in the french section, heck you don't even have to write your sketch in french just speak it... good luck.