good chance or not?

[Catalina]

thanks for the insights

[Kasiunut]

Also, from what I've heard, that the ad coms will look at certain quotas...like gender, race, age, background etc...the fact of the matter is that they get thousands of applicants, of which many ARE great...but realistically they will only interview X amount of candidates. And they want their candidates to be diverse. They will never admit this but I've spoken to a guy who used to be on the ad com for Mac and he told me it happens all the time, at every school. Although to be fair, he said it was usually after interviews, not before.

But its understandable...I mean, they also have a limited amount of spots for interviews and once they reach a threshold for 22 year olds with a BSc they'll start looking at 30 year olds, want to make sure they have a representative amount of races, genders etc. It sucks but that's why its never a guarantee.

[Field87ven]

For those worried about UofT, they only use the MCAT as a screening, a 9/9/9 is equivalent to a score of 15/15/15 as far as they are concerned.

Applicants who score below a 9 in any one of the sections are flagged (correct me if i'm wrong), it just goes to show you that a good MCAT score will will not guarantee you anything (at least at UofT), you need to have the whole package.

I do agree though that having a 4.00 and some good EC's SHOULD at least get you an interview, sometimes this whole process frustrates me as you never know what they actually want out of a premed.

Just keep volunteering and doing the best you can with your GPA so you can put yourself in the best position possible.

[futureGP]

Originally Posted by Legion

I lol'd. They must have been.

don't jump to the conclusion.

rejected with 4.0, high MCAT doesn't necessarily mean they're socially awkward.

Esp. at UofT, MCAT generally means nothing as long as it's over the minimum (which is exceptionally low). -- people with high MCATs get rejected all the time.

It just means whoever reading his/her ABS didn't like him/her for some reason, period.

Holistic approach simply means a subjective approach.

That said, 3.85 is a good GPA but definitely not great in the med app world.

That with a decent MCAT will grant you an interview at UWO + McMaster if you ace CASPer + Queen's if you have good ECs.

[10wattbulb]

Originally Posted by medigeek

Sorry OP, with that miserable GPA of yours I would reccomend doing at least 2 more degrees to bring it up to a respectable level ... or ... start looking at some of the carribean schools. Keep in mind with a GPA that low you only have a shot at a couple of the crappiest scam schools though. good luck.

medigeek, are you an American with limited knowledge of how the Canadian system works or are you trying to be funny? A GPA of 3.87 is considered to be quite solid in Canada. If you don't get into Med school, Catalina, you can feel quite confident that it wasn't because of your GPA. Your GPA might be a little bit low for U of T because there are so many incredible nerds that apply to this particular Med school, but elsewhere, 3.87 is fairly standard and slightly above average for quite a few schools. Like several people said above, many other factors will come into consideration: LORs, MCAT scores, ECs, essays, interview, etc. My suggestion: don't worry about your GPA; it's quite good and there's nothing that you can do about it now, anyways. Worry about improving the rest.

P.S. I have nothing against nerds (I actually find them awesome), so don't feel offended by my post if you're one of them.

[lekarza]

Originally Posted by 10wattbulb

medigeek, are you an American with limited knowledge of how the Canadian system works or are you trying to be funny? A GPA of 3.87 is considered to be quite solid in Canada. If you don't get into Med school, Catalina, you can feel quite confident that it wasn't because of your GPA. Your GPA might be a little bit low for U of T because there are so many incredible nerds that apply to this particular Med school, but elsewhere, 3.87 is fairly standard and slightly above average for quite a few schools. Like several people said above, many other factors will come into consideration: LORs, MCAT scores, ECs, essays, interview, etc. My suggestion: don't worry about your GPA; it's quite good and there's nothing that you can do about it now, anyways. Worry about improving the rest.

P.S. I have nothing against nerds (I actually find them awesome), so don't feel offended by my post if you're one of them.

I'm pretty sure medigeek was being sarcastic lol

[shantytown27]

Originally Posted by bored

yea I also don't beleive anyone with a 40+ mcat can get rejected. sure they might get rejected from Harverd, but 40+ = you are in somewhere..
I also don't think 3.95-4.0 is ever gonna get rejected..

I don't believe the people that said they had that and got rejected. Untill you see the screen shot with a 3.95, or know them personally and know that they can get the grades, you shouldn't beleive them eitehr..

the way I see it is, 3.8 and a 33 means you are going to get in somewhere.

As a current PGY-2 resident, I know and have met quite a few applicants and interviewees who could only wish this was true.

[Chojo]

Originally Posted by 10wattbulb

medigeek, are you an American with limited knowledge of how the Canadian system works or are you trying to be funny? A GPA of 3.87 is considered to be quite solid in Canada. If you don't get into Med school, Catalina, you can feel quite confident that it wasn't because of your GPA. Your GPA might be a little bit low for U of T because there are so many incredible nerds that apply to this particular Med school, but elsewhere, 3.87 is fairly standard and slightly above average for quite a few schools. Like several people said above, many other factors will come into consideration: LORs, MCAT scores, ECs, essays, interview, etc. My suggestion: don't worry about your GPA; it's quite good and there's nothing that you can do about it now, anyways. Worry about improving the rest.

P.S. I have nothing against nerds (I actually find them awesome), so don't feel offended by my post if you're one of them.

I have bad news.. I think you need to book a repair for your sarcasm detector

Medigeek was only saying that because most people with 3.85+ GPAs asking if their "GPA is good enough" are being quite ridiculous and perhaps may be just looking for an ego boost. 3.85 is OBVIOUSLY a strong GPA, why do people even need to ask these kinds of questions???

The other not-so-wise thing that the original poster Catalina asked was if 3.87 was guaranteed to get them into med school. I thought most people should know by now that nothing is ever guaranteed in life.

[shantytown27]

Originally Posted by Transparent

I think there might be some truth to what he's saying, but only if said person applies broadly enough.

With a 3.8 and 33, you're chances are pretty good somewhere in the U.S. at low tier schools and maybe even mid-high tier schools (depending on how great said person's EC's are)

A 3.8 won't cut it for Ottawa, and it's generally on the low side for U of T (unless said person is a grad student)

Depending on how balanced the 33 MCAT is and if VR score is competitive enough/meets the cut-offs, said person has a pretty good shot at Queens (must pass "EC cut-off" instead, Western and McMaster (CASPER will also play a role).

But in the end..there is a good shot that someone with a 3.8/33 has a chance at least somewhere in North America..Especially if their EC's/LORs/Personal Statement are up to par. But then again high stat applicants (even higher than 3.8/33) are rejected every year...and nobody knows the reasons as to why (might be due to not meeting certain MCAT cut-offs, poor EC's, or just the reviewer having a bad day)

A 3.8 and 33 MCAT score provides a decent shot but by no means does it guarantee you a spot as the poster I quoted was alluding to. The field is getting more and more competitive as time goes on.

[Der Kaiser]

Originally Posted by Kasiunut

Also, from what I've heard, that the ad coms will look at certain quotas...like gender, race, age, background etc...the fact of the matter is that they get thousands of applicants, of which many ARE great...but realistically they will only interview X amount of candidates. And they want their candidates to be diverse. They will never admit this but I've spoken to a guy who used to be on the ad com for Mac and he told me it happens all the time, at every school. Although to be fair, he said it was usually after interviews, not before.

But its understandable...I mean, they also have a limited amount of spots for interviews and once they reach a threshold for 22 year olds with a BSc they'll start looking at 30 year olds, want to make sure they have a representative amount of races, genders etc. It sucks but that's why its never a guarantee.

I wonder about this as well. My guess is that quotas are used to break ties between applicants after the interview. There are probably far more ties than we realize. Also, I read an article from the Globe (2010) that said men have a better chance of being accepted since more women in total apply to med school and schools want gender balance. If you're interested just google "too many women medical school" or something like that.

I truly do hope "uniqueness" is what they are looking for. In that case I have a great shot!