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Rank: Frosh
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/16/2008
Posts: 8
Location: BC
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is it true that they only look at your MARKS? so it doesn't matter if you go to a lesser challenging school and get good marks ..than to go to a school with high reputation and high standard?
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Rank: Student Council
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/5/2008
Posts: 451
Location: London (UWO)
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NO, that is hardly the case. Plenty of applicants to med school have amazing marks, but something like 20% of applicants actually are accepted. Extracurricular experience and, for some schools, the MCAT are highly considered. If you are an ideal candidate on paper, you will be asked to come for an interview. This is where they will really drill you on why you would make a good doctor.
Take note: they also don't really consider the reputation of the undergraduate school you attended or the nature of the program you graduated with, or at least that is what they claim. I can only imagine they value more a 3.8 GPA from U of T than a 3.8 from Lakehead.
Honours BMSc Specialization in Medical Science UWO '09
Bachelor of Pharmacy Alberta '13 ???
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Rank: Frosh
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Joined: 3/16/2008
Posts: 8
Location: BC
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oh I meant marks and extracurriculars..
so what school you're from doesn't matteR?
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Rank: Student Council
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/5/2008
Posts: 451
Location: London (UWO)
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It is probably something they consider, but it likely won't make or break you. I use wishy-washy terms because I don't know how the med school admission people think, and they are pretty uptight about talking about it.
Honours BMSc Specialization in Medical Science UWO '09
Bachelor of Pharmacy Alberta '13 ???
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Rank: Frosh
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Joined: 3/16/2008
Posts: 8
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It is true that many schools have a mark cut-off to get an interview... and in that case it doesn't matter the school. But if you do reach the cutoff, going to an excellent school certainly couldn't hurt during the selection process.
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Rank: Senior Student
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Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 199
Location: Toronto
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Ok. So medical schools do not care what school you did your undergrad at. There is no difference between Brock and U of T. Now, some schools take into consideration the difficulty of the courses taken (ie: 60% of course load must correspond to the year you are in. So 3 of the 5 courses you take. Certain schools do have strict cutoffs, like Western. For this current cycle, you needed 1 year 3.7+ to get an interview, and another about 3.7+ to receive an acceptance. THe MCAT cutoff for non-SWOMEN applicants was 30 overall. 10 in VR, with a minimum of 11 in the BS section and 9 in PS. So, some schools like Queens, UWO, UofO mainly look at marks, before they will look at your sketch. Schools like UofT and Mac look at the bigger picture. If you want specifics on each school your best bet is to just go on their website.
Biological and Medical Science UWO 2012
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Rank: Frosh
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/16/2008
Posts: 6
Location: BC
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How important are extra curriculars for getting accepted into med school?
and what type of activities do they prefer?
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Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 199
Location: Toronto
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Medical schools want the entire package. They want to see that you have not spent the years of your undergraduate degree locked up inside. So, any sort of extracurricular, activity, etc is extremely important. For a medical school application you can use activities from the time you are 16 and there are 48 spaces that can be filled in your sketch. Also, there is no "preferred" activity. Participate in whatever you feel passionately about. Quality is preffered over quantity. I would recommend that you partake in some form of medically related volunteer activity in order to see if you are actually interested in the career. You would hate to go through undergrad thinking that meds is for you, get into med school, than realize that you hate the hospital environment or hate people...
Biological and Medical Science UWO 2012
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Rank: Frosh
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/25/2008
Posts: 8
Location: British Columbia
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Does it matter what Med school you go to? Do certain Med school give you better career oppurtunities than Others?
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Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 199
Location: Toronto
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Each medical school has different things to offer (ie: UofT is in a bigger city than Queen's, so there may be more opportunites, but than again Queen's has a smaller class size.) In Canada, whatever medical school you go to, you can be guaranteed a good solid education.
Biological and Medical Science UWO 2012
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Rank: Frosh
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Joined: 3/25/2008
Posts: 5
Location: brampton
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i was wondering what would be the significance of the MCATS in canadian med schools? is it equally important as ur merits?
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Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/17/2008
Posts: 109
Location: Winnipeg
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TDodge wrote:Does it matter what Med school you go to? Do certain Med school give you better career oppurtunities than Others? I think in a way that it does since some med schools offer programs that are unique to their institution but overall, I don't think that the place where you get your degree from will matter. Instead, it will be on your performance as a potential doctor. 
Waiting on the world to change. ♥
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Rank: Senior Student
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Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 199
Location: Toronto
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sona.1029 wrote:i was wondering what would be the significance of the MCATS in canadian med schools? is it equally important as ur merits? Different schools look at the MCAT differently. Below are the possible situations... 1) Some schools use it as a strict cutoff...ie: If you score above a set cut-off, you move on to the next round of admissions. Schools like this are Queens and Western. 2) Other schools just use the MCAT as a 'flag'... ie: If you scored poorly in one section, it may not hurt you in the long run. Schools like this are UofT and UBC. 3) UofM puts great emphasis on the MCAT for admission, including it as part of your post-interview score.(Pretty sure. I live in Ontario, so I am most familiar with Ontario Medical Schools.) 4) Some schools don't even look at the MCAT (Mac and UofO, but I've heard rumours that Mac will be implementing some sort of verbal reasoning score into their system.) Hope that helps. If I made any errors, feel free to correct me! 
Biological and Medical Science UWO 2012
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Rank: Frosh
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Joined: 3/28/2008
Posts: 5
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okay, i have a question for the experts out there. Would going to health sci at mac give an advantage when applying to med school? Would they favour mac health scis rather than other science students?
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Rank: Student Body Vice-President
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 994
Location: Ottawa
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joyciej wrote:okay, i have a question for the experts out there. Would going to health sci at mac give an advantage when applying to med school? Would they favour mac health scis rather than other science students? A fairly high proportion of Mac Health Sci students do wind up in med school, but you do have to take into consideration that they've selected people from high school who are already doing the kinds of things they need to do to get into med school, while your typical life science program has a much lower cutoff and isn't looking at extra curriculars and all that. So - being able to get into Mac Health Sci shows that you are on the right track to being a good med school candidate. However, is the program favored by med school admissions people? Probably not. If Mac Health Sci looks like the right program for you, by all means go into it if you get in - but it's not the right program for everyone.
 
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Rank: Frosh
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Joined: 3/8/2008
Posts: 6
Location: Canada
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In addition to your marks, they look at your volunteer work and extracurricular activities and then you have an interview and such to attend with them. They like a "well-rounded" person.
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Rank: Frosh
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Joined: 3/22/2008
Posts: 11
Location: Burlington
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Alright, question. Is research more, or just as important as extra-curricular and volunteer activities and grades. I am entering into a health science program which takes a broad perspective of health in that it encompasses science and social science. As a result, i likely wont be able to get involved in pure science research projects. Does this matter, whetehr the research project is pure science based?
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Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 199
Location: Toronto
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Lauren wrote:Alright, question. Is research more, or just as important as extra-curricular and volunteer activities and grades. I am entering into a health science program which takes a broad perspective of health in that it encompasses science and social science. As a result, i likely wont be able to get involved in pure science research projects. Does this matter, whetehr the research project is pure science based? Lauren, you definately will be able to gain a position in a discipline other than your major. Some research intensive schools (ie: UofT) value research, but, by no means is it mandatory.
Biological and Medical Science UWO 2012
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Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 4/1/2008
Posts: 192
Location: Toronto,ON
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Hey, to all there looking to get into med, I've found that http://www.premed101.com is quite useful.
CAPS LOCK IS CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOL.
UWO BioMed 2012
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