In the summer of 2003, I was eager to fill out all the applications and get them done early. However, much to my dismay, the only school offering applications at that time was Memorial. So I filled that out and waited for the rest of the applications to come in. The only thing I did not like about the application was the limited amount of space offered to write answers to their essay style questions.
Dalhousie was next on the agenda. Dalhousie opened its applications around the time classes started in the fall. Overall the application was very easy to fill out. The essays, while asking very general questions, were easy to write after I had thought about them for a while.
Then, I decided that the more darts I throw, the better the chances I hit bullseye. I went online, searching for the Ontario Application website: OMSAS. This hulking application is general for all Ontario schools, with specific sections tailored to each school's desire. I was adamant on applying to Toronto, since I really like the city and have family there. I also applied to Ottawa and Mac, since both of them did not require the most successful pyramid scheme that is the MCAT(the weakest part of my application). Western Ontario was a luck affair - sometimes the MCAT cutoff is 29, sometimes 30. I had a 29...said 'may as well go for it' to myself, and checked the box.
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In regards to each of the applications:
Toronto's application was similar to Dalhousie in that they expect a well drawn out essay regarding the nature of your choice of medicine as a career. Not a problem at all.
Ottawa's application was not essay style. Instead, I was required to list off everything I've ever done/won starting from a few years back. This took the longest to do. Although listing your extracurriculars etc. isn't the most difficult thing to do, it is by far the most banal. Writing descriptions of each thing in the list was a pain too, since I had to conform to their miniscule character limit. I tell you, point form was more than used there!
Mac's app was peculiar. You get 5 questions, each one has to be answered in 700 characters; 'makes for some very heavy condensation of thought. Of course, the answers they expect seem to be of the garden variety 'I'm an assertive thinker who doesn't have a specific opinion on anything' type...that's what I put down and it got me an interview. Nonetheless, a specific opinion usually takes more than 700 characters to explain.
Western's app: Advice to all those who have MCATs 30 and up: You will automatically be considered for interview if your MCAT meets the cutoff, pending that your GPA meets their cutoff too. I am unfamiliar with their GPA cutoff. But if you have an extremely solid GPA and good MCAT, just check the box and that's it. No essays, no character limits, no nothing. Just a check box. If only all applications were like this.
Queens: Not even worth my time. They have ridiculous MCAT cutoffs.
McGill: This was my original first choice of med school,before Dal. However, after discovering that there are more international students than Out of Province Canadians( about 4-5 OOP/class), I decided it was better to keep my $75. Unless you are some ridiculous wunderkind , successfully applying here OOP will be very difficult.
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The OMSAS app was very long and arduous...the day before the due date I decided to take one last jaunt through it, filling out the usual stuff like Name, Age, etc. But I couldn't! Their server froze from overuse. Hundreds of applicants were unable to finish and submit their applications!
With true honor,in lieu of this disaster, the OMSAS people extended the deadline a generous amount (after infinite harrassment from the applicants). So, to anyone that finds themselves in this situation: Pester OMSAS to move the deadline until they do.
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So, the apps were done. Getting references was the last thing that I did. Was I ever worried though! See, lots of places like academic references. Although I have done well in my education, I did not get to know any academics! I worked in 2 labs but I was pretty sure that the profs there weren't too fond of me for some reason. So off I went looking for references...Eventually I found good ones, but man, was I stressed.
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As for results:
MUN rejected me pre-interview. I never called to find out why.
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Dal interviewed me in January, and I recieved my acceptance a few months afterwards. The pre-interview wait should have been stressful (this was my first interview, after all), but the people in the lobby, both applicants and med students, were so friendly that it was easy to be relaxed. My interviewers were really nice too. Very open to conversation. What bugs me is when people write down things when I'm talking. The interviewers here did not write anything down. It was like a conversation, not an interview. Great experience!
Ottawa interviewed me at the start of March. I was not impressed with their school for the following reasons: 1. The school is way out in the middle of nowhere, so unless one has a car, getting to the city would be difficult. 2. The interviewers I had ( 2 docs and a student) were all very cold and rude even. One doc was asking me questions but they flowed as well as dry cement. His frantic jotting of my answers wasn't helping either. The med student was sitting there thinking about the next episode of OC or something because she wasn't paying attention to anything that was going on. All she did was ask the ethics question that she had written down before the interview. And the last doc cut me off when I was asking questions! That was extremely rude. If they were so sure at that point that I was not a suitable candidate for their school, they would have been better off telling me there, instead of rudely interrupting me when I was asking a question. I was very unimpressed. They put me on the bad waitlist, but I wasn't going to go there even if I was accepted.
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U of T: On a bright sunny day, I was interviewed at U of T. The pre-interview tours were very impressive. Although in the air lurked the stench of overwhelming competitiveness. My interviewers were a doc and a student. The doc was really outgoing and polite, and a pleasure to talk to. The student was quiet and subdued but still very polite. Overall the interview was a good experience. I was waitlisted there. I suppose competition was really tough, and with the quality of my MCAT marks(with that infernal 8 in VR)combined with my OOP status I could only be waitlisted.
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Mac: Mac invited me well after I was accepted at Dal, so I politely refused the offer.
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Western: Missed the MCAT cutoff by one point. It is a shame because I was interested in seeing first-hand what Western had to offer.
Applying was a tedious process, but from it I gained valuable knowledge and confidence.
We help students become doctors. TM
