08/25/2007: Wrote the MCAT. It was brutal in the beginning! Crazy PS...VR was okay, WS was easy, and BS was very simple. Quite unsure as to how it went...practice scores on AAMC tests ranged from 31-35 I think...one 37 but it had to have been a fluke.
09/26/2007: Got MCAT results...best day of my life! Can't believe I did that well...I think I'll apply to more than I had originally planned (5 Ontario schools and UBC).
09/30/2007: Submitted application to 5 Ontario schools through OMSAS.
10/01/2007: Submitted application to UBC.
10/03/2007: Submitted AMCAS primary application.
10/05/2007: Submitted Harvard secondary...nice and easy. LOR's on the way to this school and the other American ones...I called and they encouraged me to send them as a file would be started with my AAMC ID#. All the admissions offices are so friendly...I think I want to go to Columbia just to meet the woman I spoke to on the phone, she was so nice.
10/09/2007: AMCAS primary 'ready for review'...hoping to be verified within 4 weeks.
10/15/2007: Submitted application to Calgary. The more I think about it, the more I like this school...at least I know my application will make the cutoff for the OOP algorithm...
10/26/2007: Verified by AMCAS! A little surprised it only took about 2 weeks after my transcripts arrived...kinda annoyed with the conversion though...I just wish all my pharmacology classes would go into my BCPM GPA because I have >90 in all of them, so that's a lot of 4.0's that I didn't get to count. If anatomy/physiology count in it, pharmacology should too.
10/29/2007: Submitted Columbia secondary...didn't add anything for the optional document at the end...I don't have anything remarkable to say; I think I come across clearly in the AMCAS primary and the secondary questions.
11/01/2007: Photo for Columbia sent in, and application fee for Yale sent in. Also, all LOR's for the USA have now been sent and should arrive within a few days...all that is left for the US schools is the Yale (won't take long) and Duke (ugh) secondaries.
11/05/2007: Submitted Yale secondary...the essay was pretty easy; I mean, it just asks why you want to go there. They have a cool curriculum so it was a quick write. Now I have to start/finish Duke's (AHH!) and McGill's applications. I don't like McGill's format for submission but whatever, it will get done.
11/14/2007: Submitted McGill and Saskatchewan applications. Well, McGill's online was submitted a long time ago, I'm just sending in my last supporting documents. And Saskatchewan's took about 5 seconds to do. All that is left is the Duke secondary...which I probably won't work on until after my exams (3 days before the deadline!) because I am just THAT behind in school as a result of this whole process. Duke's a major reach anyway, so we'll see...
11/16/2007: Complete at Yale. I was worried for a bit because I had sent my certification form via expresspost...and the online tracking had said it hadn't been received...so this is a relief.
11/26/2007: Complete at Harvard. Also, called Columbia to make sure my photo was received for the same reason I was worried about Yale...and it has been so I'm relieved.
12/04/2007: Calgary emailed me to let me know I'd made the first cut for OOP applicants...156 people made the OOP algorithm cutoff of 451.75, and now our whole file is being evaluated to select interviewees.
12/17/2007: Complete at Columbia. I thought it was odd not to have heard anything back yet so I called and was told my file was complete...I just hadn't been sent an email for some reason. Also received my grades verification form from OMSAS and everything looked good. Now the waiting continues...
12/19/2007: Received the official email from Columbia telling me I'm complete...probably the last I'll hear from any schools until 2008!
01/17/2008: Rejected from McGill AND British Columbia...I know it's competitive for OOP, but I genuinely thought I stood a chance to get an interview :( Kinda disheartened.
01/25/2008: Rejected from McMaster via snail mail. Not surprising as it's a total crapshoot (especially with my GPA)...their loss I suppose!
01/28/2008: Interview invite to Queen's! Even though it was expected it's still nice to have that official first interview...and I meet the recently posted UWO cuts too (9PS/10VR/11BS/Q) so I'm fairly certain I have an interview there too...but I'll wait to get official word before changing anything on here...
01/31/2008: Rejected from Ottawa, as I expected. Missed the cut by VERY little...Removing my lowest grade from the year that was worth the least would put me over that cut...AHH!
02/04/2008: Interview invite to Calgary! Pretty pumped about this one, being an OOP applicant and all...and the fact that I still got an interview with academics being 50% of the evaluation is sick. Upward trends ARE rewarded!
02/05/2008: Interview invite to Saskatchewan! Definitely a great week so far :)
02/06/2008: For the sake of being tidy and having closure, added the UWO interview and US school rejections. I mean, I definitely meet the UWO cutoffs so unless something goes horribly awry, I am interviewing there. And at this stage...no news = bad news for the US. Not horribly upset about those ones...seriously, look at them, as if I could expect anything after being complete in Nov/Dec! And Harvard is definitely done sending invites anyway. Only Toronto left to go! Fingers and toes crossed but it's a long shot.
02/12/2008: Received official word from UWO today...while I knew I would get an interview, it's still nice seeing the email in my inbox!
03/12/2008: Received my Columbia rejection today via snail mail...at least it's official! Toronto rejections are also starting to be sent out by email...I'm thinking that should be on its way soon too.
03/13/2008: Received rejection from Toronto today...not unexpected but still stings! Definitely think my cGPA was an issue as I didn't qualify for GPA weighting...but I think the rest of my application was alright. Whatever. Now I'm officially down to 4 schools and can start thinking about where I might want to go should I be lucky enough to get accepted!
04/16/2008: Well, with exams in full swing, I am obviously choosing now to start thinking about ranking my schools haha. I figure it's best to do it now so that come May 15th, if I'm lucky enough to be accepted at more than one school, or ANYWHERE in general, I have some sort of idea of where I want to go. Right now, I am very torn between Queen's and Calgary as my top choice. The Queen's curriculum appeals to me, as well as the class size. And having been in Kingston for 5 years I really have grown to love it...I'm not sure I'm ready to leave it and all the connections I've made behind just yet. Calgary...I love the city. The school has oodles of money, and the facilities are great. The curriculum worries me as there is a lot of independent learning, but I know I could handle it...I just don't know if I WANT to learn that way. It's also far from family/significant other. Western would be my next choice I think. It's a great school, don't get me wrong, just don't know exactly how I feel about London. However, having grown up in a SWOMEN community, I love that I could potentially spend part of my clerkship in my old town! If I get accepted and I am put in Windsor...that will be a real turn-off. Saskatchewan...frankly, it's just not good enough to warrant being that far from family/significant other. Don't get me wrong, it's a good curriculum with great CaRMS match stats (I think), and the class size is appealing, but it's not Calgary. However, if I end up at USask, I'm sure after about a month I would love it. I'm a firm believer that you grow to love wherever you are...I mean, it's freakin MED SCHOOL, who cares?!?!
05/06/2008: I am slowly going crazy, 1-2-3-4-5-6-switch...this wait is driving me NUTS! It wasn't too bad when I had exams, and then I had my birthday to look forward to...now I have NOTHING until the 15th (other than training for The Princeton Review, which I am NOT looking forward to). I just hope I'm either accepted somewhere on May 15th or rejected from everywhere (which I hope is rather unlikely) because the thought of being waitlisted and having to (potentially) wait ALL summer long makes me want to vomit a little in my mouth. UGH!
05/15/2008: The big day...heard from Calgary and Queen's so far...two waitlists...this is not how I imagined it but I guess I shouldn't give up hope until I'm completely rejected from them. Just didn't think it would happen like this, oh well. More waiting for me I suppose :( Still waiting on UWO and Saskatchewan too. Congrats to those accepted so far :) **Edit: WAITLISTED AT SASKATCHEWAN. Seriously, I can't be that guy who gets waitlisted at every school...I feel like crying right now.
05/16/2008: ACCEPTED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO!!! I cannot believe it :) After what I thought was a poor interview too! This feels amazing!!! Still going to hold out for Calgary and Queen's...but no matter what happens...I'M GOING TO BE A DOCTOR!!!
05/26/2008: So I've decided that I will be attending UWO in the fall! Getting accepted to UWO first and waitlisted everywhere else really made me consider my options much more carefully as I had hardly even considered UWO after what I thought was a bad interview...but it turns out I think it will be the best fit for me, curriculum-wise. I'm very excited to be attending Western next year!!!
INTERVIEWS
CALGARY: My 1st interview, and a really positive experience. The interview itself was actually very fun...I'm definitely a fan of the MMI, although I think it does have its downsides too...but I still had a great time doing it! I feel like I started slow but improved as I went on (that 1st interview is VERY nerve-wracking). The 2 essays were fine, as I actually had a lot of time leftover to read and revise. The student volunteers were so encouraging/helpful/positive and definitely sold the program...before going I had my doubts with UofC's structure, but now I love the curriculum and would LOVE to attend this school...too bad I'm an out-of-province applicant!
QUEEN'S: Very different interview than Calgary, but just as good of a time as the MMI. It started off kinda of slow with the more standard interview questions but as we moved into more personal stuff I really felt like I 'clicked' with my interviewers. I think it was easier because I have been at Queen's for 5 years now and I genuinely love Kingston so that was hopefully apparent. I didn't do any of the tours or presentations because I feel like I already know a lot about the program through being around the med students for so long and because I have several friends in the program right now. Overall, very relaxing and great conversation in the interview...fingers crossed for this one!
SASKATCHEWAN: All I have to say is WOW to the interview...this MMI was a completely different experience from Calgary. I had a lot more trouble with this one...I just found some of the questions to be rather vague and needlessly complex; there were a few where I was like 'HUH?' as I entered the room. I guess it didn't help that all the difficult ones for me were at the beginning of my circuit...5 of the last 6 were *alright* but 2-3 of the first 4 were NOT. I found the interviewers to be somewhat antagonistic and disinterested, which didn't help. We were told that the top 60% of scores on the interview go to further consideration, while the bottom 40% are automatically eliminated, regardless of grades, so I hope I'm in the top 60%! From there, OOP applicants will either be accepted or waitlisted. 30 of the 40 interviewees last year passed the interview, and of the 30, all were eventually offered a spot; in fact, only 4 of the 6 OOP spots were filled from those 30 (the other 10 don't get considered because of poor interviews). So, IF I pass the interview itself (and I'm rather unsure of it at this point) I have a great shot, but we'll see. Saskatoon itself is okay, I haven't had the opportunity to see much but it's a rather small city. Obviously if this was the only place I got in I'd go though!
WESTERN: My final interview! It definitely had its ups, and its downs...the whole interview was kinda all over the place. But I think it ended on a good note so that's good I suppose; always nice to leave the room with them smiling even if other parts were not as positive. I was a little disconcerted when I saw the time after I left the interview...it was 10 minutes past the hour! We were told to expect 45-50 minutes in the interview so to be there for 70...I hope that's a good sign! I feel bad that I'm the reason the next group couldn't start on time hahaha Overall the school is awesome, I love the UWO campus and the curriculum is great. I am formerly from a SWOMEN community (not counted as a SWOMEN applicant though as I moved before I went to high school) so I really like the idea of being able to do part of clerkship in such a community. I selected London as my campus of choice mainly based on location; Windsor is a little farther from my family and where my girlfriend will be next year. But I'll really take anything I can get! Not expecting too much as I didn't feel 100% positive about my performance in the interview, but at least 50% of the score post-interview is best year GPA (which is a 4.0 in my 4th year) and the MCAT, which I did well on. If they only look at WS and VR I'll be even happier because VR was my 2nd best section behind BS. We'll see I suppose.
LET THE WAITING BEGIN!!! Good luck to all awaiting May 15th!!!
