Medical Schools in Canada & USA UWO Pre-Medical Society

Nov 30, 2009

Academic Information Session #2 Sung Ho Um

Objectives Outline schools in Canada and the States

Academic + non-Academic requirements

Pre-interview and Post-interview formulas

Admission Statistics (ex. GPA + MCAT averages)

USA schools in general

Before moving on… Note: some information are from unofficial sources

such as online forums and/or blogs (ie. Premed101). I will denote such information with a (*)

All schools reserve majority of the seats for the applicants from their province or state.

Some schools use “credit hour” system for counting courses. 6 credit hour = 1 credit at Western

If I did not mention prerequisites for a school, either no prerequisites or very standard courses. (ie. Biology, O chem)

Western Canada University of British Columbia University of Alberta University of Calgary University of Saskatchewan University of Manitoba

University of British Columbia Apply through Online Application System at

www.med.ubc.ca 3 years of undergrad required Minimum overall average is 70% but < 80% for OOP is not

competitive Most recent 60 credit hours and prerequisite averages are

also evaluated Pre-interview: 50% (overall + recent 60 credit hours avg) +

50% non-academic. (MCAT + prereq avg are not evaluated at this stage.)

Prerequisites: 1 credit of English, Biology, G Chem, O Chem and Biochemistry

Post-interview: Full file review. Interview format: Multiple Mini-interview (MMI)

University of British Columbia Class of 2013 stats:

Mean overall average: 84.06% Mean last 60 credits: 86.25%

60 credit hours = 10 credits at Western (ie. 2 years) Mean Prerequisites: 81.86% Mean MCAT:

VR: 9.68 PS: 10.71 WS: Q BS: 11.42

12/256 OOP

University of Alberta Apply at www.registrar.ualberta.ca 2 years of undergrad required Minimum 3.5 for 4th years and 3.7 for 2nd or 3rd years Minimum MCAT: >7 in each section Pre-interview: GPA (no summer but prerequisites are

included) Post-interview: 30% GPA + 20% MCAT + 20% Sketch +

25% interview + 5% Reference 15% seats for OOP Prerequisites: 1 credit of English, Physics, Biology, O chem,

G chem, ½ credit of stats and Biochem. If in 4th year or more, lowest year is dropped. Official GPA scale is unknown (*Similar to Calgary or

OMSAS?)

University of Alberta Interview format: MMI Class of 2013 stats:

Mean GPA: 3.80 (4th year), 3.95 (2nd+3rd years) Mean MCAT: 32.13Q (4th year), 35.16R (2nd+3rd

years)

University of Calgary Apply at https://ucan.ucalgary.ca/ 2 years of undergrad required Best 2 years for GPA for the initial file review Minimum 3.6 GPA for OOP Initial rank with the “Academic score” (top 250 OOP move on)

62.517(GPA) + 12.122(MCAT,VR) + 6.757(MCAT,BS) Pre-interview: 50% Academic (entire undergrad record) + 25%

Sketch + 15% MCAT + 10% Reference Post-interview: 40% Pre-interview + 50% MMI Verbal + 10%

MMI Written No prerequisite courses GPA scale and Admission stats can be found on their App.

Manual http://www.ucalgary.ca/mdprogram/prospective/admissions

University of Saskatchewan Apply at

http://www.medicine.usask.ca/education/admissions/application-form

2 years of undergrad required Best 2 year average. (No summer/part-time) Minimum of 80% for OOP, cutoff for interview has

been > 90% in recent years. (92.4% in 2009) For OOP, No prerequisites + MCAT minimum 26N (>

8) Pre-interview: 100% 2 year average (OOP) Post-interview: 100% Interview (OOP) Interview format: MMI Up to 8 spots (10%) for OOP

University of Manitoba Apply at

http://www.umanitoba.ca/student/admissions/application/deadlines/medicine/

Complete Bachelor’s by the end of application year. Prerequisites: 1 credit of Biochemistry, 2 credits of

humanities/social sci if 4-year Honours (if not, 3 credits). MCAT: min. 7 or M in each section. (WS: T=14, M=7) Operative MCAT score = .3(VR) + .2(PS) + .3(BS) + .2(WS) Pre-interview: GPA + MCAT Post-interview: 15% GPA + 40% MCAT + 45% non-

academic 4.5 GPA scale (successful applicants with > 4.0) All undergrad courses are taken into account with the

lowest credits being dropped.

University of Manitoba# of credits completed # of credits dropped15-15.5 2.516-16.5 3.017-17.5 3.518-18.5 4.019-19.5 4.520+ 5.0Note: 1.0 credit of Biochemistry cannot be droppedGrade GPA100-90 4.589-80 4.079-75 3.574-70 3.0

OOP offered admission:Mean GPA = 4.23Mean operative MCAT score = 12.14

OOP accepted offer:Mean GPA = 4.04Mean operative MCAT score = 11.72

Eastern Canada OMSAS

University of Western Ontario University of Toronto Queen’s University McMaster University University of Ottawa Northern Ontario School of Medicine

McGill University \\ University of Montreal \\ University of Sherbrooke \\ Laval University Dalhousie University Memorial University\\: Francophone schools not covered in this presentation

University of Western Ontario 4 year undergrad (Honours) required No prerequisites Best 2 full-time year (each year must be

>3.75) 1 of the years must be an upper year and

have >60% courses correlating to the year of your study.

MCAT cutoff: non-SWOMEN: VR:10, PS: 9, BS: 11, WS: Q SWOMEN: 8,8,8, O (total >30)

University of Western Ontario Pre-interview: meet the GPA + MCAT cutoffs Post-interview: 50% interview + 25% GPA +

25% MCAT SWOMEN bonus post-interview(?) *

In 2008, they interviewed 89 SWOMEN, 69 offered admission, 40% class were SWOMEN. (Dean’s report)

Interview format: traditional (1 faculty, 1 senior med student, 1 community member)

University of Toronto 3 years of undergrad required Prerequitsites:1 credit of social sci/humanities;

2 credit of life sciences Min. GPA 3.6/4.0 Drops lowest 3 credits if in 4th year

Must have carried 5 credits every year to be eligible

No summer courses are included Min. MCAT: 9,9,9, N.

one score below in one section is still eligible for file review. (“flagged”)

University of Toronto Pre-interview: 40% non-academic (statement,

sketch, reference) + 60% academic Post-interview: 60% non-academic

(statement, sketch, reference, interview) + 40% academic

Academic score includes GPA, academic rigour and coherence

Interview format: traditional (1 faculty, 1 med student)

Average accepted GPA: 3.89

Queen’s University 3 years of undergrad required

Prerequitsites: 1 credit of Biology, Physics, Humanities or Social Sci

cGPA of all courses (cutoff: 3.68*) If cGPA does not make cut, recent 2 full-time years (cutoff:

3.78*) MCAT cutoff varies every year.

Last year: PS: 9, VR:10, BS:9, WS: Q, Overall: 31 * 2 years ago: 9/9/9 R (overall: 30) *

Interview invite once you meet the cutoffs Post-interview: 100% interview Interview format: traditional (1 faculty, 1 med student, 1

community)

McMaster University 3 years of undergrad required 3 year medical program No prerequisites Min. GPA 3.0; min. MCAT 6 VR Pre-interview: 32% cGPA + 32% MCAT VR + 32%

Autobiographical submission + 4% Graduate degree (1% for Masters, 4% phD)

Post-interview: 70% MMI + 15% cGPA + 15% MCAT VR Interview format: MMI Class of 2012: mean GPA = 3.89 Mean GPA projected to decrease due to the introduction of

VR * Number of applicants decreased by ~1000 this year (20%).

University of Ottawa 3 years of undergrad required MCAT is not required Prerequisites: 1 credit of Biology, Humanities

or Social sci, and 2 credit from G Chem, O Chem or Biochem

The years with 4 credits or more count towards your wGPA (no summers/part time).

wGPA = (1 x 1st year + 2 x 2nd year + 3 x 3rd year) / 6

Cutoff determined by the application pool

University of Ottawa Different cutoffs for different categories:

Applicants to the French program (OOP and IP (Ontario/Quebec) separate pool) Canadian Forces Aboriginals Champlain district Ottawa-region residents Ontario OOP

wGPA cutoff for “Ontario” category was ~3.85* last year

Pre-interview: 1st cut: wGPA then 2nd cut: Sketch Post-interview: Interview + wGPA

Northern Ontario School of Medicine 4 year undergrad degree required Joint program of Lakehead and Laurentian Universities No Prerequisites, No MCAT Min. 3.0 GPA (includes all undergrad courses) Program mandate:

“Applicants from within Northern Ontario, rural and remote areas in the rest of Canada, and Aboriginal and Francophone applicants will have an advantage in the admissions process.”

Pre-interview: GPA + application score Post-interivew: Pre-interivew + interview score 2009 accepted mean GPA = 3.66 Everyone accepted are from Northern Ontario or rural

areas of Ontario since the program started (2005).

McGill University Apply at

http://www.mcgill.ca/medicine/admissions/applying/online/ 4 year undergrad required 8/173 positions for OOP Min. GPA 3.5 is recommended (all undergrad courses) Min. MCAT 30 is recommended (BS,PS > 9, VS > 8)

write the MCAT no more than 3 times to be competitive WS is still reviewed but no specific cut

Prerequisites: 1 credit of bio, chem, physics, 0.5 credit of O chem

Pre-interview formula?? (full file review but unknown breakdown)

* Post-interview: 20% GPA + 20% MCAT + 20% Autobio/CV + 40% Interview

Interview format: MMI

McGill UniversityGrade GPA85-100 4.080-84 3.775-79 3.370-74 3.0

Average admitted GPA = 3.832/3 of the students range 3.67-3.98

Average MCAT = 33Q12BS, 11PS, 10VR

Dalhousie University Apply at http://admissions.medicine.dal.ca/ 4 year undergrad required 9/90 OOP spots Min. GPA for OOP is 3.7 in each of last two full time years Min. MCAT for OOP is 30 with >10, one 9 is allowed OMSAS GPA scale is used Pre-interview: full file review Interview format: MMI *Post-interview: 15% GPA + 10% MCAT + 5% discretionary points (grad

degree, high WS score >R)+ 40% interview + 10% personal statement + 20% sketch (5% each: Interests; medically related experience; volunteer work; jobs)

MCAT average score = 30 (range 24 – 40) GPA average score = 3.8 (range 3.3-4.0)

Memorial University Apply at

https://www.med.mun.ca/admissionline/ 4 year undergrad required Prerequisite: 1 credit of English 4/64 seats of OOP All undergrad courses are included for GPA.

(GPA scale??) No specific MCAT or GPA cut, depends on the

application pool. Average accepted MCAT: 10 in each section

and Q Average GPA: 3.7 Pre-interview + post-interview: full file review

USA Schools that accept Canadians *Albany Albert EinsteinBaylorBostonBrownCase WesternColumbiaCornell DartmouthDuke UniversityEinsteinEmoryEVMSGeorgetownGeorge WashingtonHarvardHawaiiJeffersonJohn HopkinsKentucky

Loma LindaMarylandMayo Medical SchoolMeharryMedical College of WisconsinMichigan State UniversityMinnesotaMt. SinaiNorthwesternNYMCNYUU of North Carolina – Chapel HillPenn StateRosalind Franklin UniversitySaint Louis UniversityStanfordStonybrookSUNY UpstateTufts Tulane

UCLAUCSFUniversity of ConnecticutUniversity of ChicagoUniversity of PennsylvaniaUT Southwestern (TMDSAS)UT Medical Branch Galveston

(TMDSAS)VanderbiltVirginia Commonwealth UniversityWake ForestWashington University (St. Louis)Wayne State Yale University------------------------------------------------------Green: Financial aid and/or scholarship

offered to CanadiansRed: undergrad in USA is required

USA Medical Schools AMCAS: 130 schools, TMDSAS: 8 schools For the most accurate/official information, purchase

MSAR book at AMCAS. MCAT is very important; GPA not so much. Common Prerequisites: Biochem (w/ lab), English, Calc, Bio, O

Chem, Phys (w/ lab), Math At majority of the top-mid tier schools, >90% accepted

applicants had research experience, >80% medically-related work, >70% community service/volunteer.

Apply EARLY. Applications are reviewed as they come in.

Expect interview dates earlier than Canadian schools.

USA Medical Schools GPA scale for Western:

MSAR 09-10 stats: Median oGPA (includes all undergrad courses)

for top tiers are 3.8-3.9, mid tier 3.7-3.8 Median MCAT for top tier are 36Q/R, mid tier

33P/Q Class size typically <200, matriculated

international <10

Grade GPA80-100 4.070-79 3.060-69 2.050-59 1.0

Summary There is a broad range of application

processing methods in Canada – there is a school for every type of candidates.

Consider options in the States. With a strong MCAT, opportunities are there. (GPA scale for Western is very favourable.)

Plan early to meet prerequisites and keep as many doors open as possible.

Do some research on your own as well! Find your fit.

Thank you

Questions?

Email me at sum2@uwo.ca with any questions.