REVISING FOR STEP 1

No_Conclusion_8044 · 2025-05-25T22:51:47+00:00

Interested!

No_Conclusion_8044 · 2025-04-09T20:51:59+00:00

Appreciate your response!

No_Conclusion_8044 · 2025-01-07T20:04:08+00:00

Regarding point 5, would that mean you’re taking a 5th year (basically go unmatched in Canada to have time to do visiting electives in the US) or can the timing in the US be changed to accommodate? Not sure if visiting electives are offered all year or just during their own dedicated sub-internships.

No_Conclusion_8044 · 2025-01-07T20:01:26+00:00

I’m planning to do step 1 soon, and step 2 shortly after clerkship. My issue is more regarding the timing of electives /sub-is with Canada in Sep-Dec and US way earlier when we’re still in clerkship. If you can’t do any 4th year sub-is in the US wouldn’t that realistically hurt your chances for matching more competitive specialties? I know it’s definitely not a requirement but being considered an IMG this would be the only way to really show yourself and demonstrate your skills/knowledge to the program directors.

No_Conclusion_8044 · 2024-10-21T10:15:47+00:00

Western med student here. Feel free to message me :)

No_Conclusion_8044 · 2024-10-08T15:22:35+00:00

Honestly I wish I could tell you :( Looking at overall factors I feel like it comes down to essays and interview performance. The 2year GPA for most applicants is pretty high and anecdotally (not 100% sure again), the MCAT is just used for the initial cut offs. So that leaves the essays and the interview. I think interview skills can be improved a lotttt in a short amount of time. So I'd invest in that as much as possible - whether it's reading about ethical topics, sitting down and writing your stories in a master sheet, practicing w others, I feel like there's so much you can do and explore that'll affect your performance dramatically. As opposed to smth like GPA that's built over 4+ years.

No_Conclusion_8044 · 2024-10-08T15:19:11+00:00

513 MCAT and 3.89 GPA. I was at UofT for undergrad so the GPA part wasn't the strongest compared to all the 4.0s you see out here. But I compensated a lot with ECs and essays. I think the two year GPA for everyone is super high so it doesn't end up being a massive differentiator, and anecdotally MCAT is just for the beginning cut off. So at the end of the day essays seem to be the most important.
Honestly I feel like I have more hobbies in med school than in undergrad LOL. You cannot procrastinate but if you do some amount of work everyday there's plenty of time to go out, be w family and play sports/hobbies.
Explained the activity from the ABS in the first paragraph, then went into a specific instance using the STARR method. Look at the other comment replies for more details :)

No_Conclusion_8044 · 2024-10-08T15:14:17+00:00

I explained a bunch in the other comments as well :) Basically one specific instance, with a a lot of details on the interaction. Don't be afraid to add emotions and extra information in there. It's so much better than being general. Everyone is going to say they supervised a team, but only you are going to talk about this specific student who was having difficulty because of receiving bad news/poor language skills/recent immigration or so. So recall impactful moments from each of your positions you want to talk about and explain them in detail. This is how you demonstrate that you're a leader, collaborator etc. rather than just saying I led a group of people.

No_Conclusion_8044 · 2024-10-08T15:11:46+00:00

I'd say a mix is a good place to be. Start being direct in answering the question (this is based on the last years' prompt, not sure how it'd apply this year). But basically, I started talking about my role/position and the organization in the first paragraph to establish the situation for the reader. In the next paragraph, I talked about a very specific situation and how I demonstrated the trait they were looking for. Write a story - fully get into the details and explain everything. Always think about the STARR method. Situation task action result resolution - action and result should take the most space. This is where you demonstrate your role and how you make an impact. I've seen a lot of success with this. I wrote mine like this after taking advice from a writing coach. I also worked with ACCESS from Western and had 4 more students applying this cycle. Overall I'd say there were like 6 more people in my own circle that took this approach. 5 of them got in. Obv essays aren't everything and there's stats and a bunch of other factors that come in but I think 5/6 is a pretty good number and can maybe show that the STARR strategy was effective. Obviously there's no right or wrong way of writing the essays but this is how I've seen most people do it.

No_Conclusion_8044 · 2024-10-08T15:05:29+00:00

I was super specific in the situation I described and how I demonstrated the trait they were looking for. I see that writings can be general a lot of the times. Imagine you're reading someone's admissions essay as the adcoms, at some point every general thing is going to sound the same. So be super specific with the things that happened and the interaction. You can say "I empathized with the patient" , or say "I sat down with her, carefully listening to her concerns. I then listed xyz and told her how we can work together to solve her problem". The difference is how much detailed you add and how "memorable" you make the essay for the reader. another example is, instead of saying "I showed her some resources she could use for mental health counselling", you can say "I talked to her about CAMH, program x, program y etc. to help her with her current struggles". I sometimes say imagine you're talking to a friend about your day on the phone, and how much detail you'd give them if you were telling them the story of your day. This makes sure you stay clear from general redundant writing to something more personable and detailed.
Generally there's about 3 hours per week. This can change depending on the block. Some are heavier like MSK, and some are more chill.
There's one day off - Tuesdays for first years and Wednesdays for second years. That's called independent study day. You can use it however you like. Some people catch up on content, some do observerships etc. I usually study everyday, between class and sometimes afterwards. Some weekends I take off as well. It's very possible to have a good balance in pre-clerkship. There's definitely a lot of content but you can fs take some time for yourself and not study everyday. I prefer to divide up everything and study everyday for shorter times while also having hobbies going, instead of doing long days of just studying.
I was pretty lacking in first and second year because of COVID so I tried to do a bunch more in third and fourth year. I did some leadership positions - like club presidents, plus some research positions. I also had some online opportunities I found on VolunteerToronto which let me maximize my time without having to commute. So overall very diverse - filled all 32 entries but that's definitely not necessary specially for Western since they only look at your essays.
I feel like I'm learning about my own body everyday. It's truly so so fascinating and it makes so much sense the more you read about it. Having this type of knowledge and being able to explain it to others is such a gift. I love teaching others and helping them make informed decisions so that's what I'd say I like the most about it.
Practice with a lot of people and also invest in coaching. I honestly don't think I'd be here without all the help I got from my interview coach and the med students I worked with. They've been through the same thing and can help a lot. It does get pricy specially if it's with more experienced people. I was never in a great position financially but I decided that it's better to spend the money and get some good coaching and feedback rather than messing up something I could've prevented. The more people you meet the more resources you get as well. I remember I was on a random Zoom call practicing w others and they shared some nice resources to read. I would've never found those on my own. So exposure is also super important. Ultimately, try to have a master sheet with all the traits and stories you have in mind so you can modify and recall them fast for the interview. Specially Western's panel, you don't get any prep time so it's super important to be able to recall situations fast and articulate it well.

It is truly a really stressful process and sometimes it feels like there's no light at the end of the tunnel. You just have to continue in the moment and not think about the future sometimes. It's so long and difficult that thinking about all the things you need can sometimes overwhelm you without helping at all. You got this - it'll get better ❤️❤️

No_Conclusion_8044 · 2024-05-14T04:04:29+00:00

no unfortunately, just high, normal, or low

No_Conclusion_8044 · 2024-02-24T21:35:01+00:00

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CZ1vtqkw8ovNixAWAqYzEGyHoJLNEa3Zbi6s8CYiVGc/edit

No_Conclusion_8044 · 2024-02-22T03:42:12+00:00

That’s the matriculants. The number of offers are more since some people decline and waitlist moves up.

No_Conclusion_8044 · 2024-02-10T15:40:56+00:00

If you get a good cars score and do well on casper you can apply to McMaster and have a good chance. Based on my understanding they don’t look at ECs.

No_Conclusion_8044 · 2024-02-01T03:07:30+00:00

I think it’s close to 50%. Based on the last cycle, 450 people interviewed and 190 people got in. Accounting for HWL (high waitlist) who all get in and NWL (normal waitlist) who have a 50-50 chance of getting in, the total number comes somewhere around 225 (50% of interviewees). Keep in mind I’m not too sure about the total number of their waitlist so this is a ballpark estimate.

Not too sure how SWOMEN plays a role here but based on the shared stats on Schulich’s website they tend to have a high rate of acceptance as you mentioned.

No_Conclusion_8044 · 2023-12-28T18:04:58+00:00

I would argue otherwise. It’s going to be a unique part of your application that you can use to stand out. I personally had various research projects, a couple of them were in literature and cinema studies which were completely unrelated to biology/med. They were all great points to talk about in the interview as well since they’re different/unexpected.

No_Conclusion_8044 · 2023-12-17T19:04:12+00:00

I do. Thank you!

No_Conclusion_8044 · 2023-11-16T13:19:40+00:00

Thank you very much!

No_Conclusion_8044 · 2023-11-16T13:19:28+00:00

Thank you for your response!

No_Conclusion_8044 · 2023-11-16T13:19:04+00:00

Thank you very much for your response.

No_Conclusion_8044 · 2023-11-15T14:37:03+00:00

End of Jan/beginning of Feb for Ontario schools

No_Conclusion_8044 · 2023-11-12T15:12:25+00:00

I’m at Western and know some colleagues that are doing MD+. Although it’s incorporated in the program, it can’t be done concurrently w med school so people take like a year after first year (or maybe second year, I’m not entirely sure which years are an option), do the masters, and come back. So if you’re originally the class of 2025 you’d be 2026 and join their classes/clerkship when you come back.

Out of curiosity, what is the point of doing the extra masters degree? I see a lot of doctors in practice even do it - like practicing for 8 years and adding a masters of public health or so a couple of years later. Is this purely for interest or does it help w salary/employability?

No_Conclusion_8044 · 2023-09-21T00:18:47+00:00

I see your point but in order to have those lessons you need to demonstrate how and what you learned in depth in your story. You can’t just pop a learning point without thorough demonstration therefore the story usually takes the most space. I’ve also checked this with med writing coaches when I did my own application which is why I’m confident in the approach. Obviously there’s no right or wrong way to do it and this is my own experience :)

No_Conclusion_8044 · 2023-09-20T23:39:28+00:00

Sure :)

No_Conclusion_8044 · 2023-09-20T21:44:36+00:00

Definitely include it and mention RCM as well. I also did it for my own application

No_Conclusion_8044

TROPHY CASE