Canadian vs US applicant

[ilovepenguin]

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Hi!
Does anyone know if Canadian applicants and US applicants treated differently at the admission office of the optometry school in the States?
Thanks Alot!!!

 

[Cappuchino]

As an applying Canadian for the 2011 cycle, I would like to know too ~
Since the GPA system between Canada and the states are different, would they focus more on the OAT scores instead?

In my case, I have a 3.3 cGPA (not sure about my sci GPA) and my OAT scores are the following:

QR: 330
RC: 390
Biology: 320
General Chem: 400
Organic Chem: 340
Physics: 360

TS: 360
AAe: 360

Would they "over look" the GPA then? Since the OAT is a standardized score?

 

[Jay12]

As an applying Canadian for the 2011 cycle, I would like to know too ~
Since the GPA system between Canada and the states are different, would they focus more on the OAT scores instead?

In my case, I have a 3.3 cGPA (not sure about my sci GPA) and my OAT scores are the following:

QR: 330
RC: 390
Biology: 320
General Chem: 400
Organic Chem: 340
Physics: 360

TS: 360
AAe: 360

Would they "over look" the GPA then? Since the OAT is a standardized score?

Don't believe they do. They do/maybe take into consideration of the GPA systems being different, but getting some sort of "special treatment" or "overlook"...the short answer, no.

 

[samstown]

As a Canadian applicant, my optomcas GPA wasn't really reflective of my academic efforts, especially when I had some grades that were based solely on a percentage and not a letter grade.

I called a number of school as I was very concerned about this, and the majority told me that they do not only look at the cGPA that is issued by OPTOMCAS, but some also ask for a copy of transcript in order to look for any discrepancies. One school even noted that optomcas is in fact a little unfair when it comes to applying their cGPA calculations to Canadian transcripts.

However, there were some schools that I dealt with that didn't really care nor understand the discrepancy. Needless to say, I didn't attend their interviews for the risk of wasting my time and money on a school that doesn't put in the extra effort to recognize the differences between the Canadian and American college systems.

 

[chocol8]

Do you think you could please tell us which schools recognized there was a difference, and which schools didn't?

 

[samstown]

Do you think you could please tell us which schools recognized there was a difference, and which schools didn't?

I called these schools back in July/August, so I cannot recall my conversations with them too well. However, I distinctly remember ICO and WesternU being less informed than many of the other schools. WesternU's pretty new to the whole thing, so I guess their understanding will come with experience. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Cappuchino]

I called these schools back in July/August, so I cannot recall my conversations with them too well. However, I distinctly remember ICO and WesternU being less informed than many of the other schools. WesternU's pretty new to the whole thing, so I guess their understanding will come with experience. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

now i am kind of worried about my gpa =(
my 3.3 is based on the OMSAS chart for Candian medical schools. lol

http://www.ouac.on.ca/docs/omsas/c_omsas_b.pdf

was there a big gpa change for you when you applied samstown?
if you don't mind me asking,what were your applications stats?

 

[Moptometry]

Well, I am from Canada and am applying this year as well. I do not think there is a big difference between Canadian gpa system and American gpa system, a B+ is a 3.3, everywhere you go. However, the way you get that B+ is different. In my school an 82-83%, in a third year Biochemistry course is a B+......which is very messed up. Considering that, some American schools know about this and i have had friends who had 0.1-0.2 gpa points added to their Canadian gpa's in order to have an "American" gpa. I have never been to US nor have i taken a class there but it seems like they are alot more chiller, I might be wrong....... but I am sure your Canadian gpa is a tad higher than an American gpa. Good luck pips

 

[samstown]

now i am kind of worried about my gpa =(
my 3.3 is based on the OMSAS chart for Candian medical schools. lol

http://www.ouac.on.ca/docs/omsas/c_omsas_b.pdf

was there a big gpa change for you when you applied samstown?
if you don't mind me asking,what were your applications stats?

My GPA change was very substantial, it was downright scary.

I'm from Quebec, so I had to go through a post-secondary institution before being able to actually enter into a university. This institution only issued percentages, and not letter grades or a GPA. I averaged 83% overall during my time at that institution, but was issued a freshman year GPA of 2.76 according to OPTOMCAS.

Of course this case is rather exceptional, I'm sure most Canadian students applying to the US are not from Quebec.

 

[Moptometry]

my gpa change was very substantial, it was downright scary.

I averaged 83% overall during my time at that institution, but was issued a freshman year gpa of 2.76 according to optomcas.
.

brutal .

 

[samstown]

brutal .

Tell me about it. On top of that, one school actually thought that this post-secondary school I went to was actually equivalent to an American community college where I completed all my freshman pre-requisites before being allowed to transfer into a university. Since that optometry school only allowed 50% of your pre-reqs to be completed at a community college, there was a chance that a few of my classes wouldn't be counted. I tried to explain to them that my province's system in fact does not allow me to do "freshman year" at a university because it does not exist, but they didn't get it.

Thank goodness UWaterloo was at least an option!

 

[jc196]

Hi!
Does anyone know if Canadian applicants and US applicants treated differently at the admission office of the optometry school in the States?
Thanks Alot!!!

Most reputable schools WILL take your Canadian status into consideration to offset the gpa. There's no exact formula, just be sure to be a "total package/all rounder."