secondaries

[okisdwed]

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I applied to several schools using the omsas system, and I have a few questions

1. When, roughly, do you hear from the schools?
2. Do canadian schools use secondaries (after OMSAS application)?

 

[doctorJP]

First off, I do not know what a secondary is, nor do most people in Canada I assume, so your answer is no we don't have those in Canada. Once you apply through OMSAS, either you get in or you don't and if you don't then you reapply next year. I applied through the OMSAS and the service is merely a gateway to different medical schools. The deadline was Oct. 3 and once they verify your transcripts against your application (takes about 3 weeks) they send you a letter saying your application is either complete or incomplete (after they take your $275 +) and they forward your application to each school you listed.

Then they are out of the picture and the clock ticks according to each school. I shouldn't say completely out of the picture, you will have to foward final transcripts to them by June 30 and the offers of admission will be sent of behalf of OMSAS. As with anything, rejection letters are the quickest to go out, but I applied to Ottawa, NOSM, and McMaster, and each school has their own deadlines, but I will start hearing things about interviews etc. in late January-early February. You can read the OMSAS booklet for each school and it gives the exact deadlines for each school.

http://www.ouac.on.ca/omsas/pdf/b_omsas_e.pdf

 

[psychMajor]

what if you want to send more than 3 refrence letters to canadian schools....(like 3 more) can u do that??

 

[doctorJP]

what if you want to send more than 3 refrence letters to canadian schools....(like 3 more) can u do that??

You can always do things but they don't always matter. I can tell you the six schools in Ontario through OMSAS will NOT accept more than 3 letters, while some schools might wonder why you would need to send more than 3 letters. I have read guildelines for most schools in Canada and none ask for as many reference letters as possible. 3 reference letters is more than enough to determine what people think about you and I would wonder why someone was sending in more than 3 letters, as if they expect one of them could be bad or something. If you pick your referees right then 3 letters are adequate to say how great you are.

I became more educated about secondaries for the person who posted this thread. OMSAS schools definitely do NOT submit secondaries and most other universities require no additional documentation as far as I know to make their decisions.

 

[Wertt]

I think the closest thing to a Canadian secondary is Manitoba's request for a personal statement and letters only after screening your app for interview.

 

[winstonm]

Toronto will likely start to interview in late Feb & you may get less than 2 weeks notice!