University of Toronto Application Thread

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I got so carried away by the news that I forgot to say CONGRATULATION all you 1T5 students :highfive:
I'm sooo glad that all of our hard work paid off... and to those who didn't hear good news, never lose motivation and hope. I got rejected last year pre-interview , but time went by very fast and here I am today (so this could be you in exactly one year from today)


p.s. feels so great to see "Pharmacy Student" beneath my username, I waited since 2008 to make this change 😀
 
Seifer said:
1st yr gpa: 2.7
2nd yr gpa: 3.3
3rd yr gpa: 3.5
cGPA: 3.17ish

PCAT: 71% (with 91% in chem)

Interview: I did really well in all stations

Here's hope for people with a lower GPA & PCAT. I guess I did really well on the interview which made my application competitive. My chem marks are not good (in the 60s) but I think my 3rd year really showed my improvement.

Congrats everyone on getting in! Keep trying if you don't get in! I didn't get in last year, but this year I was successful!!

See ya Sept.
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That first to third year jump is impressive. Looks to me like someone started putting more effort into his work 😉😛

I really think that the interviews are weighed heavily, so, you get an interview if you are above the cutoff (higher GPA/pCAT, better chance of getting interview). Then the interview is weighed heavily with your GPA/pCAT being weighed lower 🙂 This would explain why anyone who gets an interview has a chance to get in even though he might not have uber marks 😛
 
It's funny how yesterday I was too nervous to fall asleep and right now I'm too excited to fall asleep lol 😀
 
PhArMaCiSt1 said:
It's funny how yesterday I was too nervous to fall asleep and right now I'm too excited to fall asleep lol 😀
Click to expand...
So, I guess the question should be, why is everyone(well, 10 ppl including myself) still up? 😛
 
BigFan said:
So, I guess the question should be, why is everyone(well, 10 ppl including myself) still up? 😛
Click to expand...

Lol, believe it or not, I still haven't read my acceptance letter completely, so I am up reading that, then I can sleep 😛
 
I had a 3.0 on the dot GPA and 82 pcat. Interview was okay...I know I did bad in some stations 😛.

Can't wait for next year! I heard from a third year pharmacy student that getting in was the easy part, and that there's a high drop out rate? 🙁 And that it's incredibly hard to graduate? D:

Oh well. Work hard!
 
Important question guys,

Does anyone know if any of the experiential education or 4th year SPEP rotations will be paid?
 
MayMay123 said:
I had a 3.0 on the dot GPA and 82 pcat. Interview was okay...I know I did bad in some stations 😛.

Can't wait for next year! I heard from a third year pharmacy student that getting in was the easy part, and that there's a high drop out rate? 🙁 And that it's incredibly hard to graduate? D:

Oh well. Work hard!
Click to expand...

Haha, after going through the pages in this thread, it is sometimes hard to believe the rumours that fly around about what goes on in the Faculty... Obviously pharmacy is a hard program, it wouldn't be so hard to get into if it wasn't. However, the drop out rate is very low, as there are supplemental examinations and support from your class, something that you didn't have in undergrad.

For the post above... The experiential education (I believe in the new curriculum you don't have SPEP, but something similar) is unpaid. This is good and bad at the same time, but I won't go into that now.

I'm hoping to have a forum set up for you guys soon on the phrosh site in the near future so there is a better and more organized way for upper years to answer your questions. Even though our curriculum is different, I feel we still have the ability to help you guys out. I thought the fb group would be sufficient, but since fb reorganized things into pages and groups, it seems to be inadequate for proper discussion. You are all free to contact me via SDN or fb if you have any private questions.

If you guys haven't seen the website, it's at www.phrosh.uoftpharmacy.com. Also, remember to join the 1T5 facebook group =)

- Kevin

P.S. Come to Phrosh Week !
 
Congrats to all those that made it in!!
I cried tears of happiness yesterday and finally I am here posting on SDN!

For those of you who didn't make it in, just remember to never give up! Always believe in your dreams and remember that everything happens for a reason 🙂 🙂
 
Do you have any idea where I can find financial aid for the pharmacy program?
 
I believe there is something about it in the FAQs of your acceptance letter
 
PhArMaCiSt1 said:
WOHOOOOO congrats 🙂 I take it that you are accepting UofT rather than waterloo. Can't wait to finally be classmates 🙂
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Thank you PhArMaCiSt1, we made it after all... so happy for both of us :highfive:

p.s. sorry I'm replying so late, I was at work when all this excitement happened last night, so I'm just catching up now 😛

iNspiReD786 said:
Congrats to all those that made it in!!
I cried tears of happiness yesterday and finally I am here posting on SDN!

For those of you who didn't make it in, just remember to never give up! Always believe in your dreams and remember that everything happens for a reason 🙂 🙂
Click to expand...

CONGRAAATS 😀 After seeing your amazing stats on Waterloo's forum, I was certain you would make it into UofT... here's to being classmates!
 
chemtai said:
Do you have any idea where I can find financial aid for the pharmacy program?
Click to expand...

Here's a brief rundown:

A very few people with really high grades will get a scholarship worth a few thousand dollars. For everyone else, you can get a $2000 UTAPS grant and a $800 scholarship if you qualify for financial need. If you are out of HS for 4 years or your parents don't have a really high income, you can also get free money through the Ontario Student Opportunity Grant with OSAP. Otherwise, OSAP only cover so much and you'll have to go to a bank to get a line of credit. I recommend National Bank of Canada because it has the lowest interest rate (prime) versus Scotiabank which was prime + 0.5%.
 
byork said:
Here's a brief rundown:

A very few people with really high grades will get a scholarship worth a few thousand dollars. For everyone else, you can get a $2000 UTAPS grant and a $800 scholarship if you qualify for financial need. If you are out of HS for 4 years or your parents don't have a really high income, you can also get free money through the Ontario Student Opportunity Grant with OSAP. Otherwise, OSAP only cover so much and you'll have to go to a bank to get a line of credit. I recommend National Bank of Canada because it has the lowest interest rate (prime) versus Scotiabank which was prime + 0.5%.
Click to expand...

Is the $2000 UTAPS standard or does it vary based on financial need? I know people in engineering who get over $3000 in UTAPS but I heard pharmacy students get a lot less even though the tuition is higher. Any info?

Thanks for the National Bank tip, I've been shopping around for a LOC
 
1ive2die said:
Is the $2000 UTAPS standard or does it vary based on financial need? I know people in engineering who get over $3000 in UTAPS but I heard pharmacy students get a lot less even though the tuition is higher. Any info?

Thanks for the National Bank tip, I've been shopping around for a LOC
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I think it is standard. Lucky engineers though, maybe they also have sponsorship money too. But they probably don't have that $800 scholarship so it works out to about the same.

National Bank is definitely the best, although I never checked their interest rates after graduation.

Either way it's not going to be cheap! No time for a part time job either.

I spent about $18000 last year for all non-living-related expenses even with all of the free money... I'm getting an extra $3000 because I've been out of high school for 4 years this year according to the OSAP calculator.
 
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byork said:
I think it is standard. Lucky engineers though, maybe they also have sponsorship money too. But they probably don't have that $800 scholarship so it works out to about the same.

National Bank is definitely the best, although I never checked their interest rates after graduation.

Either way it's not going to be cheap! No time for a part time job either.

I spent about $18000 last year for all non-living-related expenses even with all of the free money... I'm getting an extra $3000 because I've been out of high school for 4 years this year according to the OSAP calculator.
Click to expand...

What do you mean non-living related expenses? Tuition and books? Also is there really no time for a part-time job? Not even work-study?
 
Everything but rent I mean...

And I don't think anyone will have enough time for even a work-study job. You might but don't count on it.
 
Awwww thankss 🙂 I can't wait to be classmates with such amazing people like you!!

helloeveryone said:
CONGRAAATS 😀 After seeing your amazing stats on Waterloo's forum, I was certain you would make it into UofT... here's to being classmates!
Click to expand...
 
Hi guys! CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYBODY WHO MADE IT IN THIS YEAR!!!🙂🙂🙂🙂

Maybe you can give me some advice/opinions on my situation. I found out I got waitlisted in the upper half of the waitlist (of roughly 80 people). So basically I could be anywhere between the 1st person and the 40th. Although they say that 30 people on average get in from the waitlist each year (which gives me good reason to believe I still stand a chance), I don't think this year will be that way exactly because of the super reduced # of applicants.

My PCAT was definitely not good. I had a 73 composite (shame on me!) but I hadn't taken calculus in 2 years and I really thought I'd still have it in me, lol! Anyway, my cGPA on the UofT scale (I'm going into 3rd year undergrand) is a 3.54 (so... B+ maybe?) and I thought my interview went very well. Plenty of reason to believe my PCAT is holding me back... BUT basically, should I still remain optimistic about a potential admission? What are my chances :S I think I should plan for PCAT re-take ASAP anyway... hm. Guess only time will tell.
CONGRATULATIONS again everyone! Wish I could have enjoyed this moment with you all, and wishing to potentially still be your classmate in September!
 
bmmtt said:
Hi guys! CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYBODY WHO MADE IT IN THIS YEAR!!!🙂🙂🙂🙂

Maybe you can give me some advice/opinions on my situation. I found out I got waitlisted in the upper half of the waitlist (of roughly 80 people). So basically I could be anywhere between the 1st person and the 40th. Although they say that 30 people on average get in from the waitlist each year (which gives me good reason to believe I still stand a chance), I don't think this year will be that way exactly because of the super reduced # of applicants.

My PCAT was definitely not good. I had a 73 composite (shame on me!) but I hadn't taken calculus in 2 years and I really thought I'd still have it in me, lol! Anyway, my cGPA on the UofT scale (I'm going into 3rd year undergrand) is a 3.54 (so... B+ maybe?) and I thought my interview went very well. Plenty of reason to believe my PCAT is holding me back... BUT basically, should I still remain optimistic about a potential admission? What are my chances :S I think I should plan for PCAT re-take ASAP anyway... hm. Guess only time will tell.
CONGRATULATIONS again everyone! Wish I could have enjoyed this moment with you all, and wishing to potentially still be your classmate in September!
Click to expand...

Can you give a breakdown of your PCAT? A 73 composite doesn't tell us much. Was there a specific section you didn't do too well in?
 
I certainly didn't get below a 50 in any of the areas such that they would flag me as 'weak', but here's the breakdown:

VA: 87
Biology: 81
RC: 50
QA: 75
Chemistry: 77

Conventions of Language: 3.5
Problem Solving: 3.0

(Are these out of 5 btw?! The means for my session were 2.87 and 2.88 respectively). So maybe I screwed up the essays...?
 
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bmmtt said:
I certainly didn't get below a 50 in any of the areas such that they would flag me as 'weak', but here's the breakdown:

VA: 87
Biology: 81
RC: 50
QA: 75
Chemistry: 77

Conventions of Language: 3.5
Problem Solving: 3.0

(Are these out of 5 btw?! The means for my session were 2.87 and 2.88 respectively). So maybe I screwed up the essays...?
Click to expand...

Definitely not the essay. To be perfectly honest, I think your PCAT is pretty sound especially because you met all the cut offs. Are you sure about your interview though?
 
skylen said:
Definitely not the essay. To be perfectly honest, I think your PCAT is pretty sound especially because you met all the cut offs. Are you sure about your interview though?
Click to expand...

Frankly, I have more faith in my interview than I do in my PCAT/GPA. Granted it was in March, so quite a while ago, but walking out of the Pharmacy building I thought I did a good job. I'm also much better at communicating with people/debating orally than I am at writing exams etc... so I'd say my strength was the interview and the fact that it was oral... But you know what, maybe I totally misinterpreted everything. Who knows... Thanks for your input btw, greatly appreciated.
 
SACRIFICE THEORY
we are this excited because the pharmacy program is hard to get into, not because this program is stimulating or challenging or anything like that?

when we have to sacrifice a lot, we like it, and if we don't have to sacrifice a lot to get into the same program, we would never like it this much? :idea:
 
bmmtt said:
Frankly, I have more faith in my interview than I do in my PCAT/GPA. Granted it was in March, so quite a while ago, but walking out of the Pharmacy building I thought I did a good job. I'm also much better at communicating with people/debating orally than I am at writing exams etc... so I'd say my strength was the interview and the fact that it was oral... But you know what, maybe I totally misinterpreted everything. Who knows... Thanks for your input btw, greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

As for me, I thought my interview was my weakest link. I honestly felt I did horrible on 9/10 stations. But as the theory goes, your GPA and PCAT is pretty sound to me so I really don't quite know since people have gotten in with 3.0 GPA. Maybe it's a combination of the 3 scores? Was there a specific chemistry course you got below a C in? :S Anyways, I do hope you get in.
 
Thanks Skylen.

1st year physical chemistry @ UofT was brutal for me, only got a 63% (I'm definitely an organic chemist!). That may have had a huge impact, I sort of forgot about it but now that I'm analyzing and re-thinking I can see how that looks really bad. But 2nd year physical chemistry @ UofT (only took to meet the prerequisite) I got a 78% in? Figured that made up for it a little bit, and CHM220 was a real !@##% let me tell you.

If it's meant to be it's meant to be! The wait continues for me.
 
bmmtt said:
Thanks Skylen.

1st year physical chemistry @ UofT was brutal for me, only got a 63% (I'm definitely an organic chemist!). That may have had a huge impact, I sort of forgot about it but now that I'm analyzing and re-thinking I can see how that looks really bad. But 2nd year physical chemistry @ UofT (only took to meet the prerequisite) I got a 78% in? Figured that made up for it a little bit, and CHM220 was a real !@##% let me tell you.

If it's meant to be it's meant to be! The wait continues for me.
Click to expand...

Yup, there you go. They said something about flagging accounts with a C- :S. So although you have a pretty solid combination, that one course brought you down =/. Sucks doesn't it? If you don't get in (although I really hope you do), and you're really sure about pharmacy, I would suggest taking the course again if you can (since they would probably flag you again next year as well).
 
bmmtt said:
I certainly didn't get below a 50 in any of the areas such that they would flag me as 'weak', but here's the breakdown:

VA: 87
Biology: 81
RC: 50
QA: 75
Chemistry: 77

Conventions of Language: 3.5
Problem Solving: 3.0

(Are these out of 5 btw?! The means for my session were 2.87 and 2.88 respectively). So maybe I screwed up the essays...?
Click to expand...

First of all, let me tell you don't worry... I'm VERY positive you'll get off the wait list (make sure you quote me on this the day you get accepted off the wait list) 😉 hehe

And if, god forbid, you end up not making it, make sure you retake the PCAT... most people have 80+ composite and almost everyone has 85+ chemistry (PCAT's chem section seems to be VERY important). Your essay marks are really good (almost no one gets above 3 out of 5). Your GPA looks fine and you said you rocked the interview 👍 As far as physical chem goes, I had a friend with a similar mark as yours (in the 60's) but still got off the wait list last year, so there's definitely a LOT OF HOPE (only bad part is the waiting, I guess)

Good luck 🙂
 
helloeveryone said:
First of all, let me tell you don't worry... I'm VERY positive you'll get off the wait list (make sure you quote me on this the day you get accepted off the wait list) 😉 hehe

And if, god forbid, you end up not making it, make sure you retake the PCAT... most people have 80+ composite and almost everyone has 85+ chemistry (PCAT's chem section seems to be VERY important). Your essay marks are really good (almost no one gets above 3 out of 5). Your GPA looks fine and you said you rocked the interview 👍 As far as physical chem goes, I had a friend with a similar mark as yours (in the 60's) but still got off the wait list last year, so there's definitely a LOT OF HOPE (only bad part is the waiting, I guess)

Good luck 🙂
Click to expand...

You'll make an amazing pharmacist in 4 years! People in health care often forget how important communication with patients/people is and they focus only on the medicine or the science of things. Thank you so much for the kind words of encouragement and hope. CERTAINLY retaking PCAT if I don't find out by September. Cheers to you my friend and hope you're celebrating your acceptance! Best wishes for the future!
 
Hot Pot said:
Hey, if you gotten into both pharmacy schools in ontario, I think UW is the better choice. You get more money and more work experience in UW's pharmacy program. It is what matters the most to your future bosses and in the real world. Think about it. 🙂Posted by Futurepharmacis.

What do you guys think?
Click to expand...

Tought to say, I only applied to Uof T because I didn't have the prereqs for Loo. The part about experience, if you read the acceptance letter from U of T they mention working every summer until 4th year and then in our 4th year, it's all work.
 
skylen said:
Yup, there you go. They said something about flagging accounts with a C- :S. So although you have a pretty solid combination, that one course brought you down =/. Sucks doesn't it? If you don't get in (although I really hope you do), and you're really sure about pharmacy, I would suggest taking the course again if you can (since they would probably flag you again next year as well).
Click to expand...

A 63% at U of T is a C not a C-. I don't think the course brought you down.
 
skylen said:
Tought to say, I only applied to Uof T because I didn't have the prereqs for Loo. The part about experience, if you read the acceptance letter from U of T they mention working every summer until 4th year and then in our 4th year, it's all unpaid work.
Click to expand...

fixed 👍
 
futurpharmacis said:
A 63% at U of T is a C not a C-. I don't think the course brought you down.
Click to expand...

Yeah the 63% came out as a C on my transcript, not C-. But I think what matters is that it's still a low mark... Most everybody I'd imagine did better than that, hence lack of acceptance on my part? Speculation. Continuing to have hope though!!
 
so then there's actually only 80 people on the waitlist this year?
 
skylen said:
Tought to say, I only applied to Uof T because I didn't have the prereqs for Loo. The part about experience, if you read the acceptance letter from U of T they mention working every summer until 4th year and then in our 4th year, it's all work,.
Click to expand...

Well done.😍
 
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bmmtt said:
My PCAT was definitely not good. I had a 73 composite (shame on me!) but I hadn't taken calculus in 2 years and I really thought I'd still have it in me, lol! Anyway, my cGPA on the UofT scale (I'm going into 3rd year undergrand) is a 3.54 (so... B+ maybe?) and I thought my interview went very well.
Click to expand...

your stats are very similar to mine and I got in, so I would imagine that you are very close to the top of that wait list! i'm sure spots will open up for you come july 8th 🙂
 
StareAtGoats said:
your stats are very similar to mine and I got in, so I would imagine that you are very close to the top of that wait list! i'm sure spots will open up for you come july 8th 🙂
Click to expand...

Thank you!! 🙂🙂

Does anyone know from experience (yourself, or friends etc.) when they typically call you re: potential admission if you're on a waitlist? I'm away most of July... Kind of don't want to miss this call if it happens LOL!
 
helloeveryone said:
Lol, believe it or not, I still haven't read my acceptance letter completely, so I am up reading that, then I can sleep 😛
Click to expand...
lol, responding a bit late but better than never. I kinda just read congrats, the first couple of lines, scanned it quickly and closed as well. Then, I re-logged in again and it was still there!!!!! 😛

Pharmaniac said:
I tried interpreting the bolded part and it still doesn't make sense.

Help anyone?
Click to expand...
I believe he's saying that UofT needs to incorporate coop like UofW and IHO, that makes UofW better than UofT.
 
Hot Pot said:
Hey, if you gotten into both pharmacy schools in ontario, I think UW is the better choice. You get more money and more work experience in UW's pharmacy program. It is what matters the most to your future bosses and in the real world. Think about it. 🙂Posted by Futurepharmacis.

What do you guys think?
Click to expand...

You definitely have very logical points, and there is absolutely no doubt that these are both very fine institutions (each having pros and cons, of course). However, I don't understand one's purpose for posting such (rather obvious) claims on this forum right after acceptances are sent out 🙄 Hope everyone gets my point!

Pharmaniac said:
I tried interpreting the bolded part and it still doesn't make sense.

Help anyone?
Click to expand...

I'm totally getting what you're trying to get at!

BigFan said:
lol, responding a bit late but better than never. I kinda just read congrats, the first couple of lines, scanned it quickly and closed as well. Then, I re-logged in again and it was still there!!!!! 😛

I believe he's saying that UofT needs to incorporate coop like UofW and IHO, that makes UofW better than UofT.
Click to expand...

Lol, I remember when I clicked on the letter, and saw "Congratulations!", I got soo excited that I couldn't even finish reading the first sentence... it was only after hours that I was calm enough to finish reading the whole letter 😛 hehe

Also, I don't think Pharmaniac is literally unable to make sense of what was said, rather he is confused about the purpose of such statements 🙄
 
helloeveryone said:
You definitely have very logical points, and there is absolutely no doubt that these are both very fine institutions (each having pros and cons, of course). However, I don't understand one's purpose for posting such (rather obvious) claims on this forum right after acceptances are sent out 🙄 Hope everyone gets my point!

Hot Pot was actually quoting what another poster said on the UW forum and was asking our opinion.. I'm indifferent..just too absorbed in all of this U of T stuff.
Click to expand...
 
pharmacy0 said:
helloeveryone said:
You definitely have very logical points, and there is absolutely no doubt that these are both very fine institutions (each having pros and cons, of course). However, I don't understand one's purpose for posting such (rather obvious) claims on this forum right after acceptances are sent out 🙄 Hope everyone gets my point!

Hot Pot was actually quoting what another poster said on the UW forum and was asking our opinion.. I'm indifferent..just too absorbed in all of this U of T stuff.
Click to expand...

Thank you, finally you got me.🙂
Click to expand...
 
I know some people were talking about this yesterday, but is it true that ONLY if you're out of HS for 4 years you can get OSAP? Throughout my undergrad, I didn't even bother with OSAP because both my parents were ok with paying for me, but now this tuition is aloooot higher. I don't even know where/how to begin applying....
 
butoias said:
I know some people were talking about this yesterday, but is it true that ONLY if you're out of HS for 4 years you can get OSAP? Throughout my undergrad, I didn't even bother with OSAP because both my parents were ok with paying for me, but now this tuition is aloooot higher. I don't even know where/how to begin applying....
Click to expand...

I think what those posters were saying was that if you're out of HS for 4 years you get an extra "bonus" sum of money to help with tuition.

just about anyone can apply for osap .. https://osap.gov.on.ca/OSAPPortal

you can PM me if you have any questions, its kinda funny, I was actually filling out the application right now :laugh:
 
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