University of Toronto Pharmacy 2019

[greentea326]

Finished my PCAT and I'm happy with my preliminary score (hopefully the official is close!). Are interviews usually the "make it or break it " part of the admission decision? Does having a good cGPA and PCAT score give an advantage after the interview decisions come out?

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[pharma-ninja]

So I wrote my PCAT today. I feel like my scores aren't competitive, i'm pretty worried..

VA 70
RC 29 (loool shame)
BIO 95
CHEM 85
QA 85
COMP 82

fingers crossed they don't raise the cut off for RC ~

 

[Jloyay]

These 2 months are going to be long and boring, especially since I am not in school. Sigh I want a time machine to fast-forward to March.

 

[REDHAWK2]

These 2 months are going to be long and boring, especially since I am not in school. Sigh I want a time machine to fast-forward to March.

Hi. Jloyay
I don't wanna seem like a creep but i looked at your previous posts and it seems your interested in aussie medical schools as well. This is interesting because i'm applying to both pharmacy and australian medical schools, im also out of undergrad with a roughly 3.56 gpa. i feel this strange sense of closeness to you as we are in similar situations. May I ask which u would chose if you were accepted into both?

 

[Jloyay]

I would probably choose PharmD over Australian medical schools between the two. If I go to Australia there is no guarantee of residency (that's the killer for me) and the tuition alone is $60,000 AUD which means I'll probably be $400K in debt at the end of it. For PharmD the tuition is only $17K and it means I'll be $80K in debt and for the first few years out of school I'm planning to live at home and pay back the debt before I move out (hopefully the job market improves in 5 years time).

 

[Evirus]

As Everyone is posting their PCAT scores, does anyone have an speculation as to what would be this year's PCAT cutoff.

Thanks in advance!

 

[farz556]

I would probably choose PharmD over Australian medical schools between the two. If I go to Australia there is no guarantee of residency (that's the killer for me) and the tuition alone is $60,000 AUD which means I'll probably be $400K in debt at the end of it. For PharmD the tuition is only $17K and it means I'll be $80K in debt and for the first few years out of school I'm planning to live at home and pay back the debt before I move out (hopefully the job market improves in 5 years time).

Ya you're right 100%, stay away from those foreign med schools...carribean schools manipulate the residency matching statistics that they show you...what you dont know is how many people flunk out or get approved to write the board exams etc. its only getting more and more competitive and the chance you dont match for a residency is a game over, 200k+ in debt with no job and -4 years of your life...not worth it....plus australian, carribean, cambridge, oxford, ireland, it doesnt matter where you go when you apply to match you are an international med graduate regardless...

PharmD debt is not too bad, around 100k or more depending on your living situation, at the end of the day, you can get a job to pay it off, its an investment..

 

[farz556]

on another note, wrote the PCAT, went very well...just gotta wrap up Phys Chem this semester and finish my thesis asap, gonna be a long wait

 

[Pre-Pharmacy]

Hey guys, long time lurker. I know the interview date in May is reserved for international students and that most people get the March dates but do you guys know anyone who chose May as their first choice and got it?

 

[greentea326]

Hey guys, can someone confirm whether the official PCAT scores are sent to U of T by Pearson (i.e. We don't have to worry about making sure they get our scores on time)?

 

[Jloyay]

As long as you selected UofT (#278) to receive your score when you registered for your PCAT with Pearson they should send the scores in electronically. Just make sure the CID on your pharmd application matches your pearson CID for the pcat.

 

[Ashley996633]

Anyone apply close to the deadline? What range were the last 3 digits of your application # in? That gives us an idea of how many people applied this year

 

[greentea326]

Anyone apply close to the deadline? What range were the last 3 digits of your application # in? That gives us an idea of how many people applied this year

Is it last 3 digits, or last 4? After 2015, mine had 4 digits :S

 

[Ashley996633]

It should be something like 20151500 where 500 is what applicant number you are. Meaning 499 people applied before you.

 

[Jloyay]

I'm probably estimating around 600 people applied.

 

[pharma-ninja]

i applied during the last week of nov & was 177

 

[farz556]

over 600, I think I was close to 650

 

[Ashley996633]

Well over 600. I know someone who applied near the end of December and was near 600

 

[Pre-Pharmacy]

i emailed the admissions office: 732

 

[d51x]

1T8 Here who should really be studying and not procrastinating. I just wanna post some information that I learned from lurking the 2018 thread last year. I'll post my stats when I applied

PCAT
Composite: 92
Verbal: 30
RC: 60 something (dont have the exact number with me right now)
Math: 88
Bio: 90
Chem: 99
Essay: 5

cGPA (my school used the 10 point system) 7.5/10

Some of you might ask if a full course load in undergrad is absolutely necessary to get in. When I applied, I was short .5 of a credit from ever taking a full year course load, but I still got accepted. Whether or not its a factor that influences being accepted, I'm not sure.

Do well on the interviews. Find someone to practice with. Last year, some people did skype conversations with other applicants. There are many practice MMI prompts you can find online, and as long as they're for a health profession related school, it should be fine. While I can't tell you the exact question, my GF (who also got accepted) got a prompt that was nearly identical with a prompt we found online.
From talking to some of my fellow 1T8's, some of us messed up the first station pretty badly, myself included. Don't worry about it, you have a lot more stations to redeem yourself.

I personally run out of steam quickly when I think on the spot for a long time. Eat a power/protein bar right before the interviews (with gum afterwards), it might help you from running out of steam during the stations.

Don't get too intimidated by the stats posted on SDN. if your marks aren't stellar, you still have a chance at the interviews if you meet the minimum cutoffs. My cGPA wasn't exactly high, so I really had to focus on the interviews.I actually think it's below our class's average.

Last year, I think the number of applicants was ~707

One last random tip that doesn't really have to do with getting accepted. If you guys get an interview date in May, and aren't from Toronto, and are looking to save money, don't book a hotel. The residences on campus act as a hotel during the summer months, and you can book a couple nights there. No room service or the like though, but its waaaaay cheaper than a hotel.

 

[drakethetypeofniggard]

***

 

[kirino]

cGPA 3.4
PCAT:
VA: 78
BIO: 85
CHM: 99
RC: 73
MATH: 85
Comp: 96

Do I have a chance to get an interview?

Thanks~

Considering that yes, it's above cutoffs, you will get an interview. The interview invite system is based SOLELY off of cutoffs. Everyone that meets the minimum is invited for an interview.

 

[greentea326]

Thanks for the tips! Does having a competitive cGPA and PCAT score matter after the interview cut off, even a bit?

 

[kirino]

Thanks for the tips! Does having a competitive cGPA and PCAT score matter after the interview cut off, even a bit?

Of course, it's factored into your admission index. However, the requirements for the interviews are solely the cutoffs.

 

[auxin]

My PCAT

VA 78
BIO 74
RC 94
QA 88
CHEM 78
COMP 88
Essay 3.5

My cGPA is around a ~3.1 right now in my 4th year. :/ How screwed am I >_<

 

[drakethetypeofniggard]

My PCAT

VA 78
BIO 74
RC 94
QA 88
CHEM 78
COMP 88
Essay 3.5

My cGPA is around a ~3.1 right now in my 4th year. :/ How screwed am I >_<

Your gpa is weak so you may not get an interview. all the best!

 

[drakethetypeofniggard]

Does anyone know when we get our interview invites?? SO NERVOUS :S

 

[kirino]

Your gpa is weak so you may not get an interview. all the best!

Why are you trolling? The person makes the cutoffs and will get an interview

 

[drakethetypeofniggard]

The cut offs say it's 70 but most accepted are high 70's

 

[Sherry_pharmd]

who wants to prepare for interview with me ? I live close by finch station , but I'm totally fine with coming down to DT. we can work on mmi samples together

 

[auxin]

my cGPA is around a 3.1 but if i add and average all my grades together it comes out to a 77. I guess its decent?

 

[Ayase]

My PCAT

VA 78
BIO 74
RC 94
QA 88
CHEM 78
COMP 88
Essay 3.5

My cGPA is around a ~3.1 right now in my 4th year. :/ How screwed am I >_<

If you manage to bring your GPA up a bit, you'll be in good shape. You have a pretty solid PCAT and if you do really well on the interview (you still have plenty of time to prepare!), you definitely have a decent shot at getting admitted.

Does anyone know when we get our interview invites?? SO NERVOUS :S

Interview invites were distributed on March 7th last year. It'll probably be early March this year as well.

 

[tross]

Hey, for last years non-domestic admitted students is it cheaper to rent an apartment or to live on campus residencies?

 

[farz556]

Does anyone know how much the interview is actually worth? I saw something in another thread of it being only 20%. Is this true?

 

[greentea326]

Does anyone know how much the interview is actually worth? I saw something in another thread of it being only 20%. Is this true?

Based on what I've seen on this thread, it seems to be weighted much more (I hope it's not worth as much though, although I doubt it lol...)

 

[farz556]

Based on what I've seen on this thread, it seems to be weighted much more (I hope it's not worth as much though, although I doubt it lol...)

Yeah Im not sure the exact breakdown, from what I remembered the 20% was mentioned by an admissions office or something, Ill have to dig for the thread. It could be that most applicants are strong and this is the one area that can make the most difference, so in that sense it still might be worth "the most" since it is where there is more heterogeneity amongst the applicants

 

[Pre-Pharmacy]

Yeah Im not sure the exact breakdown, from what I remembered the 20% was mentioned by an admissions office or something, Ill have to dig for the thread. It could be that most applicants are strong and this is the one area that can make the most difference, so in that sense it still might be worth "the most" since it is where there is more heterogeneity amongst the applicants

I know which thread you've seen it from! I think it was last year's thread for U of T pharmacy. I saw it too. A person said that before his/her interview during the orientation session, him and a few people asked this guy who is part of admissions how much each section is worth and apparently the person said 40% 40% 20% (20% being the interview). However, it doesn't seem plausible to me that the admissions would tell him/her...I tried to ask by emailing them and they said they keep this information hidden from the applicants.

 

[Jloyay]

Anyone got any interview tips or helpful resources to prep for the interview? I heard that you can't really prepare for the interview but at the same time some people suggest preparing helps.

Any feedback?

 

[Courty]

Anyone got any interview tips or helpful resources to prep for the interview? I heard that you can't really prepare for the interview but at the same time some people suggest preparing helps.

Any feedback?

I applied last year (re-applying again this year) and went through the interview. Let me tell you this...the interview is definitely something you can prepare for!

Ofcourse, there is no way of knowing what the situations or questions will be, therefore some people say you can't prepare for it. That might be true from a general knowledge perspective, but that doesn't mean you can't prepare yourself in other ways. The number one thing I found the most helpful was practicing speaking about a specific topic for about 4-6 minutes straight (believe it or not...sounds easier than it is, especially under a time constraint). It doesn't matter what subject matter you practice with, it could be medical ethics, or talking about yourself, or random topics from newspapers...whatever it is, this will help you become comfortable speaking about one subject for the length of time you are given in the interview. The confidence in your answers will build upon itself if you aren't intimidated by the time constraint in the interview.

Again, what you "know" today is pretty much going to be where you draw your knowledge to answer the questions from on interview day. However, HOW you answer the questions and the way you present your answer is something you can work on before the interview.

 

[darkchaos]

Hi, I've been monitoring this thread and the 2018 thread. I thought that I wouldn't apply this year but was accepted into JCP221 even though it had a waitlist of > 50 people. I thought that I wouldn't apply this year as I dropped out of CHM220 at UTSG after the first 3 classes after seeing it was mass suicide; apparently, JCP221 is much better.

I saw kirino on the 2018 posts as well, and was a bit surprised to see you only having a 3.3 gpa, since an earlier post I saw you having >95 on the pcat on all sections.

My statistics:

cGPA: 3.7
cGPA (%): 82.4%

PCAT:

Verbal Ability: 419 78%

Biology: 447 97%

Reading Comprehension: 408 66%

Quantitative Ability: 434 93%

Chemistry: 484 99%

Composite: 438 98%

Wiriting: 4

I'm a little nervous for the interview as I haven't really worked any jobs until this point. I've just been a study junkie.

Something that might be of interest to you: I took a kaplan course over the summer to prepare for the PCAT. We had a pharmacy student as our instructor, and she mentioned that the formula for your admission was 60% GPA 20% PCAT 20% Interview.

Later on, as a I took the JCP221 course I became friends with a student taking the course who was currently doing his master's at the leslie dan pharmacy building with his supervisor being the dean of the PharmD program. I asked him this this question of the breakdown and he said its consistent with his knowledge.

 

[Pre-Pharmacy]

Hi, I've been monitoring this thread and the 2018 thread. I thought that I wouldn't apply this year but was accepted into JCP221 even though it had a waitlist of > 50 people. I thought that I wouldn't apply this year as I dropped out of CHM220 at UTSG after the first 3 classes after seeing it was mass suicide; apparently, JCP221 is much better.

I saw kirino on the 2018 posts as well, and was a bit surprised to see you only having a 3.3 gpa, since an earlier post I saw you having >95 on the pcat on all sections.

My statistics:

cGPA: 3.7
cGPA (%): 82.4%

PCAT:

Verbal Ability: 419 78%

Biology: 447 97%

Reading Comprehension: 408 66%

Quantitative Ability: 434 93%

Chemistry: 484 99%

Composite: 438 98%

Wiriting: 4

I'm a little nervous for the interview as I haven't really worked any jobs until this point. I've just been a study junkie.

Something that might be of interest to you: I took a kaplan course over the summer to prepare for the PCAT. We had a pharmacy student as our instructor, and she mentioned that the formula for your admission was 60% GPA 20% PCAT 20% Interview.

Later on, as a I took the JCP221 course I became friends with a student taking the course who was currently doing his master's at the leslie dan pharmacy building with his supervisor being the dean of the PharmD program. I asked him this this question of the breakdown and he said its consistent with his knowledge.

Holy that is a huge weight on GPA. I hope the interview is weighed 20%, that would make me feel so much better. I'm in the same boat as you, only had 1 job so far and haven't had much interview experience.

 

[Ashley996633]

Really? I would've expected a much greater weight on the interviews. This kinda makes me feel a bit more relaxed about the interview potion.

Yeah CHM220 just got a lot worse as the semester progressed. I thought about taking JCP instead, but it also has a lab component so I'd have to commute to UTM at least 4 days a week. It was definitely one of my lowest marks in the end but it wasn't detrimental. I do regret keeping it because it brought my grades, in all my other classes, down because of the time I had to put into it.

 

[darkchaos]

I was also part of the facebook group for CHM220 for the whole semester, so I know what kind of hell you went through. If your interested, the JCP221 professor uploaded some old midterms so you can see them and how it relates to CHM220.

 

[Ashley996633]

I was also part of the facebook group for CHM220 for the whole semester, so I know what kind of hell you went through. If your interested, the JCP221 professor uploaded some old midterms so you can see them and how it relates to CHM220.

Thanks, it definitely seems a lot more fair than our tests last semester. Good luck with course!

 

[tross]

I highly doubt that that's the breakdown %. It doesn't make sense

 

[Jloyay]

Don't worry too much about how much the interview is worth. Just go in there and try your best. How you do on the interview is subjective but I think regardless of how much it's worth it's most important to dress well, prepare to speak at least 3 minutes, etc.

This is my first time doing MMI. I've had a few interviews for lab positions and one job interview and MMI is different.

 

[Simon_Riley]

I highly doubt that that's the breakdown %. It doesn't make sense

yeah it doesn't make sense to me at all. I saw people on last year's thread who got in with GPA a little over 3.0 and PCAT under 80. if it's 60% GPA and 20% PCAT that person shouldn't even have a chance against those with ~3,4 GPA and 80+ PCAT who got waitlisted or didn't get in at all.

 

[tross]

yeah it doesn't make sense to me at all. I saw people on last year's thread who got in with GPA a little over 3.0 and PCAT under 80. if it's 60% GPA and 20% PCAT that person shouldn't even have a chance against those with ~3,4 GPA and 80+ PCAT who got waitlisted or didn't get in at all.

Yea, my initial thought as well. If anything I'd wager the interview is worth close to 50-60% because it was clearly the deciding factor from previous years admissions. If GPA was weighed 60% you would see a way higher "competitive average", definitely higher than 77%. Gpa and pcat seem to be somewhat equally weighed in my opinion, with the interview being weighed most.

Regardless, as the poster above me said don't worry too much about the logistics, just do your best on the interview and hope you did well enough.

 

[Pre-Pharmacy]

The weighting is probably relative and based on individual statistics. If a person with lower GPA does above average on the interview, that person has a high chance of acceptance. Meanwhile, a person with a high GPA would just have to do average and not say anything insensitive to have a high chance of acceptance. I think if one were to say something ridiculous during the interview then it doesn't matter how high that person's GPA is, they probably wouldn't be accepted!

 

[Pre-Pharmacy]

I think on average, it wouldn't be inaccurate to assume GPA is weighed slightly heavier than MMI but MMI is probably weighed more than the PCAT. Ofcourse, there are special cases!