Why is Canadian schools so hard to get into?

Out of the country is the way to go

 

They are especially hard to get into for those who apparently were out sick (or truant, take your pick) the day the teacher went over the proper conjugation of irregular verbs, the use of indefinite articles, and basic sentence structure.

 

Because they want people who use the word 'are'. Even Harvard accepts some applicants like these.

Sorry couldn't resist

 

Harsh, but warranted.

 

There aren't that many schools to start with.

 

There are only 17 Canadian schools in total, and they are all good schools... so imagine it sort of like trying to get into the "Top 15" US schools. Granted we have a much smaller population base, but there are only 17 schools in total! I know we had over 1700 applicants at UBC, for only 224 spaces. Plus, it's extremely difficult to get into most schools outside of your own province, and many provinces have only one school (all but Ontario, Quebec and Alberta, I think?).
So, there are a lot of applicants competing for very few spaces, which is why it's difficult. BUT, it's definitely not impossible, even with some low scores. Each school varies, but I know UBC puts quite an emphasis on extracurriculars, so if you do HUGE amounts of volunteering and have really interesting life experiences, it's possible to overcome lower GPAs or MCAT scores. Hope this helped

 

lol, ditto...

 

because their prerequisite, in addition to the core sciences, is moose hunting, something save for a few, really aren't well versed in.

Glad i could help
-B

 

Why are Canadian medical schools so hard to get into?

Simple. Like most other third world countries, in Canada you have to either know someone in the government or bribe somebody in the Ministry of Health to get accepted.

Glad I could help.

P. Bear, MD
Emergency Medicine Resident
Actually Living Quite Close to Canada

 

Panda: less posting, more blogging!

 

good advise.

 

If you can properly skin a seal and make a sturdy pair of mukluks, AND you've spent some time (say, roughly 18 years) volunteering in Tuktuyaktuk, AND you're willing to part with your family's secret recipe for perfect poutine, you can sometimes get by without the moose hunting prerequisite (though some would consider the poutine recipe a bribe worth a bag of milk's weight in gold, so perhaps Panda is right after all).

Besides, if you don't like these rules, you're a hoser. Take off, eh?

 

tiger_lily is right. Only 17 med schools here. Granted our population is MUCH smaller, but still....only 17 med schools here and it's quite competitive. Here in Manitoba, 750 people applied and there are only 100 spots. Not the greatest odds. Fortunately I was offered a spot.

Anyways, yeah it's quite hard to get into Canadian schools. Especially if you are not even Canadian. Many schools in Canada don't even accept non-Canadians. U of T does for sure, I know that. But there are quite a few that don't. And on top of that, others have very few dedicated spots for out of province students. Manitoba for example takes 10 out of province students. Leaving 90 seats for Manitobans.

 

sorry, i don't buy that argument. just did a little number crunching:

population of canada = 35 million
population of USA = 295 million

35/295 = 11.9 ---> so canada has about 12% of the population of the USA.

number of canadian med schools = 17
number of US med schools = 125 (from AAMC)

17/125 = 13.6

so, by the looks of things, it should be slightly EASIER to get into canadian med schools, not harder.

not to put down canada or their med schools, i'm just sayin'...

 

Thats not really a fair analysis at all. For one thing you are assuming that the population distribution between the two countries is identical. Meaning that percentage wise Canada has the exact same amount of undergrad's going for med as the US does.

Also for that matter, you are assuming class sizes are the same between Canadian and US med schools. In Manitoba, we have 100 seats. In Saskatchwan we have about 65 seats I think. What is the avg class size in the US?

Your numbers are superficial and you cannot get much info from them.

 

Most US schools get between 5000 and 10000 applicants for a class size between 100 and 200 spots, so those numbers would imply canadian school are easier to get into compared to US schools. But that does not take in to account the stats of the applicants. But I have heard candian schools are pretty tough to get into

Maybe it really is because you have to be a skilled moose hunter. I wonder if canadian adcoms frown upon reindeer hunting.....

 

You forgot to factor in the number of Americans who apply to the Canadian schools and vice versa. However, I'm not sure how big of a factor this is so it might not even matter anyway.

 

It's not that simple....there are alot of other factors that go into it. I personally know at least 5 Canadian students who got accepted into 3 or more schools in US yet they werent even interviewed in any Canadian schools..

 

hahaha...u bastard stereotypical Americans

 

For most of the Canadian schools you need a min GPA of 3.7 and 30 MCAT to be considered as somewhat competitive. From personal experience I would say Canadian schools care alot about GPA while MCAT seems to be more important for American schools.

 

I second that

 

I think the other thing is that US schools are willing to give someone who has a low GPA/high MCAT or vice versa a shot at an interview if other things in their application makes them stand out whereas Canadian schools will write you off if you don't meet their GPA/MCAT cutoffs.