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PrintSelection Process Questions
Q: I have a premedical advisory report. Do I submit this or my three references?
A Premedical Advisory Report will be accepted but does not replace the use of the three Confidential Assessment Forms.
Q: How is my geographic status determined?
If you are a Canadian citizen, your geographic status is determined from the age of 14 to date of possible admission. Any combination of periods which adds up to three years will determine the status.
Example: You have lived up to the age of 18 in Manitoba. You come to McMaster (or other university in Ontario) and are applying to enter the program at the end of your third year. Because you will have been in Ontario for three years by the time you register, you will receive Province of Ontario as your geographic status.
If you are a Landed Immigrant, you must have obtained landed status by the application deadline, not the date of registration in the program. If you landed some years ago, you are treated as a Canadian citizen.
Example: You became a landed immigrant 5 years ago and have been living in Hamilton all that time. Your geographic status is Province of Ontario.
Example: You have applied for landed status but will not have received it by the application deadline. Your geographic status will be Outside Ontario.
Q: I am not a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant, what are my chances of admission?
Applicants who are not Canadian citizens or landed immigrants may still apply. Their geographical status will be considered Outside Ontario.
McMaster introduced the MCAT Verbal Reasoning beginning the 2009/10 application cycle.
Q. Why the MCAT Verbal Reasoning? The Undergraduate Medical Program continually seeks ways to improve the admissions process, using an evidence-based approach to choose those tools that better predict for the future clinical skills and professionalism of its students. Emerging data has demonstrated that the Multiple Mini-Interview (MMI) and the Verbal Reasoning portion of the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) are the two best predictors of future success five years later on the Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination Part II (MCCQE Part II).
Q. Is it valid to use national licensing examination results as an endpoint to predict success? Success on national licensing examinations generally have demonstrated correlations with subsequent critical medical activities, such as appropriate prescribing practices, appropriate use of diagnostic tests, survival rates of their patients following cardiac events, and fewer complaints registered against those physicians at provincial colleges.
Q. Is there an MCAT Verbal Reasoning Score below which I would be ineligible to apply? The cutoff point is six (6). With a scoreless than 6 on the MCAT Verbal Reasoning portion, the application will not be considered. This choice of cutoff points based upon the markedly higher rate of profound difficulties experienced in undergraduate medical schools by those students with MCAT Verbal Reasoning scores below 6.
Q. What is the anticipated impact of MCAT Verbal Reasoning implementation on class diversity? The Undergraduate Medical Program has long prided itself upon its diverse student body. Much of that diversity has been driven by the great variation in student backgrounds, both from science and non-science academic endeavours. Historically, non-science background students have comprised between 8% and 25% of the class. MCAT reports on relative success of non-science and science background students on the verbal reasoning portion of the test suggest that its implementation will increase the likelihood of greater diversity in academic backgrounds of our class.
Q. Is the Undergraduate Medical Program interested in considering implementation of any other portions of the MCAT? The Undergraduate Medical Program is not considering implementation of any other portions of the MCAT. The Writing Sample, Biological Sciences, and Physical Sciences portions do not provide the same long-term predictive validity of critical medical activities generated by the Verbal Reasoning portion. Further, implementation of these other portions would tend to limit, rather than enhance, expectations of diversity in academic background.
Q. Are MCAT preparatory courses recommended? The Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine does not provide guidance to prospective applicants on how to best prepare for the MCAT.
Q. What score will be used if I take the MCAT on multiple occasions? The only score that will be considered will be the most recent score on the Verbal Reasoning portion of the MCAT.
Q. How many years will my MCAT score be considered valid? The most recent MCAT Verbal Reasoning score will be considered valid up to five years preceding the application deadline of that admissions cycle. For instance, for the application deadline of October 1, 2012, any MCAT Verbal Reasoning score dating back to October 1, 2007, will be deemed acceptable as long as a more recent score is not available. No exceptions will be made to this rule.
Q. How will the MCAT Verbal Reasoning score be weighted in the formulae for interview and offer of admission? You can view our selection formulae here: The Selection Process