Rejects ‘r us
One student’s story about not getting into his dream program
Fast forward several months. Early acceptances were being mailed out. And finally, it arrived: the letter from McMaster.
I almost didn’t want to open it. My entire future was riding on this letter. If I got into the program, I was one step closer to med school. Had my marks been competitive enough? Did my essay convey my sense of self well enough?
I opened the letter: “After careful consideration, we are not able to offer you admission at this time.”
I didn’t get in. I had been rejected. I read the letter again and again, hoping to see something like, “Nah, we’re just messing with you. You’ve been accepted!”
I had offers from the biology programs at McMaster, Waterloo and Toronto, along with health studies and honours biomedical sciences at Waterloo. But who wants the consolation prize? I hadn’t gotten into my first-choice program.
What now?
Well, sometimes, Plan B turns out better than Plan A. In the end, accepting the offer for the honours biomedical sciences program at Waterloo wasn’t a compromise. Sure, I don’t get to experiment with cadavers. But as the University of Waterloo’s website states, “Waterloo’s highly flexible biomedical sciences program can prepare you for almost any health profession program in North America.” Oh, and as the website also points out, all the prerequisite courses for almost every med school in North America are built right into the program.
Biomedical sciences at Waterloo also allows students lots of electives, so they can customize the program to meet their individual preferences. You have the freedom to take a variety of courses, enabling you to pursue that interest in photography, medieval literature or abstract art. Not to mention that a well-balanced schedule can be a lifesaver when you’re weighed down with physics, organic chemistry and cell biology courses.
I’m now in my second year of the program at Waterloo. I still remember how I felt after sending out my applications—like my entire life was hanging in the balance, completely dependent on getting into my first-choice program. If I could have pushed an instant beam-into-McMaster’s-health-sciences-program button, I would have. But then I wouldn’t have ended up where I am today, truly enjoying my courses and labs, and actually looking forward to microbiology lectures.
Maybe I would have enjoyed McMaster’s health sciences program just as much. Or maybe I wouldn’t have. Either way, I didn’t get into my first-choice program. And it wasn’t the end of the world.
page 1 page 2
While it’s true that many in Mac Health Sciences go on to med school, it’s of course not any kind of guarantee. It sounds like you’ve done well for your experience so far. At the risk of sounding like Calvin’s dad, a “failure” such as this builds character. And, of course, marks, MCAT, extracurriculars, and the interview matter way more than the particular program when it comes to med admissions. Enjoy undergrad for the time being – the cadavers will come in time and they get old pretty quick. Formalin is not one of the more pleasant smells around.
Anyway, as the song says, you can’t always get what you want, but it sounds like you got what you needed.
I found it odd that you did not mention the integrative and interdisciplinary approach, the promotion of self-directed, problem-based “inquiry” learning, small class size, etc., which are the real strengths of the BHSc program at McMaster.
When you write “It gives students lab experience, and it’s focused on biology, my favourite subject area.”, you seem to be describing any life sciences or biology program. In the Health Sciences program at McMaster, there is a distinct focus on health, wellness, and illness, in HTHSCI courses, rather than biology or chemistry.
One more thing: “…after completing the program, you have all the necessary prerequisites to apply to any med school across Canada.” In fact, many prerequisite courses for medical schools such as organic chemistry, biochemistry, physics, and English, are not part of the McMaster Health Sciences curriculum, and have to be taken as electives.
maybe now you can learn how to be a good writer. thanks for that non-meaningful tip. “i really wanted university A and i got university B”. well there is an epic story of hardship and character building if i ever heard one! did i mention how heartwrenching and compelling it was? thank you writers at uwaterloo.ca for teaching me what it means to feel once again!!
It’s only been a few years since you went through the application process, so it is still a bit fresh. Hopefully you have also come to appreciate that first and foremost an undergraduate degree is about getting intellectual training and developing critical thinking skills. It is not primarily intended as a prerequisite for training in trade school (i.e., medical school). Really, all Canadian universities are quite equivalent, we are lucky that we do not have the hierarchy that there is in the US or the UK. Your life (and education) are what you make them. AND there is MUCH more to life than being a doctor or experimenting on cadavers.
In the health sciences program, you don’t “experiment” on cadavers. You study specimens that are already prosected. So, you observe them.
Mac isn’t the be-all-end-all that the author made it seem. He completely neglected to mention the University of Guelph’s undergrad Human Kinetics program. I just completed the Anatomy class last year in which I dissected a cadaver along with my group members. There are also many pre-med courses available. And it’s possible to get in to the program without a 90 average.
Guelph is an amazing school in a beautiful community that close enough to Toronto to make commuting possible and far away enough to separate ourselves from all the negative big city qualities.
Guelph’s Biomed, Human Kinetics, and Nutritional Sciences programs are outstanding and definitely worth looking into if you have any desire to go into the medical field. You will undoubtably be exposed to all aspects of a pre-medical education, don’t be mislead by all our other amazing biology programs (vet, molecular genetics, developmental biology and zoology), just because there’s isn’t a Med school here doesn’t mean we can’t compete with other Med schools.
Again! Can’t you find a webpage designer who’s not apostrophe challenged? On your home page the title of this EDUCATION piece reads “One students story …”
Sorry about that. It’s not the home page, it’s the front page of the Macleans.ca Storyline Newsletter.