All Posts Tagged With: "University of Toronto"
Yiddish lives on Canadian campuses
As the Jewish tongue dies at home, scholars step up
Photo by scazon on Flickr
The old language of Eastern Europe’s Jews—the tongue that brought us such lively words as schmooze, glitch, klutz, chutzpah, nosh, schmuck and schmo—has been through a lot.
Yiddish was threatened by the holocaust when five million speakers—roughly half of the total—were murdered in the genocide, writes University of Ottawa researcher Rebecca Margolis.
Then it was threatened by a generation in the diaspora that was sometimes embarrassed of their parents’ foreign tongue and preferred to converse in English or another vernacular anyway.
Today, Yiddish contends with the fact that its keepers are mainly Bubbes and Zeydes of the diaspora, who may not be around much longer. According to Statistics Canada, between 2001 and 2006, the number of Yiddish speakers declined from 37,010 to 27,605 nationally. More than a third of those who remained—9,305—were over 75 years-old. Only 1,345 were under age five.
Are big classes really a problem?
It’s not the size that counts, it’s how you use it.
Having trouble with a difficult calculus problem? Trying to figure out how to draw a resonance structure for your lab report? If you’re a student at the University of Toronto, chances are you’re out of luck. With labs and tutorials packed with more students than the teaching assistants can handle, getting one-on-one time is virtually impossible.
When you’re sitting in a classroom with hundreds of other students, it’s hard to have in-depth discussions about the material—you’re pretty much just showing up to take notes. That’s the whole point of tutorials and labs: filling in the gaps and supplementing the lecture material. The problem is, after a certain number of students it’s not even a tutorial anymore.
CUPE 3902 (which voted 91 per cent in favour of striking on Nov. 30) says 42 per cent of labs and tutorials at U of T have more than 50 students, more than 100 sections have over a 100 students. Additional statistics that paint the same picture: student-to-instructor ratios are terrible, and they’re getting worse.
Scientists narrow in on hunt for ‘God particle’
Canadian university researchers among international team
Photo of Large Hadron Collider courtesy of CERN
Two teams of nearly 3,000 scientists from around the world, including researchers from 10 Canadian universities, announced this week a new milestone in the hunt for the Higgs boson, a particle that explains the existence of mass.
Scientists at the CERN Physics Research Centre in Geneva, Switzerland presented evidence on Dec. 13 pointing to the existence of the Higgs boson, coined the “God particle” by the American Nobel Prize-winning physicist Leon Lederman.
The teams worked independently for 21 months inside the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest particle accelerator, to re-create the conditions at the time of the creation of the universe—the Big Bang. The experiments produced the same results: scientists determined that the Higgs boson has a mass between 128 and 525 gigaelectron volts, in the lower regions of the energy field.
The researchers are quick to point out that the news another step in the process, not a definitive discovery. Still, University of Toronto physicist Robert Orr tells the Toronto Star we owe a lot to the elusive Higgs boson: “The whole world we live in is based on the science of electromagnetism. Our whole society has evolved from that: iPads, cameras, lights, computers.”
University of Toronto tutorials are too big
What good is a lab or tutorial with 50 or 100 students in it?
Photo by Shane Global Language Centres
The union that represents teaching assistants at Canada’s biggest school, the University of Toronto, wants the public to know about the ballooning student-instructor ratios in the tutorials and labs they teach.
CUPE 3902, which represents 4,200 teaching assistants, graduate-student instructors, lab demonstrators, invigilators and writing instructors, voted 91 per cent in favour of striking on Nov. 30. A strike is still far off—2012 at the earliest.
The union may be using tutorial and lab numbers as a bargaining chip, but that doesn’t make the figures any less surprising—or concerning.
If the union is correct, 42 per cent of labs and tutorials at U of T now have more than 50 students, more than 100 sections have more than 100 students, and the proportion of tutorials and lectures that have 20 or fewer students has dropped from 40 per cent in 2006 to 23 per cent in 2011.
Continue reading University of Toronto tutorials are too big
Where do Canada’s math geniuses go?
Two Canadian schools dominate competition
Photo by il divino designs (ildivino.co.uk)
It’s one of the most prestigious—and lucrative—in the world. The winning team gets $25,000. The winning individual gets a scholarship to Harvard.
Naturally, teams from Harvard, MIT, and Caltech have won the most titles (55, 40 and 30).
But there are two Canadian schools whose students consistently do well too. The University of Toronto and The University of Waterloo each have 18 team titles and top five placements (Queen’s is next in Canada, with three). Waterloo’s wins are particularly impressive, considering the Putnam competition predates its birth in 1957 by a few decades. But those aren’t the only two Canadian schools to do well recently.
Here’s how our schools stacked up over the past five years.
Teams in the top 10
University of Toronto —4
University of Waterloo—4
University of British Columbia—2
Top scoring individuals (winners and honorable mentions)
University of Waterloo—13
University of Toronto —8
University of British Columbia—6
University of Alberta—1
McGill University—1
Where Ontario’s next university must be built
Sorry Niagara Falls, it’s not you
Aerial view of GTA by Paul's Best Shots on Flickr
No sooner did Ontario’s government reiterate in their throne speech that they will build three new universities than a couple of small-town politicians stepped up to demand one for their town.
Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor told the Niagara Falls Review yesterday that the city of 82,000 should get a campus. Naturally, the mayor is on board too. The newspaper called it “a no-brainer.”
But sorry Niagara Falls, your case is weak.
The new book Academic Reform, by policy experts Ian D. Clark, David Trick and Richard Van Loon, took a comprehensive look at exactly what Ontario’s post-secondary system needs right now. They examined what works and what doesn’t, from Australia to Europe, from Florida to British Columbia.
They agree that, yes, Ontario badly needs new universities.
But only in the suburban ring around Toronto, known colloquially as The 905.
They projected that the Greater Toronto Area will need 51,000 to 74,000 new undergraduate seats between 2009 and 2025. The rest of Ontario will require, at most, 30,000—possibly none at all.
And the rest of Ontario already has more seats available than the GTA, despite the fact that the GTA will soon have more than half of the 18 to 24-year-olds. There are 20 universities in Ontario, but only three main campuses are in the GTA. That partly explains why nearly half of local secondary school students leave the city to go to school—far more than come into the city to be educated. Thirty per cent don’t get into university at all. Could it be because local schools are full?
It’s also clear from the research that the GTA needs entirely new campuses, not expansions. Toronto’s universities are already among the biggest in the world. York University, at 55,000 students, and the University of Toronto, at 54,000, are the fifth and sixth largest in North America. U of T has determined that it doesn’t want more growth. York and Ryerson can only grow so quickly.
The growth is in Toronto’s suburbs, like Brampton, Marham and Vaughan. Consider that Brampton grew at a rate of 33 per cent between 2001 and 2006 to 434,000, according to the Census. It’s likely closer to 500,000 now. The City of Vaughan passed the 300,000 mark in 2011 and projects it will add 116,000 more by 2031. These new citizens will demand local options to study.
That said, there are a couple fast-growing cities just outside the GTA that could make reasonable cases too. Barrie, which has put aside $14-million for a potential campus, grew 33 per cent in the past decade to 191,000. Milton, which grew by 71 per cent between 2001 and 2006 to 88,000, has land set aside for a possible campus of Wilfrid Laurier—and it’s a short commute to Brampton.
But Niagara Falls, with 82,000 people, grew by just four between 2001 and 2006. Besides, it’s only 17 kilometres from Brock University in St. Catharines—also a short commute.
If they think they’re getting a new university, they’re dreaming. All three should go to the GTA.
A two-tier system?
As lectures grow, special classes emerge for the academically-inclined
Photo by Cole Garside
From the 21st Maclean’s University Rankings—on newsstands now.
It’s the third week of her university career and Maya Helferty, a first-year sociology (soon to be philosophy) major at the University of Guelph, admits that she’s already skipping her women’s studies and sociology classes. “There’s no point to those lectures,” says the Canadian who went to high school in Pennsylvania. “We just go over the same material that’s in the readings.”
Don’t assume she’s a bad student. She excelled at high school, in everything from Greek mythology to advanced calculus. Helferty is skipping lectures precisely because she is a good student. She’s read the material. She doesn’t need to hear it again. Being filled with facts is not why she came to university. She came to ask questions, discuss ideas and be inspired.
Minority job applicants get fewer callbacks
Study reminiscent of 1948 Maclean’s article by Pierre Berton
Photo by |Mahin| on Flickr
A new study has shown that Canadians with English-sounding names on their résumés get many more responses from employers than those with foreign-sounding names, even when applicants have identical qualifications and make it clear they can speak English or French proficiently.
Philip Oreopoulos and Diane Dechief of the University of Toronto found that of the 8,000 fake job applications they sent out, those with English-sounding names at the top were 47 per cent more likely to receive callbacks in Toronto than resumes with Greek, Indian or Chinese-sounding names. In Montreal, English names had a 39 per cent advantage. In Vancouver it was 20 per cent.
Oreopoulos told The Globe and Mail that subconcious discrimination may partially explain the difference. Another part of their study showed that human resources professionals cite concerns over language or social skills for the possible differences in their reactions—despite the fact that such skills can easily be determined with a simple phone call.
Continue reading Minority job applicants get fewer callbacks
Are today’s students really more boring?
Philosophical conversations make a comeback on campus
Photo by passer-by on Flickr
University students just aren’t what they used to be, it seems. James Lang, reviewing a book by Cathy Small in The Chronicle of Higher Education, sadly concedes that today’s students no longer engage in the big undergraduate discussions of the meaning of life, the sort of late-night, possibly pot-scented talks that he had when was he was young. Indeed, he concludes, this new bunch of students no longer has “a curious and thriving intellectual life outside of their courses.”
Similarly, according to this U of T Dean, today’s young people no longer see a course as a chance to explore concepts and knowledge for their own sake, but merely as pragmatic means to Spartan ends. Then she hints that they may more boring too. “I sometimes wonder if people feel less curiosity now that they can just turn to Google,” Kelly Castle rhetorically asked in The Grid.
How the west has won
Expert says eastern schools are losing research race
Edmonton skyline by Bulliver on Flickr
“The intellectual centre of gravity of Canada is shifting west much faster than people realize,” Alex Usher, president of Higher Education Strategy Associates has told The Ottawa Citizen.
“Twenty years ago, you could have made a case that three or four of the top seven or eight universities in the country were in Ontario. I don’t think you could make that claim today,” he said.
Western schools are getting more highly prized funding, says Usher. For example, the federal government offered four of its 19 new $10-million Canada Excellence Research Chairs to the University of Alberta, while Toronto and Waterloo got two each and Ottawa got one.
Although Vanier Scholarships are much smaller at $150,000 each, it’s worth noting that no region dominated that contest. The University of Toronto, McGill University and the University of British Columbia earned 29, 25 and 25 respectively. The University of Alberta got 11.
It’s also worth noting that Usher’s comments come just three days before the provincial election in Ontario, but he is not endorsing any party. None of the three major parties has promised more core funding for post-secondary education, which he said is akin to a freeze over the next four years.
“I am bleak about Ontario,” he said. “This is what happens when you have a $15-billion deficit.”
HESA is a Toronto firm that conducts post-secondary data collection and strategic development.
Annual “Ig Nobel” Prizes awarded
University of Toronto researchers among this year’s winners
Still from video by gray726 on YouTube
Researchers with Canadian connections won awards at the annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony for their “improbable research.” They’ve simultaneously proven that research can be fun—and funny.
John Senders, Professor Emeritus of Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto, won the 2011 prize in the “public safety” category for “conducting a series of safety experiments in which a person drives an automobile on a major highway while a visor repeatedly flaps down over his face, blinding him,” as seen in this YouTube video from 1967. In it, Senders notes calmly that “the shorter the interval between looks, the more difficult that section of road is to drive,” as he speeds down a Boston highway with his view increasingly obscured.
The annual biology prize went to Darryl Gwynne, also of U of T, and Gwynne’s Australian partner “for discovering that a certain kind of beetle mates with a certain kind of Australian beer bottle.”
Although there isn’t a Canadian connection to this year’s medicine prize, it’s worthwhile research for all students to know. Two international teams won for “demonstrating that people make better decisions about some kinds of things—but worse decisions about other kinds of things‚ when they have a strong urge to urinate.” That research is from two papers, Inhibitory Spillover: Increased Urination Urgency Facilitates Impulse Control in Unrelated Domains and The Effect of Acute Increase in Urge to Void on Cognitive Function in Healthy Adults.
The awards were presented Thursday evening at Harvard University by real Nobel laureates. It’s easy to see why Nature calls the ceremony “arguably the highlight of the scientific calendar.” Congratulations to all.
Poor little rich M.B.A.s
Should government funding go to lab coats or white collars?
Photograph by Andrew Tolson
As defenders of the downtrodden go, Roger Martin deserves points for chutzpah at least. It’s harder to feel sympathy for Martin’s chosen underprivileged group than it would be if he were sticking up for, say, orphans and widows—because Martin has spent much of the year arguing that Canadians, and especially their governments, aren’t giving enough money to the country’s business schools.
At first glance, Canadians might be reluctant to shed a tear. Martin is the dean of the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, not conspicuously a hardship case. The school has raised $130 million on its way to a $200-million fundraising target, timed to coincide with next year’s opening of a new 15,000-sq.-m building in downtown Toronto. But its successes, Martin maintains, come despite the lack of adequate government support, especially from Ottawa.
McGill top Canadian school in global rankings
Canada’s top two improve showings, but the rest fall down
McGill student courtesy of Evan Shay on Flickr
QS World University Rankings has released their Top 300 schools of 2011. This year, Canada’s top two schools, McGill and Toronto, each edged up a notch. So did McMaster and Western Ontario. But every other Canadian school dropped down from their 2010 standing (offered in parentheses) and one school, Laval, fell off the list.
17. McGill University (19)
23. University of Toronto (29)
51. University of British Columbia (44)
100. University of Alberta (78)
137. University of Montreal (136)
144. Queen’s University (132)
157. University of Western Ontario (164)
159. McMaster University (162)
160. University of Waterloo (145)
218. University of Calgary (165)
234. Dalhousie University (212)
256. University of Ottawa (231)
260. Simon Fraser University (214)
292. University of Victoria (241)
About the methodology:
The rankings were derived mainly from a survey of 34,000 academics who ranked the schools from those producing the most world-leading research in their fields to those producing the least. That survey was weighted at 40 per cent. Reputation among employers, derived from a survey of 17,000 managers who hire university grads, counted for 10 per cent. Citations per faculty counted for 20 per cent. Faculty-student ratio (lower is better) counted for 20 per cent. Proportion of international students counted for five per cent. Proportion of international faculty counted for five per cent too.
The Shanghai Jiao Tong Academic Ranking of World Universities, which uses only objective data, like citations per faculty — no reputation surveys were included — found in August that Toronto is the best in Canada, the University of British Columbia is second and McGill University is third.
Click to see how other Canadian universities made the World Top 500 in 2011.
For a complete ranking of Canadian universities, click for the Maclean’s 20th Annual Rankings
Watch for the 21st Annual Maclean’s University Rankings — on newsstands in November.
Of all the things to ban… bottled water?
Pettigrew: It’s only water and plastic. Let’s all take a breath.
Photo courtesy of Conor Lawless on Flickr
Another university, this time Toronto, has announced a ban on bottled water, continuing what must be the most overblown crusade since, well, the actual Crusades.
It’s hard to think of another product where the campaign against it is so out of proportion to the potential harm. Unlike smoking cigarettes — which was banned from professors’ offices when I was an undergraduate — drinking water is not unhealthy in itself. Just the reverse: it’s a vital nutrient. Moreover, unlike smoking, consuming water indoors doesn’t put anyone’s health in jeopardy.
Advocates for the water bans say that bottled water is wasteful because one can get water from taps, which is, of course, true. But if eliminating waste is the issue, why stop — or indeed start — with bottled water? Why not ban cars from campus in favour of bikes? Why not ban paper cups? Why not ban paper textbooks and force students to save paper by reading only electronic versions?
Indeed, if waste is the issue, why focus on a product so eminently recyclable? Are there universities in Canada where plastic bottles aren’t recyclable? And if the problem is that people aren’t being diligent about which bin they’re putting their empties in, the solution should be to convince people of the merits of careful recycling rather than banning a recyclable product.
But even if I conceded that bottled water were a bad thing in itself, and even if I agreed that people were entirely incorrigible when it comes to distinguishing types of garbage, it seems unlikely that a bottled-water ban will help. While it’s nice to imagine that in the absence of bottled water, all the water drinkers will have refillable bottles with them at all times, I think it’s just as likely that those who had been drinking bottled water will bring bottled water from home, or switch to other drinks like cola and iced tea which, by the way, also come in bottles, and are less healthy than water to boot.
I’m not arguing against bringing your own refillable container if that’s your thing. Save money, reduce waste, and feel superior. And start an advertising campaign to encourage others to do likewise if you want. Point out that bottled water may be a thousand times more expensive than tap water, that municipal water supplies may actually be safer than bottled water because they are monitored more closely. Point out that a lot of bottled water is essentially just tap water anyway.
But we have crossed a line when when what seems like a good idea to some becomes a necessity for all. If you don’t like bottled water, don’t buy it. And try to convince others not to buy it.
But don’t insist that I can’t buy it either.
Notable Canadian Olympian becomes UToronto coach
Vicky Sunohara to lead women’s hockey
Three-time Olympian Vicky Sunohara has joined the University of Toronto as the new head coach for women’s varsity hockey.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist played in the Winter Olympic Games from 1998 to 2006, before retiring in 2008 and taking a position as the director of women’s hockey at The Hill Academy in Vaughan, Ontario. Sunohara is also a U of T alumna, having completed her bachelor’s degree in physical health education after retiring from hockey.
“This is a dream job for me,” Sunohara said in a statement. “I played here at U of T, I went to school here and graduated from the Faculty of Physical Education and Health and now I have a chance to give back to one of the most prolific women’s hockey programs in North America.
“This is a great opportunity for me and I look forward to the task at hand – making the Varsity Blues a national contender.”
Royals appealing to many Canadian youth
Monarchist League counts 1,500 members under age 25
Photo courtesy of Theodore Scott on Flickr
The Monarchist League of Canada is attracting young people in numbers that may seem surprising, considering the image of royal-watchers as tea-sipping senior citizens. There are 1,500 people under the age of 25 among 10,000 members of the League, according to the Ottawa Citizen.
Not only that, there are active branches of the league on at least four university campuses: at Queen’s, Ottawa, Toronto and Saint Francis Xavier. Some oung members say that William and Kate are easy for young people to relate to. Others say it’s a way to show their patriotism.
Still, not everyone is excited about the upcoming visit by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The Quebec Resistance Network expects 300 protesters when the couple visit that province in July.
Ovulating women have better “gaydar”
Women who can get pregnant pay attention to sexual cues
Women who are ovulating are much better at guessing whether a man is gay or straight, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Toronto and Tufts University.
Scientists asked 40 heterosexual female students to judge 80 photos of men’s faces. Half of the men were gay and the rest were straight, but the groups were considered equally attractive. What’s interesting is that women judged the sexual orientation of each man more accurately during ovulation.
“What it really sort of hints at is [that] there are evolutionary reasons why women would pay attention to cues relevant for mating,” Nicholas Rule, a lead researcher, told The Toronto Star. “When women have a higher chance of getting pregnant they’re going to pay more attention to cues in the environment that would attend to that.”
Toronto won’t license sorority and frat houses
City staff prefer “grass-roots solution” to noisy parties
Fraternity and sorority houses at the University of Toronto won’t have to deal with any new regulations. A city staff report says the houses can’t legitimately be labelled rooming houses or businesses, so they can’t be regulated under current laws. Local councillor Adam Vaughan had asked staff for to look into a licences scheme after complaints about late-night parties from neighbours of the two-dozen Greek system houses in the city’s expensive Annex neighbourhood.
The report also noted that there was “promise of a grass-roots solution,” something with which Vaughan says he agrees. Complaints are “way down” in the past year, from six problematic houses out of 24 to just “one or two,” he told the Toronto Star.
David Harrison, chair of the Annex Residents’ Association sounded less enthusiastic about the report, though he said he would consult with neighbours before releasing a full statement. He told The Star that the situation had improved only because they had “spent hours and hours and hours” working on it. He questioned what might happen if “self-regulation” were to fail in the future.
Grad school: not just a plan B for med school applicants
What you need to know about MD-PhD programs
Thousands of students apply to medical school across Canada every year, and the vast majority of them will never even make it to an interview. The chances of success improve for repeat applicants, but the fact remains: even with high marks and stellar extracurricular activities, applying to a Canadian med school is an uphill battle against discouraging statistics. After completing their undergraduate degree and receiving a rejection letter, the big question facing these students is: now what?
Mike Saccone, a fourth-year Health Studies Co-op student, already has a plan B.
“My back-up plan is research based. I will pursue a Masters in Health Research Methodology from McMaster University,” he says. The Masters degree could even hit two birds with one stone.
“Hopefully, this will improve the chances of me getting into medical school, along with fulfilling a degree requirement that I will eventually pursue.”
Saccone says he was exposed to both sides of medicine- research and patient care- while working with a research-focused orthopaedic surgeon, and then working with a surgeon whose primary focus was on patient care.
Colleen Shortt, a fourth year Health Studies and Gerontology student, isn’t considering research as a backup plan to med school. She recently applied to graduate school programs at the University of Toronto, the University of Western Ontario, and McMaster, and is hoping to pursue a career in cancer or HIV/AIDS research. Shortt says that once she’s through grad school she may be interested in applying to med school.
“I thought about applying to med school and originally it was my plan A. But once I started looking into research opportunities I found that this may be a more effective way of reaching more people.”
Khuram Bhatti, a fourth year arts and science student, says he has considered numerous programs and careers, including optometry or pharmacy, and even programs in the States.
“I am considering schools such as the osteopathy programs in the United States, or other types of up and coming schools which have a schooling regiment which is sort of ‘newer,’ comparatively to something such as the MD career field.”
For med school hopefuls who don’t make the cut, pursuing a grad school program is a win-win: it improves their chances on a second application, and at the same time, they’re developing the skills for a different career path. Many med schools look for research or medically-related experience, and some even award additional points to applicants who have completed a graduate degree. McMaster gives an additional 1% to the pre-interview score of MSc students, and an additional 4% for PhD students. Others, such as the University of Toronto, lower the GPA cutoff for graduate students.
Keith Colaco, a third year Biomedical Sciences student, says that although he has always wanted to attend med school and become a physician, in high school he considered becoming an optometrist because of the challenges of pursuing a career in medicine.
“As I started taking more medically-related courses in university, volunteering in hospitals and speaking to medical students, I quickly changed my mind because I was so intrigued by the field and strongly felt the need to help those with medical problems.”
This summer Colaco will be working at the Holland Orthopaedic and Arthritic Centre in Toronto, where he hopes to gain insight into pursuing a medical career. Ultimately, he may combine his passion for medicine and research.
“I am very interested in clinical research rather than focusing on just research in the lab because I have always enjoyed interacting with patients in past volunteer experiences,” he says. “By working in a patient-care setting, it allows me to evaluate patients and conduct research at their bedside.”
Students like Colaco, who want to combine research with patient interaction, are in luck: an MD-PhD program offers the best of both worlds, allowing students to complete the MD curriculum while pursuing a PhD, training them for careers ranging from medical research to the design of healthcare delivery systems. Most of the programs describe their graduates as ‘clinician-scientists,’ with the curriculum juggling between academic course work, training in basic sciences and research, and clinical rotation. Dr. Norman Rosenblum, Director of the MD/PhD Program at the University of Toronto, says that applicants should have “considerable background with some area of science” in addition to experience that “demonstrates an interest in medicine and a knowledge of the clinician-scientist role.”
Some programs, such as the “MD Plus” Leaders in Medicine program at the University of Calgary, go beyond the basic sciences and allow students to pursue any graduate-level field of interest, including a Masters in philosophy or business.
Most med schools across Canada offer the MD-PhD program, with many being created in the past several years. The only drawback? Getting in is even tougher than med school. The program requires students to be accepted into both a medical and a Masters program (or in some cases, a graduate program) and enrollment is extremely limited, with most MD-PhD programs only having enough spots for a handful of students. For example, there are only five spots available in the University of Toronto MD-PhD program, while the University of Ottawa program only has room for four.
Getting ready for the MCAT
The most important test I’ll ever write?
Even though it’s been more than a week since my last exam, I can’t relax and fully embrace summer vacation. Some of my marks haven’t been posted yet, but that’s not the problem. And I’m pretty sure that I’m not suffering from Post-Exam Stress Disorder, which is usually caused by physics or chemistry exams (I only had biology courses this semester). The reason I can’t relax is because I’m now studying for one of the most important tests that I’ve ever written: the MCAT.
For most schools across Canada, a high GPA and solid extracurricular experience are usually given more weight than the MCAT. Some schools don’t even consider MCAT scores, such as the University of Ottawa and the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. McMaster University only considers the Verbal Reasoning portion of the test, and although the University of Toronto requires applicants to write the MCAT, their score isn’t included in the overall academic calculation. Instead, it’s just used as a “flag” during the admissions process, with less than minimum marks possibly disqualifying the application.
When it comes to medical school admissions, an applicant’s MCAT score isn’t a universally-important deciding factor. But it’s still going to be one of the most important tests I’ve ever written.
For one thing, the MCAT is much more important to med schools in the States and abroad. And even if some schools don’t consider the MCAT in their admissions process (or they only use cut-off scores), it’s still important for many Canadian schools, such as the University of Western Ontario. This is especially true outside of Ontario- the University of British Columbia, the University of Calgary, and the University of Manitoba all consider MCAT scores, just to name a few.
So unlike my last summer vacation, the next couple of months won’t just be a combination of part time jobs and relaxing- I’ll also be preparing for the MCAT. And stressing out about the physical sciences section.
