<p>This is the hottest topic in any Canadian forum like this, so I'm surprised no one is talking about this program - undoubtedly the best "pre-med" program in Canada, and maybe even North America. It has some ridiculous stats, like 220/3500 admission rate (more competitive than any of the Ivies!) and around 50% of the graduates getting into med school.</p>
<p>They use Problem-based learning (which Harvard Med surveyed and adopted from McMaster Med), and prepare the students exclusively for MD.</p>
<p>Did anyone apply?
Is anyone applying in the coming years?</p>
<p>I have applied. Still need to fill out the second supplement. I already got into Eng at McMaster. ( Biomedical and Electrical) Speaking of other competitive programs BioTech CA at Waterloo is a biggie.</p>
<p>It’s a very good program, but comparing admission stats to American universities is a bit misleading. Queen’s commerce has a sub-10% acceptance rate as well, but the overall quality of the applicant pool is probably much lower than say Wharton.</p>
<p>Mac Health Sci. is the ***** for a premed, no doubt. People say that the success is based on the fact that basically almost all of these students want to go to med school anyways, and all have (well over 90% do) have averages over 95 for their high school grade 12 marks.</p>
<p>So, we can take that the students are brilliant to begin with. They have a couple easy courses in their curriculum too like ‘Inquiry Class’, but other than that I heard that second and third years are brutal in terms of workload and difficulty. But these students pull it off, making Mac Health Sci. a no doubter for one of the most successful programs in Canada (getting kids to their grad school). Like 45% go to meds, another large percent to dentistry, and some to law school, and some go into nursing and such fields. </p>
<p>Definitely applying next year as well, but I think I’m like 99% going to the US (that 1% is in case I get rejected everywhere or something drastic in my life occurs that keeps me in Canada).</p>
<p>We have a guy at our school … Full IB 97% top 6 average … IB predicted 43 out 45… He should get in… then again, who knows. I also read somewhere that 80% of McMaster Health Sci people get into Med school… 50 % seems incredibly low considering how smart and motivated these students are.</p>
<p>about 45% of those who respond go to med school. There is a large portion (around 35-40%) that do not respond to the exiting surveys. So, you could conclude that about 60-65% get into meds.</p>
<p>hey guys,
i applied to the healthsci and artsci program at mcmaster, i already got in the medical radiation sci program there.
if i don’t get in to any US schools, i hope ill be accepted into the healthsci/artsci program
does anyone know why they make decision so late? and also, is it true that only those with above95 avgs get in? i heard the supplement application has a strong weighting too.</p>
<p>rowinggirl, I am afraid that at McMaster Health Sci, to have even an OK chance, you have to have over 95 %. there was a newspaper article I read that said even students with 97% averages are getting rejected. I personally think that if you had a 95% average, do not bother with Canadian universities for undergrad, especially if you can get money from top US universities.</p>
<p>the difference, i think, is that mac health science only looks at your top 6 grade 12 courses, while calculating your gpa for u.s. schools includes all classes including grade 9.</p>
<p>get to >93 range for sure. 90 is the cutt-off, but the “implied” cut-off is 93.</p>
<p>after that it is SOLELY on the supp. app. now, why do ppl with 94’s and such sometimes get rejected? because if 2 apps. are equal when marked (each app. is marked by a faculty member and a student I believe), then the student with the higher average gets in.</p>
<p>Other than that it doesn’t really matter what your average is, but average plays a role if you are on the bubble, or your app. is not amazing. this is becuase the dude with the better average will get in when there is a tie.</p>
<p>this is info. is from my time on StudentAwards forum and premed 101, the canadian med/premed site. dont shoot the messenger</p>
<p>I hope you guys don’t shoot me for pretending I know nothing about this program for the first 3 posts and bragging about it a lot (Sorry, really! I wanted to make a big splash about it and see what your reaction would be), but I’m in the program currently.</p>
<p>My admission average was about a 96, but some of my friends got in with low 90s. The average admission average seems to be about 94% for this program. No one really knows how admission works - there have been talk that tiebreaker of supps are determined by marks, and also talk that supps are used to tiebreak marks. I don’t know for sure which is true.</p>
<p>I know someone in my year got into Yale and came to BHSc instead, I also know people who got into med school in the UK and chose to come to BHSc. I also know people who got into Ivies, got cocky and thought that they were going to get into BHSc, and rejected the Ivies, then didn’t get into BHSc. In other words, BHSc shouldn’t really be your backup to your Ivies - the criteria that US schools use vs. the criteria that BHSc uses are very different, and just because you got into Harvard doesn’t mean you will get into BHSc (this happened to several people I know and my friends know - they are at their Ivies though). There are, of course, people who applied to Ivies and didn’t get in who are at BHSc right now.</p>
<p>I think the biggest thing about BHSc is to trust the admission committee to have made the best decision. The people who weren’t completely truthful in their supplementary are paying for it right now by hating the program. If you didn’t make BHSc, it is not something you should be sad about - it’s the admission committee’s way of saying “you will not enjoy the next four years of your life if you come here”.</p>
<p>Otherwise, if you have any questions regarding the program, feel free to post.</p>
<p>^i agree. BHSc is NOT a backup for anyone. </p>
<p>and yea, they try to decide who gets in based on how they would ‘mesh’ with the problem. the teaching is unique, and i know people who hate it. so, your only doing yourself a disservice by being untruthful in the supp. app. </p>
<p>and hellopanda, congrats on getting into BHSc. Did you apply to US schools to btw? And were you accepted at any? And why did you choose to stay at Mac? and are you a ‘premed’? lol, i kinda bombarded you with q;s right there aha.</p>
<p>Hi ViggyRam, thanks for the congratulations! The offer seems like such a long time ago that I’d forgotten how much I wanted it last year.</p>
<p>I didn’t apply to US schools, though I doubt I would have gotten in (I WAS a regular here though at one point!). I don’t have something I’m exceptional at. I’d think I’m pretty well-rounded, but I didn’t play sports or music at the national level or anything, nor did I compete in IMO or IPhO or anything even close. I did debate at the provincial level, but so did 150 other people across Canada, so that’s hardly anything special. I did take SATs though and did fairly well (PM me if you want specific numbers).</p>
<p>Honestly, when I chose Mac, I had no idea why. No one really tells you specific things about the program - you’re supposed to figure it out. Although I wish I’d been given more info before I came to BHSc, I’ve never regretted my decision to come here. I am surrounded by wonderful people and wonderful profs - I love the program.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what you mean when you say “are you a premed”, but I do hope to go to med school, not unlike 95% of all health science students here at Mac, and 80% of all life science students here :P</p>
<p>So you are saying people in the program who currently hate it are openly admitting to lying on their applications!? </p>
<p>This makes no sense and while I know you write this to provide some kind of balm to those rejected, it is pretty bogus. You are giving wayyyy too much credit to admissions staff and frankly its full of error (I know, I sit on such committees). </p>
<p>Enjoy your success, and congratulations. But please, also take it with a huge grain of humility and don’t take it too seriously. </p>
<p>No doubt there are plenty of brilliant and capable students who could be equally successful in that program but did not get in; and likewise, plenty of people fully qualified by the criteria adcoms used, but for a variety of reasons, it didn’t work out since all such selection mechanisms are an art and not a science, and full of flaws.</p>