but thats the thing ur speaking from the side that got accepted, im spekain form the side that got rejected. Back in highschool i got the wutever 85% n im like oh im within that esitmate so im gona aply to mac . so i wasted that $30 on an application and in janurary we were told it went to 87 n it just pisses me off cause if i knewit was 87 i wuld have worked even harder first semster or i wldn have applied to mac. i knlow they have the right to change the cutoff over the amount of pl but it really messes with u when u THINK ur safe n then u find out ur not

Originally Posted by MCHEDDENITE

but thats the thing ur speaking from the side that got accepted, im spekain form the side that got rejected. Back in highschool i got the wutever 85% n im like oh im within that esitmate so im gona aply to mac . so i wasted that $30 on an application and in janurary we were told it went to 87 n it just pisses me off cause if i knewit was 87 i wuld have worked even harder first semster or i wldn have applied to mac. i knlow they have the right to change the cutoff over the amount of pl but it really messes with u when u THINK ur safe n then u find out ur not

Regardless of whether you were accepted or not, the system works the same way.
If you chose to slack off and not work as hard as you could to get the highest average you could, just because you thought you could get away with a lower mark, that is in no way Mac's fault. You wasted your own $30 by slacking. They always say that the cutoff is ESTIMATED, and you should aim above it, and that if you get the cutoff you're not guaranteed admission. If Mac doesn't know what the cutoff will be ahead of time, how on earth are they supposed to tell you?! They give you their best estimate, with a disclaimer for this exact reason.
I still think that publishing a cutoff higher than what's expected will hurt way more people than it might help. Really, it's just a guide to see if you have a chance...you're expected to work as hard as you can and go beyond the expected minimum average.

Also, by January, Mac still wouldn't have known that it was 87...unless you mean the Jan when you were already in first year?

Originally Posted by nerual

Regardless of whether you were accepted or not, the system works the same way.
If you chose to slack off and not work as hard as you could to get the highest average you could, just because you thought you could get away with a lower mark, that is in no way Mac's fault. You wasted your own $30 by slacking. They always say that the cutoff is ESTIMATED, and you should aim above it, and that if you get the cutoff you're not guaranteed admission. If Mac doesn't know what the cutoff will be ahead of time, how on earth are they supposed to tell you?! They give you their best estimate, with a disclaimer for this exact reason.
I still think that publishing a cutoff higher than what's expected will hurt way more people than it might help. Really, it's just a guide to see if you have a chance...you're expected to work as hard as you can and go beyond the expected minimum average.

Also, by January, Mac still wouldn't have known that it was 87...unless you mean the Jan when you were already in first year?

why are u assuming i slacked off, i killed myself in gr 12 to do well... but how was i suppose to know to aim above it when it said estimate 83-86% , it never said aim higher we might change, and not one person told me to aim higher i even talked to profs n they said i was sure to get in. no in jan or feb it was whenever they finish 1st semester i got a letter from mac saying they raised it to 87 , so i riedso hard to bring up my avg but i just couldnt...moral of the story get an 87+ to apply to life sci

Originally Posted by MCHEDDENITE

why are u assuming i slacked off, i killed myself in gr 12 to do well... but how was i suppose to know to aim above it when it said estimate 83-86% , it never said aim higher we might change, and not one person told me to aim higher i even talked to profs n they said i was sure to get in. no in jan or feb it was whenever they finish 1st semester i got a letter from mac saying they raised it to 87 , so i riedso hard to bring up my avg but i just couldnt...moral of the story get an 87+ to apply to life sci

Um, you said yourself that you would have worked harder if you'd known, but you thought you were okay with an 85 so you didn't. It wasn't an assumption, it was based directly on what you said.

It says directly on the website, usually via a little asterisk next to the anticipated cutoff, that it is ANTICIPATED and subject to change based on the number and averages of applicants. Profs have no involvement in admissions to the university, so they're not generally the best source of info for that, but anyone you asked would have only had previous years to go on.

Your year seems to have abnormally high marks, in terms of applying to university (the cutoff was higher than expected) and getting into second year programs (the cutoffs were way higher than in previous years). No one can predict that...it sucks that you got rejected (and you found a way around it, so it didn't ruin your life or anything ), but it's really not Mac's fault. It's not like there was a supplementary application that would make the rejection more personal...there were more than X people applying with better averages than you, so you didn't make the cut. Conversely, for people who did get in, there were less than X people who had better averages than them, so they did make the cut.

Also, by Jan they wouldn't have necessarily got all of the applications (for example, my friend applied through OUAC to Mac at the end of April, and got accepted 8 days later...you just have to start an application by Jan whatever, but you can amend it until the end of April), so it's possible the average was even higher than 87.

By the way:

Anticipated Admission Range - September 2011 (Subject To Change)83-86%

source: http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /forms/canad.php

1. Like I've said multiple times, it's ANTICIPATED. That's because they don't know how many students will be applying and what their averages are going to be.
2. It says it's subject to change.

Also, by January they have a better idea of the number of students applying and their averages since students start to apply to universities by that time. That's where they found out that the average is 87.

Originally Posted by jhan523

By the way:

source: http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /forms/canad.php

1. Like I've said multiple times, it's ANTICIPATED. That's because they don't know how many students will be applying and what their averages are going to be.
2. It says it's subject to change.

Also, by January they have a better idea of the number of students applying and their averages since students start to apply to universities by that time. That's where they found out that the average is 87.

i know i just never realized it was there bc they push us to use einfo for that stuff so i used that more n it doesnt say that ne where so i know i shuld have gone on the mac site but even when i did i prob just wasnt paying attention to it i dunno it was so far in the past

Originally Posted by MCHEDDENITE

i know i just never realized it was there bc they push us to use einfo for that stuff so i used that more n it doesnt say that ne where so i know i shuld have gone on the mac site but even when i did i prob just wasnt paying attention to it i dunno it was so far in the past

Then maybe a better solution is making sure people know the disclaimer that comes along with the anticipated cutoffs...Mac isn't arbitrarily raising the cutoff, nor will it be beneficial to post something higher than anticipated. Anything beyond that is waaaaay too far off from the original discussion

ugh i hope it doesnt like go up to 90 :( epic faill.

if u wana get into life science u will need grade 12 biology, chem12, english 12, math 12 (even though calculus is not required to get in, but math u will take in university will require knowledge from calculus , calculus in high school is free 2 ) , also physics 12 will be useful ..
Well required average for Life Science is 84-86 , but it is always good to take higher than that,, but the way mine was 88%
So work hard and gl

I also recommend trying to get a mark over 88%, that is a guarantee that you will get into the program for sure. As time is going by, for some reason the lifesciences are getting more and more popular at mac. I still remember when the cutoff used to be around 85%, but in my gr. 12 year it was 86 - 88%, and now I heard for this year it was 83 -86%. Bottom line, if you wish to be in the program for sure, be above 88%, and if you have a above 90% in gr. 11 and gr. 12 first semester, you should also expect an early response from mac around february end i think, can't remember exactly sorry. But anyways try hard and do your work on time and you will be just fine .

Wow I can't believe how high the admission cut off is now!
I started life sci in 2006 (just graduated this past June!) and the cutoff for our year was only 82% and I got in with an 84.5 in the very first round in like Febuary or something. I would definatly not have gotten in if I applied now!
Good luck with school this year, I am sure if you try your hardest you will do just fine and find a way in Life sci is a great program!