University of Toronto Pharmacy c/o 2021

[llntt]

I did! I felt way more welcomed at U of T though, and the interviewees were much more friendly than UW

Apparently the ones at UW were told not to show any facial expression

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[cmkc109]

Apparently the ones at UW were told not to show any facial expression

Today is my first time doing MMI. I went in and expected interviewers to have no expressions, but turns out most of them were very friendly and always have a big smile on them. I definitely had a good MMI experience at U of T.

Some scenarios were harder than the rest. I am just hoping that the station that I didnt do well on will be the pilot station.

 

[Pharm1331]

it kinda sucks that it doesn't matter how well you do, just matters that you do better than the 9 other people in your group. Your group could have consisted of the best people applying. I felt confident but then listening to people in the debate stations, I realized that they were also doing well.

 

[pharmhopeful222]

it kinda sucks that it doesn't matter how well you do, just matters that you do better than the 9 other people in your group. Your group could have consisted of the best people applying. I felt confident but then listening to people in the debate stations, I realized that they were also doing well.

I thought they didn't use that method where they compare you to the other applicants in your group?

 

[imessage]

I thought they didn't use that method where they compare you to the other applicants in your group?

I thought that as well, but now that I think of it, I remember during the orientation they said that "if someone's a 9 and you're 11... then the interviewer will have to make some changes with the ratings" or something along those lines. Not sure if that means we're being ranked relative to others, or if I was to nervous to understand what he meant at that time

 

[Phopeful]

it kinda sucks that it doesn't matter how well you do, just matters that you do better than the 9 other people in your group. Your group could have consisted of the best people applying. I felt confident but then listening to people in the debate stations, I realized that they were also doing well.

Did your circuit have both a debate AND collab station or just the one?

 

[Phopeful]

Initially I was relieved that it was over, but now I keep thinking of better ways I should have answered the questions and it's making me nervous.

This is how I felt mostly. I walked out of it feeling pretty disappointed with how I did, but overall I was just excited to have it done with. After a little bit, it started to sink in though and I felt pretty ****ty. Right now, because I don't really have an idea on what constitutes "good" or "bad" performance, my overall impression is that I did mediocre or relatively bad.

 

[DrFunky]

it kinda sucks that it doesn't matter how well you do, just matters that you do better than the 9 other people in your group. Your group could have consisted of the best people applying. I felt confident but then listening to people in the debate stations, I realized that they were also doing well.

Whoa whoa you guys had an actual debate station vs. another applicant??

 

[Pharm1331]

Did your circuit have both a debate AND collab station or just the one?

just the debate

 

[Pharm1331]

Whoa whoa you guys had an actual debate station vs. another applicant??

it wasn't bad. It was a friendly debate.

 

[Pharm1331]

I thought that as well, but now that I think of it, I remember during the orientation they said that "if someone's a 9 and you're 11... then the interviewer will have to make some changes with the ratings" or something along those lines. Not sure if that means we're being ranked relative to others, or if I was to nervous to understand what he meant at that time

yeah he said in the orientation that this is why they took notes.

 

[exokmblue]

just the debate

wow, so different groups have different questions... then it might make sense that they are comparing people within a group

 

[Pharm1331]

wow, so different groups have different questions... then it might make sense that they are comparing people within a group

yeah, hopefully I'm missing something because it just doesn't seem totally fair. but can't stress now, just gotta hope for the best

 

[imessage]

When do you guys think decisions will be posted? Looks like last year it was June 10ish

 

[bennyckp]

When do you guys think decisions will be posted? Looks like last year it was June 10ish

June 9th.

 

[Phopeful]

June 9th.

Is it usually a week before the tentative date?

 

[bennyckp]

Is it usually a week before the tentative date?

Yes

 

[llntt]

This is how I felt mostly. I walked out of it feeling pretty disappointed with how I did, but overall I was just excited to have it done with. After a little bit, it started to sink in though and I felt pretty ****ty. Right now, because I don't really have an idea on what constitutes "good" or "bad" performance, my overall impression is that I did mediocre or relatively bad.

It's okay! Don't beat urself down over it, it's done now so just relax and enjoy the time that you have for now! Who knows what might happen this year I heard they had less applicants this cycle

 

[PharmacyHopeful1]

I thought that as well, but now that I think of it, I remember during the orientation they said that "if someone's a 9 and you're 11... then the interviewer will have to make some changes with the ratings" or something along those lines. Not sure if that means we're being ranked relative to others, or if I was to nervous to understand what he meant at that time

I don't really understand what this means lol can someone explain further? I didn't hear this during my orientation.

 

[TBTSH12]

This is how I felt mostly. I walked out of it feeling pretty disappointed with how I did, but overall I was just excited to have it done with. After a little bit, it started to sink in though and I felt pretty ****ty. Right now, because I don't really have an idea on what constitutes "good" or "bad" performance, my overall impression is that I did mediocre or relatively bad.

pretty much how i feel now about my interview

 

[llntt]

I don't really understand what this means lol can someone explain further? I didn't hear this during my orientation.

It means that the interviewer rates us from 1 to 10. If they rate the first candidate a 9 but then u come along and knock a homerun, they can't possibly give u a 11, so they might have to make some adjustments (ie: rate that first candidate a 8 instead and give you a 10). So they might be making some adjustments to our marks out of 10 in the two mins that they have between each candidate. I think that's what it means, someone correct me if im wrong!

 

[shanapharm]

It's okay! Don't beat urself down over it, it's done now so just relax and enjoy the time that you have for now! Who knows what might happen this year I heard they had less applicants this cycle

Where did you get this info from?

 

[llntt]

Where did you get this info from?

just from a friend so idk how reliable the info is D:

 

[tgbef16]

What are some reasons you guys have uft as your number one choice?

 

[DrFunky]

What are some reasons you guys have uft as your number one choice?

I like the city, the hospitals are first class, I don't want to relocate every 4-8 months like at UW.

 

[azn502]

did many of you apply to uw this year? and what's your first choice??

 

[tgbef16]

I like the city, the hospitals are first class, I don't want to relocate every 4-8 months like at UW.

Yeah I agree. Would you be commuting to class everyday? I'm going to have to for sure for the first year at least.

 

[tgbef16]

did many of you apply to uw this year? and what's your first choice??

I applied to both and got interviews at both. I don't know which to decide between if I get accepted at both because there are very specific reasons I like both schools. I think I am leaning towards UfT if I am in a fortunate position to choose.

 

[Chemlover100]

Do people that don't take a full course load have a chance of getting accepted? In my first year I dropped a couple of courses and took them in the summer instead

 

[shanapharm]

Do people that don't take a full course load have a chance of getting accepted? In my first year I dropped a couple of courses and took them in the summer instead

Yeah same here. I took 8 courses in my first year and did two in the summer but I took a full course load in my 2nd year does that make up for it?

 

[llntt]

I applied to both and got interviews at both. I don't know which to decide between if I get accepted at both because there are very specific reasons I like both schools. I think I am leaning towards UfT if I am in a fortunate position to choose.

Where did you go for undergrad?

A lot of people recommend UW because of their co-op program / curriculum and in general say that graduates out of their program come out knowing more

 

[Phopeful]

does anyone know if your cumulative average or interview performance are worth more than the other in your overall application? or should we assume they are relatively similar in weight?

 

[Chemlover100]

does anyone know if your cumulative average or interview performance are worth more than the other in your overall application? or should we assume they are relatively similar in weight?

According to my friends the interview is worth the most but I'm not sure ...

 

[DrFunky]

Yeah I agree. Would you be commuting to class everyday? I'm going to have to for sure for the first year at least.

I plan to live downtown TO. I live in London now, but for undergrad I lived at home and had to commute an hour to and from Western every day for four years. Let me tell you, that got old real fast. I would like to avoid spending more than 30 mins in transit if possible - communting takes up too much time, whether it be study time or leisure time.

 

[tgbef16]

I plan to live downtown TO. I live in London now, but for undergrad I lived at home and had to commute an hour to and from Western every day for four years. Let me tell you, that got old real fast. I would like to avoid spending more than 30 mins in transit if possible - communting takes up too much time, whether it be study time or leisure time.

I'm from western too . And I know that. But I'm from the GTA and I've been commuting my whole life so I'm use to it. Besides for personal reasons I have to commute for atleast a year.

 

[tgbef16]

Where did you go for undergrad?

A lot of people recommend UW because of their co-op program / curriculum and in general say that graduates out of their program come out knowing more

Yeah I would probably agree with you. I've spent a lot of time talking to alumni and students of both programs and there are definitely pros and cons for both.

 

[BookDragon]

What are ur backup plans if u don't make it into pharmacy?
I'm thinking of doing a masters in analytical chemistry- they get paid almost just as much as pharmacists do and I wouldn't mind working in a lab.

 

[DrFunky]

What are ur backup plans if u don't make it into pharmacy?
I'm thinking of doing a masters in analytical chemistry- they get paid almost just as much as pharmacists do and I wouldn't mind working in a lab.

Have you ever worked in a lab? Just wanted to make sure you've had lab experience, cause I thought the same thing as you until I did a masters and turned out that I hated it.

 

[BookDragon]

Have you ever worked in a lab? Just wanted to make sure you've had lab experience, cause I thought the same thing as you until I did a masters and turned out that I hated it.

No, I haven't had real work experience in a lab but out of all my time in undergrad, the labs are the only thing I enjoyed, so I figure I'd enjoy a job working in a lab. What did you find so bad about it anyways that you say you hated it?

 

[DrFunky]

No, I haven't had real work experience in a lab but out of all my time in undergrad, the labs are the only thing I enjoyed, so I figure I'd enjoy a job working in a lab. What did you find so bad about it anyways that you say you hated it?

Well, throughout undergrad I always wanted to become a professor and the most direct way to do that was to get my PhD. So, I started grad school, and quickly learned that academics are very self-centered, and the politics of academia drove me nuts. Aside from that, if you get into a lab with a bad supervisor life will be miserable (though I admit, that point is situation specific). The thing that bothered me the most though, was the loneliness. I know that probably sounds silly! I am actually an introvert by nature, and thought I wouldn't mind working at a lab bench all day (I did my MSc in Physiology), but let me tell you, after two years of benchwork, oftentimes going entire days running westerns or PCR without speaking a word to anyone else, it started to make me pretty depressed. The best part of my experience was being a TA, a) for social reasons, I got to socialize with profs, other TAs, students, and b) because it was closer to what I actually wanted to do (teach).

After I was done, I volunteered at a pharmacy and wow, loved it by comparison. The work is less mundane and you get to actually talk to people (I never thought I would say this as an introverted person), and I still aspire to teach pharmacology part time once I'm done with my PharmD.

 

[Phopeful]

The thing that bothered me the most though, was the loneliness. I know that probably sounds silly! I am actually an introvert by nature, and thought I wouldn't mind working at a lab bench all day (I did my MSc in Physiology), but let me tell you, after two years of benchwork, oftentimes going entire days running westerns or PCR without speaking a word to anyone else, it started to make me pretty depressed.

Absolutely this! I'm still doing my undergrad, but worked the past summer at a lab and I ended up hating it because of the lack of interaction I had. The longest conversations each day were with the custodian that would come into the lab around 4pm and chat with me a bit while I passed cells. That was it. Because of my experience in the lab, I'm absolutely praying that I can get into pharm and don't have to continue pursuing my BSc and do anything research-related afterwards.

 

[BookDragon]

The thing that bothered me the most though, was the loneliness. I know that probably sounds silly! I am actually an introvert by nature, and thought I wouldn't mind working at a lab bench all day (I did my MSc in Physiology), but let me tell you, after two years of benchwork, oftentimes going entire days running westerns or PCR without speaking a word to anyone else, it started to make me pretty depressed.

Absolutely this! I'm still doing my undergrad, but worked the past summer at a lab and I ended up hating it because of the lack of interaction I had. The longest conversations each day were with the custodian that would come into the lab around 4pm and chat with me a bit while I passed cells. That was it.

Wow, that's quite interesting to hear because I'm extremely introverted too. I've spent so many days just going to classes and studying at home without really talking to anyone all day and it's never really bothered me much. I like working independently for the most part, and talking to people all day long would probably drain me...that's why I'm looking for other options, it's so hard to decide on a career without really knowing what it's going to be like. Is it really busy working in a lab or do you have some free time in between things?

 

[DrFunky]

Wow, that's quite interesting to hear because I'm extremely introverted too. I've spent so many days just going to classes and studying at home without really talking to anyone all day and it's never really bothered me much. I like working independently for the most part, and talking to people all day long would probably drain me...that's why I'm looking for other options, it's so hard to decide on a career without really knowing what it's going to be like. Is it really busy working in a lab or do you have some free time in between things?

Depends on your PI. You can be in a chill lab where you only run one experiment at a time, all the way up to running multiple at a time with no downtime. But it's too hard for me to give you a definitive answer, there are too many variables. But best believe you will be putting in more than full time hours for what works out to be less than minimum wage pay (pay / hours) for the duration of grad school. And if any of your experiments fail, best put in more time either on nights or weekends.

EDIT: I just have to say - you better be super passionate about whatever subject before you get into it. Committing basically 80-90% of your time to this one subject, reading all papers in this field and related fields, doing the experiments, writing the papers etc., can really get to be a lot, and if you don't have that underlying motivation or drive to find the answers to your research questions, it makes it hard to slog through what I've outlined above. HOWEVER!!! Some people thrive in this setting, and are super passionate and driven and can succeed, but as I've learned through all the people I've met, this only comprises a small handful of grad students (maybe ~10%). I'm not trying to discourage you by any means, just want to share some perspective from an MSc!

 

[BookDragon]

Depends on your PI. You can be in a chill lab where you only run one experiment at a time, all the way up to running multiple at a time with no downtime. But it's too hard for me to give you a definitive answer, there are too many variables. But best believe you will be putting in more than full time hours for what works out to be less than minimum wage pay (pay / hours) for the duration of grad school. And if any of your experiments fail, best put in more time either on nights or weekends.

EDIT: I just have to say - you better be super passionate about whatever subject before you get into it. Committing basically 80-90% of your time to this one subject, reading all papers in this field and related fields, doing the experiments, writing the papers etc., can really get to be a lot, and if you don't have that underlying motivation or drive to find the answers to your research questions, it makes it hard to slog through what I've outlined above. HOWEVER!!! Some people thrive in this setting, and are super passionate and driven and can succeed, but as I've learned through all the people I've met, this only comprises a small handful of grad students (maybe ~10%). I'm not trying to discourage you by any means, just want to share some perspective from an MSc!

Honestly, if I don't get into pharmacy, I have no idea what I'm going to do with my life. In the past two years, my plan a has always been pharmacy but my plan b has changed too many times to even list. My dream job was always to be a teacher but I've seen a couple of people who got their teaching degree but are still struggling to find jobs so I gave up on that long ago.

 

[chunchunmaru]

For UofT students, the only thing we have to hand in at this point is the online transcript right? Just wanted to make sure.

 

[bennyckp]

For UofT students, the only thing we have to hand in at this point is the online transcript right? Just wanted to make sure.

Yes.

 

[tgbef16]

Well, throughout undergrad I always wanted to become a professor and the most direct way to do that was to get my PhD. So, I started grad school, and quickly learned that academics are very self-centered, and the politics of academia drove me nuts. Aside from that, if you get into a lab with a bad supervisor life will be miserable (though I admit, that point is situation specific). The thing that bothered me the most though, was the loneliness. I know that probably sounds silly! I am actually an introvert by nature, and thought I wouldn't mind working at a lab bench all day (I did my MSc in Physiology), but let me tell you, after two years of benchwork, oftentimes going entire days running westerns or PCR without speaking a word to anyone else, it started to make me pretty depressed. The best part of my experience was being a TA, a) for social reasons, I got to socialize with profs, other TAs, students, and b) because it was closer to what I actually wanted to do (teach).

After I was done, I volunteered at a pharmacy and wow, loved it by comparison. The work is less mundane and you get to actually talk to people (I never thought I would say this as an introverted person), and I still aspire to teach pharmacology part time once I'm done with my PharmD.

Also adding onto this comment train, I've also done 3 years of research and I hate it. I'm a pretty extroverted individual and working in a lab is a very specific environment and I learned quickly that it's not "cool" to be the friendly upbeat person (atleast in my lab). You did your work and kept to yourself and I do not like that. I like working in a team and being able to serve people. Although going to conferences was fun and lab meetings were nice, I didn't enjoy everything else you mentioned.

 

[9each]

Honestly, if I don't get into pharmacy, I have no idea what I'm going to do with my life. In the past two years, my plan a has always been pharmacy but my plan b has changed too many times to even list. My dream job was always to be a teacher but I've seen a couple of people who got their teaching degree but are still struggling to find jobs so I gave up on that long ago.

Well it's not like there's plenty of jobs for pharmacists either, it's a pretty saturated field at this point since people figured out you can make $100k or over with 6 years of schooling

 

[DrFunky]

Well it's not like there's plenty of jobs for pharmacists either, it's a pretty saturated field at this point since people figured out you can make $100k or over with 6 years of schooling

Eh, prospects for pharmacy jobs are not that bad as you get farther from the schools (ie., farther from UW/UofT). If you're willing to relocate we'll be okay. It's nowhere near as bad here as in the US thankfully.

 

[9each]

Eh, prospects for pharmacy jobs are not that bad as you get farther from the schools (ie., farther from UW/UofT). If you're willing to relocate we'll be okay. It's nowhere near as bad here as in the US thankfully.

Having to relocate to small towns/cities is proof that the field is saturated. I don't see doctors or lawyers having to relocate to smaller towns in order to get jobs.