Please feel free to post your general questions for 2015/2016 here. In late summer we will start disabling comments for the previous application cycle’s posts, so it’s best to post your 2015/2016 comments here instead.
54 responses to “2015/2016 General Questions Post”
I created my login profile for 2015/2016 today and have received the email notification with a activation link. I then clicked the link and verified my email. However, I tried for multiple times to login the 2015/2016 online application system and was just not able to enter the system. I retrieved the password and the password I entered is correct.
I created an account for 2014/2015 cycle with this email yet never submitted my application.
Would you please let me if there is any option for me to solve this problem? Thanks very much.
Sorry you are having trouble logging in. A few applicants have reported this issue when using Chrome. Our software team is looking into it, but in the meantime you can try using Firefox or Safari to log in. If that doesn’t work please email us.
Is the consideration of exceptional circumstances part of the full file review, or are they considered during the GPA cut-off stage in relation to determining whether an individual will get a full file review? Also, I am wondering if some courses that I completed at a college/technical institute are university-level? Will the application system automatically determine if some institution’s courses are not eligible? Thank you 🙂
Exceptional circumstances are considered as part of the full file review, but for the non-academic part only (not as a mitigating factor for academic performance and not to determine whether an applicant will receive a full file review based on meeting the minimum GPA requirement). They would be looked at in a more holistic way during the post-interview file review.
The application system will not automatically determine which courses are university-transferable; however, when your file is reviewed the coursework that is not university-transferable will be excluded from the GPA calculations.
I was just wondering if you could clarify if we should include paid work experience in the non-academic activities for example under the service ethic sub-category or only in the work experience section. In the description for service ethics the help guide says “They can include volunteer activities (generally considered positions without monetary compensation) as well as work experiences,” however, it also previously states that paid work experience would be covered separately. As well, if a work experience was combined volunteer and paid (i.e. volunteered X number of hours per week but paid overtime) should that be included as two separate activities (one paid one unpaid) or together?
The full quote from the Help Guide actually says (emphasis mine): “They can include volunteer activities (generally considered positions without monetary compensation) as well as work experiences (which, as a reminder, should be listed in the Employment History section).” We will look for evidence of Service Ethic qualities in your work experience, but paid work should be listed in the Employment History section.
For your second question, please make two entries. You can list the volunteer hours in the Non-Academic Activities section and the paid hours in the Employment History section. A clarification note to explain why some hours were paid and some were volunteer would be helpful as well.
I was just wondering what I should do if I can’t find the website that has the description of my award (e.g. President’s Entrance Scholarship). Should I just look for an alternate site such as this one [website hidden] where it contains some of info about the award?
1) For the non-academic section, when we are describing activities in 350 characters, must we use full sentences, or can we use phrases and well-understood abbreviations, so long as the description is being communicated?
2) If I have IB credit for some of the prerequisites and therefore never took them in university, how do you calculate the prerequisites score? Is there any consideration given to the IB scores for those prerequisites when calculating pre-interview scores? I’m worried that the prerequisites average calculation wouldn’t be fair otherwise.
3) Do you consider the difficulty of chosen academic studies prior to medical school, for the pre-interview cut-off? I.e. how do you weigh students who selected a rigorous Honours program with challenging courses, but had a not-so-excellent GPA, against students who take easier courses and obviously had a much stronger GPA?
4) For re-applicants, I have read on an online forum that the UBC admissions committee uses the old non-academic score rather than assigning a new score. While I sincerely doubt this, could you please clarify how the review process differs for re-applicants, if at all?
1) Very common, well-known abbreviations are ok and you don’t necessarily need to use “I” at the beginning of every sentence, but your descriptions should be clear, concise, and easy to read.
2) We do not consider IB courses to have grades (post-secondary grades), so they are not included in the prerequisite GPA.
3) Before the interview we only look at the grades.
4) You are right to doubt that comment! Reapplicants are evaluated the same way as first-time applicants and we evaluate the non-academic sections anew every year.
We evaluate rural locations internally, so on the Rural Capacities section please list all activities you think are relevant to the categories listed, even if you aren’t sure the location will be considered ‘rural/remote enough.’ For the Lived Experiences section, please list all of the places you have lived in Canada for three months or more, including non-rural locations.
There doesn’t have to be a paper publication associated with a presentation to include it in the Research Publications and Presentations section, but this section is intended for formal research presentations (at conferences, for example). More informal, occasional research presentations (to lab groups or classes, for example) can be included in the description of your research work experience or research volunteer experience.
Hi, for an informal presentation what specific section would that fall under? For Cell biology I had to do a full semester histology lab project on a pig kidney with report and for biochemistry I had to do a research analysis with a research paper and presentation on the proteins involved in Alzheimers disease. Thanks
AdmissionsSeptember 20, 2016 at 10:52 amPermalink | Reply
The deadline has passed; thank you for doing your best to complete the application!
Hi there, I have a couple of questions about the UBC medical application:
1. Where would you suggest placing hospital and research lab positions under? It doesn’t quite make sense to put it under the Non-Academic activities sections. If these positions were not paid (just volunteer), should it still go under employment?
2. Can an activity go under two sections – for ex, I want to see I am a recreational skier, which will go under diversity of experience, but also have received recognition – should it also go in the high performance category? Or do I have to pick one.
1. Only paid work should go in the Employment History section. Please put volunteer experiences in the Non-Academic Activities section.
2. In most cases you can just put the activity in the High Performance category, because we recognize that in order to achieve a level of proficiency at which you can gain recognition, you may have been doing the activity for longer than the five years indicated by the date limits on this category. However, if there are aspects of the activity you feel are important to note that do not fit into the High Performance entry (like being on a team at a recreational level vs achieving a higher level as an individual, for example), you can create an additional entry.
I have a couple of questions regarding the application:
1. I was wondering if the published abstracts must also be included in the “Research Publications and Presentations” section or if this section is only for paper publications?
2. If a research project was presented as a poster in a conference and the abstract was published in a journal, should we create two entries, one for the abstract and one for the poster presentation in the “Research Publication and Presentation” section?
3. Is it important for the activities in the non-academic section to be started from the most recent one or the order doesn’t matter in this case?
1. Abstracts should not be listed in the Research Publications and Presentations section.
2. The poster presentation should go in the Research Publications and Presentations section, but not the abstract. Perhaps you could mention the abstract in your description of the related research activity in the Non-Academic Activities section or in the Employment History section, as applicable.
3. The order doesn’t matter; the application system will sort your entries automatically.
In terms of the number of hours for each activity, if the role and time commitment continues into the new school year (but the end date we are asked to list is June 1st as requested in the system), should our hours include what I would reasonably expect to invest during the school year, or only include the time we have already spent?
We will be able to see the link as text and can copy/paste the link to look at the article if necessary. Links are helpful in some cases, but they are supplementary, so it is important that your description contains the pertinent details about your activity and does not rely on the linked content for key information.
For the Non-Academic section, when explaining the activities that are ongoing, should I just put the end date as the cut off date (June 1st) or do I need to mention the fact that this activity is still in progress the description box?
I have a few questions about which courses I should include in my Transcripts section.
I previously went on exchange for a full year and have received the full WES evaluation of my foreign transcript.
1) Should I only report the courses that I used to receive transfer credit from my home university? I applied for transfer credits for only some of the courses I took while on exchange, as I only needed a certain number to meet my requirements.
OR
2) Should I report all the courses I took while on exchange (and all of which appear on my WES evaluation)? Since I did not apply for transfer credits they do not have a formal course designation from my home university (ie. ARTS 3rd) and I am unsure how I would report them.
For Employment History, Hours per Week:
If you worked on an as-needed basis, and most weeks you weren’t called in, do you put the most frequent hours per week based on the weeks that you actually were called in?
e.g. Week 1 – 4 hours, Week 2 – 0 hours, Week 3 – 0 hours, Week 4 – 4 hours, Week 5 – 0 hours, Week 6 – 8 hours => enter 4 hours per week?
I see what you mean – the Help Guide does say to enter the number of hours per week you most frequently worked. That’s a bit easier with a more regular schedule, though. With a schedule like yours that didn’t really have regular hours and included weeks of no work, an average of the hours you worked over the entire time period (e.g., total hours worked divided by number of weeks) might be a better estimate. To help us understand your schedule better, please be sure to explain you worked on an as-needed basis and explain a little about how often you worked on average in the description box.
For a sport that’s played at a recreational level and not as part of a formal organization, what should I list under the “organization” text box? Can I input the venue instead?
For solo hobbies in non-academic activities and for employment where I’ve done work in private circumstances, what should I put in the organization box, since I’m not affiliated with any organization for those activities?
For solo hobbies please choose a term that indicates the hobby is done independently, like “Self” or “Unaffiliated.” For the type of employment you mention, you can put the name of the person who employed you.
I realized that I am a few credits short (24 credits) of having what is considered a full course load per year . Would I be able to take a full course load in the spring and summer semester followed by a full fall and spring year and have it count for a full course load before I apply?
Also for non academics how far back can I go to include activities from high school ? Is there a cut off ?
Thank you for your help!
AdmissionsSeptember 14, 2015 at 4:48 pmPermalink | Reply
UBC actually doesn’t require a full course load to apply, although we do look for evidence that you can handle the rigorous, full-time course load of medical school.
The only earliest-date cutoff for the Non-Academic Activities section is for the High Performance in an Area of Human Endeavour category; other than that it’s up to you how far back your activities go.
If I took a optional course that required going to a hospital to work with a research project and got course credit for it, can I include it under non-academic activities?
AdmissionsSeptember 14, 2015 at 4:50 pmPermalink | Reply
It’s up to you – if you do include it, please be sure to mark the “Course Credit Received” box.
I am in my final year of my degree but do not need to take a full course load each semester in order to graduate. That being said, I do not want to take less than 5 classes per semester if it will negatively affect my application. I have taken a full course load for approximately half of my semesters so far throughout my degree. Is it best to continue with 5 courses per semester for my last year, or only take the amount of courses I need to graduate?
Thank you
AdmissionsSeptember 30, 2015 at 4:44 pmPermalink | Reply
It’s your choice – we want to make sure applicants can handle the rigorous, full-time curriculum of medical school, but at the same time we understand that applicants in the final year of their degree program may not need to take a full course load.
As seen above, I notice that it is said that UBC med school doesn’t require a full course load. However, I was wondering if I wanted to demonstrate that I am able to take a rigorous, full time curriculum, would I be able to take 30 credits between the spring term and summer term. I have some interesting research opportunities that may fall in the fall term so I was wondering if that is an option to demonstrate this ability.
Course load is evaluated in context, so we understand things like co-op or work terms may shift or otherwise impact an applicant’s course load for the year.
prospective studentMay 3, 2016 at 9:27 pmPermalink | Reply
How does having a year of your undergrad done at a college look to admissions? Does it completely ruin your chances or count towards “easy” classes?? I’m really worried taking a year of university transferable courses at Langara before transferring to UBC to major in biology will make me a non-competetive applicant.
No need to worry! We do not have a preference for one institution over another, and we understand that colleges can be more affordable and more local.
A hopeful studentJune 9, 2016 at 2:52 pmPermalink | Reply
Hello,
I had a question about the high performance category. If I participated in a nationally/provincially recognized event prior to the cut off date, but am still recognized as a provincial and national competitor as I still participate in that activity, can I still list those events?
Also, what if the organization doesn’t have a website that can verify that I actually participate in the activity? What if the references don’t speak English very well?
1) You can list the events, but if they do not fall within the date limits for the High Performance category, please select a different category for them.
2) The website should provide us with more information about the activity. It doesn’t necessarily have to confirm your involvement in the activity (your verifier can do that).
3) Please choose a verifier that can speak English well enough to confirm the details of your activity.
To Whom It May Concern:
I created my login profile for 2015/2016 today and have received the email notification with a activation link. I then clicked the link and verified my email. However, I tried for multiple times to login the 2015/2016 online application system and was just not able to enter the system. I retrieved the password and the password I entered is correct.
I created an account for 2014/2015 cycle with this email yet never submitted my application.
Would you please let me if there is any option for me to solve this problem? Thanks very much.
Sincerely,
Liang Wang
Sorry you are having trouble logging in. A few applicants have reported this issue when using Chrome. Our software team is looking into it, but in the meantime you can try using Firefox or Safari to log in. If that doesn’t work please email us.
Hello,
Is the consideration of exceptional circumstances part of the full file review, or are they considered during the GPA cut-off stage in relation to determining whether an individual will get a full file review? Also, I am wondering if some courses that I completed at a college/technical institute are university-level? Will the application system automatically determine if some institution’s courses are not eligible? Thank you 🙂
Exceptional circumstances are considered as part of the full file review, but for the non-academic part only (not as a mitigating factor for academic performance and not to determine whether an applicant will receive a full file review based on meeting the minimum GPA requirement). They would be looked at in a more holistic way during the post-interview file review.
The application system will not automatically determine which courses are university-transferable; however, when your file is reviewed the coursework that is not university-transferable will be excluded from the GPA calculations.
Hello,
I was just wondering if you could clarify if we should include paid work experience in the non-academic activities for example under the service ethic sub-category or only in the work experience section. In the description for service ethics the help guide says “They can include volunteer activities (generally considered positions without monetary compensation) as well as work experiences,” however, it also previously states that paid work experience would be covered separately. As well, if a work experience was combined volunteer and paid (i.e. volunteered X number of hours per week but paid overtime) should that be included as two separate activities (one paid one unpaid) or together?
Thank you,
Hailey
The full quote from the Help Guide actually says (emphasis mine): “They can include volunteer activities (generally considered positions without monetary compensation) as well as work experiences (which, as a reminder, should be listed in the Employment History section).” We will look for evidence of Service Ethic qualities in your work experience, but paid work should be listed in the Employment History section.
For your second question, please make two entries. You can list the volunteer hours in the Non-Academic Activities section and the paid hours in the Employment History section. A clarification note to explain why some hours were paid and some were volunteer would be helpful as well.
Hello,
I was just wondering what I should do if I can’t find the website that has the description of my award (e.g. President’s Entrance Scholarship). Should I just look for an alternate site such as this one [website hidden] where it contains some of info about the award?
Thank you very much!
Jay
Please enter the website of the awarding organization, department or office instead.
Hello,
I have a few questions:
1) For the non-academic section, when we are describing activities in 350 characters, must we use full sentences, or can we use phrases and well-understood abbreviations, so long as the description is being communicated?
2) If I have IB credit for some of the prerequisites and therefore never took them in university, how do you calculate the prerequisites score? Is there any consideration given to the IB scores for those prerequisites when calculating pre-interview scores? I’m worried that the prerequisites average calculation wouldn’t be fair otherwise.
3) Do you consider the difficulty of chosen academic studies prior to medical school, for the pre-interview cut-off? I.e. how do you weigh students who selected a rigorous Honours program with challenging courses, but had a not-so-excellent GPA, against students who take easier courses and obviously had a much stronger GPA?
4) For re-applicants, I have read on an online forum that the UBC admissions committee uses the old non-academic score rather than assigning a new score. While I sincerely doubt this, could you please clarify how the review process differs for re-applicants, if at all?
Thank you in advance.
1) Very common, well-known abbreviations are ok and you don’t necessarily need to use “I” at the beginning of every sentence, but your descriptions should be clear, concise, and easy to read.
2) We do not consider IB courses to have grades (post-secondary grades), so they are not included in the prerequisite GPA.
3) Before the interview we only look at the grades.
4) You are right to doubt that comment! Reapplicants are evaluated the same way as first-time applicants and we evaluate the non-academic sections anew every year.
What is the definition for a rural or remote community? Is there a population cut-off to be considered rural?
Thank you!
We evaluate rural locations internally, so on the Rural Capacities section please list all activities you think are relevant to the categories listed, even if you aren’t sure the location will be considered ‘rural/remote enough.’ For the Lived Experiences section, please list all of the places you have lived in Canada for three months or more, including non-rural locations.
Can an oral presentation of a research project (but with no paper publication on this project) be included in the Research and Publication section?
There doesn’t have to be a paper publication associated with a presentation to include it in the Research Publications and Presentations section, but this section is intended for formal research presentations (at conferences, for example). More informal, occasional research presentations (to lab groups or classes, for example) can be included in the description of your research work experience or research volunteer experience.
Hi, for an informal presentation what specific section would that fall under? For Cell biology I had to do a full semester histology lab project on a pig kidney with report and for biochemistry I had to do a research analysis with a research paper and presentation on the proteins involved in Alzheimers disease. Thanks
The deadline has passed; thank you for doing your best to complete the application!
Hi there, I have a couple of questions about the UBC medical application:
1. Where would you suggest placing hospital and research lab positions under? It doesn’t quite make sense to put it under the Non-Academic activities sections. If these positions were not paid (just volunteer), should it still go under employment?
2. Can an activity go under two sections – for ex, I want to see I am a recreational skier, which will go under diversity of experience, but also have received recognition – should it also go in the high performance category? Or do I have to pick one.
Thank you very much
1. Only paid work should go in the Employment History section. Please put volunteer experiences in the Non-Academic Activities section.
2. In most cases you can just put the activity in the High Performance category, because we recognize that in order to achieve a level of proficiency at which you can gain recognition, you may have been doing the activity for longer than the five years indicated by the date limits on this category. However, if there are aspects of the activity you feel are important to note that do not fit into the High Performance entry (like being on a team at a recreational level vs achieving a higher level as an individual, for example), you can create an additional entry.
Are old versions of the MCAT still being accepted for the 2015/2016 application cycle?
I just wrote it in 2014 and so it is within the 3 year window.
Thank you for any info on this.
Please see the MCAT section on our Admission Requirements page.
Hello,
If I have received an NSERC USRA and an NSERC IUSRA, may these be listed under one award entry or should they be listed separately?
Thank you!
They should be listed separately.
Hi,
I have a couple of questions regarding the application:
1. I was wondering if the published abstracts must also be included in the “Research Publications and Presentations” section or if this section is only for paper publications?
2. If a research project was presented as a poster in a conference and the abstract was published in a journal, should we create two entries, one for the abstract and one for the poster presentation in the “Research Publication and Presentation” section?
3. Is it important for the activities in the non-academic section to be started from the most recent one or the order doesn’t matter in this case?
Thank you very much in advance.
1. Abstracts should not be listed in the Research Publications and Presentations section.
2. The poster presentation should go in the Research Publications and Presentations section, but not the abstract. Perhaps you could mention the abstract in your description of the related research activity in the Non-Academic Activities section or in the Employment History section, as applicable.
3. The order doesn’t matter; the application system will sort your entries automatically.
Hi,
Regarding the rural application, I’m wondering if the cutoff date for non-academic activities is also June 1 2015?
Thanks so much!
Yes, please do not enter Rural Capacity experiences that took place after June 1, 2015.
Hi there,
In terms of the number of hours for each activity, if the role and time commitment continues into the new school year (but the end date we are asked to list is June 1st as requested in the system), should our hours include what I would reasonably expect to invest during the school year, or only include the time we have already spent?
Thanks for your help!
Please include only the time you have spent up to June 1, 2015. Do not include an estimate of the time you will spend in the upcoming year.
Hello,
If we include a link to a newspaper article about a certain activity in the description, will that be seen? Thanks.
We will be able to see the link as text and can copy/paste the link to look at the article if necessary. Links are helpful in some cases, but they are supplementary, so it is important that your description contains the pertinent details about your activity and does not rely on the linked content for key information.
Hi,
For the Non-Academic section, when explaining the activities that are ongoing, should I just put the end date as the cut off date (June 1st) or do I need to mention the fact that this activity is still in progress the description box?
Thanks so much!
Please put the end date as June 1, 2015. It’s not necessary to mention that the activity is ongoing, but you may if you wish.
Hello,
I have a few questions about which courses I should include in my Transcripts section.
I previously went on exchange for a full year and have received the full WES evaluation of my foreign transcript.
1) Should I only report the courses that I used to receive transfer credit from my home university? I applied for transfer credits for only some of the courses I took while on exchange, as I only needed a certain number to meet my requirements.
OR
2) Should I report all the courses I took while on exchange (and all of which appear on my WES evaluation)? Since I did not apply for transfer credits they do not have a formal course designation from my home university (ie. ARTS 3rd) and I am unsure how I would report them.
Thank you very much.
Please enter all of your courses as they appear on your WES evaluation, regardless of whether you requested or received transfer credit for them.
For Employment History, Hours per Week:
If you worked on an as-needed basis, and most weeks you weren’t called in, do you put the most frequent hours per week based on the weeks that you actually were called in?
e.g. Week 1 – 4 hours, Week 2 – 0 hours, Week 3 – 0 hours, Week 4 – 4 hours, Week 5 – 0 hours, Week 6 – 8 hours => enter 4 hours per week?
I see what you mean – the Help Guide does say to enter the number of hours per week you most frequently worked. That’s a bit easier with a more regular schedule, though. With a schedule like yours that didn’t really have regular hours and included weeks of no work, an average of the hours you worked over the entire time period (e.g., total hours worked divided by number of weeks) might be a better estimate. To help us understand your schedule better, please be sure to explain you worked on an as-needed basis and explain a little about how often you worked on average in the description box.
Hi,
For a sport that’s played at a recreational level and not as part of a formal organization, what should I list under the “organization” text box? Can I input the venue instead?
Thank you!
If it’s something informal like a drop-in and there is no organizing body, it’s fine to put the venue.
For solo hobbies in non-academic activities and for employment where I’ve done work in private circumstances, what should I put in the organization box, since I’m not affiliated with any organization for those activities?
For solo hobbies please choose a term that indicates the hobby is done independently, like “Self” or “Unaffiliated.” For the type of employment you mention, you can put the name of the person who employed you.
Hi, I’m just wondering under what circumstances it’s required to upload course syllabi?
You don’t need to upload course syllabi unless we ask you to.
Hi !
I realized that I am a few credits short (24 credits) of having what is considered a full course load per year . Would I be able to take a full course load in the spring and summer semester followed by a full fall and spring year and have it count for a full course load before I apply?
Also for non academics how far back can I go to include activities from high school ? Is there a cut off ?
Thank you for your help!
UBC actually doesn’t require a full course load to apply, although we do look for evidence that you can handle the rigorous, full-time course load of medical school.
The only earliest-date cutoff for the Non-Academic Activities section is for the High Performance in an Area of Human Endeavour category; other than that it’s up to you how far back your activities go.
If I took a optional course that required going to a hospital to work with a research project and got course credit for it, can I include it under non-academic activities?
It’s up to you – if you do include it, please be sure to mark the “Course Credit Received” box.
Hello,
I am in my final year of my degree but do not need to take a full course load each semester in order to graduate. That being said, I do not want to take less than 5 classes per semester if it will negatively affect my application. I have taken a full course load for approximately half of my semesters so far throughout my degree. Is it best to continue with 5 courses per semester for my last year, or only take the amount of courses I need to graduate?
Thank you
It’s your choice – we want to make sure applicants can handle the rigorous, full-time curriculum of medical school, but at the same time we understand that applicants in the final year of their degree program may not need to take a full course load.
As seen above, I notice that it is said that UBC med school doesn’t require a full course load. However, I was wondering if I wanted to demonstrate that I am able to take a rigorous, full time curriculum, would I be able to take 30 credits between the spring term and summer term. I have some interesting research opportunities that may fall in the fall term so I was wondering if that is an option to demonstrate this ability.
Course load is evaluated in context, so we understand things like co-op or work terms may shift or otherwise impact an applicant’s course load for the year.
How does having a year of your undergrad done at a college look to admissions? Does it completely ruin your chances or count towards “easy” classes?? I’m really worried taking a year of university transferable courses at Langara before transferring to UBC to major in biology will make me a non-competetive applicant.
No need to worry! We do not have a preference for one institution over another, and we understand that colleges can be more affordable and more local.
Hello,
I had a question about the high performance category. If I participated in a nationally/provincially recognized event prior to the cut off date, but am still recognized as a provincial and national competitor as I still participate in that activity, can I still list those events?
Also, what if the organization doesn’t have a website that can verify that I actually participate in the activity? What if the references don’t speak English very well?
Thanks,
A hopeful student
1) You can list the events, but if they do not fall within the date limits for the High Performance category, please select a different category for them.
2) The website should provide us with more information about the activity. It doesn’t necessarily have to confirm your involvement in the activity (your verifier can do that).
3) Please choose a verifier that can speak English well enough to confirm the details of your activity.