Hello current applicants! T-10 days until the application deadline! As you can imagine we are receiving a lot of questions regarding the application, documentation, etc.
In order to help us respond to your emails faster, when you contact us through the OAS please include: your first and last name as stated on your application profile.
To speed up response time we will NOT be responding to the following types of emails:
1) Inquiries regarding whether we have/have not received all of your documents. The status of transcripts, BC residency documents, other required documents, etc. are being updated daily. Please check the “application status” page of the OAS for the current status of your documents. If you sent in your document and its status states, “not received,” one of several things could have happened: 1) we have not received your document and you should probably send a new one; 2) when we received your document you had not completed the corresponding part of your application, so we could not update your document’s status- please make sure that you enter in all of the institutions you have attended, your BC residency status etc. We go through the stack of documents we have received that were not entered in to the OAS every few days. This means there is a delay in processing time of your documents; 3) If you are a UBC student and you requested that your transcript be accessed electronically and the email can be seen in the “communication section” of the OAS we have officially received your transcript. We are updating the status of your documents as soon as possible, however, it is more important for us to inform the applicants who need to request paper transcripts that their documents have/have not arrived because they will need more time to request a new one if it got lost in the mail. Please be patient.
2) If you’ve emailed us about a transcript, BC residency, or MCAT and your status has since been updated.
3) If you’ve informed us that you have updated the transcript section of your application. Please see above (2) for how we process documents we’ve received that did not have institutions, etc. listed when we received them.
4) Emails asking if a certain verifier is appropriate. As we’ve stated before, please use your best judgment. Bear in mind, if we can’t contact the verifier because they no longer work with an organization, have moved, are from a foreign country, etc, they are probably not a good verifier. We need to be able to contact someone who will be able to discuss your involvement with an activity and who will appear to be a credible source of information.
5) SISC Transcript Requests. Please see above (3) regarding why.
If you have other specific questions or concerns regarding the application/ application process, please read through the help guide and website first. If the answer is not there, feel free to contact us and we will be in touch with you as soon as we are able.
Good luck and we look forward to receiving your application!
With regards to Non-Academic submissions, if we include a certificate we have earned (eg. Research Ethics, First-Aid) is it suitable to submit the verifier “Can Submit the Certificate Upon Request” or something of that nature? Does that qualify as a substitute for these type of cases?
Thanks.
No. A certificate is not a suitable verifier. We need to be able to contact someone with questions about the course, award, etc as well as to confirm whether or not you participated or completed this activity.
Hello,
Is it appropriate if we designate a higher level course as a pre-req as oppose to a lower level one? For example, designating a 200 level English Course over a 100 level English Course.
Thanks
If you have taken a lower level course that satisfies the prerequisite requirement than no, it is not appropriate to substitute a higher level course. Additionally, if you have taken a course that satisfies a prereq twice, one with a lower grade and one with a higher grade, please use the first successful attempt (pass) as the prereq even if the grade is lower.
If we are listing an award in our Non-Academic submissions, how many hours should we put?
Thank you for any help you can provide me with!
Use your best judgment with this. Just make sure whatever number you include can be justified.
Hi, I understand that MCAT is not looked at the pre-interview stage of the application process. But during the post-interview stage is it only looked at as a flag (meeting the minimum cut off) or is the overall score factored in?
Thanks
All applicants must meet the minimum MCAT requirement prior to being selected for an interview. Following the interview your entire application and supplemental application is considered, so your MCAT score does matter.
If we are discussing a personal experience, do we just put N/A in the organization box? And put 0 hours for time?
Without fully knowing what you are talking about, it is difficult to advise what to do. Generally, however, the “exceptional circumstances” box in the “additional information” section of the application is designed to give applicants room to write about personal experiences that have affected their application. If you don’t feel that your personal experience fits into this category and you still want to include it in the application, please do your best to fit it into the NAQ section however you feel appropriate.
For Employment History and Non-Academic Submissions when we are writing our verifier’s “Title” should we write their current title or the title they held when we were working for them?
For example:
While I was working at a sports camp for Jane Doe she was the Assistant Coach of the Varsity Volleyball team (and thus in charge of organizing the camps); however, now she is no longer involved with the camps and is Head Coach of a volleyball program elsewhere.
For her “Title” would I write “Former Assistant Coach of the Varsity Volleyball Team,” or “Head Coach at __” ?
Thank you for any help you can provide me with!