This is a long post (taken from an even longer reminder email!), but it addresses many common situations. Please read the whole thing before contacting our office about your transcripts and other documents.
1. If you requested that your documents from last year be carried forward but the status still says “Not Received”: As we have said before, since we already have all of last year’s transcripts in our office, we are not prioritizing these transcripts, so it might take a while for them to be marked as received. We will work on them throughout the summer but we might not have them all updated until after the application deadline. As long as you have checked the appropriate box on the application and do not need to submit a new transcript, don’t worry that the transcript status still says “Not Received.” Your transcript will be considered received on time as long as the box is checked, you do not need to submit a new transcript, and your application was submitted by the deadline. Please do not call or email us about this – contacting us just delays the process. We’re not going to make you ineligible because we in the office did not have a chance to update your transcript status before the deadline.
2. If you requested your UBC transcript be accessed electronically but the status still says “Not Received”: Same thing – these transcripts are not our highest priority so it will take longer than normal for us to update them. As long as you have checked the appropriate box on the application, don’t worry that the transcript status still says “Not Received.” Your transcript will be considered received on time as long as the box is checked, your UBC information was filled out correctly, and your application was submitted by the deadline. Again, please do not call or email us about this.
3. If you sent your transcripts to us by courier and the courier status is showing as received (or if you dropped off your transcripts in person), but your transcript status on your online application is still showing as “Not Received”: It takes 1-2 business days for your documents to be sent from our mailing address to our physical location, so until they arrive in our physical location, we will not be able to mark them as “Received” online. Don’t worry – as long as it arrived at our mailing address by the deadline, it will be considered “Received”, even if we are not able to update your status to reflect this right away. If you have courier or signature proof that your transcript was delivered more than two days ago to our mailing address, please email us through the online application system with the tracking information and we will look into it as soon as possible.
4. If your institution says they sent your transcripts a week ago, but your transcript status on your online application is still showing as “Not Received”: Regular mail can take a while to get to us, and schools are very busy this time of year with transcript orders, so make sure to give yourself lots of extra time. We are working hard to keep on top of the high volume of transcripts that we receive so that you will know when we have them in hand, but remember, once you put a document in the mail, our office has no way of determining when it will arrive, or why it has not yet arrived. If you are really concerned about your transcripts arriving by a certain time, you may want to consider having them couriered.
5. If you have proof that you ordered a transcript at your Registrar’s Office, or proof of your school sending your transcript to us by regular mail, but your transcript status on your online application is still showing as “Not Received”: It is not considered an exceptional circumstance if your transcript takes longer than expected to be processed by your school and/or to arrive to us by regular mail – we will not accept emailed proof that you ordered your transcript early, or electronic versions of your documents until your official documents get here. It is your responsibility to ensure your official transcript arrives at our mailing address by the deadline, so send them in plenty of time, keep an eye on your transcript status, and if you think it seems like an unreasonable amount of time has passed since you sent it, request another be sent. Please don’t call and ask us what is a reasonable amount of time is, or if we think you should send another or not – our guess is as good as yours.
6. If you want to bring forward transcripts that were received by our office during last year’s application, but you also need to send us one updated transcript:
a. If you check off the box asking us to bring forward your documents from last year, and you send us one updated transcript, we will use the newest version of the transcript received before the deadline, along with any other transcripts that you asked to be brought forward.
b. If you want to bring forward your documents from last year, but you need to update your UBC grades, check off the box asking us to bring forward your documents from last year, and check off the box asking us to access your new UBC transcript electronically. We’ll understand what you mean if you check off both boxes.
7. If you submitted your transcripts a while ago, but had not yet added that institution to your online application: Our office cannot mark your document as “Received” until you add it to your online application. This goes for university transcripts, IB/AP transcripts, high school transcripts and WES/ICES evaluations. If you recently updated your application to show another institution, you do not need to contact us. We are constantly going through ‘unmatched’ transcripts to update them for you as quickly as we can. These items have been date-stamped so we know when they arrived.
8. Seeing a red exclamation point after you pay the application fee: Right before the early deadline, a couple of applicants reported seeing a red exclamation point on the Application page even after their payment goes through successfully. If you can see your payment transaction details on the Application Fee page of the application, you can trust that your payment was successful and was received at the date and time indicated. The red exclamation point should update to a green checkmark overnight.
What do we put for contact title under the rural, remote, northern training section for contact info for where we lived? do we put the relationship with that person (ie. father) or their employment title?
If you’re using family members you can put Mother, Father, Aunt, etc as the title.
And when we put in the contact info for references, i have many who have left their positions now. Would it still make sense to put in their position when I did the activity or their current position (which is irrelevant to my activity)? Thanks
Also just to confirm, it is ok if we write the description in sentence or point form? No preferences? Thanks again!
Please put the contact’s title for when you did the activity. If you have enough space in the description box or ‘please clarify’ box it would be helpful to mention their current title as well.
For filling out the description, you can write in sentences or in point form, as long as the description is visually clear and easy to read.
Hi,
I created and presented a poster on a research day with other authors, but the poster isn’t published “in conference proceedings”. Will this activity still belong under Research Publications?
Thankyou
This is kind of borderline – even though you were an author of the poster, since there was no abstract published or anything it’s probably best to put it in the Non-Academic Activities section instead. Anyone who has already put something like this in Research Publications, don’t worry. We know poster situations can be ambiguous.
I’m a little confused about the “this is part of my program requirements” line in the NAQ section. Does this mean we’re allowed to put an activity that’s part of a course? (ie. the clinical rotations in pharmacy, which are actually required courses in the program)? Thank you!
That checkbox was included to identify, for example, volunteer hours that are required to graduate from certain programs, or experiences from required co-ops. Activities in this section should still be non-academic. If you feel like your clinical rotations are a significant non-academic activity and you wish to include them, it’s up to you. Just be sure to mark the checkbox 🙂
If we presented a poster at a conference and it was published in the conference proceedings do we fill out one entry (under research publications) or two entries (research publications and NAQ)
It’s up to you.
Another question about the transcript section. I’ve entered in my UBC grades according to their order in SSC. However, I noticed that when I click on each individual academic term, the grades are in a different order. Which order should I follow? Does it actually matter at all? Thank you very much!
Please enter the grades in the order they appear on your transcript. If you’ve already entered them in a different order you don’t need to go back and rearrange them all, but it is possible to rearrange your courses by dragging and dropping them using the arrows to the left of each course.
So at my university full load is 15 credits per semester (30 per year)–same as UBC
So for a typical general chemistry/biology/organic chemistry course, there is 2 semesters of lecture and 1 semester of lab -> they are all valued at 3 credits
So…
1) General Biology 1 lecture (3 credits)
2) General Biology 2 lecture (3 credits)
3) General Biology (3 credits)
Do I only consider the lecture courses part of the prereq’s or do I include the lab as well??
What’s confusing me is that
1) for chem at UBC, lab is included with lecture in a course that is 3 credits
2) If I include all three, then even though my university and UBC seem to have same definition as credit hours, I would be listing 9 credits to fulfill an ostensibly 6 credit prerequisite?
Thank you!
This is specific; please email us through the online application system.
Hello,
I just had a question regarding the “employment history vs non-academic history” sections of the applications (Similar to the question above).
I had two counselling practicums as part of my master’s program that were not paid for, but were required as part of my program. Both are relevant in my experience/activities pertaining to my desire to pursue medicine; I was going to place them under the ‘non-academic activities’ section; however, I am not sure if this is appropriate given they were part of academic courses. Would it be more appropriate to place it under employment history?
Thank you for the clarification!
Employment History is for paid work. If you want to include your practicums in the Non-Academic Activities section that is your choice.
Thank you!
Hoping for some last minute clarification on where one would place research podium presentations (oral) that were at an international level conference and have their abstract published in the conference proceedings. Am I correct in assuming that these go under the “Publications” section, as Abstracts that have been published in the conf. proceedings?
I’m slightly unsure because the help guide says poster presentations (for which we are not the author or co-author) should go in the non-Academic section. I am hoping that this applies only to posters and not to oral presentations? Thanks for the clarification!
Please use your best judgment and try to follow the guidelines in the Help Guide.
Three questions:
1) Is the deadline for transcripts strictly at 12:00 pm (i.e. the deadline time for the application?
2) Regarding point #5 “It is not considered an exceptional circumstance if your transcript takes longer than expected to be processed by your school and/or to arrive to us by regular mail ”
Would it be considered exceptional circumstance if a courier guaranteed to have it arrive by Monday did not manage to make it there?
Thank you.
1) Yes
2) Not sure – if this happens to you, please email us through the online application system.
Hi,
Would undergraduate theses count under the “Research Publications” categories?
Thanks!
It’s your choice.
Hi, I’m wondering where I can drop off my transcript in person?
Can I go to the MD Undergraduate Admission Office in person to drop this off? I know this is ridiculous as the deadline is tomorrow but I misread the BC Residency requirement and thought that my UBC transcript would prove it! (I’ve only studied for past 2 years at UBC).
You can drop documents off at our mailing address in person between 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Deadlines still apply to hand-delivered documents.
1- What telephone number do I write when I send my transcripts by courier?
2- Which is more guaranteed sending transcripts by courier or by fax?
You can use the phone number listed on our website. We do not accept faxed transcripts so courier is a better option.
“As long as you have checked the appropriate box on the application, don’t worry that the transcript status still says “Not Received.” ”
Where would I find the “box” ?
This is on the application… it’s not something you can do right now (in February).