Common Mistakes

We are quickly counting down the days until the application closes and the Admissions Office is abuzz with mail deliveries, updating documents, sending responses to emails and answering phone calls. For all of you furiously completing your applications from now until September 16, here are some common mistakes applicants make during this stage of the process (in no real order):

1) Miscalculating how much time it will take to complete the application. Without fail, every year we have one or two brave souls who open the application one day before the deadline. We strongly discourage this. The application is long and comprehensive and we recommend you give yourself several days to complete and submit it, plus additional time that you may not have realized was necessary to contact people and institutions to ensure your application is complete and accurate.

2) Not reading the HELP GUIDE while completing the application. The Help Guide is designed to answer many of your questions and to guide your application writing process. Read the Help Guide. Use the Help Guide. The most frustrating thing for the admissions team is when someone does not enter information into the application in the requested way. This is because it can take hours to reinterpret/adapt the information so that an evaluation can be performed- this is all done on the back end as no changes can actually be made to the application once it is submitted.

3) Not reading the prerequisite or BC residency requirements before opening the application. The prerequisites are listed here. Make sure you have them or can complete them during the 2013-2014 academic year, before you open the application. BC residency requirements are listed here.  Account fees are non-refundable.

4) Not requesting transcripts early enough. The unfortunate truth is, you are quickly running out of time if have not already requested that your university print and mail your transcripts to us. All documentation must be physically IN THE ADMISSIONS OFFICE by the application deadline- not in the mail, not printed and stamped. If you are worried, have your transcripts couriered. This way you will know when they have been signed for. We are updating transcript statuses as quickly as possible, but it is a challenging task with the amount of mail we are receiving each day.

5) Sending transcripts to the wrong address: Only have transcripts sent to: Mailing address

6) Not contacting verifiers to ask their permission: The non-academic sections of the application require that you indicate contact information of a person who can verify each of your activities. This is generally a different person for every activity. Often, these people are hard to contact, they no longer work for the company you worked for, they have a different email address than you thought, they think about your experience differently than you did, or they are out of town for some part of the application period (Sept-May). In order for an activity to be considered, you must have a verifier who is reachable (preferably by email), speaks English, and is appropriate for that activity. See page 13 of the Help Guide for more information about verifiers.

7) Forgetting to submit additional paperwork: Please review the document checklist. All documentation must be submitted to the admissions office by the deadlines indicated on the checklist. Remember, BC residency changed this year so everyone claiming BC residency, including returning applicants, must submit new BC residency paperwork.

8) Improperly sending BC Care Card information: For the BC Care Card to be properly received through the Online Application System, you must scan and send both sides of the card and upload the document following the email instructions on page 20 of the Help Guide.

9) Forgetting to proofread the application: Once an application is submitted there is nothing the admissions office can do to change it. This includes changing your verifier, adding an activity, changing the dates of an activity, reducing/increasing the hours of an activity, fixing spelling issues, changing your grades, adding institutions, etc. Please proofread. This being said, for anything that could be viewed as an egregious error (eg. saying you did an activity for 2,000 hours when you meant 20, mistyping a “F” on your transcript as an “A+,” forgetting that you attended an entire institution, etc.) we do appreciate you emailing (through the OAS) to let us know. Forgetting is never an excuse for not meeting the deadlines. Therefore, the transcripts of even ‘forgotten’ institutions must be in by the deadline.

10) Submitting at the last minute/forgetting to pay the application fee: In our online application system it is possible to submit your application without paying the full application fee. BOTH are due by 12:00 PDT on Sept. 16, 2013. If you are submitting 30-20-10-5 minutes before the application deadline there are often technical issues from over usage on the server, something in your application doesn’t save properly; the payment program isn’t reading your credit card correctly, etc. We strongly suggest you attempt to submit the application before September 16. It is almost impossible to troubleshoot issues at the last minute and if you do not have both the application and the full application fee paid by the deadline your application will not be considered. We are strict about this policy.

Remember, we are updating transcripts and other documentation as quickly as possible. We will not be responding to emails asking if we have received your transcripts, moved forward your documents, etc. To check the status of your application and documents, click on the “Application Status” tab. If your documents have not been received, the onus is on you to ensure that they are.
Best of luck finishing and submitting your application!