Admissions Blog

COVID-19 and Your Application

By Admissions on Apr 17, 2020 At MD Admissions, we recognize that the past month has been a stressful time for current and prospective applicants. In addition to dramatically changing everyday life, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected things like transcript requests and grading policies at many institutions, and has also caused some MCAT sittings to be cancelled. Applicants are understandably anxious to know how these changes will impact their applications. Although we are sorry we cannot give you definitive answers at this moment, we acknowledge that these changes are outside of your control, and are working hard in conjunction with our selection committee to develop ways to accommodate these changes while still ensuring the integrity of our process. We hope to have more answers in early May and will post an update as soon as we can. Permalink | No Comments

Telephone Inquiry Line Closed

By Admissions on Mar 17, 2020

In light of UBC’s evolving COVID-19 response, the Admissions Office is closing its telephone inquiry line until further notice. Please contact us through the online application system (current applicants) or at admissions.md@ubc.ca (prospective applicants). We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and look forward to answering your questions in writing.

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In-Person Information Session Cancellation

By Admissions on Mar 13, 2020

In light of the COVID-19 outbreak, and following the recommendation of social distancing, we are cancelling the upcoming March and April in-person information sessions at the UBC Vancouver campus. Sorry for any inconvenience. Please feel free to contact us by email or phone. Our email and phone number are posted on the Contact Us page of the website.

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Pre-Medicine Diversity Symposium

By Admissions on Feb 18, 2020

Ever consider a career in medicine? Join us at the The Pre-Med Diversity Symposium which is an annual UBC faculty-sponsored event designed to encourage people from all walks of life to apply to medical school. This event is tailored to applicants who consider themselves ‘non-traditional’ for reasons that may include having a non-science background, applying later in life, having children and family, having financial or personal hardship, or belonging to a demographic underrepresented in medicine.

Event details:
What: Faculty speakers, student speakers, and small group Q&A with medical students. Lunch included!
Date: Sun. Mar. 8, 2020
Time: 10-1 pm
Location: Medical Student Alumni Centre (2750 Heather St, Vancouver, BC). This event will also be video conferenced to Prince George, Victoria and Kelowna (more details can be found in the RSVP link below).
RSVP (to confirm your registration): https://forms.gle/Rkgm2exxU4RaQTWi6

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Pre-Interview FAQs 2019/2020

By Admissions on Dec 09, 2019

We have made some changes to how we communicate feedback to applicants this year, and hope that the information below can help to answer some of your questions.

OGPA = Overall GPA in UBC percentage

AGPA = Adjusted GPA in UBC percentage

NAQ Score Range = In order to make sure applicants receive a fair score for this section, all file reviewers are carefully trained, there are various checks throughout the process to ensure consistency in marking, and results are standardized to make up for any scoring variations between reviewers. Due to these safeguards we do not accept requests for re-evaluation of the non-academic section.

My Result = The combination of your academic and non-academic evaluations, in comparison to the BC resident and out of province cutoffs. It may look like your result is very close to the cutoff. We have double-checked these files for accuracy, so unfortunately, your result may be close, but not quite at the level to be invited to interview this year.

FAQs

Feedback

I was not invited for an interview; can I talk/meet with someone to discuss my application? I would like some more feedback.
Due to limited resources, we regret that we are not able to offer any feedback advising to applicants who were not granted an interview; nor can we provide any further information about the evaluation of your file. More information about how we assess academics and non-academics can be found on our Evaluation Criteria page. The Interim Statistics on our Statistics page contain the average GPAs of the applicant pool and the group invited to interview.

I can tell why I didn’t get an interview, but how can I improve that area of my application?
Unfortunately, we cannot give you individual feedback about improving specific sections of your application– each person’s situation and application is unique and we do not have the resources to offer this type of advising to applicants.

In general terms, improving one’s GPA seems fairly straightforward, in that the only way to improve a GPA is by taking more classes and achieving higher grades in those classes. It’s the related if/how/when/why/is it worth it type of questions that are much more complicated. You know your situation, capacities, future plans, and personal resources the best, and you are the best person to make this kind of decision. We cannot tell you what impact improving your GPA would have on your ultimate chances of acceptance.

For the non-academic portion, we look for several things: longstanding, meaningful commitments; leadership; service ethic and altruism; ability to work with others, especially people outside of your peer group; and diverse interests and experiences. We also recognize exceptional achievements in some areas. When looking at your non-academic range it is important to remember that the applicant pool isn’t made up of the same people you might normally compare yourself against, like your classmates or coworkers – it is made up of highly accomplished individuals just like you. Unfortunately, we cannot offer specific ways to improve your non-academic score.

GPA

I think that there has been a mistake in the academic evaluation of my file.
The academic evaluation was based on the credits and grades entered by applicants. If you believe that there has been a specific error in the calculation of your GPA, please send an email via the application system detailing what you believe the mistake to be. Please note that some applicants entered wrong information – eg. did not include all courses, excluded failed courses or used letter grades instead of percentages. In these instances the Admissions Office had to correct these mistakes by verifying courses and grades on official transcripts. Therefore, there may be a discrepancy between averages calculated by an applicant and the grades as they appear on the Application Status page of his/her application.

I thought I should have been eligible for the AGPA to determine my academic score, but it does not seem to have been used.
The AGPA was calculated based on the courses and grades entered by applicants. The application system automatically determined whether the applicant was eligible for the AGPA, as outlined on the Evaluation Criteria page and on this flow chart:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If the applicant was eligible for the AGPA, the application system automatically removed up to 30 credits from the worst academic year. Please note that the AGPA is based on completed courses with grades only, and does not include summer 2019 courses. The Admissions Office verified that grades had been entered accurately by comparison with the official transcripts. 

My overall GPA (or adjusted GPA if applicable) is slightly below the 75%/85% cut-off but I still feel my non-academic experiences are very strong and should have been reviewed.
Although we look for excellent non-academic qualities, these must also be accompanied by very good academic qualities to demonstrate an applicant’s ability to successfully handle the rigorous MD Undergraduate curriculum. It was determined that GPAs below 75% for BC residents and below 85% for out of province applicants cannot be offset by a strong NAQ score. Hence, the non-academic portion of these files were not reviewed.

I attended a university that did not use percentages for its grading scheme. How did UBC calculate averages from universities with different grading schemes?
Information on grade conversions, including our grade conversion tables, can be found on the Evaluation Criteria page of our website.

Non-Academics

I am not happy with the non-academic range I received. Can I request another review?  
We understand that you may be dissatisfied with the range you received, but we would like to assure you that the non-academic portion of your application was reviewed and evaluated fairly and consistently. We will not re-evaluate the non-academic section of your file. At the beginning of each cycle, with guidelines provided by the Admissions Policy Committee, we establish a profile of an average applicant as a benchmark and points are allotted accordingly. Reviewers are trained and files are cross-checked. Although there cannot help but be a degree of subjectivity involved, we feel the standardized process keeps this to a minimum. 

General

I was not invited for an interview and would like to appeal the decision.
We realize the importance of your application and appreciate that the results may be disappointing. Please be aware that we do our best to ensure that our evaluation practices are fair and consistent. Files are often double and sometimes triple checked to ensure accuracy. While we are unable to discuss your application over the phone, you may message Admissions through the application system if you have any specific concerns regarding your file evaluation. Please note that we will not re-evaluate the non-academic section of your file. We will not make appointments with the Dean, Assistant Dean, or Admissions staff to discuss your application.

I’m not sure if I am seeing the right thing under the scores line on my Application Status page.
This is what you should see, depending on your application status:

Ineligible: no results
Regrets, Partial File Review: OGPA, AGPA (if applicable)
Regrets, No Interview: OGPA, AGPA (if applicable), NAQ Score Range, and My Result indicator
Invited to Interview: no results

 

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