Admissions Blog

Typical Problems

By Admissions on Sep 03, 2014 The application deadline is coming up soon! We are hoping for a smooth transition at deadline time and are busy updating transcripts, transferring documents, and answering questions to make that happen. Here are some common problems applicants typically encounter from now until the deadline passes – please look them over to make sure the deadline passes smoothly for you, too. Transcript issues: We require that all transcripts be received at our mailing address by the deadline, not just requested or sent by the institution. It’s getting pretty close to the deadline now, so if you have not yet ordered your transcripts, you should do so as soon as possible and probably send them by courier. This way you will have proof that the transcripts were delivered to the right address on time. Our mailing address is listed in the Help Guide and on the Contact Us page of our website. This is the address where all transcripts should be sent. Overlooking requirements: We do not want you to waste any more time and money on the application if you aren’t actually eligible to apply this cycle. Please review our requirements for prerequisites, MCAT, BC residency, transcripts, and WES/ICES evaluations. All application fees are non-refundable. Ignoring/skimming the Help Guide: The Help Guide has a lot of useful information in it. Please check and double-check it before you email us to ask a question, and trust that if the Help Guide says something, it is true. However, if you genuinely need clarification on something, we are happy to help – we just want to concentrate on answering questions rather than saying “Please read p. X of the Help Guide” repeatedly. Application issues: The application takes a while to fill out – don’t leave it until the last minute. You may encounter something you hadn’t planned on, such as needing to find a verifier for all of your activities or having to request a transcript for that online course you took three summers ago. Please try to submit your application before the morning of the deadline. If you wait until the last minute and run into technical issues with the application or payment, we probably won’t be able to get them resolved before the deadline, and we will not extend the deadline. Also regarding the application, please proofread it carefully before you submit it. You can change the phone numbers and email addresses of your verifiers after you submit the application, but nothing else. We in the Admissions Office cannot change anything either. If you do discover a mistake, please email us through the application system so we can print the email for your file. Finally, as a reminder, you must pay the application fee after you submit the application. Your application is not complete without the application fee and it must be received by the application deadline.

Transcript Statuses

We’ve been getting several questions about transcript statuses. Transcripts carried forward from last year: We manually take the transcripts from your old file and put them in your new file before marking them as received – the system doesn’t update this automatically once you check the box on the application. As long as you have checked the appropriate box, though, you can consider them received. These transcripts are low-priority for us since they are all already in the office. BC Residency: Similarly, we manually update the status of your proof of BC residency to Received. It does not happen automatically. As long as your BC residency proof is uploaded by noon on Sept. 15 it will meet the application deadline and you can consider it received. Please remember to upload the front and back of your CareCard or Services Card. You can either scan the front and back or take a picture of the front and back. Transcripts sent to us: We have been updating them within 24 hours of receipt at our physical address (there is a one-day delay between our mailing address and our physical address). If you have delivery proof that your transcript was delivered to the right address, please give us 2-3 days before contacting us about your transcript. If you don’t have delivery proof, we will update the transcript status to Received as soon as we receive it, but in the meantime it’s up to you to decide whether or not you should send another copy. UBC transcripts accessed electronically: As long as you have marked the applicable box on the application you can consider your UBC transcript to be received. Permalink | No Comments

MED 2018 Class Full

By wong79 on Aug 25, 2014

Today is the first day of orientation for MED 2018, which means the class is officially full. Although those of you who were on the waitlist and received a regrets letter today had probably accepted the fact you wouldn’t be joining the class this year, it is still disappointing, and we want to congratulate you on making it so far in the application process. We thank you for your patience and welcome your applications for the 2014/2015 cycle

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Waitlist Shortened

By Admissions on Jun 17, 2014

We have shortened the waitlist. If you received an email from us today about this, please take heart in the knowledge that you made it very far in our highly competitive admissions process, which is something we hope you can be proud of. For those of you who did not receive any news from us today, you are still on the waitlist. However, realistically, we anticipate that there will be only a few offers from this point on out so it is probably in your best interest to consider making other plans for next year, including starting another application to our program if you still wish to pursue medicine at UBC.

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Offers Update

By Admissions on Jun 12, 2014

After completing seven rounds of offers we are able to report that the class is currently full. This is a day of mixed emotion, as we are happy for the new class members, but sad for those who have been patiently waiting for news. We will likely make a few more offers before orientation starts in the fall, but for now all positions have been filled. Our next step will be to look at the waitlist. As promised, we will update the blog when the waitlist has been shortened.

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2014/2015 Application Now Open

By Admissions on Jun 11, 2014

We have opened the 2014/2015 application. Links to the application, Help Guide, and Documentation Checklist are available on the Online Application System page.

As a reminder, if you have a question about the application that doesn’t seem to fit in on other blog posts, please put it under the 2014/2015 General Questions post.

Best wishes to everyone as you start to fill out the application!

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