Admissions Blog

The latest updates from the MD Admissions team.

Offers – Round 3 Sent

By Admissions on May 30, 2014 The third round of offers went out yesterday afternoon. The deadline for this round is Tuesday, June 3 at noon. Once again, congratulations to everyone who received an offer this round! Permalink | No Comments

Offers – Round 2 Sent

By wong79 on May 23, 2014

We sent out the second round of offers late yesterday afternoon. Congratulations to everyone who received an offer this round! The deadline is Thursday, May 29 at noon. We’ll send out the third round after the deadline, most likely on Thursday afternoon.

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Questions about the waitlist and more

By Admissions on May 20, 2014

Since sending out the offers we have gotten many questions about many things! Here are some answers you might find useful. One section pertains to applicants who have already received an offer, while the other section is intended for applicants who are on the waitlist.

For applicants who have received an offer:

Student Numbers: Student numbers will be available through the online application system in mid-June, ideally on June 16. We will email offer accepted applicants when the numbers are ready. Current and former UBC students will continue to use their existing UBC student numbers.

Housing: For housing-related inquiries, please contact Katya at osa.coordinator@ubc.ca.

Personal Information Form: If the “email” button on the Personal Information Form does not work or if you are having other problems with the form, please save the form as an attachment and email it to mdup.lsc@ubc.ca.

Waitlist questions:

1. I received an offer, but it wasn’t to my first choice site. What are my options?
a. You can accept the offer and most likely stay on the waitlist for your first choice site (and second choice and third choice sites, if applicable). There are a couple of rare exceptions, which is why we say you will “most likely” stay on the waitlist – applicants who selected the NMP but did not complete the Rural Training section of the application will not be waitlisted for the NMP, for example. However, the vast majority of applicants will be on the waitlist for their preferred site(s). This happens automatically so you don’t need to contact us about it. Please note that if you accept the offer, you are agreeing to go to the site listed on your Response to Offer form. You will not be able to change sites unless you get another offer.
b. You can decline the offer to that site and most likely stay on the waitlist for your more preferred site(s). Same as above – the vast majority of applicants will be waitlisted for their preferred site(s), and this will happen automatically. The difference is that you are declining the offer and the site. This is taking a risk since you may not get an offer to a more preferred site, but sometimes you know a particular site just won’t work for you, and in this case it’s better to free up the spot for someone else.
c. You could decline UBC completely. This would remove you from the waitlist and you would not get any further offers from us.

2. Is my position on the waitlist of my preferred site(s) affected by accepting or declining an offer to a less-preferred site?
No, your position is the same whether you accept or decline the offer.

3. What if I have accepted an offer to my second (or third or fourth) choice and have decided I want to stay there? Do I have accept an offer to my first choice site if I get one?
No, you can stay at a less-preferred site if you want. We will take you off the waitlist for your preferred site(s). Please email us to let us know, but be aware that this decision is final and you will not be able to be put back on the waitlist for your first (or second, etc) choice site.

4. What if I have received an offer to my first choice site but want to go to my second (or third or fourth) choice?
If you receive an offer to your first choice site you will have to stick with that site. You won’t be given any other offers.

For applicants on the waitlist:

Waitlist questions:

1. Can you tell me where I am on the waitlist?
No, sorry. Our waitlist is more complicated than most due to the four sites, and we don’t reveal where applicants are, how long it is, how quickly it’s moving, etc. Our statistics page includes the number of declines from past years, but this isn’t particularly helpful since every year is different and this year is no less unpredictable.

2. When will you send the next round of offers?
It will be after the deadline for this round (Thursday, May 22 at 12:00 PST). We will try to send them on Thursday or Friday, and will update the blog when the next round has gone out.

3. I am on the waitlist but received an offer from another Canadian medical school. Can I accept the offer at the other institution but still remain on the waitlist for UBC?
Yes, that’s fine. If you get an offer from UBC and want to accept it you will need to withdraw your acceptance from the other school.

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Offer Notifications Sent

By Admissions on May 15, 2014

This is just a quick update to let you know that we sent offer, waitlist and regrets notifications to all applicants today. While our sympathies are with applicants who did not receive the news they wanted, we also want to congratulate applicants who received an offer. No matter which kind of notification you received today, thank you for being a part of our admissions process this year and best of luck with your future plans.

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Countdown to May 15

By Admissions on May 02, 2014

May 15 is almost NEXT WEEK!(!!!). Whether you are looking forward to that date with joyous anticipation, anxious dread, or a mix of both, it’s definitely a big day on the calendar. Our plan on May 15 is to send regrets first, then move on to the waitlist, and end with the offers. Traditionally, keeping the offers last has allowed us to focus on monitoring offer responses and answering questions without also needing to send another big batch or two of notifications just as offer responses start to come in. Please be aware that it does take us some time to send each group – we have to make sure the right notifications are going to the right people.

This is how the offers work: when we send the notifications, you will receive an email from the online application system. People who get an offer should log into OAS. There, they will see a new tab called Offer, which is where they can access the Response to Offer form, pay a non-refundable $1,000 deposit, and read important information about deadlines, other requirements, etc. People who receive regrets can log into OAS and see some of their academic and non-academic scores. Waitlisted people can’t really do much, sorry – there is no new tab and their scores will still be hidden. Offered applicants will not be able to see their scores either.

There isn’t a lot you need to do to get ready for the offers, but here are a few things to take care of:

Make sure your contact information is up-to-date in OAS. You can do this by clicking on your Profile tab. More instructions are in the Help Guide if you need them.
Decide if you can pay the deposit online or if you will need to get a certified cheque. Credit cards are not accepted for this payment. If you have access to an account with online banking privileges at BMO, Scotiabank, RBC, or TD Canada Trust you should be able to pay online with Interac Online. However, due to Canadian banking regulations, Visa Debit card holders at these institutions will not be able to use Interac Online and must pay by certified cheque. Interac Online should work as usual for accounts without Visa Debit.
Traveling shouldn’t pose a big problem as long as you have internet access since you can accept the offer and pay the deposit online. The deadline for the first round is May 22 at 12:00 p.m. PDT. Deadlines for future rounds will probably be shorter. There are other forms to print out and complete by late June.
Keep the final transcript requirement in mind if you’ve taken any courses since June of last year. We require a final transcript from applicants who receive an offer or are on the waitlist and who have completed coursework between June 2013 and April 2014. The final transcript deadline is June 30 (grad students have until July 30 to submit their final transcripts).

If you have any general questions about the offers process feel free to comment below. Specific questions that pertain to only you are probably better addressed through an email or phone call to us. We’ll be in touch soon!