Admissions Blog

Clarification of Site Selection

By Admissions on Dec 23, 2011 We would like to correct circulating misinformation regarding site selection and how it impacts applicants chances of being admitted. Let us say loudly and clearly that the sites you rank DO NOT affect your admissibility to the program. In fact admission and site placement is a two step process. First, the Admissions Selection Committee decides whether or not an applicant is admissible to our medical program and second, the Admissions Office attempts to place admissible applicants to sites within the program.  This second step is where your site preference comes in to play. Our commitment is to try to offer admissible applicants a position in our program at a site where they will be happy studying and living. In order to do this, applicants this year are allowed to rank sites in preference from 1 to 4. Applicants may also select “no interest” in a specific site. It is a mistake to try and second guess the process or rank the sites in any order other than the one you truly prefer. How site placement works is like this: When we (the Admissions Office) moves through the list of applicants and comes to your name, we look at your first site of preference, if it is full, we put you at your second site of preference, if that is full, third, etc. If you are placed at any site other than your first preference, you will be wait-listed for your preferred site(s). If we cannot place you, and you have been deemed admissible, you will be wait-listed. The one exception to the site placement rule is the Northern Medical Program (NMP); where one of the assessment criteria is the Rural Training section of the application. As stated in the application help guide, “The NMP is seeking applicants with a genuine interest in learning medicine in the context of rural, remote, and northern communities.” If you didn’t fill out the Rural Training section of the application, you will not be considered for the NMP, even if you rank it as your first choice. Lastly, there is a “no interest” option for those who actually have NO INTEREST is going to one or more sites. Applicants should only use this option if they do not want to move to a specific location or cannot move to a specific location. If you absolutely will not, or do not want to, go to one of the distributed sites, it is very important for you to indicate “no interest.” Understand that after the deadline applicants will not be permitted to re-rank sites, irrespective of any change in life circumstances. We understand that medical school is a big commitment for you. It’s a big commitment for the Faculty of Medicine as well. Please help us put you in a program where you will be happy by fully considering the choices you are making. Offers to the UBC medical program are site specific and are binding to the location indicated. We cannot switch people between sites once they are committed to a specific location. Each of the distributed sites in the program will be fully subscribed when the offers are all accepted. Additional seats or “openings to move” are not an option. Help us give you the best possible outcome and rank sites where you wish to live and study for the duration of the undergraduate program. Permalink | No Comments

Happy Holidays!

By Admissions on Dec 19, 2011

The Admissions Team is slowly dwindling (there are only 3 of us left!) as the school prepares to shut down for the holidays. If you have any pressing issues or concerns, please let us know ASAP as our office will be closed Monday, December 26 – Monday, January 2. Phone hours will only be Monday – Thursday this week (Dec. 19-22).

During the break, current applicants invited for interview are encouraged to review their Interview Information package and take a look at the remaining documents/deadlines that are outstanding. Are there any referees you haven’t contacted or need to follow up with? If you are grad student, have you submitted your grad student report? What about the site preference form? If you aren’t sure about what sites you would like to rank, check out our website and take some time to research the cities they are in. The Island Medical Program (IMP) is located in Victoria, the Northern Medical Program (NMP) is in Prince George, the Southern Medical Program (SMP) is in Kelowna and Vancouver Fraser Medical Program (VFMP) is in Vancouver. You will have an opportunity to meet current med students and hear first-hand about their sites during the Site Information Session, so bring your questions! Also, check out and sign up for the Medical Undergraduate Society (MUS) events. The students can’t wait to meet so many of their prospective colleagues. We can’t wait either! Preparations are well underway, including the creation of a huge pile of multi-colored name tags, one of which has your name on it!

We hope that you have an incredible holiday season, full of relaxation, fun and joy. Season’s greetings and Happy New Year!

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Change to UBC Biochemistry prerequisite

By Admissions on Dec 09, 2011

We have made a change to our biochemistry requirement for UBC students. BIOC 300 will no longer be offered as of September 2012. In its place, students will take a new course, BIOC 202 and BIOC 302.  We will continue to accept BIOL 201/BIOC 302, although students should note that by taking BIOC 202/302 they will be better prepared for the biochemistry component of first year medicine. This stream is recommended, as it has a human focus and is designed for students planning to enter the health sciences fields, including medicine.  Students in the biochemistry program will take BIOC 203 and 303, though we will only include the grade for BIOC 303 in the prerequisite average. BIOC 300 is of course still acceptable for the biochemistry prerequisite if taken before September 2012.

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Suitable referees

By Admissions on Nov 18, 2011

We are getting a number of inquiries from applicants invited for interview asking about the suitability of referees. Please refer to the Supplemental Application section of the Interview Information page where there is a link to suggestions of who we consider to be appropriate referees. These are our guidelines and we are unable to provide any further information as to whether a particular referee would be suitable, or if one is better than another. The choice is yours, but please make sure your referees feel comfortable that they know you sufficiently well to be able to answer all the questions.

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FAQs for applicants not invited for interview

By Admissions on Nov 15, 2011

For those of you who unfortunately did not make it to the interview stage, we do realize how disappointed you must feel and recognize that many of you may have questions. The Admissions Office is unable to provide any further information about our evaluation process, but here are answers to some of the most frequent questions we are asked at this stage.

I received a Regrets, No Interview letter with my academic and non-academic scores. Can I get more information on the definition of these scores?

We cannot provide any further details or specifics regarding the results of your file evaluation. There is detailed information on our evaluation criteria, including non-academic scoring, listed on our website: http://www.med.ubc.ca/education/md_ugrad/MD_Undergraduate_Admissions/Evaluation_Criteria.htm

You may also find it helpful to review the Interim Statistics on our website to assist you in determining the competiveness of your file: http://www.med.ubc.ca/education/md_ugrad/MD_Undergraduate_Admissions/MD_Undergraduate_Admissions_Statistics.htm

I was not invited for an interview; can I talk/meet with someone to discuss my application?

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. It’s obviously not as satisfactory, but you may wish to attend any of the small group information sessions offered at all of our distributed sites (dates, times & locations are listed on our website). Although these sessions are generally geared to prospective applicants, those considering reapplying may also find them helpful.

I think that there has been a mistake in the academic evaluation of my file.

This year, with the new on-line application, the academic evaluation was based on the credits and grades entered by applicants. If you believe that there has been a specific error, please send an email via the on-line application 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 & the grades as they appear on the Application Status page of his/her application.

The calculation of the AQ Score is automatically performed by the online application system, so as long as your OGPA or AGPA (if applicable) is correct, your AQ Score is also correct.  Your AQ Score might seem low, but if your OGPA or AGPA is right then your AQ Score is right, too.  As an additional note try not to compare your AQ score to the one you received last cycle – remember that this year there is no Last 60 credits component, and the score is out of 50 this year rather than 25, so it’s not a very useful comparison.

I thought I should have been eligible for the Adjusted Academic Average to determine my academic score, but it does not seem to have been used.

The AGPA was calculated based on the courses & grades entered by applicants. The on-line system automatically determined (a) the lowest academic year which could be eliminated and (b) if this year could be dropped (i.e. that there were still 90 remaining credits). The Admissions Office verified that grades had been entered accurately by comparison with the official transcripts.

My overall is slightly below the cut-offs posted 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 a lower AQ score (below 75% for BC and below 80% for OOP) cannot be offset by a strong NAQ score; hence 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?

Please see information on our grade conversions: http://www.med.ubc.ca/education/md_ugrad/MD_Undergraduate_Admissions/Evaluation_Criteria.htm]

I am not happy with the non-academic score I received, can I request another review? 

We appreciate that you may be dissatisfied with the scoring of the non-academic portion of your file, but 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.

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 email Admissions through your on-line application 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, Associate Dean, Director or an Advisor/Coordinator to discuss your application.

I’m not sure if I am seeing the right thing under the Scores line on my Application Status page.

The scores you see depend on your application status (refer to the interview decision email you received if you aren’t sure about your specific application status).  Applicants whose files are ineligible and applicants invited for an interview don’t see any scores, so their Scores line says “no scores found.”  Applicants whose application status is Partial File Review can see their OGPA, and if they are eligible for it, their AGPA.  Applicants with an application status of Regrets, No Interview see several scores: OGPA, AGPA (if eligible), AQ Score, NAQ Score, and TFR Score.

You may also wish to review the FAQ section on our website: http://www.med.ubc.ca/education/md_ugrad/MD_Undergraduate_Admissions/Frequently_Asked_Questions.htm

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