The latest updates from the MD Admissions team.
2020-21 Multiple Mini-Interview (MMI) Update
By Admissions on Nov 18, 2020 We are excited to announce that the upcoming 2020-21 UBC MD Admissions interviews will be held completely virtually in 2021. This change has been made to ensure the continued safety of all participants, including applicants, interviewers, and administrative staff, as we continue to experience the COVID-19 pandemic. The interviews will follow the same Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format as the in-person event and will be conducted through our Online Application System using Zoom integration. The dates for the upcoming virtual MMI are:
- Saturday, January 30, 2021
- Sunday, January 31, 2021
- Saturday, February 6, 2021
- Sunday, February 7, 2021
- Saturday, February 13, 2021
Virtual Information Sessions
By Admissions on Aug 18, 2020
All Information sessions for this year have concluded.
Permalink | No CommentsChange to AP transcript deadline
By Admissions on Aug 11, 2020
It has come to our attention that due to extensive processing delays at the College Board many students needing AP transcripts will have a difficult time providing them by the October 1 deadline. To attempt to accommodate, we have extended the deadline for receipt of AP transcripts to December 1, 2020. Please request your AP documents now. If you are unable to meet the AP deadline, you will be given the opportunity to complete any outstanding English requirements by April 30, 2021.
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By Admissions on Aug 07, 2020
As many of you know, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we changed how we consider courses from Winter Term 2 of the 2019-2020 school year (or equivalent term). As discussed on our website and in our previous blog post, courses taken in this semester will be counted towards the minimum credit requirement for the program, but will not be incorporated in any grade point average calculations. Please see Evaluation Criteria: Academic Evaluation on our website for more information about what this means.
However, many students have taken full year coursework from 2019-2020, and only have a grade listed in Winter Term 2. While we would prefer students have their institutions list a grade for the course in Term 1 on their transcript, it has come to our attention that many programs and institutions do not have a means to do so. In order to not penalize these students by removing all grades from their full year courses in the calculation of their GPA, we will, if listed, consider their final course mark in the calculation of their GPA for the appropriate number of Term 1 (or equivalent term) credits.
What does this mean?
- If you took a 6-credit full year course, and received an 85% for the full course, we will include 3 credits at an 85% average in the calculation of your Overall GPA and Adjusted GPA. The other three credits will be considered to meet the minimum eligibility requirement, but will not be incorporated in the GPA calculations.
- If you took one full year course of 24 credits and received an 85% average for the course, we will include 12 credits at an 85% average in the calculation of your Overall GPA and Adjusted GPA. The other 12 credits will be considered to meet the minimum eligibility requirement, but will not be incorporated in the GPA calculations.
Why are we doing this?
The intention of excluding Winter Term 2 grades from our GPA calculations is to not further penalize students who had a very disrupted semester. However, for students who took a significant number of full year courses, if their registrar’s office cannot list a grade for their course for the first term, they will have a significant number of credits and grades removed from their Overall GPA calculation. Which, in turn, affects how many credits and grades can be eliminated from their Adjusted GPA calculation. This inadvertently penalizes these students more than students who did not take full year courses. Taking their final course grade and applying it to the credits they would have received for the first term puts these students on equal footing, in terms of credits with grades, with students who took only semester-long courses in 2019-2020.
Need clarification? Imagine these scenarios:
Applicant A took 30 credits in the 2019-2020 school year. They took 15 credits with grades in their first semester and 15 credits with grades in their second semester. All courses were one-semester courses. Therefore, their transcript lists grades for the 15 credits from 1st semester and the 15 credits from 2nd semester. Because they have 120 credits with grades when they apply, when we remove the 15 credits from Winter Term 2 in the calculation of their Overall GPA, they are eligible to have 15 credits from their worst year removed (120- 15 (Winter Term 2)- 15 (lowest graded credits from worst year) = 90 credits remaining).
Applicant B took 30 credits in the 2019-2020 school year. They took 15 credits in their first semester and 15 credits in their second semester. However, all of these courses were full year courses. Therefore, their transcript only lists grades for all 30 credits in the second semester. Because they have 120 credits with grades when they apply, when we remove all 30 credits from Winter Term 2 in the calculation of their Overall GPA, they are no longer eligible to have any credits removed from their worst year. (120-30 (Winter Term 2) = 90 credits remaining).
- This shift to including 15 of the credits from their full year course in the calculation of their Overall GPA will now make this person eligible to have 15 credits removed from the calculation of their Adjusted GPA.
2020/2021 Application Open & Complete COVID-19 Policy Adaptations
By Admissions on Jul 16, 2020
The UBC MD Application is now OPEN! The application will close October 1, 2020 at 12:00 PM (noon) Pacific Time. The early application deadline is September 1, 2020 at 12:00 PM (noon) Pacific Time. What is the early application deadline? We explain below our COVID 19 Policy Update.
COVID 19 Policy Update
We understand that the evolving COVID-19 situation is affecting many aspects of the medical school application process. After careful consideration and in consultation with a wide variety of stakeholders, we determined the following policy adaptations. Some of these policy adaptations will affect only this current admission cycle, while others will remain in effect for the period listed, or indefinitely. We have tried to be very specific about the dates and deadlines for each policy adaptation, but please let us know if you are confused.
Our Online Application System can be accessed here.
Our 2020/2021 Help Guide can be accessed here.
Transcript Deadlines for 2020-2021
- The transcript deadline is the application deadline of October 1, 2020, except in the following circumstance:
- International transcripts must be submitted by the foreign institution to UBC MD Admissions by December 1, 2020, provided the following conditions are met:
- A WES or ICES evaluation (if required) is submitted by October 1, 2020
- A verified copy of the international transcript is provided by the applicant’s home institution by October 1, 2020 (if a WES or ICES evaluation is not required)
- International transcripts must be submitted by the foreign institution to UBC MD Admissions by December 1, 2020, provided the following conditions are met:
MCAT Deadlines and Accepted Test Dates for 2020-2021
- The deadline for receipt of MCAT scores via the MCAT score reporting system will be extended to December 1, 2020
- For the 2020-2021 application cycle, the UBC MD Admissions office will accept exams written from April 2015 to the last possible test date that ensures that we receive these test scores by December 1, 2020.
- Should the AAMC release more exam test dates this fall, it will be up to you to determine whether the exam scores are likely to be received by UBC MD Admissions in time for the December 1, 2020 deadline. No exceptions will be made for late MCAT scores. Please check the AAMC website regularly for MCAT updates.
Calculation of Overall and Adjusted Grade Point Average
- Overall Academic Average (OGPA): will be based on all university transferable courses attempted (excluding Term 2 of the 2019-2020 academic year (or equivalent term) and courses taken in the summer of the year of application)
- Adjusted Academic Average (AGPA): in the adjusted academic average, the academic year up to 30 credits with the lowest academic average will be dropped. If more than 30 credits are presented in the worst academic year, the 30 credits with the lowest grades will be removed, provided 90 graded credits remain. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic Term 2 of the 2019-2020 academic year (or equivalent term) courses do not count toward the AGPA or the calculation of 90 graded credits, nor do courses taken after June 1 of the year of application.
What does this mean?
- This means that the OGPA and AGPA, will not include courses, even if graded, taken in Term 2 of the 2019-2020 academic year (or equivalent term).
- If you took full year courses in the 2019-2020 academic and the grade only appears in Term 2 (or equivalent term), these grades will not be considered for the calculation of OGPA or AGPA unless your institution is willing to list a grade for the course for Term 1 (or equivalent term).*This policy has been updated. Students who are not able to have grades listed on their transcript for Term 1 (or equivalent term) will have their final course mark included in the calculation of their GPA for the appropriate number of Term 1 (or equivalent term) credits. Please see this blog post for more information.
- This means that the AGPA will now enable those who have over 90 credits to drop the lowest credits from their lowest academic year (up to 30 credits), provided they still have 90 credits with grades remaining (excluding any graded credits from Term 2 of the 2019-2020 academic year (or equivalent term)). See examples on the evaluation criteria page for more detail.
Minimum Academic Standing
UBC MD Admissions still requires individuals to have 90 credits with grades by April 30 of the year of entry of medical school. However, Term 2 of the 2019-2020 academic year (or equivalent term) credits (that are passed) will count towards minimum credit requirement in the 2020-2021, 2021-2022, and 2022-2023 application cycles even if assigned pass/fail grades. As mentioned above, grades from Term 2 of the 2019-2020 academic year (or equivalent term) will not be included in the calculation of GPA.
Early Application Deadline Explanation
Applicants who submit all required documents and fees by September 1, 2020 at 12:00 PM (noon) Pacific Time and who are invited to interview, will receive their interview invitations a day early. We inform applicants whether or not they have met the early deadline, so it can be a good way to receive confirmation that your application is complete in terms of the items that are required by the October 1 application deadline. If you find out that something is missing from your application (like a transcript that never arrived, or your proof of BC residency), you would hopefully have enough time to submit the missing item in time for the regular application deadline. Meeting the early deadline does not give you extra points or any other advantages in how your application is evaluated.
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