Accepted/Rejected/Waitlisted??? (for current applicants)

[silver_08]

On 8/3/2021 at 1:41 PM, ThatJD said:

Hi peeps from Alberta, BC person lurking (looking into my options). I noticed that compared to UBC applicants the GPA is lower (good news for me lol). Are you lot using a canadian 4.33 system for GPA? (For example, what would someone posting a 3.4 GPA be as a percentage at UBC be?)

Hey! Alberta schools use a 4.0 GPA system like Ontario's. The only difference being that A's and A+'s are assigned the same score here. I imagine that for you, a 3.4 would be adjusted by a similar factor by the Alberta schools. It's also worth noting that the cGPAs that are calculated are a weighted average of your best years (your worst year is removed), so this may also increase your GPA.

FYI, it's important to note that you need a minimum cutoff GPA of 3.3. If you're OOP, you will need a much higher cGPA in order to get an interview. 

I hope this helps!

[ThatJD]

6 minutes ago, silver_08 said:

Hey! Alberta schools use a 4.0 GPA system like Ontario's. The only difference being that A's and A+'s are assigned the same score here. I imagine that for you, a 3.4 would be adjusted by a similar factor by the Alberta schools. It's also worth noting that the cGPAs that are calculated are a weighted average of your best years (your worst year is removed), so this may also increase your GPA.

FYI, it's important to note that you need a minimum cutoff GPA of 3.3. If you're OOP, you will need a much higher cGPA in order to get an interview. 

I hope this helps!

Thanks, big help. My adjusted/weighted is only about 3.6 (still not stellar), so I plan to take a few more courses to try and edge a 3.7. 

[idontwannabehopeless]

On 5/5/2021 at 9:07 AM, veryhopeful said:

Result: Acceptance!

Timestamp: no email, saw it on the launchpad when I checked

Geography: IP

GPA: 4.0

MCAT: 519

Degree: 4th year BSc

ECs: PM for details, I would say 50/50 ratio of typical premed to unique, no publications tho. Happy to chat! For the longer essays, 1 was about a personal life experience, 1 was about an EC where I felt I showed alot of growth. 

Interview: I thought it was one of my better interviews. I really liked the questions as I felt they were interesting topics I could speak a lot about and I felt the panel went super well. I had 1-2 where I thought my answers were boring but nothing I thought I bombed. It was one of my later interviews which I think definitely helped because I wasn't super nervous. 

I'm SO GRATEFUL this is insane!!  I'm definitely one of those people who never imagined I'd ever get here. I don't think it has hit me yet, and i found out to check from a friend who got a rejection email so it's been a day of very mixed feelings. 

How did you manage 4.0? like I need your secret.. Waaah! (crying emoji is not accepted here so waaaahh lol). Anyway, Hats off to you!! 

[Mcflurry]

Result: R

Timestamp: 4:37

Geography: IP

GPA: 4.0

MCAT: 523

Degree: Fourth year BSc

EC:  4

Interview: Pass. Felt really good about it... lots of practice. 

Well this sucks

Congrats to everyone who got in!!

[Catsandstuff]

Result: rejected

Timestamp: 4:37

Geography: IP rural

GPA: 3.41

MCAT: 510

Degree: Msc 

ECs: 6/15

this whole process sucks haha. I decided to take open studies to try to pull up my GPA a bit, because I figured I could fix my ECs just by writing them better. Jokes on me I guess. I got all As this year, but my GPA only goes up to 3.5, while my EC score stayed the same. I don’t know if I can fix it before October, so I’m feeling pretty defeated rn.

[MA24MD]

Result: R

Timestamp: 4:37

Geography: IP

GPA: 3.85

MCAT: 128.25

Degree: Finishing MSc

EC:  9/15

Interview: Pass

In utter disbelief

[theevilsloth]

Result: WL

Geography: OOP

GPA: 4.0

MCAT: 516

Degree: HBSc

EC:  ??

Interview: ??

[OnTheJourney]

Result: Rejected

Timestamp: 4:37

Geography: IP

GPA: 3.45

MCAT: 125.5

Degree: Graduated MSc

EC:  8

Interview: This is my second time applying. I understand my stats are low, but I've interviewed twice now. I feel so at a loss, I don't know what they want or what I should do to improve. This really rocked me, I also noticed last year my ECs were above average by a point and now they are slightly below. If anyone got in or has been on the grind for years and made changes they think got them in, please let me know. I feel like also this year I have put 110% of my time into work, so I have nothing to put for new volunteer or programs like that. This process is so hard, and anyone out there feeling really down and discouraged I am with you and misery loves company so here I am...LOL

[maybetomorrow]

Result: Accepted

Timestamp: Not sure how to find? Still haven't received an email 

Geography: OOP

GPA: 4.0

MCAT: 130

Degree: 4th Year 

EC:  No clue

Interview:  First interview at Alberta. All the stations felt good except for the first one, where I rambled on quite a bit because of nerves. The interviewers were poker-faced and monotone in their prompts in the first few stations, but I got good nonverbal feedback toward the later ones, which left me feeling good about the overall experience. 

This is my second year applying, so I understand the pain of post-interview rejection. My respect for everyone who made it this far!

[Pumpkin_]

37 minutes ago, maybetomorrow said:

Result: Accepted

Timestamp: Not sure how to find? Still haven't received an email 

Geography: OOP

GPA: 4.0

MCAT: 130

Degree: 4th Year 

EC:  No clue

Interview:  First interview at Alberta. All the stations felt good except for the first one, where I rambled on quite a bit because of nerves. The interviewers were poker-faced and monotone in their prompts in the first few stations, but I got good nonverbal feedback toward the later ones, which left me feeling good about the overall experience. 

This is my second year applying, so I understand the pain of post-interview rejection. My respect for everyone who made it this far!

Did you receive a feedback letter? I just got an updated portal email. 

[regretful spoon]

Result: Accepted

Timestamp: N/A 

Geography: IP

GPA: 3.92-94 I forget exact number for UofA

MCAT: 519

Degree: PhD Candidate, HBSc (2019)

EC:  received 4/17 first year, 8/17 second year, and I think 6/15 third year applying so it’s definitely varied a lot. Have over 200k in scholarships, 5 publications ( an additional3 in progress or submitted but idk if they care for those), some international poster publications, lots of coaching/sports involvement, lots of work experience since 16 until my grad degree, TAing/ tutoring. Really nothing super extraordinary but lots of hours and diversity across research and personal interests. 

 

Interview:  I felt really good after the interview and spent a lot of time practicing. This is my third time interviewing at UofA and I definitely felt my first one went poorly, my second one was the last minute switch to online when COVID started so it was like 20min so I’m not sure how it went, and my third interview (this one) felt miles better than both. I really didn’t change anything major with my interview style but I think being a TA for a couple years and practicing made me more comfortable and less cookie cutter, I also really focused on trying to  reflect who I am with every single answer. My CASPer score was also bottom quartile so I hope that gives people with low scores hope. 

 

Overall, I’m really happy to finally be able to post this after applying for 4 application cycles. It’s such a hard and draining process    but I guess the positive is I have grown a ton as a person since my first application and the acceptance felt so amazing after years of rejections! If anyone needs to vent/ wants advice if you aren’t accepted let me know I’ll check my inbox periodically, I’ve had so many people help me along the way so I’m happy to give back to the community.

[garceyues]

.

[preMEDonna]

Nnn 

[ConfusedPotentilla]

I know this thread has been slowly decreasing in activity over the years, but I really want to share my stats and ECs here to help future students find it more easily. Also I personally loved going through this thread and reading success stories over the last 4-5 years. 

Result: Accepted

Timestamp: Tuesday, May 9 (Launchpad updated sometime around 3:15pm MST; I didn't get an email notification until more than 24 hours later)

Geography: IP

GPA: 3.93

MCAT: met cut-offs

CASPer: 4th

Degree: MPH, BSc 

EC:  This was my third time applying to U of A. The first time, I received 5/17 and received an interview. The second time, I received a 6/15 and was rejected pre-interview. Here are my activities from my third application listed in descending order of importance for each category. 

• Employment
  • Sales associate at a garden centre (ongoing at time of application; 1270 hours over two seasons)
  • Respite worker (530 hours over 4 years)
  • Coordinated school and group bookings for a high ropes course (510 hours over one summer)
  • Guest services representative at a mall (315 hours over 5 months)
• Teamwork, Collaboration, & Leadership
  • Campaign manager for two student elections; emphasis on organizational skills and mentorship (combined 250 hours)
  • MPH capstone project collaborating with the Rural Development Network and doing some work around rural homelessness (120 hours over one semester)
  • Volunteering for a new organization working to open a homeless shelter for youth; I framed my work as efforts to create structure for the initiative that prepared it for future growth (22 hours but ongoing at the time of application)
  • Member of a team volunteering abroad; heavy emphasis on advocacy and leadership before and after the trip (combined 120 hours before, during, and after trip)
• Volunteering
  • Volunteer for a program that uses beads to help pediatric patients and their families tell their medical journeys; included both office/admin work and hospital volunteering (190 hours over 4 years and ongoing at the time of application)
  • MPH practicum doing evaluation work at a restorative care program for seniors (400 hours over one semester)
  • Communications and business development intern at a youth leadership training organization (200 hours over one summer)
  • Volunteering at my church; emphasis on creating community during and after covid lockdowns (60+ hours over 15 months)
• Life experiences
  • my experiences doing an embedded certificate in interdisciplinary leadership during my undergrad; talked about developing teamwork skills and being introduced to public health topics (500 hours over 2 years)
  • my bird watching hobby and how that led into conservation volunteering and online courses to grow my knowledge (225 hours over 4+ years and ongoing at time of application)
  • learning French as a second language; emphasis on lifelong learning (thousands of hours starting in kindergarten and still ongoing)
  • personal experience living with a permanent disability from birth 

Personal highlights:

• Top 2 personal experiences/achievements
  • expanded on how I did a lot of self-directed learning to succeed at my retail job at a garden centre and then mentored new staff when I returned for a second season
  • elaborated on how I did a really bad job taking care of my mental health and maintaining balance when I managed my first campaign but was able to learn from that and have a completely different (and better) experience managing my second campaign and mentor other campaign managers along the way
• Challenge
  • wrote about considering a career in public health, realizing it wasn't for me, having a crappy experience during my practicum, and then finding my way out of all of this after being rejected from med again and having no backup plan. Mentioned specifically that I had reached out to both a psychologist and a career coach and described how I decided to move forward based on their help. 
• Experience that helped me become a better person
  • talked about my two international volunteer experiences and how my view on "voluntourism" has evolved over the years. Made a point to state that I am now aware of the potential negatives of volunteering abroad, but have used those experiences to help me in other areas of my life. Also spoke briefly about how these experiences shaped how I think about poverty and public health initiatives to address it.

Interview:  I practiced a lot, but not nearly as much as the year before when I got a U of C interview and absolutely burned myself out. I dialed back the prep a lot to try to reduce my stress around it and not seem too prepared when it came to the real thing. I was pleased to discovered that a lot of my prep from last year "carried over" and I didn't feel the need to prep as much as before anyway. I thought the interview was very straightforward and nothing came out of left field. I got some good non-verbal feedback from a couple of interviewers, which was encouraging. 

I really felt like this was the year I would finally get in just based on my interview experience, but I knew from being rejected twice before that you just never know. I'm thrilled to have been offered a spot in the program. This process is absolutely brutal, and I am seeing that even more clearly now that I'm finally free from worrying about my application, practicing for interviews, refreshing **DELETED** obsessively, etc. Having a definitive path forward in life has been such a relief, and I'm excited for the next chapter.