Good reasons for your bad grades? Feeling hopeless? Read this and do something about it!

[oppositeofapposite]

Hey everyone, if you’ve ever looked at the meagre “exceptional circumstances” box on the Additional Information page of the UBC med application and thought “There must be a better, more reliable way to have my extenuating circumstances considered,” you’re right! However, I would be shocked if even ten percent of applicants had ever heard about it, since it literally took me years to piece together what I know about accommodations and disability-related special consideration in the admissions process. So my goal here is to get the word out to save others the searching and figuring out that I had to do.

So much of the med application process is dehumanizing. I understand that that’s somewhat unavoidable, but that doesn’t mean it has to be the rule. It’s baffling to me that the accommodations processes I’ve worked out were so difficult to discover and access, since they are a great way to reintroduce more humanity, equity, and compassion into the application process while promoting diversity in the applicant pool. If that sounds like your kind of thing, keep reading

Tl;dr: if your application is struggling because of grades you got during valid extenuating circumstances, there are official ways to present your case and seek accommodation. (Although I found them so obscure that they were practically secret.)

 

Disclaimer #1

The information I’m sharing is either freely available from the relevant authorities or is unprivileged information that I learned through my experiences. I know of no restriction on sharing this information. This is not a secret easy backdoor into med school, or a sneaky way to trick Admissions. There are strict criteria to meet and the process is involved. Do your own research before making any choices.

 

I’ll start with my story in brief. I was a bit leery of sharing any personal info, but my hope is that the context helps ring a bell for someone reading this and helps them access fair and equitable treatment.

• Non-traditional applicant (I’m old) with a strong NAQ and an abysmal AQ
• AQ problems stem from failed, incomplete, and very low grades from over 10 years ago, when struggling with diagnosed and undiagnosed disabilities.
• After deciding on med, did the standard non-trad back-to-school science upgrading/GPA boosting
• Ran the numbers after about a year of courses and realized that a full year of 90+% grades barely moved my GPA, but dealing with the Ns and Fs and Ds could have the same impact as an entire second degree of straight A pluses.
• Started talking to ombudspeople (ombudspersons?) and administrators at my school to see if anything could be done.
• Found out I would have qualified for academic concession at the time I got the grades. Attempts to get concessions after the fact, including a final appeal to the Senate, were unsuccessful
• Associate Dean offered a letter explaining the extenuating circumstances of the grades and why concession was no longer available
• Discovered that all UBC undergrad admissions (including UBC med) have a thing called “Request for Special Consideration for Admissions for Disability-Related Reasons” for situations such as this. The Request needs a letter of support from your institution, exactly like what the Associate Dean had offered
• Managed to get special consideration for the affected courses, but this wasn’t applied to my application properly, got an interview regrets
• Discovered and learned about UBC Med’s admissions appeal process
• Got special consideration properly applied on the second level of appeal
• Finally got interview invite last week of January, booked an interview for two weeks later
• Waiting for interview results today just like everyone else

 

Disclaimer #2

I have no special qualifications or authority to be giving these tips. I am not an admissions official, advisor, or administrator. This is almost certainly not the best way to do it, and there is no guarantee that these suggestions will or won’t help (although I hope they do). Use your discretion.

 

If you have had serious problems in your academic past, here’s my list of tips to see if you can address them.

• Look at your school’s policies on these things (academic concession, withdrawal, grade changes, etc.). Check both the current calendar and archived versions to see if rules have changed. Do you fit the criteria?
• Think about what documentation you have of the timing, nature, and duration of the extenuating circumstances. You will need to prove that whatever it was could have reasonably impacted your studies significantly.
• Talk to as many people as you can. Your university’s ombudsperson is likely a great place to start, because even if they don’t have all the info you need, they’ll know where to get it. Ask about resources or options you may have missed. (I didn’t even know to ask for a letter of support, I was just lucky enough to have one offered in the course of a discussion with the Associate Dean)
• Not sure if your problems meet the standard of “extenuating circumstances”? Ask the ombudsperson that too. They are experts in academic fairness, and will be able to give you kind-but-honest feedback on the specifics of your case.
• Know the requirements and the deadlines. Often people seeking accommodations need to be much more on top of things than the average applicant. For example, UBC wants you to apply to a program before requesting special consideration, but also wants the special consideration request dealt with before the program application deadline. This means you should be submitting your application, and then your request, weeks before the normal application deadline.
• Be prepared to appeal, but be realistic. Talk over the putative grounds for your appeal and your supporting arguments with as many people as possible. Put yourself in the decision-maker’s shoes; is the appeal reasonable and rational to an impartial party, or does it rely on emotion and personal opinion? Your ombudsperson likely has specific training and experience with this.
• Expect that some of the people you talk to will have incomplete or incorrect information. These processes are often marginally used by applicants, so the front line person answering your call somewhere may not know how they work, or even that they exist. I was told more than once that I was talking to the wrong office or that nothing could be done. Be ready to calmly share what you know about the process with the person you’re talking to.
• Be patient, it might take a while. In my case, I started at the top of this list of tips two and a half years ago. However, much of that time was wasted not knowing what to do, tracking down information and searching for my next steps. It would be a smaller undertaking for someone who was properly informed, but still a lengthy one.

 

I hope that is helpful. I must admit, when I first thought of posting this, part of me said “Helping other applicants only hurts your chances.” But I can’t accept that this is a zero-sum game; If I want to be a doctor, I should at least be willing to help my fellow applicant. Getting this interview was the culmination of years of understanding sacrifice and hard work by the people who love and support me, and whatever the result I'm so grateful that I made it this far. I also decided I needed to get this posted before interview results came out, so that my result wouldn’t sway me one way or the other about sharing this. Anyways, I’ll stop before I start rambling. I’ll try to edit in some links to resources and forms a bit later. If you have questions, ask away. And good luck everyone! We’re all in this together!

[DoctorArts]

Amazing story! You've done so much to get where you are. Good luck today! 

[SweetNothing]

On 5/10/2019 at 9:14 PM, oppositeofapposite said:

Hey everyone, if you’ve ever looked at the meagre “exceptional circumstances” box on the Additional Information page of the UBC med application and thought “There must be a better, more reliable way to have my extenuating circumstances considered,” you’re right! However, I would be shocked if even ten percent of applicants had ever heard about it, since it literally took me years to piece together what I know about accommodations and disability-related special consideration in the admissions process. So my goal here is to get the word out to save others the searching and figuring out that I had to do.

So much of the med application process is dehumanizing. I understand that that’s somewhat unavoidable, but that doesn’t mean it has to be the rule. It’s baffling to me that the accommodations processes I’ve worked out were so difficult to discover and access, since they are a great way to reintroduce more humanity, equity, and compassion into the application process while promoting diversity in the applicant pool. If that sounds like your kind of thing, keep reading

Tl;dr: if your application is struggling because of grades you got during valid extenuating circumstances, there are official ways to present your case and seek accommodation. (Although I found them so obscure that they were practically secret.)

 

Disclaimer #1

The information I’m sharing is either freely available from the relevant authorities or is unprivileged information that I learned through my experiences. I know of no restriction on sharing this information. This is not a secret easy backdoor into med school, or a sneaky way to trick Admissions. There are strict criteria to meet and the process is involved. Do your own research before making any choices.

 

I’ll start with my story in brief. I was a bit leery of sharing any personal info, but my hope is that the context helps ring a bell for someone reading this and helps them access fair and equitable treatment.

• Non-traditional applicant (I’m old) with a strong NAQ and an abysmal AQ
• AQ problems stem from failed, incomplete, and very low grades from over 10 years ago, when struggling with diagnosed and undiagnosed disabilities.
• After deciding on med, did the standard non-trad back-to-school science upgrading/GPA boosting
• Ran the numbers after about a year of courses and realized that a full year of 90+% grades barely moved my GPA, but dealing with the Ns and Fs and Ds could have the same impact as an entire second degree of straight A pluses.
• Started talking to ombudspeople (ombudspersons?) and administrators at my school to see if anything could be done.
• Found out I would have qualified for academic concession at the time I got the grades. Attempts to get concessions after the fact, including a final appeal to the Senate, were unsuccessful
• Associate Dean offered a letter explaining the extenuating circumstances of the grades and why concession was no longer available
• Discovered that all UBC undergrad admissions (including UBC med) have a thing called “Request for Special Consideration for Admissions for Disability-Related Reasons” for situations such as this. The Request needs a letter of support from your institution, exactly like what the Associate Dean had offered
• Managed to get special consideration for the affected courses, but this wasn’t applied to my application properly, got an interview regrets
• Discovered and learned about UBC Med’s admissions appeal process
• Got special consideration properly applied on the second level of appeal
• Finally got interview invite last week of January, booked an interview for two weeks later
• Waiting for interview results today just like everyone else

 

Disclaimer #2

I have no special qualifications or authority to be giving these tips. I am not an admissions official, advisor, or administrator. This is almost certainly not the best way to do it, and there is no guarantee that these suggestions will or won’t help (although I hope they do). Use your discretion.

 

If you have had serious problems in your academic past, here’s my list of tips to see if you can address them.

• Look at your school’s policies on these things (academic concession, withdrawal, grade changes, etc.). Check both the current calendar and archived versions to see if rules have changed. Do you fit the criteria?
• Think about what documentation you have of the timing, nature, and duration of the extenuating circumstances. You will need to prove that whatever it was could have reasonably impacted your studies significantly.
• Talk to as many people as you can. Your university’s ombudsperson is likely a great place to start, because even if they don’t have all the info you need, they’ll know where to get it. Ask about resources or options you may have missed. (I didn’t even know to ask for a letter of support, I was just lucky enough to have one offered in the course of a discussion with the Associate Dean)
• Not sure if your problems meet the standard of “extenuating circumstances”? Ask the ombudsperson that too. They are experts in academic fairness, and will be able to give you kind-but-honest feedback on the specifics of your case.
• Know the requirements and the deadlines. Often people seeking accommodations need to be much more on top of things than the average applicant. For example, UBC wants you to apply to a program before requesting special consideration, but also wants the special consideration request dealt with before the program application deadline. This means you should be submitting your application, and then your request, weeks before the normal application deadline.
• Be prepared to appeal, but be realistic. Talk over the putative grounds for your appeal and your supporting arguments with as many people as possible. Put yourself in the decision-maker’s shoes; is the appeal reasonable and rational to an impartial party, or does it rely on emotion and personal opinion? Your ombudsperson likely has specific training and experience with this.
• Expect that some of the people you talk to will have incomplete or incorrect information. These processes are often marginally used by applicants, so the front line person answering your call somewhere may not know how they work, or even that they exist. I was told more than once that I was talking to the wrong office or that nothing could be done. Be ready to calmly share what you know about the process with the person you’re talking to.
• Be patient, it might take a while. In my case, I started at the top of this list of tips two and a half years ago. However, much of that time was wasted not knowing what to do, tracking down information and searching for my next steps. It would be a smaller undertaking for someone who was properly informed, but still a lengthy one.

 

I hope that is helpful. I must admit, when I first thought of posting this, part of me said “Helping other applicants only hurts your chances.” But I can’t accept that this is a zero-sum game; If I want to be a doctor, I should at least be willing to help my fellow applicant. Getting this interview was the culmination of years of understanding sacrifice and hard work by the people who love and support me, and whatever the result I'm so grateful that I made it this far. I also decided I needed to get this posted before interview results came out, so that my result wouldn’t sway me one way or the other about sharing this. Anyways, I’ll stop before I start rambling. I’ll try to edit in some links to resources and forms a bit later. If you have questions, ask away. And good luck everyone! We’re all in this together!

I’m so curious after reading your story of determination—did you get an offer last week? 

[UBCMScwant2bMD]

On 5/10/2019 at 8:29 AM, oppositeofapposite said:

Hey everyone, if you’ve ever looked at the meagre “exceptional circumstances” box on the Additional Information page of the UBC med application and thought “There must be a better, more reliable way to have my extenuating circumstances considered,” you’re right! However, I would be shocked if even ten percent of applicants had ever heard about it, since it literally took me years to piece together what I know about accommodations and disability-related special consideration in the admissions process. So my goal here is to get the word out to save others the searching and figuring out that I had to do.

So much of the med application process is dehumanizing. I understand that that’s somewhat unavoidable, but that doesn’t mean it has to be the rule. It’s baffling to me that the accommodations processes I’ve worked out were so difficult to discover and access, since they are a great way to reintroduce more humanity, equity, and compassion into the application process while promoting diversity in the applicant pool. If that sounds like your kind of thing, keep reading

Tl;dr: if your application is struggling because of grades you got during valid extenuating circumstances, there are official ways to present your case and seek accommodation. (Although I found them so obscure that they were practically secret.)

 

Disclaimer #1

The information I’m sharing is either freely available from the relevant authorities or is unprivileged information that I learned through my experiences. I know of no restriction on sharing this information. This is not a secret easy backdoor into med school, or a sneaky way to trick Admissions. There are strict criteria to meet and the process is involved. Do your own research before making any choices.

 

I’ll start with my story in brief. I was a bit leery of sharing any personal info, but my hope is that the context helps ring a bell for someone reading this and helps them access fair and equitable treatment.

• Non-traditional applicant (I’m old) with a strong NAQ and an abysmal AQ
• AQ problems stem from failed, incomplete, and very low grades from over 10 years ago, when struggling with diagnosed and undiagnosed disabilities.
• After deciding on med, did the standard non-trad back-to-school science upgrading/GPA boosting
• Ran the numbers after about a year of courses and realized that a full year of 90+% grades barely moved my GPA, but dealing with the Ns and Fs and Ds could have the same impact as an entire second degree of straight A pluses.
• Started talking to ombudspeople (ombudspersons?) and administrators at my school to see if anything could be done.
• Found out I would have qualified for academic concession at the time I got the grades. Attempts to get concessions after the fact, including a final appeal to the Senate, were unsuccessful
• Associate Dean offered a letter explaining the extenuating circumstances of the grades and why concession was no longer available
• Discovered that all UBC undergrad admissions (including UBC med) have a thing called “Request for Special Consideration for Admissions for Disability-Related Reasons” for situations such as this. The Request needs a letter of support from your institution, exactly like what the Associate Dean had offered
• Managed to get special consideration for the affected courses, but this wasn’t applied to my application properly, got an interview regrets
• Discovered and learned about UBC Med’s admissions appeal process
• Got special consideration properly applied on the second level of appeal
• Finally got interview invite last week of January, booked an interview for two weeks later
• Waiting for interview results today just like everyone else

 

Disclaimer #2

I have no special qualifications or authority to be giving these tips. I am not an admissions official, advisor, or administrator. This is almost certainly not the best way to do it, and there is no guarantee that these suggestions will or won’t help (although I hope they do). Use your discretion.

 

If you have had serious problems in your academic past, here’s my list of tips to see if you can address them.

• Look at your school’s policies on these things (academic concession, withdrawal, grade changes, etc.). Check both the current calendar and archived versions to see if rules have changed. Do you fit the criteria?
• Think about what documentation you have of the timing, nature, and duration of the extenuating circumstances. You will need to prove that whatever it was could have reasonably impacted your studies significantly.
• Talk to as many people as you can. Your university’s ombudsperson is likely a great place to start, because even if they don’t have all the info you need, they’ll know where to get it. Ask about resources or options you may have missed. (I didn’t even know to ask for a letter of support, I was just lucky enough to have one offered in the course of a discussion with the Associate Dean)
• Not sure if your problems meet the standard of “extenuating circumstances”? Ask the ombudsperson that too. They are experts in academic fairness, and will be able to give you kind-but-honest feedback on the specifics of your case.
• Know the requirements and the deadlines. Often people seeking accommodations need to be much more on top of things than the average applicant. For example, UBC wants you to apply to a program before requesting special consideration, but also wants the special consideration request dealt with before the program application deadline. This means you should be submitting your application, and then your request, weeks before the normal application deadline.
• Be prepared to appeal, but be realistic. Talk over the putative grounds for your appeal and your supporting arguments with as many people as possible. Put yourself in the decision-maker’s shoes; is the appeal reasonable and rational to an impartial party, or does it rely on emotion and personal opinion? Your ombudsperson likely has specific training and experience with this.
• Expect that some of the people you talk to will have incomplete or incorrect information. These processes are often marginally used by applicants, so the front line person answering your call somewhere may not know how they work, or even that they exist. I was told more than once that I was talking to the wrong office or that nothing could be done. Be ready to calmly share what you know about the process with the person you’re talking to.
• Be patient, it might take a while. In my case, I started at the top of this list of tips two and a half years ago. However, much of that time was wasted not knowing what to do, tracking down information and searching for my next steps. It would be a smaller undertaking for someone who was properly informed, but still a lengthy one.

 

I hope that is helpful. I must admit, when I first thought of posting this, part of me said “Helping other applicants only hurts your chances.” But I can’t accept that this is a zero-sum game; If I want to be a doctor, I should at least be willing to help my fellow applicant. Getting this interview was the culmination of years of understanding sacrifice and hard work by the people who love and support me, and whatever the result I'm so grateful that I made it this far. I also decided I needed to get this posted before interview results came out, so that my result wouldn’t sway me one way or the other about sharing this. Anyways, I’ll stop before I start rambling. I’ll try to edit in some links to resources and forms a bit later. If you have questions, ask away. And good luck everyone! We’re all in this together!

Hi there,

Hope you are well!

Thanks so much for sharing your story. It's so refreshing to hear someone speak about this pathway at UBC.  I am looking to apply to med through the special consideration pathway this coming cycle. Just wondering if I could message you?

 

[everydayisahussle]

Thank you so much for sharing this <3

[NatashaGigi]

And I took a semester off in my second year, and had to explain that. It was simple, I had to work extra hours to make some money to support my family is in my home country, and that is all! I briefly outlined what I did during that time, worked additional hours, took the MCAT, and spend the remainder of the time volunteering and doing research, I briefly outlined wgat each position taught me and how that made me a better applicant  

Every story is unique, so describe your storey  and how that impacted your life and the person that you are today. 
 

for a bad grade year, I briefly outlined that during that time I also had to work to make money for my family and that is why my grades suffered at the time  

Edited May 6, 2022 by NatashaGigi
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