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Regrets with Above Average Interview


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Has anyone gotten rejected with an above average interview? What did you improve and how drastically to gain admission the following cycle(s)? Assuming some things are fixed (i.e. GPA) but others are malleable, such as EC descriptions/additions and MCAT re-write. I am wondering if anyone found that other things such as changing references also made a difference.

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What was your MCAT? I think it's usually due to low MCAT. The average MCAT of accepted applicants is 514, so you want to aim for that or higher. If you get rejected with above average interview AND have a super high MCAT, then I guess it might be due to poor references

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I have some friends that this has happened too. They often had MCATs on the lower side or average GPAs. I think MCAT scores matter a good amount post interview. 

If you have any doubts in your references I think it could also be worth changing them up. It is so hard to know how UBC takes all of this into consideration.

The way you describe your ECs and what you chose to highlight can make a really big difference as well. 

I hope that helps. 

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Hello! 

Same question, different MCAT: 512, balanced. Rejected post-interview, everything else above average including interview, >94% GPA.

Unsure whether to rewrite or look into possible reference issues - 2/3 great, prof not a science prof, 1/3 may have been very positive but formatted badly.

Any ideas much appreciated! :) Didn't have advanced science old pre-reqs (o-chem, etc.) so wondering if they were concerned about, despite science degree.

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2 hours ago, JustInCase said:

Hello! 

Same question, different MCAT: 512, balanced. Rejected post-interview, everything else above average including interview, >94% GPA.

Unsure whether to rewrite or look into possible reference issues - 2/3 great, prof not a science prof, 1/3 may have been very positive but formatted badly.

Any ideas much appreciated! :) Didn't have advanced science old pre-reqs (o-chem, etc.) so wondering if they were concerned about, despite science degree.

WOW that's honestly kind of surprising to me. What was your NAQ percentile? What kind of ECs did you have? Are you IP or OOP?

I also did not have a Science prof for my reference letter, I had a Psych prof. And I doubt that they care about old pre-reqs because people get in without Science degrees too.

If everything else was above average, then I guess it might be your MCAT? Which isn't a bad score, people get in with lower. But it is the only "below average" part of your application.

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3 hours ago, JustInCase said:

Hello! 

Same question, different MCAT: 512, balanced. Rejected post-interview, everything else above average including interview, >94% GPA.

Unsure whether to rewrite or look into possible reference issues - 2/3 great, prof not a science prof, 1/3 may have been very positive but formatted badly.

Any ideas much appreciated! :) Didn't have advanced science old pre-reqs (o-chem, etc.) so wondering if they were concerned about, despite science degree.

That's so strange! With such a high GPA, you would think the algorithm for the pre-interview would put you at competitive advantage. I'd consider both re-writing and getting in touch with the reference. Perhaps looking into maximizing NAQ even further. But you should definitely re-apply again! I wish they would give us more detailed feedback.

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5 hours ago, JustInCase said:

Hello! 

Same question, different MCAT: 512, balanced. Rejected post-interview, everything else above average including interview, >94% GPA.

Unsure whether to rewrite or look into possible reference issues - 2/3 great, prof not a science prof, 1/3 may have been very positive but formatted badly.

Any ideas much appreciated! :) Didn't have advanced science old pre-reqs (o-chem, etc.) so wondering if they were concerned about, despite science degree.

Wow that's crazy to me. I don't think it particularly matters if the prof is a science prof or not. Since it sounds like they're all decent to great references, it could be your MCAT? Your MCAT is slightly below the admitted average but not by much (I believe the average is ~514). Could I ask what you got on CARS?

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5 hours ago, JustInCase said:

Hello! 

Same question, different MCAT: 512, balanced. Rejected post-interview, everything else above average including interview, >94% GPA.

Unsure whether to rewrite or look into possible reference issues - 2/3 great, prof not a science prof, 1/3 may have been very positive but formatted badly.

Any ideas much appreciated! :) Didn't have advanced science old pre-reqs (o-chem, etc.) so wondering if they were concerned about, despite science degree.

Just wondering, how do you know your references were great? Also, it's not just the letter; there's also the ranking portion. Hypothetically, a poor rank in one of the questions could result in rejection. Some people here were also speculating that it's possible to simultaneously have a red flag in one of your interview stations AND receive an above average interview score. I don't know how true this is. However, a while back, someone here posted the job posting for the "non-academic evaluations coordinator," and one of their responsibilities was to "interpret interviewer comments." So it seems like it may be possible to have a high interview score but have poor comments on some stations.

This must be very frustrating for you, but I would maybe look into the references. Also, like the others mentioned, continue to improve all aspects of your app (NAQ, interviewing, etc.). Your MCAT is honestly fine, but if you have the energy to re-write, then go for it! Definitely re-apply though!

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5 hours ago, JustInCase said:

Hello! 

Same question, different MCAT: 512, balanced. Rejected post-interview, everything else above average including interview, >94% GPA.

Unsure whether to rewrite or look into possible reference issues - 2/3 great, prof not a science prof, 1/3 may have been very positive but formatted badly.

Any ideas much appreciated! :) Didn't have advanced science old pre-reqs (o-chem, etc.) so wondering if they were concerned about, despite science degree.

I'm surprised you didn't get accepted. Maybe they look at applications closer that I expected. Are you OOP (more difficult for OOP applicants to get accepted)? Did you have a full course load during at least one of your years in undergrad? Did you complete your undergrad at a less known university in Canada?

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Similar situation here, rejected post-interview:

Interview: Above Average

MCAT: 520

ECs: 75-100 %tile 

GPA: 86 (not the greatest conversion from my school)

And I'm an IP student. 

Anyway, any suggestions or insight would be great! I have no idea what I can fix tbh and I've been scouring the internet for a potential solution.

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5 minutes ago, goingtibiadoctor said:

Similar situation here, rejected post-interview:

Interview: Above Average

MCAT: 520

ECs: 75-100 %tile 

GPA: 86 (not the greatest conversion from my school)

And I'm an IP student. 

Anyway, any suggestions or insight would be great! I have no idea what I can fix tbh and I've been scouring the internet for a potential solution.

Very impressive stats. Maybe you can improve your references or apply to OMSAS.

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4 hours ago, goingtibiadoctor said:

Similar situation here, rejected post-interview:

Interview: Above Average

MCAT: 520

ECs: 75-100 %tile 

GPA: 86 (not the greatest conversion from my school)

And I'm an IP student. 

Anyway, any suggestions or insight would be great! I have no idea what I can fix tbh and I've been scouring the internet for a potential solution.

Sorry about the rejection. I don't understand how your stats can result in a rejection. Try again I guess? Second time is the charm? 

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4 hours ago, goingtibiadoctor said:

Similar situation here, rejected post-interview:

Interview: Above Average

MCAT: 520

ECs: 75-100 %tile 

GPA: 86 (not the greatest conversion from my school)

And I'm an IP student. 

Anyway, any suggestions or insight would be great! I have no idea what I can fix tbh and I've been scouring the internet for a potential solution.

Agree with the posts above... you have very good stats, nearly identical to mine (520 MCAT, 89% GPA) and you might have better ECs. Double check that all of your references were solid and 100% apply again. GL

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For those of you feeling lost about what to do and not knowing what to fix I highly recommend you reapply to UBC and also look into the other Canadian Medical Schools. I have had friends from BC get rejected by UBC and get accepted to University of Ottawa, University of Saskatchewan, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Queens, and University of Alberta. It doesn't make sense but I know quite a few people this has happened to. Every school looks at applicants differently and every year is a slightly different applicant pool.

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24 minutes ago, ShadesofCyan said:

For those of you feeling lost about what to do and not knowing what to fix I highly recommend you reapply to UBC and also look into the other Canadian Medical Schools. I have had friends from BC get rejected by UBC and get accepted to University of Ottawa, University of Saskatchewan, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Queens, and University of Alberta. It doesn't make sense but I know quite a few people this has happened to. Every school looks at applicants differently and every year is a slightly different applicant pool.

Totally agree. When I was applying, I got rejected by UBC post interview but got accepted by Alberta and Mac.

I highly recommend applying broadly across Canada. More applications = More chances.  Also, there's a ton of luck involved in the admissions process, so don't equate this rejection as a measure of who you are or your abilities. If you're able to get to the interviews,  you are certainly qualified enough to get a MD. If I was in your position, I would take this year to explore new experiences and gain skills in whatever area you have a passion in. 

Wishing you all best of luck on the next application cycle!

 

PS: My MCAT was 508. Honestly anyone with a MCAT in the double digits (>510) probably don't need to re-write unless there was a single section where you totally bombed it. I also had zero science courses.

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22 hours ago, goingtibiadoctor said:

Similar situation here, rejected post-interview:

Interview: Above Average

MCAT: 520

ECs: 75-100 %tile 

GPA: 86 (not the greatest conversion from my school)

And I'm an IP student. 

Anyway, any suggestions or insight would be great! I have no idea what I can fix tbh and I've been scouring the internet for a potential solution.

I honestly can't think of anything except that you got red flagged. This could have been either based on something you said during the interview, or in one of the references.

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I wanted to thank everyone who took the time out to reply to my post! I appreciate more than I can put into words. ( @kingassault @24KaratPureAu @UbcSci @HugeEuge ) 

The best answer I could come up with was a potential red-flag, one of my references not pulling through as much as I wanted them too OR I was barely hanging on to the cut-off. Whatever it may be, I will be applying across Canada this time around. I'm looking forward to the application process again and looking forward to spending a year doing everything I couldn't do during undergrad!

Thank you again for the well wishes :) 

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On 5/24/2020 at 3:50 PM, goingtibiadoctor said:

I wanted to thank everyone who took the time out to reply to my post! I appreciate more than I can put into words. ( @kingassault @24KaratPureAu @UbcSci @HugeEuge ) 

The best answer I could come up with was a potential red-flag, one of my references not pulling through as much as I wanted them too OR I was barely hanging on to the cut-off. Whatever it may be, I will be applying across Canada this time around. I'm looking forward to the application process again and looking forward to spending a year doing everything I couldn't do during undergrad!

Thank you again for the well wishes :) 

YES that's the spirit! Embrace the extra year and the process of applying, not dread it :) Good luck, you're going to do great!!

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On 5/24/2020 at 6:50 PM, goingtibiadoctor said:

I wanted to thank everyone who took the time out to reply to my post! I appreciate more than I can put into words. ( @kingassault @24KaratPureAu @UbcSci @HugeEuge ) 

The best answer I could come up with was a potential red-flag, one of my references not pulling through as much as I wanted them too OR I was barely hanging on to the cut-off. Whatever it may be, I will be applying across Canada this time around. I'm looking forward to the application process again and looking forward to spending a year doing everything I couldn't do during undergrad!

Thank you again for the well wishes :) 

Goodluck! I'm in the same boat. I'm re-writing the MCAT in hope of a much better score and working in lab so I can get some publications under my belt. Gonna be a strange year not having to go to lectures. 

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On 5/23/2020 at 10:31 PM, Butterfly_ said:

Totally agree. When I was applying, I got rejected by UBC post interview but got accepted by Alberta and Mac.

I highly recommend applying broadly across Canada. More applications = More chances.  Also, there's a ton of luck involved in the admissions process, so don't equate this rejection as a measure of who you are or your abilities. If you're able to get to the interviews,  you are certainly qualified enough to get a MD. If I was in your position, I would take this year to explore new experiences and gain skills in whatever area you have a passion in. 

Wishing you all best of luck on the next application cycle!

 

PS: My MCAT was 508. Honestly anyone with a MCAT in the double digits (>510) probably don't need to re-write unless there was a single section where you totally bombed it. I also had zero science courses.

 

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