*Academic Awards

[Guest Ian Wong]

Author:*Simon Chiu, UG3

Date:***9/8/2000 10:32 pm*PST

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Alrity... I'm writing my applications now and some schools have essay questions asking me for my academic awards, how many people were considered for the award, what the award was for, etc etc.

 

For myself, the awards I received were during high school and for entering into university. Other than that, I haven't received any academic award during my years in university. I am not a bad student and do have high eighties.

 

My question is this: How should I tackle these questions? What should I emphasize to the ad-com?

 

Thanks

[Guest Ian Wong]

Author:*moo, UG3

Date:***9/9/2000 9:29 am*PST

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Don't worry, I haven't gotten many academic awards either, but stuff that I would mention include:

 

Undergraduate scholarship program award winner

Golden Key National Honour Society

Dean's Honour List, 99-98, 99-00

 

that's all I can think of off the top of my head... so it's not like I have an exhaustive list either

[Guest Ian Wong]

Author:*Ian Wong, MS2

Date:***9/9/2000 4:17 pm*PST

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Hi there,

 

You have *essay* questions asking about academic awards? I'm actually really surprised, as UBC just asked to mention them in point form. Like you, I didn't really have any superstar awards to brag about, so I mentioned my entrance scholarships, and one or two small awards I received in undergrad. I remember that section looking pretty skimpy when I handed it in.

 

I would certainly mention the entrance awards that you received. However, thinking about it now, I doubt that the majority of my med class-mates received any huge awards during undergrad. I think most people just did the best they could, and like you, probably ended up with a solid average in the 80's, but nothing insane like in the mid-90's which is necessary to snag a big award worth really bragging about.

 

The final question the ad-com is looking to answer is: Does this candidate have the academic background to survive a med school curriculum? Since you will be attaching your transcript, which shows that you are a solid student, I wouldn't sweat the small stuff. If you don't have any awards during undergrad, mention what you got for entrance scholarships, and impress the committee in your other areas. Just don't sound defensive or apologetic in your essay response. I'm willing to bet that most other applicants are in the same boat as you; you're no worse off than anyone else.

 

Ian

Can, MS2

[Guest Ian Wong]

Author:*Paul

Date:***9/9/2000 7:19 pm*PST

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When you guys talk about mid 80's what is that equivalent to in canada because here an 85 percent is a solid b average or a 3.0 and mid 90's are solid a or about 4.0. It seems like they allow lower scores in for canada schools if your scale is like ours because the average GPA is anywhere from 3.5 to 3.7 in us medical schools which is about a A- average on the american scale.

[Guest Ian Wong]

Author:*moo, UG3

Date:***9/9/2000 9:38 pm*PST

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Actually, we shouldn't be talking about percentages. When percentages are converted to letter grades, we are all on a (more or less) equal footing. At UBC an 85 is a solid A, while 90+ is an A+. While that may make UBC seem like an "easy" university, getting a 90 at UBC is a lot more difficult than getting a 90 at say a university which makes 90%=B+. Only a certain percentage get 90+, and professors make exams that reflect that. My average at UBC is 84-85% which translates to an A- average approximately. My GPA when converted to letter grade scales used by UBC is around 3.72. However, an 84-85 average is not competitive if you got that at a US institution, since that would translate to about a C+ average. In fact, if you look at the stats on Ian's page, only 7 people applied in 99-00 who had GPA's of 90+, and only 2 of those got in to UBC med. Clearly, this shows that 90+ GPA's are extremely rare and difficult to attain at UBC.

[Guest Ian Wong]

Author:*Jeff S, UG2

Date:***9/9/2000 9:43 pm*PST

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I believe American med schools realize that getting a 90% at many Canadian schools is really tough. As a result, on the AMCAS scale you'd only need an 85% to get a 4.0 if you attend a Canadian (well, at least an Ontario school, not sure about the rest) undergraduate institution.

[Guest Ian Wong]

Author:*Paul

Date:***9/10/2000 6:42 pm*PST

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If 90+ averages are so difficult to acheive then why at moswt if not all U.S schools are they needed to get an A average? Are canadians just not as smart? Iam kidding!

[Guest Ian Wong]

Author:*Jeff S, UG2

Date:***9/10/2000 7:06 pm*PST

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I'm not sure exactly how it works in the States, but here I believe that in most of the courses in the earlier years (freshman, sophomore) with lots of students enrolled, the average is usually set to be somewhere in the 60's... if people end up doing better, they are curved down.