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Interview Invites & Regrets 2017/2018


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TIME STAMP: 5:17PM Monday
Interview Invite or Regrets: Regrets
Early or Regular Deadline: Regular
AGPA (if applicable): 79.92
MCAT: 499
ECs: competitive swimmer, work since the age of 16, volunteer at 2 hospitals and 1 clinic, volunteer for 2 medical companies and other school related activities
Current Degree: Health Science 
Geography: IP
NAQ: 31.11
AQ: 14.22

TFR: 45.33

I applied on a whim. I know my stats are low, I mostly wanted to see where that would place me in their scoring system. I am planning on re-writing the MCAT in the new year but I mostly got dinged on the GPA here. Any ideas on how to get that up even thought I have already graduated?

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4 hours ago, gmineva said:

TIME STAMP: 5:17PM Monday
Interview Invite or Regrets: Regrets
Early or Regular Deadline: Regular
AGPA (if applicable): 79.92
MCAT: 499
ECs: competitive swimmer, work since the age of 16, volunteer at 2 hospitals and 1 clinic, volunteer for 2 medical companies and other school related activities
Current Degree: Health Science 
Geography: IP
NAQ: 31.11
AQ: 14.22

TFR: 45.33

I applied on a whim. I know my stats are low, I mostly wanted to see where that would place me in their scoring system. I am planning on re-writing the MCAT in the new year but I mostly got dinged on the GPA here. Any ideas on how to get that up even thought I have already graduated?

Take some classes. Try for this next semester because they will count for 2018/19 app cycle but summer 2018 won't count until 2019/20 cycle.

And yes, definitely re-write that MCAT.

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9 hours ago, gmineva said:

TIME STAMP: 5:17PM Monday
Interview Invite or Regrets: Regrets
Early or Regular Deadline: Regular
AGPA (if applicable): 79.92
MCAT: 499
ECs: competitive swimmer, work since the age of 16, volunteer at 2 hospitals and 1 clinic, volunteer for 2 medical companies and other school related activities
Current Degree: Health Science 
Geography: IP
NAQ: 31.11
AQ: 14.22

TFR: 45.33

I applied on a whim. I know my stats are low, I mostly wanted to see where that would place me in their scoring system. I am planning on re-writing the MCAT in the new year but I mostly got dinged on the GPA here. Any ideas on how to get that up even thought I have already graduated?

like clever boy said, take some classes and retake the mcat.

I wouldn't recommend online course though (specific to your case). You already completed a degree so a year of full time study won't even do anything to your GPA, let alone a few courses online. If you really want to be ready by next cycle, do full time school next semester (Jan-Apr 2018) and retake the MCAT in the summer.

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27 minutes ago, mdapp said:

like clever boy said, take some classes and retake the mcat.

I wouldn't recommend online course though (specific to your case). You already completed a degree so a year of full time study won't even do anything to your GPA, let alone a few courses online. If you really want to be ready by next cycle, do full time school next semester (Jan-Apr 2018) and retake the MCAT in the summer.

They can also take 5 online courses too, doesnt make a difference how you take the courses.

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23 minutes ago, mdapp said:

like clever boy said, take some classes and retake the mcat.

I wouldn't recommend online course though (specific to your case). You already completed a degree so a year of full time study won't even do anything to your GPA, let alone a few courses online. If you really want to be ready by next cycle, do full time school next semester (Jan-Apr 2018) and retake the MCAT in the summer.

Curious about your reasons against online courses? 

While it is true that it is harder to move a GPA once it's been a few years of many courses, it isn't exactly true that it "won't do anyting for your GPA". Every A you get moves your GPA a bit and also shows a trend that I think adcom likes to see - going from not so good to better as a trend might hold sway post-interview, and if you get a bunch of A's under your belt it will help you move your GPA. If you get into the 80's as OGPA, it would be much better. 

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19 minutes ago, clever_smart_boy_like_me said:

Curious about your reasons against online courses? 

While it is true that it is harder to move a GPA once it's been a few years of many courses, it isn't exactly true that it "won't do anyting for your GPA". Every A you get moves your GPA a bit and also shows a trend that I think adcom likes to see - going from not so good to better as a trend might hold sway post-interview, and if you get a bunch of A's under your belt it will help you move your GPA. If you get into the 80's as OGPA, it would be much better. 

The big advantage to taking the course through ubc in person or distance is, that you won't be limited by GPA conversion.

 

If you get 100% in a UBC course, that mark sticks. If you get that in many non-ubc courses it gets converted to 95 or 92 depending if A+ is offered by that school.

 

A minor point. But when youre sub 80, you need to make every course count. A+ or bust. Especially given the diminishing weight of courses as you accumulate credits.

If it means taking 3-5 courses online a year over 2-3 years but getting A+ or 100% in them all...that is more preferable to risking getting A- etc. 

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@gminevaand anyone else in a similar boat:

Here's my advice if you are committed to do a bit for your GPA, as I have been dealing with a similar situation.

Make a spreadsheet with all your grades and credits. Find your weighted average (AGPA).

Grab the equation from the other thread for AQ (I think it was 1.626*AGPA - 115.7).

Figure out what you'll need for AQ with a few points added to NAQ if you add more activities (quality > quantity) and focus on wording to get you to estimated TFR.

Find out how many A's you'll need to get to ~81-82 (or even 83+) as AGPA. Take that number of classes you feel confident about. Get the A's. Kick your own butt; light the fire beneath it!

Work harder at your EC's, make this your life... move that NAQ up too.

Apply again.

Rinse and repeat until you receive interviews.

It's a long road, and it's longer if you're starting farther down the block. You have to be willing to sacrifice things in your life for this. Maybe that means quitting your job to do f/t courses if you can - doing fewer shifts and taking p/t if you can't, volunteering more and starting new projects...

But you definitely CAN move your GPA. No it wont be 5% or 10% but it will move. You are ~7 points from an interview. If you get your AGPA to ~81 your AQ will be about 16. Then you're 5 points to the TFR cut-off.

Dig in and commit!! :D

I am finishing a 16 credit semester at the moment and have a 15 credit one waiting for me in January. You aren't alone!

 

Man I hope I get somebody fired up and motivated because I sure am now!! :lol:

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16 hours ago, Torntoiletpaper said:

I'm a bit skeptical because historically, all of the interview regrets seem to have come out on Monday, and theres only sparse anecdotal evidence that some regrets are handed out later. Also, GlassCastle says he saw the e-mail mid-week and deleted it right away. Perhaps the e-mail itself was sent on Monday?  

In any case, dissecting it probably wont help your chances as the decision has been made already, but I think everybody who didn't receive an e-mail can be optimistic about their chances. 

Agree. Tomorrow or day after should be early deadline invites.

I was driving back from work on Hwy 17 at 5:11 and my phone beeped with an email. My fingers went numb and almost hit the curb. Fortunately, it wasn't from UBC.

 

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3 minutes ago, clever_smart_boy_like_me said:

@JohnGrisham

Agreed about the A+ conversions, but it is a good thing too if you barely scrape that A+ out (90%) but get given 95% for it anyways :P

Pretty sure both TRU-OL and AU give A+'s. That's my tactic for one class I've had to backburner... just get the A or A+, UBC will make it an 87 or 95. :P

 

I was about to say this too... if you get a 90-94% at UBC, that sticks. If you get an A+ in another school that uses A+ in their grading scheme, that gets bumped up to a 95% for UBC.

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TIME STAMP: 9:43 AM (December 6th)
Interview Invite or Regrets: Invitation
Early or Regular Deadline: Early
AGPA (if applicable):  Last year was 87.52 (I took 3 more classes, should have had a net zero effect I think)
MCAT: 513
ECs: Improv theatre, volunteering one one one for 2 years with a mental health group home resident, lots of high school stuff from 10 years ago, 10 years of work experience in and out of government, working as a charity fundraiser, personal hobbies, uni model UN, exchange year, etc...
Current Degree: BA in International Studies
Geography: IP
NAQ: Last year was 20.89 so clearly I improved this portion quite a bit, which I believe was both by being more inclusive of activities I left out before, and also writing way better descriptions for both my NA portion and my employment portion (I literally left my employment portion in point form last year and filled out the whole application in a very rushed 2 days).
AQ: Last year was 27.12

Picked the 11am spot on February 3rd! So excited and grateful!

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26 minutes ago, clever_smart_boy_like_me said:

@gminevaand anyone else in a similar boat:

Here's my advice if you are committed to do a bit for your GPA, as I have been dealing with a similar situation.

Make a spreadsheet with all your grades and credits. Find your weighted average (AGPA).

Grab the equation from the other thread for AQ (I think it was 1.626*AGPA - 115.7).

Figure out what you'll need for AQ with a few points added to NAQ if you add more activities (quality > quantity) and focus on wording to get you to estimated TFR.

Find out how many A's you'll need to get to ~81-82 (or even 83+) as AGPA. Take that number of classes you feel confident about. Get the A's. Kick your own butt; light the fire beneath it!

Work harder at your EC's, make this your life... move that NAQ up too.

Apply again.

Rinse and repeat until you receive interviews.

It's a long road, and it's longer if you're starting farther down the block. You have to be willing to sacrifice things in your life for this. Maybe that means quitting your job to do f/t courses if you can - doing fewer shifts and taking p/t if you can't, volunteering more and starting new projects...

But you definitely CAN move your GPA. No it wont be 5% or 10% but it will move. You are ~7 points from an interview. If you get your AGPA to ~81 your AQ will be about 16. Then you're 5 points to the TFR cut-off.

Dig in and commit!! :D

I am finishing a 16 credit semester at the moment and have a 15 credit one waiting for me in January. You aren't alone!

 

Man I hope I get somebody fired up and motivated because I sure am now!! :lol:

Hey Clever Smart Boy, thanks for your tips!!

If I have a full time job, do you think it’s doable to pull off 4 courses from now until mid April (evenings and weekends through TRU-O), or am I crazy?

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23 minutes ago, BioF said:

Hey Clever Smart Boy, thanks for your tips!!

If I have a full time job, do you think it’s doable to pull off 4 courses from now until mid April (evenings and weekends through TRU-O), or am I crazy?

Start with 1-2 courses and see how things go. It is possible, but depends alot on how dedicated and how productive hours outside your job are. Depends on the courses too.

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5 minutes ago, JohnGrisham said:

Start with 1-2 courses and see how things go. It is possible, but depends alot on how dedicated and how productive hours outside your job are. Depends on the courses too.

The downside to this approach, is it looks like continuing education only applicable to the UBC application :(. Thanks for your advice!

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7 minutes ago, BioF said:

The downside to this approach, is it looks like continuing education only applicable to the UBC application :(. Thanks for your advice!

Depends, some other schools do definitely consider the distance ed courses. You just may not be eligible for some formulas because of non-full load. Look into what schools youre interested in.

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TIME STAMP: Dec 6 9:43AM PST
Interview Invite or Regrets: Invite
Early or Regular Deadline: Early
AGPA (if applicable): ~91.5? (3.97)
MCAT: 523
ECs: Research (no pubs), NSERC, several mental health volunteering positions, various service clubs, hobbies, a couple jobs, tutoring teenagers with learning disabilities, some diverse activities (none super long-term)
Current Degree: 4th year Psychology (Hon)
Geography: IP

 

super psyched :)

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TIME STAMP: Dec 6 9:43AM PST
Interview Invite or Regrets: Invite
Early or Regular Deadline: Early
AGPA (if applicable): 87-89?
MCAT: sub 510
ECs: Research, leadership, volunteering, sports 

Current Degree: Completed BSc. in winter 2017
Geography: IP


NAQ from last year: 34

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On 12/5/2017 at 3:21 PM, yych208 said:

I'm surprised you are below average on NAQ. I think it may be a wording problem. Or probably because they were not leadership roles?

Good luck with Ontario schools tho!

Not sure if that's the case... Worked on my app quite a lot with my older sibling (who's in clerkship in Ontario). Could be a leadership role problem though... 

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