Does UBC assess MCAT scores competitively?

[MedGoldfish]

Does UBC release data showing MCAT scores of IP vs. OOP applicants?

[Matty66]

50 minutes ago, MedGoldfish said:

Does UBC release data showing MCAT scores of IP vs. OOP applicants?

I don't believe so. They only release the overall average MCAT of accepted vs rejected

[frenchpress]

17 hours ago, HugeEuge said:

It's not that their score would make them automatically ineligible for a spot, but that they would just need to score really well on the interview to be offered a spot. If your MCAT is low, other areas of your application have to shine post interview to get a spot. I think that's why they offer interviews to those with lower scores and dont just reject them right off the start. People get in every year with below average MCATs.

Agreed.  Reference letters are also not due until after interviews, and also could potentially make or break an application. 

[mdpwns]

2 hours ago, frenchpress said:

Agreed.  Reference letters are also not due until after interviews, and also could potentially make or break an application. 

I keep thinking someone out there might have an idea of what is considered and how things are weighted, and every time I think of this person who applied last year and was rejected with tfr of 70 and above average interview. I then think it has a degree of almost randomness aha 

[keener12345]

I had a 509 MCAT as an OOP and received an invite to my first choice campus at the first batch of wait list offers. Average wasn’t insanely high either (~90-91). Thought I did well on the interview!

[HugeEuge]

21 hours ago, mdpwns1763 said:

I keep thinking someone out there might have an idea of what is considered and how things are weighted, and every time I think of this person who applied last year and was rejected with tfr of 70 and above average interview. I then think it has a degree of almost randomness aha 

I think what partially explains people getting rejected with super high overall scores is the fact that ECs may not factor into the post interview scoring. It would make sense to a degree seeing as some people with incredibly high scores are rejected, while others with scores in the 50s are waitlisted initially. I also agreed there is a degree of randomness involved. 

[frenchpress]

3 hours ago, HugeEuge said:

I think what partially explains people getting rejected with super high overall scores is the fact that ECs may not factor into the post interview scoring. It would make sense to a degree seeing as some people with incredibly high scores are rejected, while others with scores in the 50s are waitlisted initially. I also agreed there is a degree of randomness involved. 

Don’t forget reference letters. A reference letter with a red flag could absolutely break an application.

[Herbarium]

Possible to have a high interview score, but have a major red flag in one station also maybe? 

[coffeeandmed]

The way that UBC talks about a conducting a holistic file review makes me really dubious that ECs wouldn’t factor in post-interview. 

[Medddddd]

@keiko88 It depends what kind of red flag we are talking about here- UBC drops your worst (and best station) so if it was just a station that you messed ip on, it will be removed, but I would assume that if it was big enough of a red flag then they would still consider it. 

[coffeeandmed]

3 minutes ago, initrams said:

@keiko88 It depends what kind of red flag we are talking about here- UBC drops your worst (and best station) so if it was just a station that you messed ip on, it will be removed, but I would assume that if it was big enough of a red flag then they would still consider it. 

They drop your best station?

[Herbarium]

3 minutes ago, coffeeandmed said:

They drop your best station?

Yes 

[vms]

7 minutes ago, initrams said:

@keiko88 It depends what kind of red flag we are talking about here- UBC drops your worst (and best station) so if it was just a station that you messed ip on, it will be removed, but I would assume that if it was big enough of a red flag then they would still consider it. 

How do you know they drop your worst station? I've never heard of that before

[Medddddd]

1 hour ago, matchalatte said:

How do you know they drop your worst station? I've never heard of that before

I can't remember where exactly I read it but UBC states somewhere about their interviews that they use the same MMI scoring as most other unis in canada and you can search that up and they drop high and low score. 

[Medddddd]

Just now, initrams said:

I can't remember where exactly I read it but UBC states somewhere about their interviews that they use the same MMI scoring as most other unis in canada and you can search that up and they drop high and low score. 

Also though, just to clarify, this is what I have read and heard (from a few people) but of course, I can't say for sure as I am not on the admissions board hahah

[notyetapharmd]

On 5/2/2020 at 7:51 PM, keener12345 said:

I had a 509 MCAT as an OOP and received an invite to my first choice campus at the first batch of wait list offers. Average wasn’t insanely high either (~90-91). Thought I did well on the interview!

May I ask what your MCAT breakdown was? I've got a 124 in CARS which I think doesn't meet the cut off right?

[HongHongHong]

6 hours ago, notyetapharmd said:

May I ask what your MCAT breakdown was? I've got a 124 in CARS which I think doesn't meet the cut off right?

It does meet the minimum cutoff https://mdprogram.med.ubc.ca/admissions/admission-requirements/

 

That said, if your interview wasn't anything but extremely strong, I'd see that they might consider a 124 CARS as a flag

[mdpwns]

3 hours ago, HongHongHong said:

It does meet the minimum cutoff https://mdprogram.med.ubc.ca/admissions/admission-requirements/

 

That said, if your interview wasn't anything but extremely strong, I'd see that they might consider a 124 CARS as a flag

Where did you hear that? If that’s the case why bothering interviewing these people (coming from a 125 Cars) 

[BernieMac]

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[MedGoldfish]

9 minutes ago, YesIcan55 said:

Not a UBC applicant here but does anyone else think that it is super annoying how some schools don't weigh the interview as much as other schools? For instance at some schools, someone with a stronger interview can be rejected over someone with a weak interview simply because they had a lower pre-interview score (ie. GPA/MCAT/etc)....the schools that do it right in my opinion are schools like Queens/McGill where 80-100% of the final admission result is based on the interview alone. If you got an interview, things like GPA/MCAT should not be holding you back from admission... 

Yeah, the discrepancies can be frustrating. One good thing is that UBC had a chance to interview all the applicants, unlike McMaster which is making final decisions solely based on GPA/MCAT/CASPer.

Do you have a source with regards to the Queens/McGill interview weighting? I don't think I've heard that before!

[HongHongHong]

8 hours ago, mdpwns1763 said:

Where did you hear that? If that’s the case why bothering interviewing these people (coming from a 125 Cars) 

Because a weak CARS score can be overcome by strengths in the other parts of your application.

Namely, if your CARS is weak and your interview is average or weak, I feel that a committee when reviewing your application would think that you are too weak in that one area to be accepted. If your interview was above average/strong, that'd definitely count more than the MCAT score. 

I think they bother interviewing these people because MCAT scores alone have validity issues and can't be trusted at times (hence not reviewed pre-interview), but if your interview was average and your MCAT CARS was low, that would certainly be a strong strike against anyone's application. After all, they did set a minimum cutoff for the MCAT, a <124, as an area where there's "no hope" of acceptance even with stellar performance in other areas. Meaning scores near that cutoff need strengths in other areas.

I have talked to a few people last year who chock up a large part of their rejection to weak MCAT scores – one of whom who knew someone who got onto the waitlist until the very end of summer (before being rejected), even though he had a higher TFR than them, his MCAT was the difference.

[mdpwns]

4 minutes ago, HongHongHong said:

Because a weak CARS score can be overcome by strengths in the other parts of your application.

Namely, if your CARS is weak and your interview is average or weak, I feel that a committee when reviewing your application would think that you are too weak in that one area to be accepted. If your interview was above average/strong, that'd definitely count more than the MCAT score. 

I think they bother interviewing these people because MCAT scores alone have validity issues and can't be trusted at times (hence not reviewed pre-interview), but if your interview was average and your MCAT CARS was low, that would certainly be a strong strike against anyone's application. After all, they did set a minimum cutoff for the MCAT, a <124, as an area where there's "no hope" of acceptance even with stellar performance in other areas. Meaning scores near that cutoff need strengths in other areas.

I have talked to a few people last year who chock up a large part of their rejection to weak MCAT scores – one of whom who knew someone who got onto the waitlist until the very end of summer (before being rejected), even though he had a higher TFR than them, his MCAT was the difference.

I always thought ubc looked at the mcat holistically but I could be wrong. Didn’t think they looked at sections individually after the interview 

[HongHongHong]

@mdpwns1763 I think the general consensus online is that most universities in Canada place a particular emphasis on CARS, as that's the only area of MCAT that seems to be predictive of med student performance down the line. That being said, I can't say this with absolute certainty – though I think holistic means glancing at all your stats more than just a summary of each section

They don't look at MCAT at all before the interview, so if there's any time where their committee analyses it, it would be post-interview.

[financialstatus]

13 minutes ago, HongHongHong said:

Because a weak CARS score can be overcome by strengths in the other parts of your application.

Do you know what's considered a weak cars? 

[mdpwns]

3 hours ago, HongHongHong said:

@mdpwns1763 I think the general consensus online is that most universities in Canada place a particular emphasis on CARS, as that's the only area of MCAT that seems to be predictive of med student performance down the line. That being said, I can't say this with absolute certainty – though I think holistic means glancing at all your stats more than just a summary of each section

They don't look at MCAT at all before the interview, so if there's any time where their committee analyses it, it would be post-interview.

I don’t know maybe it’s my frustrations, but reading some passages on a test really doesn’t seem to be an indicator of ones personality and how they would perform in school. I know there is probably statistics behind it but I’d be frustrated to know that was the thing stopping me from getting In (125 in cars, 517 overall)