Accepted/Rejected/Waitlisted??? (for current applicants)

[Herbarium 26]

41 minutes ago, aldywood said:

This is my first year applying and I'm really excited to still be under consideration.

Result: Waitlist

Geography: IP and I filled out the rural application. Have lived in small towns for almost 20 years.

Degree: Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Business Admin; 3-year communication design diploma

Early or Regular Deadline: Regular
Timestamp: 7:58 AM PST 
GPA: ~82% or will be significantly higher if some of my 3-year communication design diploma grades were considered

EC's - I have been out of school for a long time. Worked as a graphic designer and communications / marketing consultant for over 10 years. Parent of 2 kids. Printmaking artist. Taught art classes to kids. Chair of school PAC. Co-founded parent travel website. Board member at sports organization. Learned a second language. Experiences living with marginalized populations. Worked at a remote location in rural BC. 17 work experience entries. Some 10+ year commitments. Lots of other stuff. 

MCAT: 509 (131 CARS)

Interview: Some went great, one I wish I could redo, so-so on a couple others.  I found the interviewers hard to read sometimes.

Nice to see another older applicant!! Hoping for the best for you

[Fast_Layne 86]

3 hours ago, aldywood said:

This is my first year applying and I'm really excited to still be under consideration.

Result: Waitlist

Geography: IP and I filled out the rural application. Have lived in small towns for almost 20 years.

Degree: Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Business Admin; 3-year communication design diploma

Early or Regular Deadline: Regular
Timestamp: 7:58 AM PST 
GPA: ~82% or will be significantly higher if some of my 3-year communication design diploma grades were considered

EC's - I have been out of school for a long time. Worked as a graphic designer and communications / marketing consultant for over 10 years. Parent of 2 kids. Printmaking artist. Taught art classes to kids. Chair of school PAC. Co-founded parent travel website. Board member at sports organization. Learned a second language. Experiences living with marginalized populations. Worked at a remote location in rural BC. 17 work experience entries. Some 10+ year commitments. Lots of other stuff. 

MCAT: 509 (131 CARS)

Interview: Some went great, one I wish I could redo, so-so on a couple others.  I found the interviewers hard to read sometimes.

WOW what an interesting background! What made you want to switch from marketing to medicine?? 

(Also, congrats on your awesome CARS score)

[Skyvie-Love 8]

Hey everyone. I've spent the better part of the last year lurking on this site (which I found pretty helpful during this process) so I thought it was best to post my details in the spirit of helping future applicants. This was my first year of applying.

Result: Accepted to IMP (first choice)

Geography: IP no rural application filled

Degree: None completed.  Current degree in kinesiology with 3-4th year standing; + 14 credits from BFA 2006-2007; + other non-degree related credits and academic upgrading. 

Early or Regular Deadline: Regular
Timestamp: 11:30 AM PST (May 13) 
GPA: ~94% (This is an approximation without adjustment. A lot of my transcripts were listed with letter grades only)

EC's - I was out of school for almost 10 years, so I put everything I could think of on this part of my application. To be honest, most of my non-academic section was very eclectic. It contained things like life modelling (nude for artists), playing dungeons and dragons, crewing on a trans-pacific sailing crossing, hosting my own radio show, and doing burlesque. I had a couple of meditation and mindfulness training experiences (for example a 12 week evening workshop, and a month long immersive course with a week in silence) which I included in this section.  I included teaching myself to garden and managing my own perennial garden. I included living in a remote community, and art exhibitions and spoken word performances I did. I dug from experiences that were over a decade old, and I even included things I did in high school. I also had other more traditional stuff like volunteer placements working with individuals with physical disabilities and lab volunteering during my current degree. Sorry if this is a lot of information. I just want to show that people who don't fit the mold (like myself) can include all of our weird and wonderful experiences and (as long as you frame it right), you can still get in

Other: 1 poster publication, and 3 jobs included in my work history (not that there haven't been many more) to show a diversity of skill and experience.

MCAT: 512 (128 CARS)

Interview: It went really well. I did a little meditation beforehand to cultivate joy and strove to be myself as authentically as possible at each station. I entered most rooms with a 'Hi there!' 

Also, I have a small but visible stick and poke tattoo on my ring finger, and I did not remove my nose piercing, or industrial piercing for my interview. I did make sure my jewelry matched my suit, and was tasteful. I also had my nails done short with gel in a neutral tone (a decision I stressed about pre-interview but felt really happy about because it made my hands look clean and helped me feel professional) 

On a final interview note. Almost everyone there was wearing black, or dark navy blue. My suit was a brown/grey with wide graph check pattern (reddish-gold brown which matched my natural hair tone). This was another decision I questioned, but I was really glad that I picked a suit that stood out, and that I felt confident in. 

 

Best of luck to everyone on the waitlist, everyone applying to other schools, and everyone applying again next year.

[frenchpress 461]

3 hours ago, Skyvie-Love said:

Hey everyone. I've spent the better part of the last year lurking on this site (which I found pretty helpful during this process) so I thought it was best to post my details in the spirit of helping future applicants. This was my first year of applying.

Result: Accepted to IMP (first choice)

Geography: IP no rural application filled

Degree: None completed.  Current degree in kinesiology with 3-4th year standing; + 14 credits from BFA 2006-2007; + other non-degree related credits and academic upgrading. 

Early or Regular Deadline: Regular
Timestamp: 11:30 AM PST (May 13) 
GPA: ~94% (This is an approximation without adjustment. A lot of my transcripts were listed with letter grades only)

EC's - I was out of school for almost 10 years, so I put everything I could think of on this part of my application. To be honest, most of my non-academic section was very eclectic. It contained things like life modelling (nude for artists), playing dungeons and dragons, crewing on a trans-pacific sailing crossing, hosting my own radio show, and doing burlesque. I had a couple of meditation and mindfulness training experiences (for example a 12 week evening workshop, and a month long immersive course with a week in silence) which I included in this section.  I included teaching myself to garden and managing my own perennial garden. I included living in a remote community, and art exhibitions and spoken word performances I did. I dug from experiences that were over a decade old, and I even included things I did in high school. I also had other more traditional stuff like volunteer placements working with individuals with physical disabilities and lab volunteering during my current degree. Sorry if this is a lot of information. I just want to show that people who don't fit the mold (like myself) can include all of our weird and wonderful experiences and (as long as you frame it right), you can still get in

Other: 1 poster publication, and 3 jobs included in my work history (not that there haven't been many more) to show a diversity of skill and experience.

MCAT: 512 (128 CARS)

Interview: It went really well. I did a little meditation beforehand to cultivate joy and strove to be myself as authentically as possible at each station. I entered most rooms with a 'Hi there!' 

Also, I have a small but visible stick and poke tattoo on my ring finger, and I did not remove my nose piercing, or industrial piercing for my interview. I did make sure my jewelry matched my suit, and was tasteful. I also had my nails done short with gel in a neutral tone (a decision I stressed about pre-interview but felt really happy about because it made my hands look clean and helped me feel professional) 

On a final interview note. Almost everyone there was wearing black, or dark navy blue. My suit was a brown/grey with wide graph check pattern (reddish-gold brown which matched my natural hair tone). This was another decision I questioned, but I was really glad that I picked a suit that stood out, and that I felt confident in. 

 

Best of luck to everyone on the waitlist, everyone applying to other schools, and everyone applying again next year.

Woo the ubc stick and poke crew grows, bit by bit. A decent number of students have tattoos, but it took me awhile to realize, because there’s still such a stigma to cover them up. 

[aldywood 24]

On 5/21/2020 at 6:46 PM, Giant_Anteaters said:

WOW what an interesting background! What made you want to switch from marketing to medicine?? 

(Also, congrats on your awesome CARS score)

Thanks! A story many years in the making. I didn’t consider it a financially viable option when I was younger. I’ve wanted to make a switch for a long time but my career has worked out well with young kids. A few years ago I knew I was ready to give it a shot. I attended the UBC diversity in medicine symposium, geared to non-traditional applicants, and I was very inspired and really identified with the stories. I started self studying the science material to write the MCAT, using edx.org and khan academy. I wrote it last summer and spent at least a month going through my life experiences and writing my application. I was accepted off the wait list today to NMP (my first choice)! My family and I are incredibly excited.

[cam_the_cob 26]

Result: Accepted IMP (first choice, since Victoria is my hometown)

Geography: IP and I filled out the rural application. I've moved many times prior to undergrad (in Quebec), but I'd always lived in/around the Saanich Peninsula

Degree: Bachelor of Arts & Science in (ad hoc major) Global Health & Public Health. I was due to finish my fourth year and graduate May 2021. 

Early or Regular Deadline: Regular. (i was applying as the 3rd year undergrad 90-credits of post-sec)
Timestamp: 1:27pm (Montreal, so EDT) 
GPA: ~89 or 90% (estimated this myself, using the 'school that doesn't give A+' conversion scale)

EC's -  PM me if you're interested. Overall, I wouldn't say my EC's give a coherent narrative or 'mission', but rather they speak to a collection of diverse experiences and passions

MCAT: 517 (129CP 126CARS 132BB 130PS)

Interview: no score (accepted my first cycle) Internally, it felt like a roller coaster. as soon as the interview started, i knew i was abandoning the structure & style of response i had been doing in my practice, so i felt like i was giving messy responses (but perhaps also more personable and less spoken essay-like). For one acting station, the prompt was so long that i got mixed up with the 'characters' and had to re-read and re-start the scenario once i was in the room. most of the stations felt mediocre, like i knew that i gave a response that was true my values, education (public health, ethics etc), but the interviewers were far more stoic than i was expecting, so it was hard to gauge how well i was actually doing. the writing station went well, i ended somewhat regurgitating an old essay i had written years ago (i.e. i used its narrative). My last 2 stations felt so good (i could see the end of the tunnel haha), and i think i ended it on a strong note. My last interviewer commented "that was response was unlike any other i'd heard today" and then told me i deserve a bottle of wine hahah. That said, right after the site presentations + pizza, i began doubting myself. I distinctly remember sitting in a cafe the next day, trying to study but on the verge of tears because there were so many other ideas and things i realized i could have added to my responses. so, i spent the majority of the post-interview wait expecting a rejection.

overall reflection: I was planning on this year being my 'practice year' considering I was only in third year, so I was happy to even get an interview. Nevertheless, I gave it my all in interview prep (I'm going to estimate 6hr prep per week from Dec to early Feb), so i would better understand how to prep (whether that was more prep, prep differently, etc) for next year. I am absolutely ecstatic to be attending med school in my hometown, with my family (and beloved BC nature!) so close. Throughout the whole process this year, i was filled with doubt about how i'd compare to other more experienced, more qualified applicants. As cheesy as it sounds, i think that being humble and being myself (bubbly, LOTS of hand gestures) in the interview really helped. My friends always joke about my 'moral mission' (I rant a lot about equity, justice, ethics etc in health & social services), but i think (and hope) that these values shone through. (sorry for the super long post, this turned into a reflective journaling session for me ahah)

[cam_the_cob 26]

On 5/22/2020 at 8:07 PM, Skyvie-Love said:

On a final interview note. Almost everyone there was wearing black, or dark navy blue. My suit was a brown/grey with wide graph check pattern (reddish-gold brown which matched my natural hair tone). This was another decision I questioned, but I was really glad that I picked a suit that stood out, and that I felt confident in. 

 

i remember this suit from interview weekend and praising you (in my head, i wish i had the opportunity to say it right to you)!!

[Medddddd 87]

On 5/22/2020 at 6:07 PM, Skyvie-Love said:

Hey everyone. I've spent the better part of the last year lurking on this site (which I found pretty helpful during this process) so I thought it was best to post my details in the spirit of helping future applicants. This was my first year of applying.

Result: Accepted to IMP (first choice)

Geography: IP no rural application filled

Degree: None completed.  Current degree in kinesiology with 3-4th year standing; + 14 credits from BFA 2006-2007; + other non-degree related credits and academic upgrading. 

Early or Regular Deadline: Regular
Timestamp: 11:30 AM PST (May 13) 
GPA: ~94% (This is an approximation without adjustment. A lot of my transcripts were listed with letter grades only)

EC's - I was out of school for almost 10 years, so I put everything I could think of on this part of my application. To be honest, most of my non-academic section was very eclectic. It contained things like life modelling (nude for artists), playing dungeons and dragons, crewing on a trans-pacific sailing crossing, hosting my own radio show, and doing burlesque. I had a couple of meditation and mindfulness training experiences (for example a 12 week evening workshop, and a month long immersive course with a week in silence) which I included in this section.  I included teaching myself to garden and managing my own perennial garden. I included living in a remote community, and art exhibitions and spoken word performances I did. I dug from experiences that were over a decade old, and I even included things I did in high school. I also had other more traditional stuff like volunteer placements working with individuals with physical disabilities and lab volunteering during my current degree. Sorry if this is a lot of information. I just want to show that people who don't fit the mold (like myself) can include all of our weird and wonderful experiences and (as long as you frame it right), you can still get in

Other: 1 poster publication, and 3 jobs included in my work history (not that there haven't been many more) to show a diversity of skill and experience.

MCAT: 512 (128 CARS)

Interview: It went really well. I did a little meditation beforehand to cultivate joy and strove to be myself as authentically as possible at each station. I entered most rooms with a 'Hi there!' 

Also, I have a small but visible stick and poke tattoo on my ring finger, and I did not remove my nose piercing, or industrial piercing for my interview. I did make sure my jewelry matched my suit, and was tasteful. I also had my nails done short with gel in a neutral tone (a decision I stressed about pre-interview but felt really happy about because it made my hands look clean and helped me feel professional) 

On a final interview note. Almost everyone there was wearing black, or dark navy blue. My suit was a brown/grey with wide graph check pattern (reddish-gold brown which matched my natural hair tone). This was another decision I questioned, but I was really glad that I picked a suit that stood out, and that I felt confident in. 

 

Best of luck to everyone on the waitlist, everyone applying to other schools, and everyone applying again next year.

Wow, you just might be my twin haha. I did a big old meditation before my interview, felt amazing about being myself in the interview even down to wearing something I genuinely liked (coral blazer and window pane print pants) and kept my nose stud in too! Congrats on your acceptance!!

[Dr. Tenma 144]

Result: Accepted (VFMP) off the Wait-list 6/8/2020

Geography: IP

Early or Regular Deadline: Regular
Timestamp: 3:45 PM PST 
aGPA: 85.1% ~22.5 AQ
MCAT (CPBS / CARS / BBFL / PSBB): 513 (128/126/129/130)
Current Degree (UG/Bachelors/Masters/PhD): SFU Molecular Biology and Biochemistry 2015

ECs: ~34 NAQ last year. Various things: Volunteered at shelters, Big Brother, some clinical volunteering, NSERC (no pubs), helped the elderly, charities etc etc etc. My application included a lot of my hobbies as I tried to paint a picture of who I really am: I like wrenching on cars so I restored an old Japanese car. I really enjoy photography, and drawing. I also repaired computers and phones on the side. I provided evidence for all my hobbies with links (an album for example). I've had quite a few jobs as well from selling cars to manual labor. For example when the town of Fort Mcmurray burned down I lived in a camp near there for 2 months to help with the clean up.

Interview: 7 stations went okay, bombed 2 stations (I might as well have gone in there and screeched for 7 minutes). My essay wasn't great.

I can't believe I am posting this. After 4 applications of straight rejections and 4 MCATs, I finally got wait listed and accepted in the 5th application and 3rd interview. This has been...quite a long and difficult journey. You can look back on my 8 year old account and see all the times when I lost hope completely or when I was researching schools in Poland/Australia/D.O. Schools. No way in hell I expected this. I had completely given up. Last year I quit my job and practiced 250-400 hours for the interview and got below average and rejected. I had practiced with residents, med students, other applicants, professors, teachers, my parents, friends, I gave it my everything so to be rejected like that was a clear message that I am not cut out to be a doctor. I moved on completely. I decided to do a second degree in Computer Science, nothing even health care related. The past 10 years of my life were considered forfeit. I talked to an advisor at SFU about CS requirements and he told me I have everything I need for Jan 2020 intake. Two weeks later as I am applying, they changed their requirements to needing more math courses, I was no longer qualified and UBC's BCS (CS) program wasn't until next September. I was in complete despair at this point. I felt like anything I tried to do with my life, there was a massive obstacle. Like there was some divine force preventing me from progressing while everyone else moved on. It was really hard to not have these negative thoughts. It was the uncertainty around getting into CS for January at SFU that led me to decide to apply to UBC Med one more time, I wasn't planning on it. After UBC MD application was sent in, the CS department decided to ignore their own requirements and admitted me. Finally, I could move on. December comes around and I was surprised to get the interview and grateful, but really did not have the energy or time during my studies to practice like that again. I practiced 2 weeks before the interview and went in. Bombed two stations utterly and completely, and the rest were okay. Nothing as good as my last year's interview. I walked out out LSC thinking to myself this is the last time i'll walk here. A chapter in my life had ended. I just wanted to go home, I had midterms. I didn't even eat the pizza. I didn't think about medical school or the interview again and focused on my studies. In May I get an email that I got waitlisted. I was really surprised but not that excited, given results of the last 4 years, I probably wasn't very high on the list anyways. I was too jaded to be excited. Yesterday was like something out of a dream. I was writing out a strongly worded email to UPS for damaging my car's coilovers when my gmail widget popped up "UBC Undergrad Admis..". I thought it's probably a COVID 19 message or they started rejecting people earlier because the waitlist isn't moving. I opened the email and it said "Congratulations". I stared blankly at the email for 20-30 seconds. I won't go into detail what happened afterwards, you can just imagine what happened. As I trembled for the next hour, I thought to myself...they made a mistake. There's no way. How? The interview was awful. How did this happen. There's got to be a mistake. It honestly still hasn't sunk in yet.

I am not going to write that perseverance pays off. This could've easily gone the other way and I know many for whom it did not pay off. Despite all the years of applying and taking rejection after rejection and seriously starting to think there's something wrong with me, I still think I got very lucky. There are risks to pursuing this path. I always thought not having backup would make me more motivated for volunteering and doing well in school and that might have been true, but I think the only thing that changed this year was my attitude towards the whole thing ( I didn't do anything new compared to the previous year's application, just a few more hours in what I already had). I didn't have desperation in my eyes anymore, the interview was taking up my time that could've been used for my midterms. The prospects and promises of the CS degree seemed a lot more realistic vs going up against a hyper competitive application pool. I had other plans, I was pursuing something else at the same time. Something else I enjoyed, but it wasn't necessarily my dream. The outcome of this interview was no longer a zero sum game. It wasn't really as important as last year when there was so much to lose. It had become something I had to do. And perhaps that attitude is something they like. Perhaps it comes off as being more confident.

If future applicants have questions about my ECs feel free to PM me!

I look forward to meeting my classmates soon! (well with covid...maybe soon?)
 

[itski 33]

3 hours ago, Aryanenzo said:

Result: Accepted (VFMP) off the Wait-list 6/8/2020

Geography: IP

Early or Regular Deadline: Regular
Timestamp: 3:45 PM PST 
aGPA: 85.1% ~22.5 AQ
MCAT (CPBS / CARS / BBFL / PSBB): 513 (128/126/129/130)
Current Degree (UG/Bachelors/Masters/PhD): SFU Molecular Biology and Biochemistry 2015

ECs: ~34 NAQ last year. Various things: Volunteered at shelters, Big Brother, some clinical volunteering, NSERC (no pubs), helped the elderly, charities etc etc etc. My application included a lot of my hobbies as I tried to paint a picture of who I really am: I like wrenching on cars so I restored an old Japanese car. I really enjoy photography, and drawing. I also repaired computers and phones on the side. I provided evidence for all my hobbies with links (an album for example). I've had quite a few jobs as well from selling cars to manual labor. For example when the town of Fort Mcmurray burned down I lived in a camp near there for 2 months to help with the clean up.

Interview: 7 stations went okay, bombed 2 stations (I might as well have gone in there and screeched for 7 minutes). My essay wasn't great.

I can't believe I am posting this. After 4 applications of straight rejections and 4 MCATs, I finally got wait listed and accepted in the 5th application and 3rd interview. This has been...quite a long and difficult journey. You can look back on my 8 year old account and see all the times when I lost hope completely or when I was researching schools in Poland/Australia/D.O. Schools. No way in hell I expected this. I had completely given up. Last year I quit my job and practiced 250-400 hours for the interview and got below average and rejected. I had practiced with residents, med students, other applicants, professors, teachers, my parents, friends, I gave it my everything so to be rejected like that was a clear message that I am not cut out to be a doctor. I moved on completely. I decided to do a second degree in Computer Science, nothing even health care related. The past 10 years of my life were considered forfeit. I talked to an advisor at SFU about CS requirements and he told me I have everything I need for Jan 2020 intake. Two weeks later as I am applying, they changed their requirements to needing more math courses, I was no longer qualified and UBC's BCS (CS) program wasn't until next September. I was in complete despair at this point. I felt like anything I tried to do with my life, there was a massive obstacle. Like there was some divine force preventing me from progressing while everyone else moved on. It was really hard to not have these negative thoughts. It was the uncertainty around getting into CS for January at SFU that led me to decide to apply to UBC Med one more time, I wasn't planning on it. After UBC MD application was sent in, the CS department decided to ignore their own requirements and admitted me. Finally, I could move on. December comes around and I was surprised to get the interview and grateful, but really did not have the energy or time during my studies to practice like that again. I practiced 2 weeks before the interview and went in. Bombed two stations utterly and completely, and the rest were okay. Nothing as good as my last year's interview. I walked out out LSC thinking to myself this is the last time i'll walk here. A chapter in my life had ended. I just wanted to go home, I had midterms. I didn't even eat the pizza. I didn't think about medical school or the interview again and focused on my studies. In May I get an email that I got waitlisted. I was really surprised but not that excited, given results of the last 4 years, I probably wasn't very high on the list anyways. I was too jaded to be excited. Yesterday was like something out of a dream. I was writing out a strongly worded email to UPS for damaging my car's coilovers when my gmail widget popped up "UBC Undergrad Admis..". I thought it's probably a COVID 19 message or they started rejecting people earlier because the waitlist isn't moving. I opened the email and it said "Congratulations". I stared blankly at the email for 20-30 seconds. I won't go into detail what happened afterwards, you can just imagine what happened. As I trembled for the next hour, I thought to myself...they made a mistake. There's no way. How? The interview was awful. How did this happen. There's got to be a mistake. It honestly still hasn't sunk in yet.

I am not going to write that perseverance pays off. This could've easily gone the other way and I know many for whom it did not pay off. Despite all the years of applying and taking rejection after rejection and seriously starting to think there's something wrong with me, I still think I got very lucky. There are risks to pursuing this path. I always thought not having backup would make me more motivated for volunteering and doing well in school and that might have been true, but I think the only thing that changed this year was my attitude towards the whole thing ( I didn't do anything new compared to the previous year's application, just a few more hours in what I already had). I didn't have desperation in my eyes anymore, the interview was taking up my time that could've been used for my midterms. The prospects and promises of the CS degree seemed a lot more realistic vs going up against a hyper competitive application pool. I had other plans, I was pursuing something else at the same time. Something else I enjoyed, but it wasn't necessarily my dream. The outcome of this interview was no longer a zero sum game. It wasn't really as important as last year when there was so much to lose. It had become something I had to do. And perhaps that attitude is something they like. Perhaps it comes off as being more confident.

If future applicants have questions about my ECs feel free to PM me!

I look forward to meeting my classmates soon! (well with covid...maybe soon?)
 

Ohmygosh congrats!!! Been lurking these forums for a while, and I just wanted to say the dedication and persistence you've shown throughout this whole process has been so inspiring. It must have been hard going through the cycles of self-doubt year after year but you've MADE IT!!!! I'm so happy for you, and you DESERVE this so freaking much!!!!! Congratulations (future) doc !!!!

[youbesee 43]

9 hours ago, Aryanenzo said:

Result: Accepted (VFMP) off the Wait-list 6/8/2020

Geography: IP

Early or Regular Deadline: Regular
Timestamp: 3:45 PM PST 
aGPA: 85.1% ~22.5 AQ
MCAT (CPBS / CARS / BBFL / PSBB): 513 (128/126/129/130)
Current Degree (UG/Bachelors/Masters/PhD): SFU Molecular Biology and Biochemistry 2015

ECs: ~34 NAQ last year. Various things: Volunteered at shelters, Big Brother, some clinical volunteering, NSERC (no pubs), helped the elderly, charities etc etc etc. My application included a lot of my hobbies as I tried to paint a picture of who I really am: I like wrenching on cars so I restored an old Japanese car. I really enjoy photography, and drawing. I also repaired computers and phones on the side. I provided evidence for all my hobbies with links (an album for example). I've had quite a few jobs as well from selling cars to manual labor. For example when the town of Fort Mcmurray burned down I lived in a camp near there for 2 months to help with the clean up.

Interview: 7 stations went okay, bombed 2 stations (I might as well have gone in there and screeched for 7 minutes). My essay wasn't great.

I can't believe I am posting this. After 4 applications of straight rejections and 4 MCATs, I finally got wait listed and accepted in the 5th application and 3rd interview. This has been...quite a long and difficult journey. You can look back on my 8 year old account and see all the times when I lost hope completely or when I was researching schools in Poland/Australia/D.O. Schools. No way in hell I expected this. I had completely given up. Last year I quit my job and practiced 250-400 hours for the interview and got below average and rejected. I had practiced with residents, med students, other applicants, professors, teachers, my parents, friends, I gave it my everything so to be rejected like that was a clear message that I am not cut out to be a doctor. I moved on completely. I decided to do a second degree in Computer Science, nothing even health care related. The past 10 years of my life were considered forfeit. I talked to an advisor at SFU about CS requirements and he told me I have everything I need for Jan 2020 intake. Two weeks later as I am applying, they changed their requirements to needing more math courses, I was no longer qualified and UBC's BCS (CS) program wasn't until next September. I was in complete despair at this point. I felt like anything I tried to do with my life, there was a massive obstacle. Like there was some divine force preventing me from progressing while everyone else moved on. It was really hard to not have these negative thoughts. It was the uncertainty around getting into CS for January at SFU that led me to decide to apply to UBC Med one more time, I wasn't planning on it. After UBC MD application was sent in, the CS department decided to ignore their own requirements and admitted me. Finally, I could move on. December comes around and I was surprised to get the interview and grateful, but really did not have the energy or time during my studies to practice like that again. I practiced 2 weeks before the interview and went in. Bombed two stations utterly and completely, and the rest were okay. Nothing as good as my last year's interview. I walked out out LSC thinking to myself this is the last time i'll walk here. A chapter in my life had ended. I just wanted to go home, I had midterms. I didn't even eat the pizza. I didn't think about medical school or the interview again and focused on my studies. In May I get an email that I got waitlisted. I was really surprised but not that excited, given results of the last 4 years, I probably wasn't very high on the list anyways. I was too jaded to be excited. Yesterday was like something out of a dream. I was writing out a strongly worded email to UPS for damaging my car's coilovers when my gmail widget popped up "UBC Undergrad Admis..". I thought it's probably a COVID 19 message or they started rejecting people earlier because the waitlist isn't moving. I opened the email and it said "Congratulations". I stared blankly at the email for 20-30 seconds. I won't go into detail what happened afterwards, you can just imagine what happened. As I trembled for the next hour, I thought to myself...they made a mistake. There's no way. How? The interview was awful. How did this happen. There's got to be a mistake. It honestly still hasn't sunk in yet.

I am not going to write that perseverance pays off. This could've easily gone the other way and I know many for whom it did not pay off. Despite all the years of applying and taking rejection after rejection and seriously starting to think there's something wrong with me, I still think I got very lucky. There are risks to pursuing this path. I always thought not having backup would make me more motivated for volunteering and doing well in school and that might have been true, but I think the only thing that changed this year was my attitude towards the whole thing ( I didn't do anything new compared to the previous year's application, just a few more hours in what I already had). I didn't have desperation in my eyes anymore, the interview was taking up my time that could've been used for my midterms. The prospects and promises of the CS degree seemed a lot more realistic vs going up against a hyper competitive application pool. I had other plans, I was pursuing something else at the same time. Something else I enjoyed, but it wasn't necessarily my dream. The outcome of this interview was no longer a zero sum game. It wasn't really as important as last year when there was so much to lose. It had become something I had to do. And perhaps that attitude is something they like. Perhaps it comes off as being more confident.

If future applicants have questions about my ECs feel free to PM me!

I look forward to meeting my classmates soon! (well with covid...maybe soon?)
 

I've been following your journey on these forums for the past couple years and it is really inspiring what you've gone through and accomplished! Your resilience will no doubt shine through this next step of your life! I look forward to meeting you

[Fast_Layne 86]

11 hours ago, Aryanenzo said:

Result: Accepted (VFMP) off the Wait-list 6/8/2020

Geography: IP

Early or Regular Deadline: Regular
Timestamp: 3:45 PM PST 
aGPA: 85.1% ~22.5 AQ
MCAT (CPBS / CARS / BBFL / PSBB): 513 (128/126/129/130)
Current Degree (UG/Bachelors/Masters/PhD): SFU Molecular Biology and Biochemistry 2015

ECs: ~34 NAQ last year. Various things: Volunteered at shelters, Big Brother, some clinical volunteering, NSERC (no pubs), helped the elderly, charities etc etc etc. My application included a lot of my hobbies as I tried to paint a picture of who I really am: I like wrenching on cars so I restored an old Japanese car. I really enjoy photography, and drawing. I also repaired computers and phones on the side. I provided evidence for all my hobbies with links (an album for example). I've had quite a few jobs as well from selling cars to manual labor. For example when the town of Fort Mcmurray burned down I lived in a camp near there for 2 months to help with the clean up.

Interview: 7 stations went okay, bombed 2 stations (I might as well have gone in there and screeched for 7 minutes). My essay wasn't great.

I can't believe I am posting this. After 4 applications of straight rejections and 4 MCATs, I finally got wait listed and accepted in the 5th application and 3rd interview. This has been...quite a long and difficult journey. You can look back on my 8 year old account and see all the times when I lost hope completely or when I was researching schools in Poland/Australia/D.O. Schools. No way in hell I expected this. I had completely given up. Last year I quit my job and practiced 250-400 hours for the interview and got below average and rejected. I had practiced with residents, med students, other applicants, professors, teachers, my parents, friends, I gave it my everything so to be rejected like that was a clear message that I am not cut out to be a doctor. I moved on completely. I decided to do a second degree in Computer Science, nothing even health care related. The past 10 years of my life were considered forfeit. I talked to an advisor at SFU about CS requirements and he told me I have everything I need for Jan 2020 intake. Two weeks later as I am applying, they changed their requirements to needing more math courses, I was no longer qualified and UBC's BCS (CS) program wasn't until next September. I was in complete despair at this point. I felt like anything I tried to do with my life, there was a massive obstacle. Like there was some divine force preventing me from progressing while everyone else moved on. It was really hard to not have these negative thoughts. It was the uncertainty around getting into CS for January at SFU that led me to decide to apply to UBC Med one more time, I wasn't planning on it. After UBC MD application was sent in, the CS department decided to ignore their own requirements and admitted me. Finally, I could move on. December comes around and I was surprised to get the interview and grateful, but really did not have the energy or time during my studies to practice like that again. I practiced 2 weeks before the interview and went in. Bombed two stations utterly and completely, and the rest were okay. Nothing as good as my last year's interview. I walked out out LSC thinking to myself this is the last time i'll walk here. A chapter in my life had ended. I just wanted to go home, I had midterms. I didn't even eat the pizza. I didn't think about medical school or the interview again and focused on my studies. In May I get an email that I got waitlisted. I was really surprised but not that excited, given results of the last 4 years, I probably wasn't very high on the list anyways. I was too jaded to be excited. Yesterday was like something out of a dream. I was writing out a strongly worded email to UPS for damaging my car's coilovers when my gmail widget popped up "UBC Undergrad Admis..". I thought it's probably a COVID 19 message or they started rejecting people earlier because the waitlist isn't moving. I opened the email and it said "Congratulations". I stared blankly at the email for 20-30 seconds. I won't go into detail what happened afterwards, you can just imagine what happened. As I trembled for the next hour, I thought to myself...they made a mistake. There's no way. How? The interview was awful. How did this happen. There's got to be a mistake. It honestly still hasn't sunk in yet.

I am not going to write that perseverance pays off. This could've easily gone the other way and I know many for whom it did not pay off. Despite all the years of applying and taking rejection after rejection and seriously starting to think there's something wrong with me, I still think I got very lucky. There are risks to pursuing this path. I always thought not having backup would make me more motivated for volunteering and doing well in school and that might have been true, but I think the only thing that changed this year was my attitude towards the whole thing ( I didn't do anything new compared to the previous year's application, just a few more hours in what I already had). I didn't have desperation in my eyes anymore, the interview was taking up my time that could've been used for my midterms. The prospects and promises of the CS degree seemed a lot more realistic vs going up against a hyper competitive application pool. I had other plans, I was pursuing something else at the same time. Something else I enjoyed, but it wasn't necessarily my dream. The outcome of this interview was no longer a zero sum game. It wasn't really as important as last year when there was so much to lose. It had become something I had to do. And perhaps that attitude is something they like. Perhaps it comes off as being more confident.

If future applicants have questions about my ECs feel free to PM me!

I look forward to meeting my classmates soon! (well with covid...maybe soon?)
 

AGHHHH I can't believe you're posting this either! I'm so proud!! I'm so glad that you're going to be able to pursue your dream You've put in tons of time, effort, and energy, and you've been rewarded for it. I know this experience will make you an amazing doctor. Can't wait to be classmates

[struggling2getin 93]

12 hours ago, Aryanenzo said:

Result: Accepted (VFMP) off the Wait-list 6/8/2020

Geography: IP

Early or Regular Deadline: Regular
Timestamp: 3:45 PM PST 
aGPA: 85.1% ~22.5 AQ
MCAT (CPBS / CARS / BBFL / PSBB): 513 (128/126/129/130)
Current Degree (UG/Bachelors/Masters/PhD): SFU Molecular Biology and Biochemistry 2015

ECs: ~34 NAQ last year. Various things: Volunteered at shelters, Big Brother, some clinical volunteering, NSERC (no pubs), helped the elderly, charities etc etc etc. My application included a lot of my hobbies as I tried to paint a picture of who I really am: I like wrenching on cars so I restored an old Japanese car. I really enjoy photography, and drawing. I also repaired computers and phones on the side. I provided evidence for all my hobbies with links (an album for example). I've had quite a few jobs as well from selling cars to manual labor. For example when the town of Fort Mcmurray burned down I lived in a camp near there for 2 months to help with the clean up.

Interview: 7 stations went okay, bombed 2 stations (I might as well have gone in there and screeched for 7 minutes). My essay wasn't great.

I can't believe I am posting this. After 4 applications of straight rejections and 4 MCATs, I finally got wait listed and accepted in the 5th application and 3rd interview. This has been...quite a long and difficult journey. You can look back on my 8 year old account and see all the times when I lost hope completely or when I was researching schools in Poland/Australia/D.O. Schools. No way in hell I expected this. I had completely given up. Last year I quit my job and practiced 250-400 hours for the interview and got below average and rejected. I had practiced with residents, med students, other applicants, professors, teachers, my parents, friends, I gave it my everything so to be rejected like that was a clear message that I am not cut out to be a doctor. I moved on completely. I decided to do a second degree in Computer Science, nothing even health care related. The past 10 years of my life were considered forfeit. I talked to an advisor at SFU about CS requirements and he told me I have everything I need for Jan 2020 intake. Two weeks later as I am applying, they changed their requirements to needing more math courses, I was no longer qualified and UBC's BCS (CS) program wasn't until next September. I was in complete despair at this point. I felt like anything I tried to do with my life, there was a massive obstacle. Like there was some divine force preventing me from progressing while everyone else moved on. It was really hard to not have these negative thoughts. It was the uncertainty around getting into CS for January at SFU that led me to decide to apply to UBC Med one more time, I wasn't planning on it. After UBC MD application was sent in, the CS department decided to ignore their own requirements and admitted me. Finally, I could move on. December comes around and I was surprised to get the interview and grateful, but really did not have the energy or time during my studies to practice like that again. I practiced 2 weeks before the interview and went in. Bombed two stations utterly and completely, and the rest were okay. Nothing as good as my last year's interview. I walked out out LSC thinking to myself this is the last time i'll walk here. A chapter in my life had ended. I just wanted to go home, I had midterms. I didn't even eat the pizza. I didn't think about medical school or the interview again and focused on my studies. In May I get an email that I got waitlisted. I was really surprised but not that excited, given results of the last 4 years, I probably wasn't very high on the list anyways. I was too jaded to be excited. Yesterday was like something out of a dream. I was writing out a strongly worded email to UPS for damaging my car's coilovers when my gmail widget popped up "UBC Undergrad Admis..". I thought it's probably a COVID 19 message or they started rejecting people earlier because the waitlist isn't moving. I opened the email and it said "Congratulations". I stared blankly at the email for 20-30 seconds. I won't go into detail what happened afterwards, you can just imagine what happened. As I trembled for the next hour, I thought to myself...they made a mistake. There's no way. How? The interview was awful. How did this happen. There's got to be a mistake. It honestly still hasn't sunk in yet.

I am not going to write that perseverance pays off. This could've easily gone the other way and I know many for whom it did not pay off. Despite all the years of applying and taking rejection after rejection and seriously starting to think there's something wrong with me, I still think I got very lucky. There are risks to pursuing this path. I always thought not having backup would make me more motivated for volunteering and doing well in school and that might have been true, but I think the only thing that changed this year was my attitude towards the whole thing ( I didn't do anything new compared to the previous year's application, just a few more hours in what I already had). I didn't have desperation in my eyes anymore, the interview was taking up my time that could've been used for my midterms. The prospects and promises of the CS degree seemed a lot more realistic vs going up against a hyper competitive application pool. I had other plans, I was pursuing something else at the same time. Something else I enjoyed, but it wasn't necessarily my dream. The outcome of this interview was no longer a zero sum game. It wasn't really as important as last year when there was so much to lose. It had become something I had to do. And perhaps that attitude is something they like. Perhaps it comes off as being more confident.

If future applicants have questions about my ECs feel free to PM me!

I look forward to meeting my classmates soon! (well with covid...maybe soon?)
 

Funny enough, I came across your acceptance while scrolling through instagram. Congrats! I remember trying to start up practice groups with you last cycle around winter. Glad everything worked out. Sometimes the magic finally happens when you call your last shot 

[lankytank 10]

Result: Accepted (NMP) off the Wait-list 6/8/2020 (3rd application cycle - last year I was on the waitlist until the first day of classes in August)

Geography: IP

Early or Regular Deadline: Regular
Timestamp: 3-4 PM PST 
AGPA: 87% 
MCAT (CPBS / CARS / BBFL / PSBB): 509 (CARS 130)
Current Degree (UG/Bachelors/Masters/PhD): BHK 2017

ECs: Random: university/elite athletics, LGBTQ+ advocacy, adventures... Volunteer: varied opportunities and initiatives, extensive youth coaching, physical rehabilitation clinic abroad... Work: paramedic, rehabilitation worker in mental health, respite care for seniors, first aid in industry, pro ski patrol, private kinesiology, undergrad tutoring and other random work experience... no research

Interview: I started to get really nervous on the drive to UBC with my partner... I had awful gas and that made me more nervous... it was so bad we were rolling down the windows in Feb... then I just started laughing thinking of all the captive interviewers, and the poor applicant following me... We laughed and I farted from Burrard to campus, practicing jokes incase I needed to say "at least I've left you something to remember me by" etc... luckily for all I didn't need any of them. The interview felt great (so much better than last year) - I had fun. There was one interviewer, I think a current student, who gave almost nothing back and didn't seem to be listening to me - just repeating a few words from my initial answer out of context with each follow up question... that one felt awful. Misread one question... a few others were great and one was amazing (I could not have answered better if I had the question in advance)! 

June 8th was the fourth round of offers of my 3rd application cycle. I'd checked the blog until the previous round then spent a couple weeks processing and coming to terms with a different life plan and getting excited about beginning MPH studies... About two days after I made peace with not getting in I opened my email and the first thing I saw was a link to a survey for accepted students. I thought admissions had accidentally sent that to everyone on the waitlist, just rubbing it in... :p 

If you're a future/repeat applicant reading these blogs looking for a little advice or motivation, as I've done before, you'll see that my grades are average, average MCAT, interesting collection of NAQ but nothing exceptional - mostly just getting paid to do interesting things... honestly there are some UBC applicants who could get into any school, any year... then there are hundreds of qualified applicants but only 288 places... Putting all of our accomplishments, values and foundational experiences into an application is incredibly vulnerable but that doesn't mean admissions knows who we are or are qualified to make a judgement of our worth or value as people. Recognizing that the email in December or May could not influence my worth as well as the layers of chance in the application process was liberating for me and this cycle felt so much different because of that freedom - I'm sharing this because maybe it is something that could take a weight off your shoulders too?

[Chromatography 1]

On 6/9/2020 at 3:17 AM, Aryanenzo said:

Result: Accepted (VFMP) off the Wait-list 6/8/2020

Geography: IP

Early or Regular Deadline: Regular
Timestamp: 3:45 PM PST 
aGPA: 85.1% ~22.5 AQ
MCAT (CPBS / CARS / BBFL / PSBB): 513 (128/126/129/130)
Current Degree (UG/Bachelors/Masters/PhD): SFU Molecular Biology and Biochemistry 2015

ECs: ~34 NAQ last year. Various things: Volunteered at shelters, Big Brother, some clinical volunteering, NSERC (no pubs), helped the elderly, charities etc etc etc. My application included a lot of my hobbies as I tried to paint a picture of who I really am: I like wrenching on cars so I restored an old Japanese car. I really enjoy photography, and drawing. I also repaired computers and phones on the side. I provided evidence for all my hobbies with links (an album for example). I've had quite a few jobs as well from selling cars to manual labor. For example when the town of Fort Mcmurray burned down I lived in a camp near there for 2 months to help with the clean up.

Interview: 7 stations went okay, bombed 2 stations (I might as well have gone in there and screeched for 7 minutes). My essay wasn't great.

I can't believe I am posting this. After 4 applications of straight rejections and 4 MCATs, I finally got wait listed and accepted in the 5th application and 3rd interview. This has been...quite a long and difficult journey. You can look back on my 8 year old account and see all the times when I lost hope completely or when I was researching schools in Poland/Australia/D.O. Schools. No way in hell I expected this. I had completely given up. Last year I quit my job and practiced 250-400 hours for the interview and got below average and rejected. I had practiced with residents, med students, other applicants, professors, teachers, my parents, friends, I gave it my everything so to be rejected like that was a clear message that I am not cut out to be a doctor. I moved on completely. I decided to do a second degree in Computer Science, nothing even health care related. The past 10 years of my life were considered forfeit. I talked to an advisor at SFU about CS requirements and he told me I have everything I need for Jan 2020 intake. Two weeks later as I am applying, they changed their requirements to needing more math courses, I was no longer qualified and UBC's BCS (CS) program wasn't until next September. I was in complete despair at this point. I felt like anything I tried to do with my life, there was a massive obstacle. Like there was some divine force preventing me from progressing while everyone else moved on. It was really hard to not have these negative thoughts. It was the uncertainty around getting into CS for January at SFU that led me to decide to apply to UBC Med one more time, I wasn't planning on it. After UBC MD application was sent in, the CS department decided to ignore their own requirements and admitted me. Finally, I could move on. December comes around and I was surprised to get the interview and grateful, but really did not have the energy or time during my studies to practice like that again. I practiced 2 weeks before the interview and went in. Bombed two stations utterly and completely, and the rest were okay. Nothing as good as my last year's interview. I walked out out LSC thinking to myself this is the last time i'll walk here. A chapter in my life had ended. I just wanted to go home, I had midterms. I didn't even eat the pizza. I didn't think about medical school or the interview again and focused on my studies. In May I get an email that I got waitlisted. I was really surprised but not that excited, given results of the last 4 years, I probably wasn't very high on the list anyways. I was too jaded to be excited. Yesterday was like something out of a dream. I was writing out a strongly worded email to UPS for damaging my car's coilovers when my gmail widget popped up "UBC Undergrad Admis..". I thought it's probably a COVID 19 message or they started rejecting people earlier because the waitlist isn't moving. I opened the email and it said "Congratulations". I stared blankly at the email for 20-30 seconds. I won't go into detail what happened afterwards, you can just imagine what happened. As I trembled for the next hour, I thought to myself...they made a mistake. There's no way. How? The interview was awful. How did this happen. There's got to be a mistake. It honestly still hasn't sunk in yet.

I am not going to write that perseverance pays off. This could've easily gone the other way and I know many for whom it did not pay off. Despite all the years of applying and taking rejection after rejection and seriously starting to think there's something wrong with me, I still think I got very lucky. There are risks to pursuing this path. I always thought not having backup would make me more motivated for volunteering and doing well in school and that might have been true, but I think the only thing that changed this year was my attitude towards the whole thing ( I didn't do anything new compared to the previous year's application, just a few more hours in what I already had). I didn't have desperation in my eyes anymore, the interview was taking up my time that could've been used for my midterms. The prospects and promises of the CS degree seemed a lot more realistic vs going up against a hyper competitive application pool. I had other plans, I was pursuing something else at the same time. Something else I enjoyed, but it wasn't necessarily my dream. The outcome of this interview was no longer a zero sum game. It wasn't really as important as last year when there was so much to lose. It had become something I had to do. And perhaps that attitude is something they like. Perhaps it comes off as being more confident.

If future applicants have questions about my ECs feel free to PM me!

I look forward to meeting my classmates soon! (well with covid...maybe soon?)
 

Ive been seeing your posts for the past couple of years and just wanted to say that you really deserve this. I know I don't know you personally, but I was rooting for you so hard! So genuinely happy for you and glad that you were resilient in your dreams - you're going to be an awesome doc!

[Butterfly_ 574]

On 6/9/2020 at 6:17 AM, Aryanenzo said:

Result: Accepted (VFMP) off the Wait-list 6/8/2020

Geography: IP

Early or Regular Deadline: Regular
Timestamp: 3:45 PM PST 
aGPA: 85.1% ~22.5 AQ
MCAT (CPBS / CARS / BBFL / PSBB): 513 (128/126/129/130)
Current Degree (UG/Bachelors/Masters/PhD): SFU Molecular Biology and Biochemistry 2015

ECs: ~34 NAQ last year. Various things: Volunteered at shelters, Big Brother, some clinical volunteering, NSERC (no pubs), helped the elderly, charities etc etc etc. My application included a lot of my hobbies as I tried to paint a picture of who I really am: I like wrenching on cars so I restored an old Japanese car. I really enjoy photography, and drawing. I also repaired computers and phones on the side. I provided evidence for all my hobbies with links (an album for example). I've had quite a few jobs as well from selling cars to manual labor. For example when the town of Fort Mcmurray burned down I lived in a camp near there for 2 months to help with the clean up.

Interview: 7 stations went okay, bombed 2 stations (I might as well have gone in there and screeched for 7 minutes). My essay wasn't great.

I can't believe I am posting this. After 4 applications of straight rejections and 4 MCATs, I finally got wait listed and accepted in the 5th application and 3rd interview. This has been...quite a long and difficult journey. You can look back on my 8 year old account and see all the times when I lost hope completely or when I was researching schools in Poland/Australia/D.O. Schools. No way in hell I expected this. I had completely given up. Last year I quit my job and practiced 250-400 hours for the interview and got below average and rejected. I had practiced with residents, med students, other applicants, professors, teachers, my parents, friends, I gave it my everything so to be rejected like that was a clear message that I am not cut out to be a doctor. I moved on completely. I decided to do a second degree in Computer Science, nothing even health care related. The past 10 years of my life were considered forfeit. I talked to an advisor at SFU about CS requirements and he told me I have everything I need for Jan 2020 intake. Two weeks later as I am applying, they changed their requirements to needing more math courses, I was no longer qualified and UBC's BCS (CS) program wasn't until next September. I was in complete despair at this point. I felt like anything I tried to do with my life, there was a massive obstacle. Like there was some divine force preventing me from progressing while everyone else moved on. It was really hard to not have these negative thoughts. It was the uncertainty around getting into CS for January at SFU that led me to decide to apply to UBC Med one more time, I wasn't planning on it. After UBC MD application was sent in, the CS department decided to ignore their own requirements and admitted me. Finally, I could move on. December comes around and I was surprised to get the interview and grateful, but really did not have the energy or time during my studies to practice like that again. I practiced 2 weeks before the interview and went in. Bombed two stations utterly and completely, and the rest were okay. Nothing as good as my last year's interview. I walked out out LSC thinking to myself this is the last time i'll walk here. A chapter in my life had ended. I just wanted to go home, I had midterms. I didn't even eat the pizza. I didn't think about medical school or the interview again and focused on my studies. In May I get an email that I got waitlisted. I was really surprised but not that excited, given results of the last 4 years, I probably wasn't very high on the list anyways. I was too jaded to be excited. Yesterday was like something out of a dream. I was writing out a strongly worded email to UPS for damaging my car's coilovers when my gmail widget popped up "UBC Undergrad Admis..". I thought it's probably a COVID 19 message or they started rejecting people earlier because the waitlist isn't moving. I opened the email and it said "Congratulations". I stared blankly at the email for 20-30 seconds. I won't go into detail what happened afterwards, you can just imagine what happened. As I trembled for the next hour, I thought to myself...they made a mistake. There's no way. How? The interview was awful. How did this happen. There's got to be a mistake. It honestly still hasn't sunk in yet.

I am not going to write that perseverance pays off. This could've easily gone the other way and I know many for whom it did not pay off. Despite all the years of applying and taking rejection after rejection and seriously starting to think there's something wrong with me, I still think I got very lucky. There are risks to pursuing this path. I always thought not having backup would make me more motivated for volunteering and doing well in school and that might have been true, but I think the only thing that changed this year was my attitude towards the whole thing ( I didn't do anything new compared to the previous year's application, just a few more hours in what I already had). I didn't have desperation in my eyes anymore, the interview was taking up my time that could've been used for my midterms. The prospects and promises of the CS degree seemed a lot more realistic vs going up against a hyper competitive application pool. I had other plans, I was pursuing something else at the same time. Something else I enjoyed, but it wasn't necessarily my dream. The outcome of this interview was no longer a zero sum game. It wasn't really as important as last year when there was so much to lose. It had become something I had to do. And perhaps that attitude is something they like. Perhaps it comes off as being more confident.

If future applicants have questions about my ECs feel free to PM me!

I look forward to meeting my classmates soon! (well with covid...maybe soon?)
 

Yayyy!!! Congratulations!!! I’m so happy for you :)! I’ve followed your posts over the years and I truly admire your dedication and resilience. Your posts helped me a lot when I was also going through the application cycle. Thank you for inspiring me. You 100% deserve this and you are going to be a wonderful doctor!

PS: I’m hoping to come back to UBC for my family medicine residency! Hope to cross paths with you one day!

Cheers!

[Neurophiliac 517]

On 6/9/2020 at 3:17 AM, Aryanenzo said:

Result: Accepted (VFMP) off the Wait-list 6/8/2020

Geography: IP

Early or Regular Deadline: Regular
Timestamp: 3:45 PM PST 
aGPA: 85.1% ~22.5 AQ
MCAT (CPBS / CARS / BBFL / PSBB): 513 (128/126/129/130)
Current Degree (UG/Bachelors/Masters/PhD): SFU Molecular Biology and Biochemistry 2015

ECs: ~34 NAQ last year. Various things: Volunteered at shelters, Big Brother, some clinical volunteering, NSERC (no pubs), helped the elderly, charities etc etc etc. My application included a lot of my hobbies as I tried to paint a picture of who I really am: I like wrenching on cars so I restored an old Japanese car. I really enjoy photography, and drawing. I also repaired computers and phones on the side. I provided evidence for all my hobbies with links (an album for example). I've had quite a few jobs as well from selling cars to manual labor. For example when the town of Fort Mcmurray burned down I lived in a camp near there for 2 months to help with the clean up.

Interview: 7 stations went okay, bombed 2 stations (I might as well have gone in there and screeched for 7 minutes). My essay wasn't great.

I can't believe I am posting this. After 4 applications of straight rejections and 4 MCATs, I finally got wait listed and accepted in the 5th application and 3rd interview. This has been...quite a long and difficult journey. You can look back on my 8 year old account and see all the times when I lost hope completely or when I was researching schools in Poland/Australia/D.O. Schools. No way in hell I expected this. I had completely given up. Last year I quit my job and practiced 250-400 hours for the interview and got below average and rejected. I had practiced with residents, med students, other applicants, professors, teachers, my parents, friends, I gave it my everything so to be rejected like that was a clear message that I am not cut out to be a doctor. I moved on completely. I decided to do a second degree in Computer Science, nothing even health care related. The past 10 years of my life were considered forfeit. I talked to an advisor at SFU about CS requirements and he told me I have everything I need for Jan 2020 intake. Two weeks later as I am applying, they changed their requirements to needing more math courses, I was no longer qualified and UBC's BCS (CS) program wasn't until next September. I was in complete despair at this point. I felt like anything I tried to do with my life, there was a massive obstacle. Like there was some divine force preventing me from progressing while everyone else moved on. It was really hard to not have these negative thoughts. It was the uncertainty around getting into CS for January at SFU that led me to decide to apply to UBC Med one more time, I wasn't planning on it. After UBC MD application was sent in, the CS department decided to ignore their own requirements and admitted me. Finally, I could move on. December comes around and I was surprised to get the interview and grateful, but really did not have the energy or time during my studies to practice like that again. I practiced 2 weeks before the interview and went in. Bombed two stations utterly and completely, and the rest were okay. Nothing as good as my last year's interview. I walked out out LSC thinking to myself this is the last time i'll walk here. A chapter in my life had ended. I just wanted to go home, I had midterms. I didn't even eat the pizza. I didn't think about medical school or the interview again and focused on my studies. In May I get an email that I got waitlisted. I was really surprised but not that excited, given results of the last 4 years, I probably wasn't very high on the list anyways. I was too jaded to be excited. Yesterday was like something out of a dream. I was writing out a strongly worded email to UPS for damaging my car's coilovers when my gmail widget popped up "UBC Undergrad Admis..". I thought it's probably a COVID 19 message or they started rejecting people earlier because the waitlist isn't moving. I opened the email and it said "Congratulations". I stared blankly at the email for 20-30 seconds. I won't go into detail what happened afterwards, you can just imagine what happened. As I trembled for the next hour, I thought to myself...they made a mistake. There's no way. How? The interview was awful. How did this happen. There's got to be a mistake. It honestly still hasn't sunk in yet.

I am not going to write that perseverance pays off. This could've easily gone the other way and I know many for whom it did not pay off. Despite all the years of applying and taking rejection after rejection and seriously starting to think there's something wrong with me, I still think I got very lucky. There are risks to pursuing this path. I always thought not having backup would make me more motivated for volunteering and doing well in school and that might have been true, but I think the only thing that changed this year was my attitude towards the whole thing ( I didn't do anything new compared to the previous year's application, just a few more hours in what I already had). I didn't have desperation in my eyes anymore, the interview was taking up my time that could've been used for my midterms. The prospects and promises of the CS degree seemed a lot more realistic vs going up against a hyper competitive application pool. I had other plans, I was pursuing something else at the same time. Something else I enjoyed, but it wasn't necessarily my dream. The outcome of this interview was no longer a zero sum game. It wasn't really as important as last year when there was so much to lose. It had become something I had to do. And perhaps that attitude is something they like. Perhaps it comes off as being more confident.

If future applicants have questions about my ECs feel free to PM me!

I look forward to meeting my classmates soon! (well with covid...maybe soon?)
 

WELL DONE, well done indeed!!!  Seeing such a success story after years of perseverance deserves congratulations in its truest form.  I cannot wait to welcome you to the UBC med family, my friend, and cannot wait to become colleagues with you   Cheers to you and all your classmates, well done !!!

[Eviloliveoil8 0]

Hi there, I was wondering if there any kind med students or doctors who are willing to go over applications and offer help with writing ECs? Thanks

[Bumbling bee 9]

Hi all, things seem very quiet this morning but to get the ball rolling:

Result: Accepted - NMP!!!

Geography: IP

Early or Regular Deadline: Regular

Timestamp: 7:07 AM PST

AGPA: 88.6%

MCAT (CPBS / CARS / BBFL / PSBB): 517 (128/128/130/131)

Current Degree (UG/Bachelors/Masters/PhD): BSc (2019 grad)

Interview: Interviewed last year, felt much better this year. 

 

ECs: Lots of different ones, lots of paid work and research, long term volunteering. 

[futuredocoverhere 22]

Just got an offer for SMP!! Will update stats later!! 

[pleasantly surprised 4]

Result: Accepted NMP (waitlist for SMP)

Geography: IP

Early or Regular Deadline: Regular (rural)

Timestamp: 7:07 AM PST

AGPA: Not sure but ~90%. This is my first application cycle so not sure how they calculated it in the end.

MCAT (CPBS / CARS / BBFL / PSBB): 514 (127 CARS)

Current Degree (UG/Bachelors/Masters/PhD): BSc (2021)

Interview: Most stations felt good, but a couple were so bad that I was sure I completely bombed it. I already started studying for the MCAT to boost my CARS score to be able to apply more broadly next year.

ECs:  I am a non-traditional applicant that went back to school as a mature student.  I grew up in Northern BC but live in the interior. Most of my EC's reflect my interests in outdoor sports. Lots of my volunteer experiences have been related to my interests along with ~200 hours volunteering in a healthcare setting and ~150 at a local food bank. My previous career involved a lot of leadership and responsibility, in addition to living and working remotely.

[retawxy 34]

Result: Accepted VFMP (first choice)

Geography: IP

Early or Regular Deadline: Regular

Timestamp: 11:15am EST

AGPA: ~93%

MCAT (CPBS / CARS / BBFL / PSBB): 520 (130/131/130/129)

Current Degree (UG/Bachelors/Masters/PhD): 4th year UG

Interview: Practiced a whole lot with my interview prep group and WE ALL GOT IN! We did a few hours every week and coming up with questions for each other, with timed responses and honest feedback. The actual interview was great, the interviewers were all very friendly, though so I couldn't tell if they actually liked me or if they are just nice.

ECs: 

16 month co-op in the industry

multiple part time jobs (work study) during school year, about 10h a week, mostly research assistant (but a lot of manual work e.g. animal care)

TA for a few undergrad math courses

NSERC USRA with first author paper

A unique 1k hour EC (not going into specifics because it would identify me) starting from high school, it's an online initiative targeting a unique population, a true one-man project

Volunteering: regular private visits with seniors and kids

One club involvement as just basic member who tags along camping trips

 

Insight:  I am an introverted person in a small program, I spent most of time with myself and I can count close friends on one hand. I absolutely hated premed politics and wanted to stay away from it, but that meant I wasn't involved with clubs, societies, or organizations that the "average" premeds would have. I tried to make it up with tons of work experience and small-group-setting volunteering activities and it worked! Please don't force yourself into things you don't like just because it's "expected". I had almost no clinical experience or club/society/committee involvement, it's the experience and lessons you gain that are important. 

Regarding work/research experiences, I suggest really trying to stay with a professor if you think they are good supervisors. I had many jobs in first year, stayed with one until second year, and was basically offered an NSERC + another grant to work on a project tailored to my interests. I wasn't even supposed to be first author but the prof and the original first author passed it onto me because they knew my goals and wanted to help me succeed. Another prof that I stayed with for all my undergrad years made me a TA for first year courses when I was in second year myself. The lab's culture and people is much more important than prestige/size, so keep that in mind when you are looking for research positions. Work hard for the right people and it will reward.

[JinoLino 0]

 

 

Result: Rejected

Geography: IP (non-rural)

Early or Regular Deadline: Regular

 

Timestamp: 8:56 PST

AGPA: 95.4

MCAT (CPBS / CARS / BBFL / PSBB): 523 (131/130/131/131)

Degree: BSc in Molecular Biochemistry

Interview: Below Average

ECs: 

0-25%

- with multiple volunteering positions

- consistent and diverse summer jobs

- no research

I guess it wasn't enough

Insight:  I'm disappointed but not overly shocked. My ECs are dragging me down. I felt like my interview was average or even above but that just shows that you never know.

[futuredocoverhere 22]

Result: Accepted SMP!!! (first choice!)

Geography: IP

Early or Regular Deadline: Regular

Timestamp: 7:20am 

AGPA: Somewhere between 88-90%

MCAT (CPBS / CARS / BBFL / PSBB): 519 (132/129/129/129)

Current Degree (UG/Bachelors/Masters/PhD): B.Sc. Honours Psychology and B.Sc. Honours Biology

Interview: Compared to all the other interviews I had, this one felt okay! There were definitely a few stations that I didn't perform as well on, including the acting station!

ECs: Lots of research experience including 1 publication, numerous volunteer positions, and 4 independent research projects one of which focused on clinical research. Executive for a course union, volunteering as a community support volunteer for a family resource center, and a let's talk science volunteer. More personal experiences such as helping my husband with his construction company, back country camping, learning to rock climb, snowboarding, backpacking through Europe and being a mother! Tons of employment history including lots of university roles such as a supplemental learning leader, TA, and tutor. Additionally worked at a hospital as a hospital unit clerk and at a bank for a few years. 

I am honestly just extremely grateful to have this opportunity as a first time applicant because I know there are SOOO many deserving people out there who have applied numerous times. I will likely be declining my offer to UofC and accepting this offer to UBC!  

Congratulations to everyone who received offers and to those of you who didn't, don't give up!! This process is brutal and so many people I know have gotten in after a few tries! 

[crazycockatoo 13]

Result: Accepted to VFMP 

Geography: IP (non-rural)

Early or Regular Deadline: Regular

Timestamp: 8:15AM PST

Degree: BSc Microbiology & Immunology 2021

AGPA: 89.5%

MCAT (CPBS / CARS / BBFL / PSBB): 521 (132/128/132/129)

Interview: I felt like I did good on 7 stations, average on 2 and pretty bad on 1 station. My interviewers were all stone-faced so it was hard to gauge my performance. However I did practice 2 to 4 hours every day with my friends from interview invites day (Dec 18) to my interview day (Jan 30).

ECs: UBC Wesbrook Scholar, HSBC Emerging Leader Premier Undergraduate scholarship, several smaller academic scholarships, 128 hours volunteered at the crisis line, clinical research assistant for 2 years, volunteer psychology research assistant for 2.5 years, 2 NSERC USRAs, created community programs for refugee children and seniors funded with grants.

Congrats to everyone for making it this far! This was my 2nd application after being rejected pre-interview at UBC last year. Will be choosing UBC!