UBC Application

[Guest BCgirl]

I have a couple of questions about filling in my UBC application form.

 

1. Filling in the prereqs: the application says to fill in the name as it appears on my transcript. Do they want it exactly as it is on my transcript, or do I write in the course name from my school's calendar?

 

Ex: do I write in: "gen che life sci" Or, General Chemistry for Life Sciences

 

Also, with the prereqs, they want you to put in the date (month and year). Do they want the date I finished the prereq? So, if it was a first semester course in my 1st year, I would write 12/99 (since I finished the course in Dec. 99)?

 

2. In the academic record part of the application, they ask you to list the courses you'll be taking between sept. 01 and april 02. Do I just write in the name of the course, or do they want the course number, too? The lines aren't that long, so I don't think I would be able to fit both the course number and the name since some of the names are pretty long.

 

Thanks

Now... back to studying for the MCAT :rollin

[Guest YongQ]

Hi BCgirl,

 

For the prereqs, you should put the full name of the course just to be safe. This way, the committee that decides who gets interviewed will know exactly what kind of course you took, and they will still be able to match these names up to your transcript because the transcript just abbreviates whatever the course name is. As for the dates, I think they want finishing dates, because that's the date that the mark appeared on your transcript. And for your 3rd question, I remember last year I put course numbers, but just to be safe I think you should try to fit the full (or abbreviate if you can't fit them) course names as well. The committee wants this because they want to know if you're taking a prereq in the year you're applying, so the more information you give the better. Especially if your courses aren't UBC courses, they're likely unfamiliar with the codes so you should supplement them with some descriptions. Overall, it never hurts to give more information on a med school application - contact information, lengthy extracurric descriptions, prereq details - they all give the adcoms a better idea of the applicant. Good luck!

[Guest Ian Wong]

I'd try for the full names if possible as well if you aren't at UBC undergrad. However, in the end, I suspect that the admissions committee will base most of their actions on what is printed in your undergrad transcript.

 

Ian

UBC, Med 3

[Guest BCgirl]

Thanks guys

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi guys,

 

With respect to the evaluation of applicants at UBC, does anyone know how the academic side of things is evaluated? Here's what I understand thus far: the academic record is assessed in three ways: 1) looking at pre-requisite course averages; 2) looking at the average of the last 60 credits; 3) looking at the overall GPA. A couple of questions regarding this:

 

a) Which of the above is weighted most heavily at UBC? (It doesn't appear that they are considered equally.) Does anyone have an idea of what the overal ratio of pre-req/60 credits/GPA may be?

How is the MCAT used in the academic assessment at UBC (since it doesn't seem to appear in any calculations, up-front)?

 

Cheers for some insight,

Kirsteen

[Guest not rex morgan]

Sorry Kirsteen. The only easy answer to your question is that the MCAT is used more as a threshold. As long as you get over a certain limit, they put you in the next pile. They may use it to evaluate the value of your grades if you are from out of province and aren't too familiar with the grading system of your school. Otherwise, there's really no algorithm for the grades. According to them, they look at the applicant as a whole. I've heard varying stories from different people who talked to different commitee members. For example, one person was told grades count for 50, and each interview for 25. Others have been told it's up to the committee's discression. I would suggest you don't worry too much about the grades at this point. There's nothing much you can do about them now. Concentrate on the essay. You're a good writer. Keep it concise, and jam packed with all the cool stuff you've done in life. They seem to be interested in knowing what you learned from your experiences. At least that was the impression I got last year when I met with them after I got my rejection. It worked for me this year. Good luck.

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi not rex morgan,

 

Thanks for your input. I like the fact that UBC are unique in providing statistics for rejected applicants. It's most useful, but unfortunate that more schools don't follow suit. UBC seem to be fairly progressive in their thinking in these sorts of ways. However, it would be interesting to know how they evaluate your marks. Given that they take into consideration grade trends from year to year, I'd imagine that the score from the last 60 credits is probably weighted a little more heavily than the cGPA, for example.

 

With respect to evaluation of the non-academics, my score last year was relatively high (87th percentile, I believe), yet if I recall correctly, the score out of 25 for this section was something along the lines of 18. Multo strano! This section, it appears, may be evaluated without the aid of a bell curve, and obviously, a lot more subjectively--unlike the academic side of things which does appear to be adhered to a normal distribution. I wonder then, if a score of 23+ is achievable from year to year in the non-academics (an important issue for us out-of-provincers who need to score a lot higher (out of 50) than you fortunate BC-ers?

 

It sounds like you had a bit of a de-briefing session with Admissons, post-rejection? If so, did you find it useful? What sorts of things were you permitted to review and what sorts of guidance was provided (if you don't mind me asking)? I have a telephone interview arranged next month to review last year's application and hopefully end up at a similar point as you now--although I'm going to be pursuing a few additional queries regarding the MD/PhD route.

 

Cheers for your help,

Kirsteen

[Guest BCgirl]

I have another question about the UBC application form

 

On the back of the extracurricular sheet, there's a section where they want you to explain what you did during any absence from university and it says to list employment record below.

 

I don't need to fill in that part (since I haven't taken any time off), but do I still fill in my employment record in that section, or should I put my jobs under the extra-curric categories?

 

Thanks

[Guest not rex morgan]

Hey Kirsteen. I know of alot of people who would love to open up this admissions black box. The first year I applied, I knew of people who got in, who had lower grades than me and way less extracurriculars. I didn't get interviews. Some people who are fortunate enough to get in the first time will say that my application was missing something pivitol. Could be. What you've got to keep in mind is that the admissions committee has to weed through tons of applications and those in the "pretty good" category are lookin' pretty average. So that's why I stand behind the essay. I wrote it so that it still fit my style and myself, but I kept in mind the audience. These are people who are very busy professionals and I would imagine a straight-forward, concise, yet impressive essay would be appreciated. "More matter, less art."

 

Anyways, to get back to your question about asking questions. In the firt year I had a meeting, I didn't know quite what to expect, so I didn't come with very specific questions. That's what you need to have prepared. When I asked what I could do to improve on certain categories (they will break your score down into categories if you ask....still not totally helpful b/c "service ethics" and "high level of achievement in any aspect of human endeavor" is a little elusive). If you ask what you can do to improve your score in these categories, they may tell you that giving that info away would be like giving away the answers to a test. (my sarcastic inner voice was thinking...they usually do give you the answers after you fail a test). Anyways, be prepared for that. Last year I had a different person to meet with. I believe she is the same person for this year. You still have to be specific, but she was much more helpful. Her name is Patricia Jeffs. I found her much more empathetic, and very prepared. Anyways, good luck.

 

 

BC girl. Leave the "what you did after school" thing blank, or write N/A. Employment goes in employment, not in the extracurriculars category. It's a special extracurricular. If you want to expand on how your employment with the YMCA made you a better person, you can do so in your essay. In fact, I would. Don't leave it up to them to extrapolate where you demonstrated "integrity, maturity..." They will take all of your activites, and place them into one and only one category. My first year, my cup overfloweth with background diversity, but i lacked in service ethics. When I pointed out that some of the things that went into background diversity could have demonstrated compassion and tolerance, they basically said that they can't put them into two categories, and that's the way they saw it. As Kirsteen pointed out, It's pretty subjective. Great in theory, but it works against some in practice. Help them out. They are busy people.