78% Overall Average Worth Applying?

[Guest PharmerMed]

Hi,

 

I am new here. I know that it is impossible for anyone other than the AdCom to fully answer this question because only they will have a holistic view of my entire application.

 

But, has anyone with an average in the mid to high 70s (e.g. 75%-78%) and low pre-req marks gotten into UBC Med without having done something else spectacular e.g. being an olympic athlete?

[Guest leviathan]

I don't know, but I think they routinely take about 30-50 students each year with averages in the range of 75-79.99%. I'm sure they weren't all olympic gold medal winners.

[Guest canmic]

I know someone who got in with about a 74% overall and an 80% pre-req average.

 

They had great MCATs and ECs but they weren't in the olympics...

 

Also, with a 78% overall and a 78% in your last 60 credits, your academic score will be somewhere around 17/25. So if you got about 19/25 or better on the non academic side, you'd get an interview.

[Guest Persistent]

Hi there,

 

Out of curiosity, what is your last 60 credit average? Like someone said, your AQ will be something between 17-18. If you can get to the interview and ROCK the interview, I wouldn't be surprised at all if you get in. The interview does count for a large chunk of the score. So, give it a try and do awesome in your interview. Hopefully your NAQ will help you as well.

 

PS. I am in a similar boat as you. overall 78%, last 60 80%, prereqs 73% but I still got myself an interview both last year and this year. Last year my interview wasn't all too great... but I'm hoping this year it was much better. Good luck!

[Guest jgray2]

my file review score was a 40.41/50.00 (no interview for me), and that came with a 79% overall average. if you're a bc resident, i'd say go for it. you just have to have to make up for it with your non-academics.

[Guest Persistent]

Jgray2,

 

Do you know whether UBC standardizes OOP scores in a separate pool from the BC residents when coming up with the total file review? Ie. Say you got 20/25 in your NAQ. Is that relative to the entire pool of applicants or only to the OOP applicants.

 

Hmm... the AQ for 78% shoud be somewhere between 18-19 I think.... so would it be correct to estimate your NAQ to be between 21.41-22.41 ?

 

If so, can you give us a briefing on your ECs so that we can get an idea of a NAQ of 21-22 may consist of?

 

Thanks!

[Guest canmic]

ah, the info I gave above was for BC residents...

 

for OOP, you would need just about max NAW score to get an interview with a 78 overall and a 78 on the last 60 credits.

 

By the way, the low pre-req average doesn't stop you from getting an interview at all but there are 2 things to keep in mind:

 

1) In the final file review, all other things being equal the person with the higher pre-reqs and MCATs will get in before someone with low pre-req and MCAT

 

2) If you scored low 70s (or below) on the pre-reqs and you didn't have great MCATS, you should give serious thought about your ability to handle med school. A passing grade on the academic side at UBC is 76% last I checked, so if you put a lot of effort into the pre-reqs but only squeeked by you might be biting off more than you can chew. Hopefully UBC won't follow McMaster's example of ignoring pre-req marks and MCATS and making all the internal exams easy enough for everyone to pass and then having a significant percentage of the class totally fail the LMCC part I...

[Guest Persistent]

There's one little issue I have concerns with when it comes to low pre-req averages. Fair enough when you say that perhaps you are biting off more than you can chew if you get low 70 pre-req averages. But, on the flip side, it's unfair to chain you to your low pre-req averages (which, you most likely did in the first 2 years of post-secondary). Yes, I didn't do so well in my pre-reqs, but I disagree that it shows my capability of handling med school academics. If I were to do those pre-reqs again, I am positive I could do so much better. But UBC does not give me the opportunity to do that. Soooo, I think pre-req averages SHOULD be considered with a grain of salt (as I believe UBC does do to a certain extent)...and a greater focus ought to be kept on the last 60 and overall averages.

 

But, as you said, in the end, when comparing two applicants with everything else being equal, the lower pre-reqs will inevitably be rejected.

 

But....what happens when you have 2 candidates, one with better pre-reqs and lower MCAT and the other with lower pre-reqs and higher MCAT (and everything else being equal)??? I do not have an answer for that.... :\

[Guest jgray2]

my last 60 credits were very, very high, thereby dragging my overall average /up/ to a 79. my first few years were very, very, very bad -- and unfortunately, because of how they score the pre-req marks, my pre-reqs are also very bad. my mcat was higher than average tho, but that doesn't mean anything to the scores. my academic section = ~21.

 

therefore, my naq = ~19.5. this is very close to average if you took out the bonus point i received for ... i don't know what -- the admissions office refuses to set up an oop telephone advising session with me to figure that out.

[Guest canmic]

"But....what happens when you have 2 candidates, one with better pre-reqs and lower MCAT and the other with lower pre-reqs and higher MCAT (and everything else being equal)??? I do not have an answer for that.... "

 

No clue but I would imagine they have some sort of formula that involves pre-req average and MCATs since they say that both are used in 'final selection in the case of ties'.

 

I'd guess that being below the cut-off levels would be a bad thing (ie: below a 70% on the pre-reqs and used to be below a 7-8 on the MCATs). Another thing they say somewhere (or used to say, I haven't read it in a while) is that if you take a higher level course and get a higher grade it can be used to replace a low grade in a pre-req or something like that.

 

So, what I read into that is that if you get lousy marks in 2nd year organic (for example) but then get your act together later on, you can make up for it (at least in part) by getting good marks in 3rd year organic or something like that.