Nothing Today on May15

[ruffryder]

The yearly tuition has been getting more expensive too right?

[Smurfette]

they actually had around 200 fewer applicants than in 2005/2006.

 

That might be in part due to people misisng the early application date.

[Adversary]

I would say that's highly likely as the same thing happened to UBC Dentistry before. The applicants that made up the class of 2006 had a pool of 89 to choose from. For the year they applied (2002), they moved the application deadline from November to September.

[celeria]

hahaha... i just realized that it is a statutory holiday on monday. BRILLIANT!

[sfuguy]

From the sounds of it, they're going to release the results over several days (late this week and early next week). Its going to be so confusing for those who don't get a response right away and then have to wait through the weekend!!!

 

I was worried when Celeria called UBC and they said yesterday that the results will be released the EARLIEST on the 15th.

 

Let the stress continue.......

[Smurfette]

Friday might be the big day. They might want to send out stuff and let disappointed and/or angry people blow off their steam over the long weekend. LOL

[omegaxx13]

All the more reason why UBC is at the very bottom of my preference table, even if it is my alma mater.

[Paule]

So do you think that they'll send all the acceptances one day and the refused/waitlisted another? That sounds crazy.

Okay, I'm going to go and run off the extra stress.

[UBCAce]

Now now. I don't think anyone here should be upset.

 

After all, UBC admissions did have an EXTRA MONTH to process these applications. How many apps did they get? Maybe 1800, and they had over 9 MONTHS to process these? Clearly, it's an overwhelming task.

 

UBC administration has proven so elegantly once again how disorganized and bluddering of a mess it is. For you applicants, please note, that the way UBC runs its admissions is reflected in the way it runs its medical school.

 

For comparison, note that many US schools process well over 6000 applications per year. Most of these schools not only process all these applicants, but do so in a running fashion - providing students with an ANSWER of admission one to two months post-application, not in NINE months. Clearly something is amiss at UBC.

 

 

I can understand your frustration but I think you're taking it a little too far. No where did I read/hear that UBC would release results on May 15th, 2007. From what I recall, their website said results would be available mid-May. I may be crazy but I believe mid-May can range from the 10th to the 20th of the month. I know it sucks to wait, but wouldn't you rather be confident that the right decisions are being made rather than have things change after the fact.

 

Also, for you to generalize that the way UBC handles it's admissions is the same as the way it runs the medical school is fair game if you are currently a student - are you? If you are, as I am, I hope you have taken the time to fill out the accreditation survey that was available to all students to share your feelings with those who can do something about it.

 

Just my 2 cents - good luck to all those waiting. I know the feeling from 2 years ago. Gotta get back to studying Neuroanatomy

 

UBCAce

Med2

[ruffryder]

Putting aside the fact that many of us skipped work, or went to work without a good night of sleep, and are on the verge of a nervous breakdown (alright I promise, no more complaining from me about this).. I was just wondering if any of you have rehearsed in your mind what your reactions might be to the green or red text?

 

I don't really imagine myself getting the red text because I don't want to think about that unless it happens.

[don't call me dwight]

This is nothing short of complete bullsh!t.

 

Holy over-reaction Batman. I wanted to find out today as much as anyone but let's keep a couple things in mind:

 

1. UBCAce is totally right, UBC never said it was going to be the 15th. We did. Including myself, so blame me if you want.

 

2. They didn't actually have an extra month to go through the applicants since the interviews were held on the same weekend last year as they were this year.

 

3. The UBC program is expanding and complications should be forgivable, especially from those who get the extra seats.

 

Finally and most importantly:

 

4. UBC Med is one of the only schools, if not the only school, that gives EVERYONE feedback along with their rejection letter, AND personal feedback sessions for everyone that is rejected after interview.

 

That means that UBC is the only school that cares enough about YOU, as an applicant, to let you know how you can improve for next time. As someone who has been rejected from a number of schools in the past UBC's feedback has meant a great deal to me.

 

So before we send AdCom to the gallows, perhaps we should give credit where it's due.

 

When we're all doctors, we're not going to care that they took an extra few days to tell us.

 

D

[jumper]

Hey Don't Call me Dwight-

 

You are absolutely right!! Lets all keep perspective and keep the positive thoughts going...a few extra days is NOT that big of a deal!

[dr nomis]

From the sounds of it, they're going to release the results over several days (late this week and early next week).

 

This is indeed how it has been done in the past. Updating the online status of 224 or 256 accepted students takes a lot of time to do it carefully, and only when that is done are the "Regrets" posted. I'm pretty sure this process is done manually and on an individual applicant-by-applicant basis so you can imagine how long this might take.

[tommy1978]

I have had it with you guys, empathy has no place in medicine.

[dr nomis]

I find it really interesting that of the dozens of replies (and over 1000 thread views) nobody has ventured a guess as to why this might be happening!

 

As I've mentioned before the class expansion was "pending approval" in February. In a conversation I had with the UBC Medicine Associate Dean of the VFMP just over a week ago, much to my surprise, the expansion from 224 to 256 students had still not been finalized.

 

Rumour has it that the BC government asked that the expansion occur this year, and it was fine on all ends until the clinical community in Prince George stated they would not accept another eight students. As it stands, NMP students have been discouraged from shadowing the local physicians and specialists due to the impression that the clinical community in PG is somehow "strained" from the 3rd year clerks entering the hospitals this year.

 

Perhaps this is the issue that is still being sorted out... and the cause for the delay?

[dr nomis]

I have had it with you guys, empathy has no place in medicine.

 

I hear ya!!! Once you've been taught to be empathetic in a communication skills class, and used pre-fab empathetic statements over and over in front of patients, you do start to wonder if you're simply talking like you were trained, and whether or not you actually mean it any more...

[whoithinkyouare]

I find it really interesting that of the dozens of replies (and over 1000 thread views) nobody has ventured a guess as to why this might be happening!

 

As I've mentioned before the class expansion was "pending approval" in February. In a conversation I had with the UBC Medicine Associate Dean of the VFMP just over a week ago, much to my surprise, the expansion from 224 to 256 students had still not been finalized.

 

Rumour has it that the BC government asked that the expansion occur this year, and it was fine on all ends until the clinical community in Prince George stated they would not accept another eight students. As it stands, NMP students have been discouraged from shadowing the local physicians and specialists due to the impression that the clinical community in PG is somehow "strained" from the 3rd year clerks entering the hospitals this year.

 

Perhaps this is the issue that is still being sorted out... and the cause for the delay?

 

 

This is a valid point - and is quite possible.

[sfuguy]

Progress is being made. UBC Admissions has updated the "2007 Offers of Admission" information section of their website. Interesting stuff!

[paulista]

Progress is being made. UBC Admissions has updated the "2007 Offers of Admission" information section of their website. Interesting stuff!

 

i wonder if they are doing this in preparation for releasing the offers.. perhaps tomorrow?? maybe i'm just being hopeful.

 

Holy over-reaction Batman. I wanted to find out today as much as anyone but let's keep a couple things in mind:

 

1. UBCAce is totally right' date=' UBC never said it was going to be the 15th. We did. Including myself, so blame me if you want.

 

2. They didn't actually have an extra month to go through the applicants since the interviews were held on the same weekend last year as they were this year.

 

3. The UBC program is expanding and complications should be forgivable, especially from those who get the extra seats.

 

Finally and most importantly:

 

4. UBC Med is one of the only schools, if not the only school, that gives EVERYONE feedback along with their rejection letter, AND personal feedback sessions for everyone that is rejected after interview.

 

That means that UBC is the only school that cares enough about YOU, as an applicant, to let you know how you can improve for next time. As someone who has been rejected from a number of schools in the past UBC's feedback has meant a great deal to me.

 

So before we send AdCom to the gallows, perhaps we should give credit where it's due.

 

When we're all doctors, we're not going to care that they took an extra few days to tell us.

 

D[/quote']

 

this is all true, but is it THAT unreasonable to set a deadline and work within it? let's say they release them on Tuesday next week.. that's only 4 extra days! i'm pretty sure that in the 9 months or so since submitting our applications the AdCom could've done a little extra work to make sure May 15th it was all ready to go. other schools do it, why can't they?.. that being said, all the anxiety and frustration of waiting for this decision probably aren't making me the most understanding, empathetic guy out there

[Paule]

Haha, this is turning out kind of funny. I mean, this is a forum where we're able to vent, right? Of course we're all going to be fustrated that it's going to take a few more days and say so in this space. But I doubt any of us will be declining an offer cause of the delay.

[p_gray]

FWIW - i think all decisions have been made already and they're probably just doing the following:

 

1. sorting out the expansion - very likely as per the post above

2. putting everything into the computer, which itself is a lot of data entry

 

JMHO.

[paulista]

Haha, this is turning out kind of funny. I mean, this is a forum where we're able to vent, right? Of course we're all going to be fustrated that it's going to take a few more days and say so in this space. But I doubt any of us will be declining an offer cause of the delay.

 

hey, if they swing an offer this way i think i might be willing to forgive their incompetence

[dr nomis]

You can tell a lot about a school by their admissions department (or any department, for that matter). Best not to ignore a bad experience with one department when making a decision about which school to go to...if their admissions department is poorly run, what makes you think their medical school would be any better?

 

hey, if they swing an offer this way i think i might be willing to forgive their incompetence

 

That's what ubcredfox did. He now goes to UBC. Unfortunately, by the looks of his earlier post (and since I know him), I can safely say he regrets it right now.

 

Other examples of a surprisingly low level of respect for applicants:

 

U of A sent me a letter saying they regretted to inform me they were no longer considering my application...in June. They might as well have just written on the letter, "Hey, in case you didn't notice, we didn't invite you for an interview in February." Great timing...why bother even sending the letter! Of course I didn't get in if I didn't get an interview.

 

Admittedly, that's not as bad as the tale I heard of an American med school that sent out rejection letters with no evidence that they gave a flying crap. They printed out one copy on letterhead, then to save letterhead, photocopied it and mailed it out to everyone. Best of all, the photocopy was crooked and part of it was illegible.

 

Perhaps these schools should read the story of a young Jewish boy named Alfred Bader, rejected from both McGill and UToronto shortly after WWII because they figured they didn't want any more Jewish nationals in their schools. A school named Queen's University decided to accept him. Turns out that after graduating he founded a little company that most of us science geeks who worked in labs have heard of, a company called Sigma Aldrich... needless to say, he made a ton of cash off that, and is now one of the largest ever donors to his alma mater.

 

That's right, show respect to everyone, even if you are rejecting them from your school.

[Biochemnerd]

Hey...I understand everyone's frustration, but I think ubc med adm has the right to delay the release of the results. They never stated that they gonna release the results on 15th anyways. I hate to hang by this as well, but the best thing we can do now is to be patient and hope for the best.

________

BEST VALUE VAPORIZER

[dr nomis]

I can understand you might try to be empathetic to the admissions department. In fact, earlier I was among those accused of empathizing with the dep't.

 

However, when I mention a "bad experience" there are a number of things I'm referring to, both related and unrelated to the May 15 situation.

 

First of all, "mid-May" has historically been defined as May 15, based on the years past as the day that notices have been sent out.

 

Secondly, May 15 is the agreed-upon date for all Canadian medical schools to release their notifications, so students know at the same time which schools they have been accpeted to, reducing the number of withdrawls should someone accept an offer at one place then find out they have been accepted elsewhere.

 

Third, you would expect that this target should be easy to accomplish, considering there were fewer applications than last year.

 

Fourth, you should expect that it should be easy to accomplish, considering there was an entire extra month to process applications.

 

Beyond all those reasons surrounding the definition of "mid-May," however, a "bad experience" with UBC's admissions department may also take into account the problems that occur year after year with the department's antiquated online application system. You might remember that the same thing occured in the 2006 admissions cycle, the 2005 admissions cycle, and in previous years as well (though I couldn't find links for anything beyond 2005 I know that the same issue occurred the year before).

 

However, "bad experience" is, of course, a subjective term, and so even in light of the above it would be understandable if someone may choose not to describe their impression of the UBC admissions department in the same way that I have.

 

In that case, perhaps you would recommend I take the advice that I came across as I dug through the archives of the premed101.com forums.

 

I just happen to know first-hand how stressful this can be and while I am thankful that I'm not going through it right now (med school finals present their own set of... unique... challenges all their own, a.k.a. kill me now) my heart goes out to everyone stuck in the middle of this.