2011/12 UBC Applicant Discussion: OAS is now open!

[Chaplin]

Thats wonderful news . I always hated the pre-requisite average criteria before interview.

[notmeadoc]

I started. Nervous. I can't believe that it's finally my turn.

[K-Doc]

I think the extra money that they spent on getting this new OAS was really worth it. It's much more user friendly than the last one. Glad to see UBC is always looking to improve the admissions process.

[technicity]

FYI, everyone! Make sure you mark CHEM 286 as "prerequisite"!

 

Hello technicity,

 

I did say (and sorry if it was not clear) that if you have taken CHEM 286 we will include it in your prerequisite average (as well as overall).

 

MD Undergraduate Admissions

UBC Faculty of Medicine

317-2194 Health Sciences Mall

Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3

URL: http://www.med.ubc.ca/admissionsmd

/jm

[K-Doc]

FYI, everyone! Make sure you mark CHEM 286 as "prerequisite"!

 

Thanks for the clarification! definitely helps having Chem 286 as a prereq!

[powermed]

Taken from the UBC Medicine Blog

 

Pre Interview academic criteria

By Admissions on June 9, 2011

 

The Evaluation Criteria section of the website has been updated regarding the pre-interview academic criteria. We can now confirm that the academic score will be derived from applicants’ overall average (or adjusted academic average if applicable). The academic and non-academic scores will still be weighed equally (50% each). We will not be looking at your MCAT or prerequisite average during this phase of the evaluation process.

 

That seems ridiculously simple. Overal GPA or adjust GPA equals 50% of your pre interview score... then NAQ is the other 50%.

 

Good luck this year gang!

 

 

ugh. This is such a downer. My prereq is way better than my cGPA.

[flytotheblue]

ugh. This is such a downer. My prereq is way better than my cGPA.

 

Same here. But if we manage to land the interview, then it's not so bad because they will look at prereq in the post-interview criteria (whatever it may be worth).

[Apixaban85]

I think the extra money that they spent on getting this new OAS was really worth it. It's much more user friendly than the last one. Glad to see UBC is always looking to improve the admissions process.

 

Overall I do like it as well

 

One problem I have is the summary of your entries (on the bottom of the page) is formatted in kind of a lame way

 

I thought they really nailed that last year with the neat tables

[technicity]

For everyone applying (or people who have applied), are you including things like "Dean's List" as an academic award? Frankly I don't feel like it's on the level of "award" but I don't want to exclude it if it might help at all.

 

For those who are including it, how are you entering the dates? I'm thinking of inputting the first date awarded and then noting the terms after in the description.

[relaxer12]

Does anyone know for re-applicants do we need to make a new account? It seems that the system doesn't recognize my old account.

Thanks

[hking03]

Does anyone know for re-applicants do we need to make a new account? It seems that the system doesn't recognize my old account.

Thanks

 

they have a new system, so yes you need to make a new account.

 

you should print off your old applications and/or save them to your computer for reference as the old system will be going offline sept 1.

[gourmet]

xxxxx 10char

[mhm5]

Just wondering if the descriptions for the academic awards should be straight forward...as in what the award is and the criteria for being awarded it?

[iicii]

that's what I did last year...something along the lines of "awarded to students with sessional gpa in the top 5% of the faculty". I found it useful to look up the description in the school's awards page and modifying it for your description

If applicable, I mentioned competition of awards like 1 award for 500 applicants...and I also mentioned the dollar amt of the award if it applied.

 

Just wondering if the descriptions for the academic awards should be straight forward...as in what the award is and the criteria for being awarded it?

[iicii]

if you have the space, why not...

 

For everyone applying (or people who have applied), are you including things like "Dean's List" as an academic award? Frankly I don't feel like it's on the level of "award" but I don't want to exclude it if it might help at all.

 

For those who are including it, how are you entering the dates? I'm thinking of inputting the first date awarded and then noting the terms after in the description.

[mhm5]

that's what I did last year...something along the lines of "awarded to students with sessional gpa in the top 5% of the faculty". I found it useful to look up the description in the school's awards page and modifying it for your description

If applicable, I mentioned competition of awards like 1 award for 500 applicants...and I also mentioned the dollar amt of the award if it applied.

 

Thanks,

 

What about for Employement? Should the description include skills and such or be a straightforward description of the job and the tasks being done?

[soggybread]

This might seem like a silly question, but hopefully someone here can answer it...

 

I'm assuming that it's okay to send my university transcripts to UBC BEFORE I complete and submit my online application? I was reading the UBC Med Blog and there was a rather confusing post that says the following "The sooner you submit, the sooner you can ensure that your transcripts and any other required documentation has been received by our office.".

[iicii]

i think it will be ok....again...call/email admissions and ask?..orrrrr..as on the blog...always better to have the official word

 

This might seem like a silly question, but hopefully someone here can answer it...

 

I'm assuming that it's okay to send my university transcripts to UBC BEFORE I complete and submit my online application? I was reading the UBC Med Blog and there was a rather confusing post that says the following "The sooner you submit, the sooner you can ensure that your transcripts and any other required documentation has been received by our office.".

[Mithril]

You can submit your transcripts anytime.

[Asta]

This might seem like a silly question, but hopefully someone here can answer it...

 

I'm assuming that it's okay to send my university transcripts to UBC BEFORE I complete and submit my online application? I was reading the UBC Med Blog and there was a rather confusing post that says the following "The sooner you submit, the sooner you can ensure that your transcripts and any other required documentation has been received by our office.".

 

I have not submitted my app and my transcripts now show up as 'received' on my OAS.

[Minowa]

I am looking at the application form and under the NAQ section and it says "Hours per month". I have not paid the application fee yet, so I can't see beyond what's on the "sample" application. Is there somewhere else in the NAQ section that gives you the option to list the cumulative hours? This would give the option of listing a more "irregular" activity, like volunteering for a project for a week.

 

(I know the first poster in this thread asked a similar question, but I don't see an answer in this thread).

[Airboard]

Hey everyone, I had a quick question. For the field 'Title' in the Non Academic section, what is this for? Does this mean what your title was in the activity such as VP, Founder, Volunteer etc...? Or does it mean the title of the activity, for example 'Weekly Volunteer at XYZ Hospital'?

 

Thanks in advance

[animo_acid]

Hey everyone, I had a quick question. For the field 'Title' in the Non Academic section, what is this for? Does this mean what your title was in the activity such as VP, Founder, Volunteer etc...? Or does it mean the title of the activity, for example 'Weekly Volunteer at XYZ Hospital'?

 

Thanks in advance

 

I think it makes more sense to put down the title of the position.

[technicity]

From the admissions blog (I've bolded interesting points):

 

We’ve been getting some questions about the application. Hope this helps to answer them!

 

Employment History – The Help Guide says to complete this section starting with your most recent position first because that is what is easiest for most people. However, the system will automatically arrange your entries in chronological order, so if you want to enter them in a different order, that’s fine.

 

Non-Academic Activities – You can enter your activities in the order that is easiest for you. Because of the entry limits it might be easiest to enter them according to category, but if you prefer to enter them chronologically or some other way, you may. The system will automatically arrange your entries in chronological order.

 

Activities completed before post-secondary – This year, we have removed our previous guidelines about including secondary school activities. We want to see your most significant activities and are leaving it up to you to decide what those are.

 

MCAT status – It’s ok if you see “MCAT not found.” Please check your MCAT status starting July 11. As long as you correctly released your scores on or after June 1, you don’t need to re-release them.

 

Proof of BC Residency status – This will be available online starting July 11.

[Angiotensin-II]

Activities completed before post-secondary – This year, we have removed our previous guidelines about including secondary school activities. We want to see your most significant activities and are leaving it up to you to decide what those are.

 

So this means high school activities are no longer looked upon in as bad of light as before? Wow. Complete game changer for those of us who have a lot of significant high school activities.