UBC Interview Invites/Regrets

[keepontrying]

The average NAQ of everyone that applied (and was reviewed) was just over 30. I'm assuming how you word your extra-curricular activities is very important if someone with such outstanding activities only got that score.

 

The thing is, there are also more older applicants with really impressive resume these days since NAQ becomes their saving grace if they have average grades (low 80s) under the new GPA heavy system. The poster with 30 NAQ has an outstanding list, but older folks who have worked for 3-4 years and continued to volunteer at a high level (longer commitment, more achievements etc) would inflate the standards as well.

[in2bat0r]

Random sidebar --> does the GPA (87.54%) for applicants invited for interview include OOP, or is it just IP?

[herewego]

Random sidebar --> does the GPA (87.54%) for applicants invited for interview include OOP, or is it just IP?

 

Look at the very bottom of the Interim Stats page.

 

IP is 87.05%

OOP is 90.98%

 

*Edit* Thanks Tricky!

[Tricky]

The thing is, there are also more older applicants with really impressive resume these days since NAQ becomes their saving grace if they have average grades (low 80s) under the new GPA heavy system. The poster with 30 NAQ has an outstanding list, but older folks who have worked for 3-4 years and continued to volunteer at a high level (longer commitment, more achievements etc) would inflate the standards as well.

 

True. Hard to say. I know a few people in 1st-3rd year at UBC and none of them have extra-curricular activities like that poster. I've also heard they favour longer term commitments with lots of hours over quantity.

 

Random sidebar --> does the GPA (87.54%) for applicants invited for interview include OOP, or is it just IP?

 

That was IP and OOP combined. 87.05% was the average of the BC applicants who received an offer.

[gradapp]

True. Hard to say. I know a few people in 1st-3rd year at UBC and none of them have extra-curricular activities like that poster. I've also heard they favour longer term commitments with lots of hours over quantity.

 

Having been in graduate school for a few years, I am a bit older than the traditional applicant; this may have worked against my NAQ score since I have had more time to accomplish things than others. Then again there could just be applicants who have accomplished a lot more than I have.

 

 

It is unfortunate that your GPA couldn't be brought up because your extracurriculars are stellar (far more stellar than a measly 30/50, in my eyes at least). I find it hard to believe that someone could obtain 40+ after reading your descriptions.

 

This is unfortunate. However, in graduate school, though I have done very well academically, there have been few opportunities for me to 'boost' my GPA (in my Ph.D. program, I have only been required to take 6 courses). I can come up with a million excuses, but in the end it is my own fault that I didn't put more effort in during my first 2.5 years of my undergraduate career before I was truly excited about the material. I still have my hopes set on U of T which has a separate panel for evaluating graduate students, and emphasizes research productivity more heavily.

 

Gradapp, it's obvious you are an excellent candidate for medical school, however due to the luck of the draw (or lack thereof), you really got the short end of the stick for this application cycle. I would be disappointed if you do not try again with your stats and extracurricular activities.

 

Thank you for your condolences, though my rejection may have been alleviated if my grades were higher. I am still waiting to hear back from U of T. If I am rejected, I will have to weigh my options. However, if I am unable to get in, I am lucky in that I will still be able to develop a career in biomedical research which is something that I would really enjoy. I'd like to be a physician, but there are always other paths in life that may be equally as rewarding.

 

 

I wish all of you still in the running the best of luck, and I am sure many of you will make fantastic physicians.

[Economist]

As evidenced in previous threads about NAQ, it appears that this is a highly subjective topic. I had an acquaintance of mine score 22/25 (84%), prior to the conversion of scores in 2010, and then subsequently score 30/50 (60%) in 2011 without many changes to his application. I would consider his extracurricular to be in the top 10% of all the resumes I've ever looked at, even compared to his pre-med peers at the time.

 

Gradapp, it's obvious you are an excellent candidate for medical school, however due to the luck of the draw (or lack thereof), you really got the short end of the stick for this application cycle. I would be disappointed if you do not try again with your stats and extracurricular activities.

 

*edit* Chestbra, you probably don't have to worry much if you haven't received a rejection yet. I think the bulk of the bad news has gone out for both IP's and OOP's. In previous years, that type of news usually goes out in bulk. I believe we are safe for now, and most of us can probably expect to hear good news either tomorrow or the day after.

 

Hope thats true... Im on the borderline of making the cut so this is a bit relieving...

 

One of my friends got 40 NAQ with an avg list of ec (imo). Nothing out of the ordinary... Weird.

[muhgel]

The thing is, there are also more older applicants with really impressive resume these days since NAQ becomes their saving grace if they have average grades (low 80s) under the new GPA heavy system. The poster with 30 NAQ has an outstanding list, but older folks who have worked for 3-4 years and continued to volunteer at a high level (longer commitment, more achievements etc) would inflate the standards as well.

 

I refused to be called "old"

[bearpuppy]

Hey guys,

 

I thought I would post my rejection stats in case they are helpful for future applicants trying to figure out what they need to apply to UBC med. Based on my low stats, I don't think UBC would be a viable option if I ever decided to re-apply.

 

Adjusted Grade Point Average 82.08

AQ Score 23.59

NAQ Score 30.58

TFR Score 54.17

 

Non-academics:

 

Research: 2 first author pubs (in journals with impact factors of 5 and 10, both featured in the highlights section of their respective journals), 4 oral presentations at conferences, 2 conference posters, all first author.

 

Scholarships: 4 scholarships valued at ~$6K each. 1 valued at $100K.

 

Work experience: Laboratory work, 3 TAships, also some very general jobs, supervision of ~30 people in my lifetime.

 

EC: I serve on a small to mid-size executive committee, volunteering with vulnerable adults (3+ years), hospital volunteering (~1.5 years), travelling (2+ yrs), homeless shelter work (intermittently), recreational sports.

 

gradapp.. I'm sorry to hear that a fellow biomedical phd student didn't make the cut.

 

Although this was absolutely devastating -- i was floored by how poorly i scored in both AQ and NAQ categories, I have to say.. I don't think research is UBC's focus by any means.

 

One simple thing -- compare how many PhDs UBC has accepted in the last few years compared with other schools.... it's 2 or 3 for several years now..

 

Look for instance at U of C -- a 3 year program, and they took 15 PhDs last year.

 

what I'm saying is ... UBC doesn't value our graduate degrees.. and their program doesn't emphasize a physician-scientist career pathway.. I think both of us may be happier elsewhere... Specifically places like U of C (3 yr program, obviously more interested in older students as evidenced both by the PhD numbers and their overall average age) or UToronto which obviously focuses much more on research.

 

Anyhow.. perhaps I'm just trying to argue away the pain, but I hope something better happens for us both.

[Conan]

I'm a mature applicant as well and I've had a couple years of work experience now. Anyone else out there over 26 years old from this years applicant pool?

[herewego]

Anyone hear anything this morning/afternoon?

[kylamonkey]

If anyone wants to see my list of ECs, it's pretty much the same as it was last year, except that I expanded my role in several of the activities (such as becoming a first aid instructor rather than just volunteering). Also, I moved to the Yukon and I started working as a youth worker part-time with at-risk youth.

Here's my list from last year:

http://premed101.com/forums/showpost...&postcount=386

 

Maybe I'm bucking the trend since my NAQ score goes up a little bit every year, or maybe I"m getting better at wording. I still haven't cracked the 40/50 barrier though.

 

I think for those who are >40NAQ the variability from year to year may be higher.

 

For those trying to convert their GPA on a 4.0 scale to the percentages- UBC does provide a table that can help with that.

[arr]

Anyone hear anything this morning/afternoon?

 

Haven't heard anything at all yet - I keep following the posts for any indication...

[optimism101]

I just heard from a friend that several invitations went out yesterday. Can anyone confirm this? I wonder if this could mean that regular deadline applicants might hear today since UBC was pretty clear the early applicants would get 1 day early notice, and it actually would be unfair to have invites sent at different times throughout the week, since you sign up for your slot as soon as you hear. Are there any early deadline applicants still waiting to hear about interviews?

[david80]

I applied at the early deadline and am still waiting to hear back. How credible is your friend's source?

[herewego]

I just heard from a friend that several invitations went out yesterday. Can anyone confirm this? I wonder if this could mean that regular deadline applicants might hear today since UBC was pretty clear the early applicants would get 1 day early notice, and it actually would be unfair to have invites sent at different times throughout the week, since you sign up for your slot as soon as you hear. Are there any early deadline applicants still waiting to hear about interviews?

 

If I remember correctly, someone on this thread mentioned that their friend applied early and heard nothing yesterday. Again, this is just a small sample but I feel like UBC may have had some technical difficulties yesterday. If not, then the proposed timeline for early applicants just doesn't seem to be implemented very well.

[Patterson]

I just heard from a friend that several invitations went out yesterday. Can anyone confirm this? I wonder if this could mean that regular deadline applicants might hear today since UBC was pretty clear the early applicants would get 1 day early notice, and it actually would be unfair to have invites sent at different times throughout the week, since you sign up for your slot as soon as you hear. Are there any early deadline applicants still waiting to hear about interviews?

 

I met the early deadline and haven't heard anything yet. Last year my TFR score was roughly ten points above the interview cutoff.

 

I'm a mature applicant as well and I've had a couple years of work experience now. Anyone else out there over 26 years old from this years applicant pool?

 

I'll be 26 in a few short weeks .

[optimism101]

I applied at the early deadline and am still waiting to hear back. How credible is your friend's source?

 

Credible. I heard this from 2 different people that I work with.

[mddreamer]

Hopefully it was a technical issue and everyone else who applied early (myself included) isn't just waiting on rejection e-mails.

 

This wait is definitely worse than May 15th last year for me, at least I knew my fate by 8am that morning.

[herewego]

Hopefully it was a technical issue and everyone else who applied early (myself included) isn't just waiting on rejection e-mails.

 

This wait is definitely worse than May 15th last year for me, at least I knew my fate by 8am that morning.

 

I also find it strange that no one has received any word today. Unless they are sending their good or bad news after 3:00 pm every day

[wutdo]

it honestly seems like they will save everything for 330 everyday

 

Edit: ^^ wizard

[med-dream]

it honestly seems like they will save everything for 330 everyday

 

Edit: ^^ wizard

 

Why cannot they release all the rejections in one day & all invititations in another day that will save everyone's time? Techniccally it works.

[Patrick1234]

Hi Bearpuppy

 

Sorry you didn't make the cut, i too am a non-trad student who didn't get an interview this year. I received an interview last year though and this year for some reason my NAQ has dropped by more than 9 points. Go figure.

I saw you post in the med school forums, was wondering if you had any luck with american med schools yet? Best

 

 

 

gradapp.. I'm sorry to hear that a fellow biomedical phd student didn't make the cut.

 

Although this was absolutely devastating -- i was floored by how poorly i scored in both AQ and NAQ categories, I have to say.. I don't think research is UBC's focus by any means.

 

One simple thing -- compare how many PhDs UBC has accepted in the last few years compared with other schools.... it's 2 or 3 for several years now..

 

Look for instance at U of C -- a 3 year program, and they took 15 PhDs last year.

 

what I'm saying is ... UBC doesn't value our graduate degrees.. and their program doesn't emphasize a physician-scientist career pathway.. I think both of us may be happier elsewhere... Specifically places like U of C (3 yr program, obviously more interested in older students as evidenced both by the PhD numbers and their overall average age) or UToronto which obviously focuses much more on research.

 

Anyhow.. perhaps I'm just trying to argue away the pain, but I hope something better happens for us both.

[suzy123]

I just heard from a friend that several invitations went out yesterday. Can anyone confirm this? I wonder if this could mean that regular deadline applicants might hear today since UBC was pretty clear the early applicants would get 1 day early notice, and it actually would be unfair to have invites sent at different times throughout the week, since you sign up for your slot as soon as you hear. Are there any early deadline applicants still waiting to hear about interviews?

 

That is wat I was wondering as well!!

[bearpuppy]

Hi Bearpuppy

 

Sorry you didn't make the cut, i too am a non-trad student who didn't get an interview this year. I received an interview last year though and this year for some reason my NAQ has dropped by more than 9 points. Go figure.

I saw you post in the med school forums, was wondering if you had any luck with american med schools yet? Best

 

Hi Patrick. Unfortunately I'm still waiting for 15 schools to get back to me.. when I think about it carefully, I probably really only have a chance at about 5-8 of those... so, I think there's some potential still, especially for special programs like the PhD/MD one at Columbia (3yr degree for someone who already has a biomedical-related PhD)..

 

I usually post updates in the american section on premed101 as well as on SDN. I also have an mdapplicants profile if you're interested (#25835).

[cw351]

I just heard from a friend that several invitations went out yesterday. Can anyone confirm this? I wonder if this could mean that regular deadline applicants might hear today since UBC was pretty clear the early applicants would get 1 day early notice, and it actually would be unfair to have invites sent at different times throughout the week, since you sign up for your slot as soon as you hear. Are there any early deadline applicants still waiting to hear about interviews?

 

I made the early deadline and am still waiting to hear back.