Torntoiletpaper Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Congrats to all who survived yesterday's wave of rejections. I was actually rejected yesterday but I thought I would come by to say good luck to you all. I was very surprised how low my NAQ came out to be (<20). I have a master's degree and currently work as a clinical researcher at a prestigious medical institution in the US. I have extensive research experience as I have started doing research since the sophomore year in undergrad. I have two first-authored publications and many more co-authored publications in SCI level journals. In terms of volunteering, I have done both domestic and overseas volunteering... So although UBC explicitly denies it, I think they definitely undervalue research accomplishments. UBC would have been my first choice because I wanted to go back home, but I guess that is not happening. Anyways, good luck to you all - it was a good run I have also noticed this apparent trend? This year, I had put more focus onto research, getting 1 publication and having another on the way. However, my NAQ dropped almost 4 points (3.88)! Even though nothing has changed except the addition of my extra research work. Needless to say, I'm upset because I thought my application was stronger this year (because of the additional research). Yet I got an interview last year, but not this year. It's even more disappointing as I did better last year when I was just testing the waters and "yolo'ing" it when compared to this year where I put in some goddamn effort. Anyways, good luck to those who was awarded an interview! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Has anyone else read Kafka's Trial? This is the first time I've made it past the first day of rejections at UBC. I feel more and more like Joseph K each minute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smartpig Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Has anyone else read Kafka's Trial? This is the first time I've made it past the first day of rejections at UBC. I feel more and more like Joseph K each minute. Haha same here! The email always comes to me on Monday and the rest of the week is spent in sadness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldpizzahotsriracha Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Good luck everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majinpatrick Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 I have also noticed this apparent trend? This year, I had put more focus onto research, getting 1 publication and having another on the way. However, my NAQ dropped almost 4 points (3.88)! Even though nothing has changed except the addition of my extra research work. Needless to say, I'm upset because I thought my application was stronger this year (because of the additional research). Yet I got an interview last year, but not this year. It's even more disappointing as I did better last year when I was just testing the waters and "yolo'ing" it when compared to this year where I put in some goddamn effort. Anyways, good luck to those who was awarded an interview! I am curious whether or not NAQ is relative to where you are in your education or someone in your shoes. An extreme would be whether a 2nd year undergrad with a Nature (1st Author) would be evaluated the same as a 5th year PhD student with a Nature (1st Author). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spuddy999 Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 I am curious whether or not NAQ is relative to where you are in your education or someone in your shoes. An extreme would be whether a 2nd year undergrad with a Nature (1st Author) would be evaluated the same as a 5th year PhD student with a Nature (1st Author). They say specifically on their blog that this is an incorrect theory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ow1234 Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Does UBC undervalue research or do we overvalue it? While research is important, they're looking for skills, traits, and values in a multitude of areas. This statement isn't directed towards anyone haha just a different perspective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meekika91 Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Did anyone experience a fluctuation of their NAQ score by more than 10 points before? I had an interview last year and made sure to improve my application over the year. However, my NAQ score went down about 11 points. No changes in the descriptions were made and I only added new activities. I made sure to confirm that all of my verifiers replied back. Thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harro Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 I saw the UBC blog post and thought, CRAP I must've missed the admissions email somehow... then frantically tried to find it in my inbox, couldn't find it, then came to UBC premed forum. I hate doing this every year, I'm so sick of waiting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harro Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 I am curious whether or not NAQ is relative to where you are in your education or someone in your shoes. An extreme would be whether a 2nd year undergrad with a Nature (1st Author) would be evaluated the same as a 5th year PhD student with a Nature (1st Author). I would wonder if anyone with 1st author Nature article would just go into med, they have such a great future ahead with natural sciences research... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CD.flamy Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Does UBC undervalue research or do we overvalue it? While research is important, they're looking for skills, traits, and values in a multitude of areas. This statement isn't directed towards anyone haha just a different perspective. I think the NAQ is a combination of attributes: scholar, teamwork, service, etc... Let's say you have a few pubs = max scholar scores, adding more pubs isn't gonna influence the app that much? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerscave Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Does UBC undervalue research or do we overvalue it? While research is important, they're looking for skills, traits, and values in a multitude of areas. This statement isn't directed towards anyone haha just a different perspective. Medical institutions should value research. Field of medicine is continuous evolving and making new advances. If you look at top medical schools in North America, they spend a lotttttt of money on research. Maybe UBC's main goal is to produce primary doctors who could serve the communities. who knows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerscave Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 I think the NAQ is a combination of attributes: scholar, teamwork, service, etc... Let's say you have a few pubs = max scholar scores, adding more pubs isn't gonna influence the app that much? Thats the problem that I have with UBC admissions. Why are they forcing us to chase after cookie cutter experiences? people are naturally better at certain things over others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torntoiletpaper Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Did anyone experience a fluctuation of their NAQ score by more than 10 points before? I had an interview last year and made sure to improve my application over the year. However, my NAQ score went down about 11 points. No changes in the descriptions were made and I only added new activities. I made sure to confirm that all of my verifiers replied back. Thanks in advance Whoa, and I thought I had it bad with my deduction of 4 points. I feel for you man. If i had my score from last year, I would have gotten an interview 10 points is just absurd. I think the NAQ is a combination of attributes: scholar, teamwork, service, etc... Let's say you have a few pubs = max scholar scores, adding more pubs isn't gonna influence the app that much? I guess the applicant pool is just stronger this year. My NAQ seemed to be fairly solid last year with my other attributes (service, teamwork, hobbies), so the NAQ drop was surprising. It's unfortunate that UBC seems to limit the research score as I had decided to focus on that last year. Oh well, I guess I still have graduate school as an option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trynagetintomed Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 so today is most likely going to be a quiet day? can't handle this stress and finals start tomorrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mokkzzz Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Do they verify everything? They didn't contact my verifiers for sports/hobbies/work. The only person they contacted was for my piano activities that had over 4000 hours, which had the most hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medschooldreams Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 so today is most likely going to be a quiet day? can't handle this stress and finals start tomorrow Tell me about it, I’m in the midst of finals and can’t stop checking my email... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smartpig Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Do they verify everything? They didn't contact my verifiers for sports/hobbies/work. The only person they contacted was for my piano activities that had over 4000 hours, which had the most hours. No they only select 3-4 verifiers randomly and email them for verification of activities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnGrisham Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Thats the problem that I have with UBC admissions. Why are they forcing us to chase after cookie cutter experiences? people are naturally better at certain things over others. They aren't. I scored near the top percentile on NAQ - and my ECs were far from cookie cutter. Zero hospital experience, no pre-med clubs or undergrad clubs etc. Just keep building on your volunteering and work experience(people often forget that work experience counts too!) and you'll get there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mokkzzz Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 No they only select 3-4 verifiers randomly and email them for verification of activities. Oh, I see. Thank you! I couldn't possibly imagine they would go through every single item either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnGrisham Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Medical institutions should value research. Field of medicine is continuous evolving and making new advances. If you look at top medical schools in North America, they spend a lotttttt of money on research. Maybe UBC's main goal is to produce primary doctors who could serve the communities. who knows. UBC very much so values research. Many of my class have research backgrounds - but they also have additional ECs and volunteer work in broad areas. Research alone does not get you a good score. Breadth, continuous involvement and leadership all go a long way in getting a strong NAQ score. It's tough and hard to predict since the application pool changes yearly - but if you are focusing on those traits above, it will serve you well in all facets of life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HighDive Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 As far as NAQ is concerned i think that each area is scored on a set scale. Let's say 8 points for each of your five experience areas and ten for research/publications (I don't actually know if this is true or accurate). If you have a 10/10 on research thats great but if you only score 3 on each of the areas of experiences then your total score is still going to only be a 25. I think the best way to go about it is to get one great experience in each area. For me my first year was terrible (NAQ 18) so for that year i did one experience that i put in each area and my NAQ went up to 25. I think the point is to try and get experience in every area and not just focus on one experience. That is just my thought on it though. So far this year I haven't heard back yet so I am hoping that my NAQ went up enough that i got an interview, I missed it by 0.9 last year . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redpill Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 So only one wave today and half the number of rejections as posted last year before invites came out. Scared about more rejections coming out tomorrow. Wasn't there only one wave last year though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medrock Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 As far as NAQ is concerned i think that each area is scored on a set scale. Let's say 8 points for each of your five experience areas and ten for research/publications (I don't actually know if this is true or accurate). If you have a 10/10 on research thats great but if you only score 3 on each of the areas of experiences then your total score is still going to only be a 25. I think the best way to go about it is to get one great experience in each area. For me my first year was terrible (NAQ 18) so for that year i did one experience that i put in each area and my NAQ went up to 25. I think the point is to try and get experience in every area and not just focus on one experience. That is just my thought on it though. So far this year I haven't heard back yet so I am hoping that my NAQ went up enough that i got an interview, I missed it by 0.9 last year . Honestly if this were true, Id say UBCs evaluation criteria is a little shortsighted. If they split the NAQ up what would it be split up into? Likely Research, Volunteer, Work, and Leisure (sport, personal interests, ect). If this is also true then, for example (Im going to make numbers up here), if research gets 10 points maximally, volunteering gets 15 points max, work gets 15, and leisure gets the remaining 10, then someone who must work to make ends meet, and cannot volunteer because they dont have the time, would be severely disadvantaged since they would likely maximally score on work but minimally score on Volunteering - and this would translate to a less-than-optimal NAQ score, probably. So I would say that would be pretty unfair. And although the system may not (and I hope it doesnt) run by the above exact structure, it is possible a similar system is in place. Allocating specific points to specific categories in the NAQ section runs the risk of widening the crack for some nontypical applicants to fall into. To this end, they would be indadvertedly narrowing their classes' diversity profile. I sure hope that is not the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dako-Man Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 -deleted- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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