University of Alberta Entry 2011

Zoupa said:

anyone know what competitive stats are? Would I be competitive?

graduating with a BSc. this year from the U of A
3.62 pre req gpa
3.61 last 2 years
3.68 cumulative

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amh10 said:

Trust me, I was doing the exact same thing. It was definitely a sigh of relief when I checked Bear Tracks and it said that the file is complete I am always paranoid when it comes to Canada Post.

Zoupa, you would be competitive on the gpa end, but they do look at the LOI. I've heard that the LOI can make or break an application.

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kiirokage said:

So I guess we should be getting our results pretty soon huh? Like the first round of acceptances in 2-3 weeks maybe? I wonder how they will send out letters if the strike is going on still...

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The admissions committee meets at the end of this week. For now, we still intend to
send letters out in the regular mail. Bear track status changes only when the offer
of a place has been accepted and the student has sent in the registration fee. Any
other updates (such as rejections) are done after we have 130 applicants accepted
for the program. This process takes about a month. When we send out a letter, we
allow roughly two weeks for a reply. A second mailing will go out probably in the
third week of July. After that, most of our places will be filled and we will start
to update bear tracks.

In August, if we still have places to fill, we will contact the applicant by phone
first, because we need a fast answer.

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lllix said:

I was wondering the same thing, so i e-mailed the admission's office. Here is the response i got yesterday:

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BigFan said:

hmm, if I'm reading this right, it means that we have to wait to see if we get a letter to find if we got accepted otherwise if you don't get one within 2 weeks, chances are you were rejected.

I have to wonder why this can't be done electronically as in you can accept/decline an offer online in Bear Tracks and then send in the registration fee. The letter can still be used to relay the message(whether you got accepted or not).

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As for general emails and letters during the process, we do not have the resources or the time required to do mass mailings for updating
purposes.

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lllix said:

I was wondering the same thing, so i e-mailed the admission's office. Here is the response i got yesterday:

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PhArMaCiSt1 said:

Ahh UofA needs to be more prepared. I can't believe they are going to make us wait to hear from them through the mail (which is on strike right now) rather than just updating beartracks. I mean all major universities update their system and then send out letters or what not so I don't understand why UofA doesn't do that. Ughh this is going to be such a pain waiting again esp. since I thought we'd hear from them on beartracks by this friday!

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amh10 said:

It is a frustrating process. It was a big topic on here last year since they don't really give you any information about the process other than 'they meet at the end of June and will contact people soon after'. From experience (of applying last year) we most likely will not get our letters until the first full week in July (around the 6th). And yes, it kinda does suck that they don't do anything quicker like calls or emails. Other professional programs that I have been interested in either email on a particular day, call the accepted and/or both. As for the acceptances, you generally have a short period (as in a week) to get in your reply's and deposit. I know this because my friend was super stressed about getting the reply in on time.

UofA also does a kind of a 'rolling waitlist' basically like a 'normal waitlist' where when someone rejects the spot, they send out a letter to the next person on their list. The 'rolling' part is that they really don't let you know whether or not you are waitlisted I guess. Oh and for those of you who don't know, they only send out letter to the people whom are accepted, not to those rejected or 'waitlisted'. I waited until August for my beartracks to update and tell me I was rejected. And do not expect that they will keep you informed at all of what is going on. Just hold in there and it will all turn out the way it's supposed to.

I totally agree about emails. I believe that if someone would just make the time to send out one quick email saying something simple like 'Acceptances have been sent out via mail today', or going as far as sending emails to those accepted, 'waitlisted' or rejected, that they (the admissions office) would decrease their stress as well. All their letters have to originate on a computer right? Just send out an electronic version. This point is reminiscent of last year's postings, just update the website with more information and tell all the applicants to watch the website.

Anyways, it's so easy to criticize especially from the perspective of a stressed out, eager, Pharmacy applicant, however, we do not actually know what goes on behind the scenes. This is why we have these forums to help other people who are 1st time applicants and aspiring applicants. If the U of A doesn't have the time to keep us informed, then we will inform our peers on what to expect since I do believe knowing a little bit about what has happened in previous years definitely helps one get prepared for the future and of course relieve some stress.

Good luck to you all!!!

P.S. just one more point, the admissions office, I'm sure, get's plenty of applicants inquiring via email about what's going on and I'm sure that takes up a lot of time plus stresses them out, but they do bring it on themselves. If they kept us informed more on what is going on, then less people would find it necessary to email them, thus decreasing their stress and time answering emails. Anyways, just an interesting afterthought.

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amh10 said:

It is a frustrating process. It was a big topic on here last year since they don't really give you any information about the process other than 'they meet at the end of June and will contact people soon after'. From experience (of applying last year) we most likely will not get our letters until the first full week in July (around the 6th). And yes, it kinda does suck that they don't do anything quicker like calls or emails. Other professional programs that I have been interested in either email on a particular day, call the accepted and/or both. As for the acceptances, you generally have a short period (as in a week) to get in your reply's and deposit. I know this because my friend was super stressed about getting the reply in on time.

UofA also does a kind of a 'rolling waitlist' basically like a 'normal waitlist' where when someone rejects the spot, they send out a letter to the next person on their list. The 'rolling' part is that they really don't let you know whether or not you are waitlisted I guess. Oh and for those of you who don't know, they only send out letter to the people whom are accepted, not to those rejected or 'waitlisted'. I waited until August for my beartracks to update and tell me I was rejected. And do not expect that they will keep you informed at all of what is going on. Just hold in there and it will all turn out the way it's supposed to.

I totally agree about emails. I believe that if someone would just make the time to send out one quick email saying something simple like 'Acceptances have been sent out via mail today', or going as far as sending emails to those accepted, 'waitlisted' or rejected, that they (the admissions office) would decrease their stress as well. All their letters have to originate on a computer right? Just send out an electronic version. This point is reminiscent of last year's postings, just update the website with more information and tell all the applicants to watch the website.

Anyways, it's so easy to criticize especially from the perspective of a stressed out, eager, Pharmacy applicant, however, we do not actually know what goes on behind the scenes. This is why we have these forums to help other people who are 1st time applicants and aspiring applicants. If the U of A doesn't have the time to keep us informed, then we will inform our peers on what to expect since I do believe knowing a little bit about what has happened in previous years definitely helps one get prepared for the future and of course relieve some stress.

Good luck to you all!!!

P.S. just one more point, the admissions office, I'm sure, get's plenty of applicants inquiring via email about what's going on and I'm sure that takes up a lot of time plus stresses them out, but they do bring it on themselves. If they kept us informed more on what is going on, then less people would find it necessary to email them, thus decreasing their stress and time answering emails. Anyways, just an interesting afterthought.

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amh10 said:

P.S. just one more point, the admissions office, I'm sure, get's plenty of applicants inquiring via email about what's going on and I'm sure that takes up a lot of time plus stresses them out, but they do bring it on themselves. If they kept us informed more on what is going on, then less people would find it necessary to email them, thus decreasing their stress and time answering emails. Anyways, just an interesting afterthought.

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xonox said:

I am applying to University of Saskatchewan as well and I received an email from them yesterday saying that they will send an email on Monday for those who got accepted to their pharmacy program. Now, I guess U of A can learn something from them.

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amh10 said:

Ok everyone! approximately one more week of waiting for initial acceptances!

So, since postal services have resumed, who want's to bet they still decide to send the acceptance letters via mail? *hand up* (yes, there is no smiley for putting one's hand up).

I also bet that they actually send out letters on the 4th of July. I was going to make bets for when the first person receives their letter, but I thought that would be to varied.

How many of you are as tired as I am of waiting!

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amh10 said:

Ok everyone! approximately one more week of waiting for initial acceptances!

So, since postal services have resumed, who want's to bet they still decide to send the acceptance letters via mail? *hand up* (yes, there is no smiley for putting one's hand up).

I also bet that they actually send out letters on the 4th of July. I was going to make bets for when the first person receives their letter, but I thought that would be to varied.

How many of you are as tired as I am of waiting!

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amh10 said:

Good for you! And see, that's another flaw in the U of A Pharm application system, if they wanted the best, they would let people know closer to the same time the other schools inform applicants because I'm sure you aren't the only one who would make that decision.

Happy Canada Day everyone!!!

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BigFan said:

Thank you and you are correct. It should've been done electronically with a letter follow up but alas, they didn't and are missing out on good students who might go for another university due to the faster and more organized response IMO.

Happy Canada Day!

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Pharmer Jo said:

Am I the only one who likes their late invite dates? Since they accept students all over the country without any quotas, I'd of thought a lot of out of province students would have u of a as backup and if they get accepted in their province they can decline their offer. By having it later then other schools, out of province students wouldnt be caught in a crossroad, and be forced to take a gamble on accepting u of a and having to move or declining and hoping/waiting to hear whether they got into their in-province uni. I'm assuming students have a limited time to accept/decline their offer.

This works for students on waitlists too because less out of province students will their accept invites, given that they got into their in-province school.

I got in at ubc so if I do get accepted by u of a, I'll be declining too, which is one more seat for waitlisted students. I think their system works and this is their reason they do it the way they do. Maybe the problem is just students anxieties.

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amh10 said:

I'm not sure, but you might be. Your comments make sense for sure, but it's of no benefit to the in province applicants. Also, you wouldn't be in the situation that you are talking about (choosing UofA since it's your backup) if the pharmacy schools accept people around the same time, even the same day like medical schools. That way, you can have all your options presented to you at the same time and have the ability to choose the school you want to attend and let the schools, that you decline, know so that they can move on to their waitlisted people.

I do disagree though, that the U of A would wait so long to let people know. Your argument basically says that they are targeting out of province students, which I hazard to say is not true. It's of benefit for the U of A to have in province students accepted because there is a higher chance that those students will stay in Alberta, whereas, out of province have more of an inclination to go back to their home towns closer to their families.

I also wouldn't mind asking who would actually decline a position in hopes of getting one elsewhere? Isn't that the whole point of applying to other schools, so that if the school of your choice doesn't accept you, that you have a backup. Most people I know, would accept the position at the UofA (say their school of choice is UBC) if they haven't heard from UBC then if they got accepted into UBC, they would cut their losses (aka money losses for the acceptance fee) to attend the school of their choice. If one wasn't going to accept the position at a school in hopes that they would get accepted elsewhere, why would they apply in the first place.

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lllix said:

I would also like to put out the argument that it is really the universities that should be convincing us to attend them over other schools. I mean, I remember in high school we were constantly being visited by universities and colleges from all over the country advertising their programs, but with pharmacy schools it seems like they have to do zero advertising since they all know that interested pre-pharm students will seek information on their own. This, in itself, is fine. But really, if the schools are truly interested in enticing the "best" applicants who may have received multiple acceptances, it is my opinion that they should try to sweeten the pot and give you a reason to go to that school.

I am an Alberta resident and while going to school in province would be beneficial for me in many ways, at this moment I am pretty much 100% certain that I will be sticking with UBC. If I happen to get a letter from U of A next week I will consider staying around, but if they keep me waiting past next friday then there is no way I am waiting for them to *maybe* pull me off a waitlist.

Reasons why I am currently very pro-UBC aside from the fact that I have already received an acceptance?: So far, they totally surpass the U of A in terms of their administrative interaction with applicants. As we have been talking about earlier in this thread, UBC actually gives you an idea of what is going on with your application, takes the time to keep you informed, and isn't so arrogant as to leave you languishing for months over the admission decision. Furthermore, they evaluate the well-roundedness of an individual rather than just their GPA. Who cares where the the student with the highest PEBC score came from if they are just a robot deep down?

My boss, a pharmacist and pharmacy owner, asked the U of A Dean about this issue during his annual fundraising golf tournament thing last summer and he simply said that that was someone else's jurisdiction and that he wasn't involved in the admission criteria. I dunno about you guys, but if I was the Dean of a professional program I think I would make a point of ensuring that the qualifications of applicants were well represented.

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BigFan said:

As to that UofA Dean story, that's really bizzare, the idea that he passed it on to someone else that is.

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lllix said:

Yeah, I mean don't take it word for word, but that's the gist of what my boss told me. It was basically along the lines of the Dean brushing it off and saying "oh then you would have to talk to [insert name here]..." *shrug*

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BigFan said:

of course, I just found it odd that he doesn't have some hand or idea about the admission process and its shortcomings

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Cooled2 said:

anybody receive letters or hear about anything yet?

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xonox said:

Letters were sent on Monday. So, give it a day or two atleast. I am not on the list, but hoping that I might get accepted from the waiting list. Good luck to everybody else.

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hsh3385 said:

Hey xonox can i ask your gpa?

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xonox said:

Letters were sent on Monday. So, give it a day or two atleast. I am not on the list, but hoping that I might get accepted from the waiting list. Good luck to everybody else.

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