UBC 2008 Applicants

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Well, like an actual job interview, they want to know that the applicant truely understands what it takes to be a Pharmacist. Marks are still worth 50% both before and after the interview, I think that's pretty reasonable. I'm glad the PCAT isn't worth more, its a stupid test designed to make a crapload of money by a huge company that probably knows very little about Pharmacy.
the pcat should be worth more...

it tests your ability to retain information, a skill a pharmacist must have.


and anti social pharmacist can become nuclear or online pharmacist.

the subjective interviewer teams, combined with the weight of the interview could have screwed up some more deserving peeps' chances of getting in

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Or maybe the weight of the interview could decrease by like..10% and have it added on to the PCAT. Or maybe even a bit more.

Then there could maybe be a clause added so that applicants with really bad interviews, either their attitude or some other part that would make them very unsuitable for pharmacy, could automatically be cut. That way, there is less weight on the interview for most of the students, and also prevents applicants with insanely high GPAs and PCAT but have a very large flaw in their interview from getting in.

Might put a bit too much power in the hands of the two interviewers though. Though the answers are looked at by the same committee for everyone aren't they? The interviewers just ask questions and writes it down?
 
Might put a bit too much power in the hands of the two interviewers though. Though the answers are looked at by the same committee for everyone aren't they? The interviewers just ask questions and writes it down?

i think the committee only discusses the borderline ones (no possible way they'd be sending out acceptances after just 2 working days if a committee were to deliberate on all interviews).

and i saw 1 of my interview write down a "1" :scared: for one of the questions so i think they might rate you during the interview.

i had nice interviewers though so that was good
 
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Could anyone pleazzzz give me a certian answer ?
Is this the final decision they have made about admission? will they send out more.

Thanks in advance
 
Its final. They send out all the invites at the same time, which in this case was yesterday at 3 PM.
 
there is a waitlist though. if you don't get a rejection letter, then that means you're on waitlist. i believe last year they were not told they were on waitlist until later on.
 
Has anyone recieved the rejection yet?:(
 
the pcat should be worth more...

it tests your ability to retain information, a skill a pharmacist must have.


and anti social pharmacist can become nuclear or online pharmacist.

the subjective interviewer teams, combined with the weight of the interview could have screwed up some more deserving peeps' chances of getting in


that's completely misguided... they're interviewing to see who would work best in a community pharmacy setting, because that's where they hope most people will go (i sure won't...) and an anti-social ANYONE won't get hired as anything. that's one of the worst qualities you can have. and nuclear/online pharmacists (whatever those are...) aren't necessarily antisocial...

but let's all love each other. yaaaaaaaaay
 
that's completely misguided... they're interviewing to see who would work best in a community pharmacy setting, because that's where they hope most people will go (i sure won't...)

exactly, no one wants to go retail and they're allowing peeps who exhibits traits which favor retail, thus the people who got in and don't want to go to retail are liars.
and an anti-social ANYONE won't get hired as anything. that's one of the worst qualities you can have.
who made you judge of human traits?
and nuclear/online pharmacists (whatever those are...) aren't necessarily antisocial...
1) you don't know what they are therefore are not qualified to judge
2) i never said they are anti social, but that anti social pharmacist can go into those jobs

nuclear pharmacist works with radioactive isotopes for diagnosis or therapy therefore they never see a patient/customer since its a safety hazard for them to come to places they work

online pharmacist don't see/counsel people
 
i apologize

...
*sheepish grin*
 
easy guys. I don't think it's fair to call anyone a liar just because they don't plan on going into retail (unless they walked into the interview and said "I love retail and I only want to be a community pharmacist so let me into UBC!!").

During my interview I mentioned my work experience at a community pharmacy, but I also went on about how many other opportunities are available, and that's part of why pharmacy appeals to me, and that I was really keen on being exposed to other aspects of pharmacy during my education at UBC. Plus I think they realize that people have a right to change their minds, and a lot of us will probably fall in love with hospital/clinical/whatever specialization etc once we have had the opportunity to experience it.
 
so should there be another thread, now that the wait for some is over?
and people can join in when/if they get their offer?
 
easy guys. I don't think it's fair to call anyone a liar just because they don't plan on going into retail (unless they walked into the interview and said "I love retail and I only want to be a community pharmacist so let me into UBC!!").

During my interview I mentioned my work experience at a community pharmacy, but I also went on about how many other opportunities are available, and that's part of why pharmacy appeals to me, and that I was really keen on being exposed to other aspects of pharmacy during my education at UBC. Plus I think they realize that people have a right to change their minds, and a lot of us will probably fall in love with hospital/clinical/whatever specialization etc once we have had the opportunity to experience it.


well, of course ubc doesn't just look for retail pharmacist, they just want good pharmacists. Because pharmacy is so flexible, all walks of life, as long as they're smart enough, should be able to find a niche in the profession.

thus, even anti social or introverts should be allowed, thus less emphasis should be placed on the interview imo.




oh yea, anyone know when they will process our acceptance?

and does anyone know if you're exempt from bioc 300 if you've already taken biol 201?
 
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and does anyone know if you're exempt from bioc 300 if you've already taken biol 201?


If you took biol201, you have to take bioc302. bioc300 = biol 201 + bioc302.
are you planning to take it in first year?
 
If you took biol201, you have to take bioc302. bioc300 = biol 201 + bioc302.
are you planning to take it in first year?

thanks.

yea, i'm 2nd year sci so i've already done a lot of the pre reqs so i might as well take that
 
does anyone know if we have time to take summer classes next summer? there's no over-the-summer clinical stuff we have to do is there? i'm thinking of taking bioc302 next summer since it doesn't fit very well into this winter's sched =/
 
well, of course ubc doesn't just look for retail pharmacist, they just want good pharmacists. Because pharmacy is so flexible, all walks of life, as long as they're smart enough, should be able to find a niche in the profession.

thus, even anti social or introverts should be allowed, thus less emphasis should be placed on the interview imo.

I agree there is no one-size fits all criteria for being a successful pharmacist, and you can't learn much about a person in a 30 minute interview. As I've always said it's just one more hoop to jump through. Trust me, I would have been less stressed over the last few days if less emphasis was placed on the interview.
 
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well, of course ubc doesn't just look for retail pharmacist, they just want good pharmacists. Because pharmacy is so flexible, all walks of life, as long as they're smart enough, should be able to find a niche in the profession.

thus, even anti social or introverts should be allowed, thus less emphasis should be placed on the interview imo.

Why are you fighting for the rights of anti social people? I think that its a good idea that they put alot of weight on the interview. If your not someone that posesses the capability to talk and have relationships with other people you probably shouldn't be a pharmacist. Also why would the admissions board choose people for a certain aspect of the profession. (ie. this person is going to be a perfect nuclear pharmacist!) If they're trying to choose the best applicants for the positions they want well rounded people. Just because someone can pick up a book and memorize it front to back it doesn't mean that they have good judgement, be personable or easy to work with. I'm happy that they put such a large weight on the interview. It seemed to work for all of us!

PS: WHY DO YOU WANT ANTI-SOCIAL PEOPLE IN YOUR GRAD CLASS?!?!?!
 
does anyone know if we have time to take summer classes next summer? there's no over-the-summer clinical stuff we have to do is there? i'm thinking of taking bioc302 next summer since it doesn't fit very well into this winter's sched =/

I'm wondering the same. The only required course I haven't taken yet is ANAT, so I'm thinking about doing it in the summer to lighten my course load a bit. I wish we had more info about the program, since registration is coming up very soon.
 
From my computer's dictionary and thesaurus:

Antisocial
1 contrary to the laws and customs of society; devoid of or antagonistic to sociable instincts or practices : a dangerous, unprincipled, antisocial type of man.
2 not sociable; not wanting the company of others.
USAGE See usage at unsociable .

1 worrisome antisocial behavior sociopathic, distasteful, disruptive, rebellious, misanthropic, asocial.
2 I'm feeling a bit antisocial unsociable, unfriendly, uncommunicative, reclusive, withdrawn; standoffish. See note at unsociable .

EASILY CONFUSED WORDS
unsociable, unsocial, antisocial
There is some overlap in the use of the adjectives unsociable, unsocial, and antisocial, but they also have distinct core meanings. Generally speaking, unsociable means ‘not enjoying, or avoiding, the company of others’: : Terry was grumpy and unsociable. Antisocial can be used as a synonym for unsociable, but can further be used to mean ‘contrary to the laws and customs of a society’: : aggressive and antisocial behavior. Unsocial can be used as a synonym for unsociable as well, but it may also denote a preference for solitude and not hostility toward company: : Ben's feeling a little tired and unsocial tonight.

*************

It's one thing to be "unsocial", but another to be "antisocial". These words are often confused, but I definitely don't think we want any sociopathic pharmacists ;) :laugh:
 
Why are you fighting for the rights of anti social people? I think that its a good idea that they put alot of weight on the interview. If your not someone that posesses the capability to talk and have relationships with other people you probably shouldn't be a pharmacist. Also why would the admissions board choose people for a certain aspect of the profession. (ie. this person is going to be a perfect nuclear pharmacist!) If they're trying to choose the best applicants for the positions they want well rounded people. Just because someone can pick up a book and memorize it front to back it doesn't mean that they have good judgement, be personable or easy to work with. I'm happy that they put such a large weight on the interview. It seemed to work for all of us!

PS: WHY DO YOU WANT ANTI-SOCIAL PEOPLE IN YOUR GRAD CLASS?!?!?!
chill out dude

as i said some parts in the profession doesn't require you to talk to people much.

and using previous ex. i'd rather have dr. house than dr zoidberg.

i just feel its unfair for the peeps who god mid 80 gpa and 85+ pcat to be rejected simply because they somehow blew the interview because they choked or just sucks at interviews.


those standardized questions barely probe what kind of person you are.

gpa is based on years of work. interview = 30 min. yet both are worth approx the same

how fair is it for someone who worked years only to suck at those 30 min and not get accepted?

EDIT: i mean unsocial


oh yea,

how do we know what immunizations we got or how do we prove we got the shots already?
 
how fair is it for someone who worked years only to suck at those 30 min and not get accepted?

EDIT: i mean unsocial


oh yea,

how do we know what immunizations we got or how do we prove we got the shots already?

That's what I was afraid of, choking or sucking during that 30 minutes. But apparently I didn't suck, or my grades/PCAT were high enough (I don't think I sucked, but I wasn't fabulous.

PS don't worry, I figured you meant the "unsocial" definition of the word ;)

As far as immunizations go, I know that I've had some of them but I don't know if I have documentation (MMR, DPT). For those you will have to get blood tests done to check your antibody titer (that's what I did recently for my HepB). If you're immune/still immune you're good to go, if not you get the vaccine or a booster. I can't believe they make us get vaccinated for polio!!
 
hey everyone,
long time reader, first time poster here. first, congratulations to everyone who made it into pharmacy this year.
i hope you guys can give me some advice on what i should do,

i just finished 1st year sciences and am planning to apply next year after boosting up my GPA by doing more pre reqs. i just got into general biology for my major, so should i take the Bio pre reqs IN ADDITION to the pharm pre reqs, even tho they do not use these marks for admissions? Or do you guys advise i just take stats200, micb202, etc. and focus on doing very well on these few courses?
 
hey everyone,
long time reader, first time poster here. first, congratulations to everyone who made it into pharmacy this year.
i hope you guys can give me some advice on what i should do,

i just finished 1st year sciences and am planning to apply next year after boosting up my GPA by doing more pre reqs. i just got into general biology for my major, so should i take the Bio pre reqs IN ADDITION to the pharm pre reqs, even tho they do not use these marks for admissions? Or do you guys advise i just take stats200, micb202, etc. and focus on doing very well on these few courses?

depends how confident you are in those courses =] i'm a 2nd year student and i took as many of the prereqs as i could since most of them were necessary for my major (pre-microbi) anyway. i took stat200, chem233/235, biol201 (half of bioc300), and micb202. what kind of happened was i still took all the other required courses for micb, but i focused my studying on the pharm pre-reqs. ended up getting 68 or something in biol200 but i got mid 80s in chem233 and high 80 in stat200.

also, are you sure you don't HAVE to take the bio pre-reqs to qualify as being a 2nd year bio student? and if you are unfortunate and don't get into pharm next year, it would be better to have a backup going for you.
 
chill out dude

as i said some parts in the profession doesn't require you to talk to people much.

and using previous ex. i'd rather have dr. house than dr zoidberg.

i just feel its unfair for the peeps who god mid 80 gpa and 85+ pcat to be rejected simply because they somehow blew the interview because they choked or just sucks at interviews.


those standardized questions barely probe what kind of person you are.

gpa is based on years of work. interview = 30 min. yet both are worth approx the same

how fair is it for someone who worked years only to suck at those 30 min and not get accepted?

EDIT: i mean unsocial


oh yea,

how do we know what immunizations we got or how do we prove we got the shots already?

You obviously haven't done your research on pharmacy in general. Pharmacists rarely work alone. More often than not they work as part of a team of healthcare professionals. The most important aspect of teamwork is communication, and someone who is anti-social would NOT as suitable for such a job as someone who isnt.

Before you rip me on this, I applied last year with a 80% avg and a 96 PCAT and I did not get in because I bombed my interview.

Plus, GPA is not based on years of work. Its based on the week of cramming before the final.
 
depends how confident you are in those courses =] i'm a 2nd year student and i took as many of the prereqs as i could since most of them were necessary for my major (pre-microbi) anyway. i took stat200, chem233/235, biol201 (half of bioc300), and micb202. what kind of happened was i still took all the other required courses for micb, but i focused my studying on the pharm pre-reqs. ended up getting 68 or something in biol200 but i got mid 80s in chem233 and high 80 in stat200.

also, are you sure you don't HAVE to take the bio pre-reqs to qualify as being a 2nd year bio student? and if you are unfortunate and don't get into pharm next year, it would be better to have a backup going for you.

good advice.

i did same thing only i was bio major. i believe a lot of the courses suggested are required for bio.

man, i hated biol 200, i had this prof that was so unprepared for every class, would get corrected by students every class, waste time answering the questions that peeps that sit in the front row ask just for the sake of asking.

i would advise you to also go to ratemyprofessor.com and pick the good profs for those courses.

if i could do it all over, to increase my gpa, i'd also go for some anat and phyl courses.

it all depends on how much you need to increase your gpa by. if you're uber desperate, load up on as many as you can and focus hard on those.




man, the interview, i knew i didn't do as well as i could've but it went better than i thought i'd do.

for one question, i blanked for at least 20 sec, responded half way, forgot the question, and had to ask for the question again :oops:

what is the deadline for the immunization?

and getting vaccinated for polio is :laugh:.

EDIT:
You obviously haven't done your research on pharmacy in general. Pharmacists rarely work alone. More often than not they work as part of a team of healthcare professionals. The most important aspect of teamwork is communication, and someone who is anti-social would NOT as suitable for such a job as someone who isnt.
i agree that most field of pharmacy is based on communication, but some aren't. furthermore, how much can you assess one's personality in 30 min?

that is the reason why i think it should be worth less.
Before you rip me on this, I applied last year with a 80% avg and a 96 PCAT and I did not get in because I bombed my interview.

Plus, GPA is not based on years of work. Its based on the week of cramming before the final.

1) wow, those are surprisingly close to my stats this year (81% gpa and 97 pcat)
2) it takes years of work (at least boredom (in class) and time killing) to get to those few weeks of final. i wished classes moved faster so i could just write the damn final.
 
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Plus, GPA is not based on years of work. Its based on the week of cramming before the final.

lol for some of us it is. When I told my dad I got in today, he was so kind as to remind me "so, you'll be X years old when you graduate". Thanks dad, at least I was nice enough not to remind him there's a good chance he'll be dead by then!! lol jk :laugh:
 
chances are you won't get a anat/phyl course in 2nd year though =P

and i think i read somewhere in the email you have to show proof by nov. 1st. then i read somewhere on this forum posted by a 2nd pharm student saying you don't really need it until later. so...not sure =/
 
chances are you won't get a anat/phyl course in 2nd year though =P

and i think i read somewhere in the email you have to show proof by nov. 1st. then i read somewhere on this forum posted by a 2nd pharm student saying you don't really need it until later. so...not sure =/

yea, thats why i was unsure

lol for some of us it is. When I told my dad I got in today, he was so kind as to remind me "so, you'll be X years old when you graduate". Thanks dad, at least I was nice enough not to remind him there's a good chance he'll be dead by then!! lol jk :laugh:

HAHAHahahhahaha.

i just got a "thats nice" kind of answer when i got in
 
EDIT:
i agree that most field of pharmacy is based on communication, but some aren't. furthermore, how much can you assess one's personality in 30 min?
True, thats why you have to convey to the interviewers what kind of a person you are to the best of your ability. Just like any interview for a job, sure your credentials play a big part, but if you don't leave a lasting impression on the people who interview you, you're not going to get the job.
 
As far as the PCAT goes, that is definitely a test you can cram for the night before. I spend max 2 hours going through questions from the Kaplan Pharmacy Prep Book and got 85 on the exam. I think you would have to bomb the interview hard to not get an interview. For some of the questions towards the end of the interview I came up with some pretty crappy examples yet obviously I still did well enough to get into the program. I think they also look at where each student is from, they don't want 150 kids who all grew up in Vancouver and never want to leave. They need people who are willing to work in smaller communities where there is a real need for Pharmacists.
 
How many courses am I looking at for the first semester, if I have only completed one year of science (the 9 pharmacy pre-reqs)? And of these courses can I take any of them in the summer?
 
If I've done a whole bio degree already, what can I expect to be exempt from? I know organic for sure, but what about micro and biometrics (basically stats for biology students) ?
 
I just got an email from Margaret acknowledging that she received my email accpeting the offer of admission and thanking me for my response. I'm pretty impressed with that, very professional! Good to know my email didn't get lost in cyber space, too.
 
Me too, except that in my response I actually just asked her to respond anyway.
 
If I've done a whole bio degree already, what can I expect to be exempt from? I know organic for sure, but what about micro and biometrics (basically stats for biology students) ?

I know that if you have taken STAT 200 you will be expempt from taking STAT 203 (the program requirement). I'm not sure about BIOL 300 (Biometrics) though. I couldn't find anything about BIOL 300 in the attachmets they sent us, so I would definitely call an advisor on that one.
 
Has anyone got a rejection letter yet??? You would think they must be coming out soon...
 
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Nothing yet :( Chances are it will come out this afternoon..
 
I just received my rejection letter. Hopefully none of you guys receive it!

And to anyone who's still waiting, keep your fingers crossed to be waitlisted :)
 
I just received a wait list letter, although they cannot provide you with your current spot on the waitlist. So really.. I don't want to get my hopes up high. Anybody know how many people actually get on the wait list?? And how many people actually reject their pharmacy offer...
 
I'm WAITLISTED!!!

Yay!

So that means that I should take this time to let all of you that got accepted know that maybe there are other options out there for you other than UBC Pharm...

Just kidding :) Hopefully I will join you all.
 
I just received my rejection letter. Hopefully none of you guys receive it!

And to anyone who's still waiting, keep your fingers crossed to be waitlisted :)

Was this your first year applying?
 
I just got my rejection letter too. Good luck to those on the waitlist! Onionman, u applying again next year? If so hopefully we'll get in then! :)
 
I'm WAITLISTED!!!

Yay!

So that means that I should take this time to let all of you that got accepted know that maybe there are other options out there for you other than UBC Pharm...

Just kidding :) Hopefully I will join you all.


hahaha, i was thinking the same thing ;) However.. is there anyone on here that got accepted to UBC and is still considering another school?? Just outta curiosity, I know last year there were a few people that accepted U of T's offer instead.
 
All of you that got in-- When were you supposed to accept the offer by?
 
tomorrow (thursday july 3rd) at the end of the business day
 
And the registration date is Monday?

registration date for pharm student range from july 7th~15th, we dont know yet since our SSC hasnt been updated yet.

regardless, congrats to those who got in! i got in too =p first try n i didnt have exceptional score either! (77 on pcat, 77 gpa) all i can say is thank God and praise the Lord =D

to those who are still waiting, good luck!

as for the discussion about interview weight, i think that is completely fair. interview is important because it shows who you are to the interviewer, we arent statistics and numbers or gpa's, we are human. I am sure we don't want pharmacists who recite drug names for fun or like to keep track of the umber of patient they see each day =]

anyways, congrats pharmacy class of 2012! here is to a successful future!
 
So you have to accept by the end of tomorrow... I wonder if there are people who don't accept by then, will they start offering waitlist people spots? Everything is such a mystery right now.
 
So you have to accept by the end of tomorrow... I wonder if there are people who don't accept by then, will they start offering waitlist people spots? Everything is such a mystery right now.

i am pretty sure thats how it works, how else will they get those waitlist people in? if you don't reply their email by end of tmr, they assume you don't want in.

ubc pharmacy repeatedly emphasized the importance of your email for correspondence. if someone fails to reply, i am pretty sure its their problem.
 
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