UBC Allard Discretionary Applicants

[soci-student]

Hey yall, I'm wondering if anyone has any experience applying as a discretionary applicant for Allard? My first and second year grades were pretty bad, because I had some medical issues (basically descended into a very deep pit of depression for issues I'm not going to go into here). Although in third and fourth year I was much better, and got my GPA for all 4 years to an 80%. The general category applications do not have an addendum for me to explain why my grades are like this - will this greatly affect my chances of being admitted? Will Allard see this an a big issue? I haven't taken my LSAT yet. I've been getting around 170 for the practice tests, and yes, I know practice test scores don't really mean anything, but I might as well give a general sense of where I'm at. Alternatively, a prof of mine (from UBC, but not Allard) said that I could go the discretionary applicant route as well, but then I would need reference letters. Any thoughts are appreciated on this! Thanks. 

[Borat]

Is you GPA of 80% with or without drops? UBC drops your lowest 12 credits (i.e. 4 courses) when calculating overall GPA. With an LSAT of 170 and a GPA of at least 81-82% you should be pretty competitive for admission under the general category.

It won't hurt to apply under the discretionary category, if you have reference letters and supporting documentation to include. Any application made under the discretionary category will also be considered during the general cycle.

Since your grades in third and fourth year are much better, I strongly recommend applying to some of the schools which only look at your last two years such as UofA, UofC and Queens.

 

[UBC]

Agree with pretty much everything @Borat says. OP, can you tell us your GPA with your four lowest grades dropped? That will determine what LSAT score you'll need to be competitive in the regular category. Still, there's no harm at all in applying Discretionary. 

2 hours ago, soci-student said:

I haven't taken my LSAT yet.

Since you won't have your score until relatively late in this cycle, it might really benefit you to apply Discretionary - UBC will start making decisions and filling spots for the general category as soon as the final weeks of November. However, they won't start filling the spots reserved for Discretionary applicants until next spring. You'll likely have your score ready by then.

[Cpeaks]

@Borat are you sure that is true? I thought the same for UVIC when I was going to apply for discretionary, but found out that you are not also considered for regular category as well if you apply discretionary. So because of this i am opting to just go regular.

[Borat]

6 hours ago, Cpeaks said:

@Borat are you sure that is true? I thought the same for UVIC when I was going to apply for discretionary, but found out that you are not also considered for regular category as well if you apply discretionary. So because of this i am opting to just go regular.

Says on the UBC website that "Applicants with at least three years completed will also be considered for admission under the General category." This policy has been in place for a while, since last year I remember seeing people who applied discretionary getting admitted early in the cycle along with the general applicants. 

[soci-student]

@Borat @UBC Thanks for your help! Unfortunately the 80% GPA is with the lowest 12 credits dropped. Do you know what type of information is generally required to be included in the reference letters?

[Borat]

16 hours ago, soci-student said:

@Borat @UBC Thanks for your help! Unfortunately the 80% GPA is with the lowest 12 credits dropped. Do you know what type of information is generally required to be included in the reference letters?

I've never applied under discretionary so it might be best if someone who has can chime in, but regarding references UBC's website says that "we prefer that one is a professional reference and the other academic, but you can submit two references of the same type if necessary." You could also have one of the referees comment on the circumstances surrounding your situation in first and second year, and how you worked to improve your grades.

[Cpeaks]

@Borat do you need to submit a reference for the regular category or is it just discretionary? 

[Borat]

2 hours ago, Cpeaks said:

@Borat do you need to submit a reference for the regular category or is it just discretionary? 

UBC requires references only for those in the discretionary or Indigenous category, none are required for general. All schools in Western Canada (with the exception of TRU) don't require/consider references for general category applicants.