Dear “Future” applicants,
Welcome to the 2020-21 Application Cycle.
The 2020-21 Application Cycle will officially open on July 8, 2020. The 2020-21 Applicant Manual will also be released at the same time.
A few important remarks:
1. As a school and as an admissions office we pride ourselves in being transparent with our process and policies. The most relevant material can be found in our application manual. It details the admission policies and procedures and answers many of the questions that applicants may have. I would encourage you to read it thoroughly to familiarize yourself with the way we do things. Each year, including this year there are slight changes; so even if you have applied to our school before, please reread the manual.
2. Our office is here to help. We are a small office and we receive thousands of email requests. These emails are prioritized. We humbly request that you respect this through the process. We put as much detail as possible into the Applicant Manual as possible in order to answer common questions. Given that you are applying to a professional school we do have an expectation that you have read the manual before applying. If you email us a question, that is easily answered within the manual it will receive a lower priority and/or may not be answered.
3.If you have specific questions, we encourage you to first refer to the manual before reaching out to the office. We are more than happy to provide clarification on specific points in the manual but our expectation is that you have used the manual as a reference prior to calling the office. Some applicants have a false belief that by calling the office that they will gain information that will help them in the application process. This is a not true.
4. We recognize that for many of you, especially if this is your first time applying that the process can provoke both stress and anxiety. However, we would encourage you to relax, get organized and use the remainder of the summer to prepare your application. This will alleviate much of the stress and anxiety that can escalate if you wait until the last minute to apply after the summer is over.
You should start with the following:
1. If you have written the MCAT please release your scores to the University of Calgary. however, do not release your scores before July 10, 2020
2. Request your transcripts from every post secondary institution you have attended and have them sent to our office (address listed in the Applicant Manual)
3. As soon as the cycle opens, please start reaching out to your three referees.
4. Begin thinking about and organizing your Top 10 experiences. If there is one thing that separates a good application from a more average one is the way the applicant reflects on and writes the top 10. I will comment on this early in the cycle but it’s not the list that matters but how the applicant reflects on the item and how it has impacted or shaped them as an applicant.
We wish you the best of luck during this application cycle and look forward to meeting many of you along your journey.
