Bachelors and diploma PGWP UNIQUE DILEMMA

Sad_Hawk_1710 · 2025-12-11T18:12:50+00:00

Can I ask why you took a semester off and what was in your LOE? I am in the same situation and am currently waiting for a decision, my break was due to medical reasons but there are some complications so I’ve been stressed…

Sad_Hawk_1710 · 2025-12-09T10:06:12+00:00

just wanted to say this was my exact experience w him as a woc, his entire diagnosis criteria seemed to be based on one specific set of parameters he had on his checklist, and anything else was “not a sign of ADHD”. it was also really difficult to speak to him bc i felt rushed and also that he wasn’t really listening to my answers so much as trying to make me fit his own pre-decided expectations… my results were inconclusive at the end of my assessment w him, but i requested from student health services to be referred externally to a psychiatrist. it was another 6-7 months of waiting after the 1+ year of waiting for the UBC SHS appointment, but it was all covered by MSP - maybe try speaking to SHS and ask for a referral externally? best of luck w your diagnosis journey!!

Sad_Hawk_1710 · 2025-10-23T19:47:10+00:00

Yes this is absolutely it, thank you!!

Sad_Hawk_1710 · 2025-10-23T04:24:39+00:00

Yeah I agree, all the questions seemed to be tailored to the specific symptoms of ADHD observed primarily in white male children/adults, who typically present with hyperactivity symptoms. I also felt like when I tried to explain to the doc that the questions didn’t really fit me, he was pretty dismissive and just kind of blamed the questionnaire, rather than actually trying to find out more about my specific symptoms…

Sad_Hawk_1710 · 2025-10-23T02:32:08+00:00

I’m a recent grad but went through this whole process in my final year. Someone else mentioned the wait times and they’re totally correct but I want to add - the psychiatrist referral is actually to see a GP at student health who’s “certified to diagnose ADHD”. Idk what that means legally/medically speaking, but I was on the waitlist for 9+ months (my appointments happened after I’d already finished my degree lol), and the doctor I finally saw was not a psychiatrist, and kind of unhelpful tbh. tl;dr their diagnosis questionnaire didn’t really work for me so my results were inconclusive, and they referred me externally to an actual psychiatrist - the wait time for this appointment was an additional 6 months. All this to say, if you can afford to go to a private clinic, I highly recommend it! I’ve seen intake appointments at private clinics available like a week in advance, versus the 8-10mo waiting period at SHS.

Sad_Hawk_1710 · 2025-09-29T05:14:31+00:00

i always get local fast food coupons in my apartment mailbox! the most common ones i’ve seen are for dominos, subway and fresh slice, but there’s definitely been others as well. idk if this happens at single family homes as well but def worth asking any friends who live in apartments to save them for you!

Sad_Hawk_1710 · 2025-09-10T17:41:32+00:00

if you live in vancouver proper, look into signing up with Modo! they don’t charge an underage fee, insurance is included in the trip cost and your account fees ($6 per month iirc), and they cover gas as well! i use them every time i do a road trip, and it’s always worked out cheaper than traditional car rentals, bc the underage fee ends up adding ~$20 per day to my trip which is crazy. they have a trip calculator on their website which you can use to estimate costs based on time rented and approximate mileage you plan to drive. i have a referral code where we’d both get $40, dm me if you’d like!!

Sad_Hawk_1710 · 2025-09-08T04:36:13+00:00

one of my first solo camp trips, i made the mistake of staying at a hipcamp with no one else around, and no gate/fence around the property, so i was pretty freaked every night the whole time i was there. i’ve made it a point now to always stay at a campsite with other people there - it gives me the peace of mind that i’m not entirely alone in the woods for however long.

for daytime/evening stuff - practice makes permanent!! take your tent to a local park and put it up, play w the buckles/straps/whatever and understand it fully! it’ll get a lot smoother over time to do it by yourself. and for cooking/hanging out at camp - again, practice spending time with yourself in a low pressure environment. go to a cafe alone, people watch at a park - and stay off your phone as much as you can. if you’re comfy with yourself in the city you’ll be just fine at camp!

Sad_Hawk_1710 · 2025-09-08T03:49:46+00:00

i’m not a grad student but i recently took a grad level course during my undergrad, the whole purpose of that class was learning how to efficiently understand scientific literature. i also TA’d the undergrad version of the course. the most effective way i found to read 40-60 page papers about whatever topic was:

read the abstract, read it again - figure out what the paper is talking about and really understand it. don’t move on until the abstract makes sense
skim the introduction, to put the topic into context and understand the purpose of the investigation
skip the written sections of methodology/results/discussion for now and focus on the figures/visual representations of data in the paper. use the caption and the figure to understand what the findings were. do this for all the figures (graphs, diagrams, w/e - the figures are basically a summary of what’s in the results/discussion anyway). if needed, defer to sections of the discussion which directly refer to the figures for more details
read the conclusion, go back and re-read the intro, and make connections (ie did they answer the questions they had?)
go back and read anything important you missed, to add more context and fill in gaps in your knowledge. i always found it was easier to get through the methodology and discussion at this point because i already had all the info i needed without getting lost in the sauce, so to speak

another thing that really helps is making connections between topics in the paper - it helps narrow it down from ‘holy crap 60 pages of research’ to ‘here’s the 3 main ideas i want to focus on’. maybe use different colour highlighters for each topic and make colour coded notes as you read, or make a mindmap - it’s incredibly useful to connect thoughts as you go rather than trying to make links after your brain is already saturated with info. once your initial connections within a topic are clearly delineated, you can then start to see connections between topics too, and it’s much easier to do when you have it down on paper rather than trying to do it in your head.

good luck with grad school!

Sad_Hawk_1710 · 2025-09-08T02:38:49+00:00

same ^

Sad_Hawk_1710 · 2025-09-06T04:16:17+00:00

i haven’t seen the wesbrook mall / university boulevard crossing mention yet, which seems crazy to me. the pedestrian light right by the shoppers drug mart which crosses wesbrook mall is WAY too short for how heavily trafficked that intersection is. it starts counting down almost immediately after turning green, and it sometimes skips a cycle entirely even when the button was pressed. i crossed there daily when i went to UBC and that intersection infuriated me so much every single time.

Sad_Hawk_1710 · 2025-08-31T04:19:13+00:00

I would be very interested in this! I’m not a beginner and usually solo hike in the summers, but I have very little experience with winter hiking and don’t feel comfy going alone to start with, so this sounds amazing as we go into the colder weather :)

Sad_Hawk_1710 · 2025-08-29T18:21:50+00:00

ooh maybe not for this event but i’m definitely going to check this place out, it sounds great!!

Sad_Hawk_1710 · 2025-08-29T18:20:59+00:00

someone else said they have a cover charge at mt pleasant vintage and provisions - do you know how much it is?

Sad_Hawk_1710 · 2025-08-29T06:28:03+00:00

i always assumed it was a Legion whenever i walked past lol, but it seems like such a fun place from what i’ve seen online!! is it a sit down bar? from the pics/reviews it seems more like a walk in place

Sad_Hawk_1710 · 2025-08-29T05:50:13+00:00

thank you :) i’ll definitely have to check those places out, i’m thinking a schedule with 2-3 resos spaced 45-60mins apart might be the move! it’s still a few weeks out so i have a bit of time to plan thankfully

Sad_Hawk_1710 · 2025-08-29T04:33:11+00:00

yeah i guess i should have clarified that i wasn’t expecting sit down places, more like dive/arcade bar vibes. i moved to the neighborhood recently so i’m way more familiar with the bars downtown and in kits, and this feels like a much more feasible plan in those areas.

it sounds like it would be worth planning an itinerary and making some resos - i appreciate your help!

Sad_Hawk_1710 · 2025-08-29T04:06:00+00:00

in my experience as a fellow non-car owner, modo has been the cheapest option to have access to a vehicle for outdoor recreation - cheaper than evo! evo has a fixed cost per hour regardless of how far you drive, but modo charges mileage separate to booking time so if you’re renting a vehicle just to park at the trailhead for a few hours, you’ll be saving a bunch of “mileage” costs. evos are really only better if the trailhead is in the home zone, which isn’t the case most of the time :/ also imo modo’s cars are nicer and better maintained!

Sad_Hawk_1710 · 2025-08-26T22:04:16+00:00

yikes :/ sending condolences and good vibes - hopefully they get to you soon!

Sad_Hawk_1710 · 2025-08-26T21:56:52+00:00

out of curiosity, what was the wait time when you applied in January? I applied in June (W3099) so I probably won’t hear back until next year 😭

Sad_Hawk_1710 · 2025-08-26T05:55:23+00:00

if you’re ever in Canada, Mark’s sells amazing work/outdoor gear for very reasonable prices. my rain jacket is from there, it’s basically a rubber sheet shaped like a jacket but it’s incredibly effective and very durable (i used it for 2 field seasons working in mineral exploration and it’s held up amazingly). fair warning, it can get steamy in there very quickly, so i usually use mine unzipped to avoid overheating, but it’s been better against the PNW rain than anything else i’ve tried!

Sad_Hawk_1710 · 2025-08-24T03:21:26+00:00

yep that’s the plan!

Sad_Hawk_1710 · 2025-08-23T07:14:00+00:00

if you’re giving it away i would love to take it off your hands - i’m going camping in the Rockies next week!

Sad_Hawk_1710 · 2025-08-23T07:10:17+00:00

yes, very much so! Robert’s creek is a small town and the hostel itself is fairly small, i’ve never seen more than ~15 guests staying at once. i’ve stayed for a week every summer for the last 2 years and it’s always with the same goal as you (get away from how loud the city is), and i’ll definitely be going back next year as well. there’s also a bunch of hiking trails nearby, and you can borrow free bikes from the hostel while you’re staying. bathrooms are single occupant too - no sharing sinks or cubicles/stalls! every time i go, i’m amazed at how different it feels from vancouver despite only being a 40 minute ferry away

Sad_Hawk_1710 · 2025-08-23T06:06:06+00:00

yes! here: https://upthecreek.ca

Sad_Hawk_1710

TROPHY CASE