ABS Questions

[itski]

Hi everyone! I hope you're all doing well. For those of you who applied last year, I was wondering if you remember what questions were asked & the word count? I also heard there was an "About Me" section & would love more details about that. I know it's a bit early to worry about this, but I'll be super busy starting July and so would love to get a head start, especially as I'm quite a poor writer haha.  Also, I was having trouble deducing what type of activity would belong to the "social accountability/responsibility" section. Would volunteering at a homeless shelter be an example of that, or would anyone be willing to share an example they put down?

Thank you sm for any help!! I really appreciate it

[hbmed]

Last year there weren't really specific questions (not like UofT, for example). There were the AABS statements, in which you could provide 1-2 mini essays/statements for each skill/trait category (so 4-8 statements total), explaining how the experience demonstrated the skill, 3 things you learned from it, and how you those might be applicable to a career in medicine. There were slight nuances in some of the "questions" about how to structure the answer(s) for each section, so definitely read them carefully when they become available, but the general content I imagine will be similar. Limit for each statement was 2400 characters.

The experiences you use don't need to "belong", as long as you think you've demonstrated the skills and can communicate that well. I think I talked about being an O-week leader and being involved in a charity club for the social accountability/responsibility category, BUT I also talked about working in a clothing store for diversity, equity, and inclusion- which doesn't obvious have a link, but I had personal experiences there which I was able to connect back to the topic. It matters less about what the experience IS, and more about what you got out of the experience and how you can use it in a career in medicine, and how you communicate that to the readers. Introspection is super important here!

The about me section had two parts. The first part they wanted unique personal life experience(s)/challenges that were relevant to your application and how you overcame them (2400 characters max). The second part asked about gaps and/or unusual circumstances with your file/application (2400 characters max). This part is pretty personal, and your chance to tell them about you and your road to medicine, so it varies even more person to person. 

[theevilsloth]

 

1 hour ago, hbmed said:

The about me section had two parts. The first part they wanted unique personal life experience(s)/challenges that were relevant to your application and how you overcame them (2400 characters max). The second part asked about gaps and/or unusual circumstances with your file/application (2400 characters max). This part is pretty personal, and your chance to tell them about you and your road to medicine, so it varies even more person to person. 

Also, you don't need to fill out the About Me section if you have nothing relevant to add there. I didn't fill it out and got interviews the past 2 years.

[itski]

Thank you so much @hbmed and @theevilsloth for taking the time to reply!! This was super helpful! Also congrats @hbmed for your recent acceptance