Application help?

[myrtlemed13]

Hello! 
I am hoping to apply to NOSM this application cycle and looking for any current or previous medical students who would be willing to give any advice/help with my application/the application process! Also anyone who has previously applied and has any tips is much appreciated!! Thanks in advance :) 

[ER_Mike]

I was accepted to NOSM this year. What are your questions?

[myrtlemed13]

On 6/16/2020 at 3:57 PM, ER_Mike said:

I was accepted to NOSM this year. What are your questions?

Thats awesome, Congrats! First off, I have started putting together all of my activities for the autobiographical sketch, I am a nursing student and am unsure if I should include clinical experiences. For example, this year I completed two community based placements. I am also worried that my GPA is too low. I currently have a 3.4 but I have alot of unique leadership experiences and other activities. I just dont know if its worth it to apply now or get a Master’s to boost my grades

[ER_Mike]

Thanks. I'm actually an RN myself, so hopefully my experience can help you. I put the clinical placements in but in my case I grouped all the sort of mundane ones (regular floor nursing) under a single entry and then picked out my community placements or otherwise interesting placements as separate entries to differentiate them and show the breadth of experience. Not everyone knows what nursing students get up to, so I think it helps to be a bit more descriptive. With that in mind, one thing to consider for your 4th year placement, if you can, is the option of going up north for your placements. I went to Moose Factory for my 360-hour consolidation and it was both a really cool experience, and no doubt was well-received on my application. I had a classmate go to Sioux Lookout and she had a really good experience too, as I recall. This is of course me assuming you're not from a northern/rural community already. I am also just kinda assuming whatever RN program you're in works the way mine did.

The GPA isn't stellar but if you peruse the thread somewhere around here about people posting their stats having been accepted to NOSM you'll see there's a fairly wide range, including some 3.5s. As well, if you show an upward trend in your GPA that can ameliorate the impact lower GPA during the first year or two, as I understand it. So I'd recommend taking a gander at some of the other folks who have GPAs on the lower side and seeing if their application looks like it could be you in a year.

As for a master's, there are some that you could crank out in a year or so, but depends on whether you are able to do more schooling or if you need/want to work for a bit, or try to do both. I think Athabasca does some distance master's degrees, like "health sciences" or something not really nursing specific, that could be of interest. It's harder to go the NP route because you'll need several years of full-time work experience first. And frankly, there are some very good jobs you can get with a non-nursing related master's degree in whatever health topic.

In terms of whether to apply, I would consider it, partly because applying this year can help you maintain those contacts you have in your nursing education. It's easier to get good references if you're still fresh in the mind of that prof, or that clinical educator, or etc. you had a good relationship with. Hardly the end of the world to defer a year or two, of course, but just something to consider. That said, there's no limit on how often you can apply, so my knee-jerk reaction is "yes, apply" because you don't have anything to lose from the attempt.

Hope some of this was helpful. Best of luck!

[myrtlemed13]

2 hours ago, ER_Mike said:

Thanks. I'm actually an RN myself, so hopefully my experience can help you. I put the clinical placements in but in my case I grouped all the sort of mundane ones (regular floor nursing) under a single entry and then picked out my community placements or otherwise interesting placements as separate entries to differentiate them and show the breadth of experience. Not everyone knows what nursing students get up to, so I think it helps to be a bit more descriptive. With that in mind, one thing to consider for your 4th year placement, if you can, is the option of going up north for your placements. I went to Moose Factory for my 360-hour consolidation and it was both a really cool experience, and no doubt was well-received on my application. I had a classmate go to Sioux Lookout and she had a really good experience too, as I recall. This is of course me assuming you're not from a northern/rural community already. I am also just kinda assuming whatever RN program you're in works the way mine did.

The GPA isn't stellar but if you peruse the thread somewhere around here about people posting their stats having been accepted to NOSM you'll see there's a fairly wide range, including some 3.5s. As well, if you show an upward trend in your GPA that can ameliorate the impact lower GPA during the first year or two, as I understand it. So I'd recommend taking a gander at some of the other folks who have GPAs on the lower side and seeing if their application looks like it could be you in a year.

As for a master's, there are some that you could crank out in a year or so, but depends on whether you are able to do more schooling or if you need/want to work for a bit, or try to do both. I think Athabasca does some distance master's degrees, like "health sciences" or something not really nursing specific, that could be of interest. It's harder to go the NP route because you'll need several years of full-time work experience first. And frankly, there are some very good jobs you can get with a non-nursing related master's degree in whatever health topic.

In terms of whether to apply, I would consider it, partly because applying this year can help you maintain those contacts you have in your nursing education. It's easier to get good references if you're still fresh in the mind of that prof, or that clinical educator, or etc. you had a good relationship with. Hardly the end of the world to defer a year or two, of course, but just something to consider. That said, there's no limit on how often you can apply, so my knee-jerk reaction is "yes, apply" because you don't have anything to lose from the attempt.

Hope some of this was helpful. Best of luck!

Thank you for that advice, it really helps hearing from others who have gone through the application process! I should clarify that IF I calculated my GPA correctly its a 3.47, not sure if that makes a huge difference but I have an upward trend, and have a 4.0 from this past semester. I was born and raised in a northern Ontario city with about 75,000 people, and all of my clinical experiences thus far have been done here! I was looking at pursuing a master’s in public health (Assuming I dont get into Med first). I was hoping that maybe some of my extracurriculars throughout undergrad could support my lower GPA and maybe score me an interview! 
 

thanks so much for your help, and best of luck with your medical school career!! 

[DF2]

Couple quick questions for anyone who’s been accepted to NOSM or applied a few times!
1. I applied to NOSM last year and was waitlisted and didn’t end up getting in. I’m applying again this year and it looks like the ABS questions are the exact same as last year. Is it appropriate to use the same answers as last year or very similar ones? Kinda feels wrong but if I’m being honest then my answers haven’t really changed.
2. I’m starting a 2 year MPH this year as well. I realize I won’t be eligible for the 0.2 GPA bump On this application but OMSAS won’t let you submit an academic background item that you’re currently working on unless you’ll be done by some time in 2021. My question is where should I list my MPH in the ABS. Even without the 0.2 bump I imagine it’ll still look good on my app. 
 

Thanks in advance!!

[ER_Mike]

On 7/19/2020 at 3:37 PM, DF2 said:

Couple quick questions for anyone who’s been accepted to NOSM or applied a few times!
1. I applied to NOSM last year and was waitlisted and didn’t end up getting in. I’m applying again this year and it looks like the ABS questions are the exact same as last year. Is it appropriate to use the same answers as last year or very similar ones? Kinda feels wrong but if I’m being honest then my answers haven’t really changed.
2. I’m starting a 2 year MPH this year as well. I realize I won’t be eligible for the 0.2 GPA bump On this application but OMSAS won’t let you submit an academic background item that you’re currently working on unless you’ll be done by some time in 2021. My question is where should I list my MPH in the ABS. Even without the 0.2 bump I imagine it’ll still look good on my app. 
 

Thanks in advance!!

1. If they were going to penalize people for reusing questions from prior years, they'd let you know with a warning somewhere. They aren't out to trick you. 

2. Definitely put your master's progress in your sketch. I embellished upon my own educational entries in this way, e.g. listing specific areas of the hospital/community I did placements in as a nursing student if I thought they were worth extra note. At the end of the day, unless you run out of entries (unlikely unless you include a lot of chaff) I can't see any harm in adding these additional details. If you think an aspect of yourself isn't being represented, include it in your sketch somewhere. You are selling yourself, after all.

[SofiaValente]

On 6/16/2020 at 3:57 PM, ER_Mike said:

I was accepted to NOSM this year. What are your questions?

Heyy! I’m applying to NOSM this year, and I’m in the middle of doing my sketch, I wanted to know roughly how long should my answers to the ABS and supplementary questions be?

Thanks,

Sofia

[007sparta]

22 hours ago, SofiaValente said:

Heyy! I’m applying to NOSM this year, and I’m in the middle of doing my sketch, I wanted to know roughly how long should my answers to the ABS and supplementary questions be?

Thanks,

Sofia

The maximum character count is quite low. I wrote all of my essays and ABS entries to hit the character limit. Honestly, there's not much room so make the most of each word!