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Can't fill all sections


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Hey, everyone. 

I am applying to UAlberta this year. My GPA is not that great (3.5) so I am counting on my ECs to boost my scoring. I have the hours (~1000 volunteer hours) but I can only fill 3 out of the 4 section for each category. For example, I only have 3 awards to mention. I only have 3 volunteer experiences, 3 leadership experiences and 3 diversity of experience. All of my experiences are long-term. For work-experiences, I have more than 4500 hours but I only ever worked at 2 places (long-term). I already have a terrible GPA and now, I don't even have enough ECs to fill the application. A lot of people are telling me to find ways to fill all the sections but I am not going to make things up. Does U of A really care if you fill the application or not? Will they be more impressed by my long-term commitments? 

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14 minutes ago, gradschooldream said:

I don't recommend lying to fill entries and all sections. U of A checks all your verifiers. 

That's exactly what I mean. I am not going to lie on my application. I only have 3 for each so I'm wondering if it is worth it to scramble to find volunteering opportunities to fill my application? 

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42 minutes ago, VINCHER said:

the adcoms will see that you started the activity merely a month before applying and it may give an indication of padding. You are probably better off only including your meaningful experiences.

I disagree. There are plenty of short-term commitments you can make over the summer that will help with an application. Not every entry can be long-term, and I hardly think that admissions would look down on such a thing.

My suggestion would be to look into volunteering with a festival (i.e. Taste of Edmonton, Fringe, Folk Fest, etc.). They're generally a fun way to rack up hours and opens you up to some diverse interactions. Honestly OP, you are better off putting something down then not. Try to be creative and think of some activities you have completed that meet the scope of the section. 

 

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2 hours ago, adhominem said:

I disagree. There are plenty of short-term commitments you can make over the summer that will help with an application. Not every entry can be long-term, and I hardly think that admissions would look down on such a thing.

My suggestion would be to look into volunteering with a festival (i.e. Taste of Edmonton, Fringe, Folk Fest, etc.). They're generally a fun way to rack up hours and opens you up to some diverse interactions. Honestly OP, you are better off putting something down then not. Try to be creative and think of some activities you have completed that meet the scope of the section. 

 

Oh, i think short term commitments are fine. But I guess I should reiterate my point in that I think having a sudden burst of short-term commitments immediately prior to applying is not seen favourably. And if OP can come up with something for an extra spot, even if it was a one time activity, it's probably better than leaving it blank. 

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10 hours ago, VINCHER said:

Oh, i think short term commitments are fine. But I guess I should reiterate my point in that I think having a sudden burst of short-term commitments immediately prior to applying is not seen favourably. And if OP can come up with something for an extra spot, even if it was a one time activity, it's probably better than leaving it blank. 

Do you have any evidence this is actually the case though? What difference does it make if all the activities are clumped together or dispersed over a longer period? Maybe the applicant needed to take time off from their work to get a bunch of extra volunteer hours so they ended up all clumped together. There are legitimate reasons why people can have some of their short-term activities together at the end of a summer before deadlines. 

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1 hour ago, adhominem said:

Do you have any evidence this is actually the case though? What difference does it make if all the activities are clumped together or dispersed over a longer period? Maybe the applicant needed to take time off from their work to get a bunch of extra volunteer hours so they ended up all clumped together. There are legitimate reasons why people can have some of their short-term activities together at the end of a summer before deadlines. 

Dr. Ian Walker from UofC Admissions does state in this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h7YCYG-1Ao&feature=youtu.be) that a bunch of activities all at the end of 3rd and 4th year may be frowned upon (I'm not sure where in the video he said it though). UBC also updated a blog post (http://mdprogram.med.ubc.ca/2014/12/17/naq-myths-debunked-part-2/) where they vaguely mentioned role of long-term commitments on the NAQ score: "We are not going to share our scoring breakdown..., but generally if you have done more, and have demonstrated meaningful, long-term commitments (including work) within your community, you will receive a higher score."

in all honesty, I believe that as long as you have some meaningful experiences throughout the years, it should be fine to have a bunch of smaller commitments close to application time. The only case where I see this being frowned upon is if you have very little activity all the way up until the year prior to application. 

 

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