Can any UBC med/accepted students PLEASE offer some NAQ advice?

[wolverine100k]

Any tips would be appreciated

[Emabean]

Hello @wolverine100k 

I'll be starting in the VFMP in August, as a second time applicant. My first year applying, I got an R after interview with an NAQ below average (2nd quartile) and a below average interview. Obviously, I'm thrilled to be in this year! But I think I learned a lot from having applied twice...

For NAQ, it depends whether you're looking to add activities to your list or asking for tips on how to present what you already have so that it scores highly on your application.

1) Tips for choosing new activities to get involved with:

I initially went looking for opportunities that I thought would "look good" on my application, and I saw them as pretty useless, just whoops to jump through to get me where I wanted to be. What I learned this year is that those non-academic activities teach you PRICELESS skills; they are NOT just checking boxes. It was disappointing to not get in last year, but I genuinely would not have wanted to start med school without the skills I've had to learn this year. I got a job in volunteer management, working remotely with a small team of colleagues to coordinate health care volunteers across the province. I took the job because it challenged, interested, and inspired me - and I learned so much about healthcare disparities in different areas of the province, working with people, how to build a team, leadership, connecting with/motivating/building relationships with people/volunteers, ....

My point is this: approach your extracurriculars with the mindset of, "What skills can I learn from this? What connections can I make with people who can mentor and teach me? How can I serve people and develop more sensitivity and awareness?" What you learn from these activities is way more important than how they look on your application. Identify areas where you need to grow and where you have interest, and go looking for opportunities that will help you develop those skills. Ask questions, reach out to people you can learn from and ask for help, following rabbit trails to chase down opportunities, don't be afraid to try things, .... (incidentally, this is the very best preparation you can get for the interview)

2) Tips for writing your application:

I scored an interview both applications... but I did refine how I wrote my application for the second cycle. While there isn't a way of knowing for sure, I believe that my NAQ was higher this year (with pretty much exactly the same things listed), just because of how I wrote them. 2 things stand out from comparing my 2 applications that I think made a difference for me: 

(a) Fewer activities: Not that it's bad to have lots - that's great! But my first year I was just trying to look impressive by having lots of things on my "resume", and I ended up with some smaller things that were honestly pretty trivial. By combining a couple of things that naturally went together and eliminating some smaller/less meaningful activities, I ended up with a shorter list. But each entries was clear, meaningful, and significant. Don't try to drum up things to fill space. You do not want redundancy in your activities; they should each be unique from the others. 

(b) Don't be wordy in your descriptions: This isn't the place to tell them what you learned and what a great candidate you are. This is the place to be clear, concise, and humble. Make each entry sound like you could write a book on it, but you chose to state just the bare facts in the minimum amount of words. Yes, describe what you did, but hone it down; one meaning-packed sentence is way better than 2 sentences with lots of great descriptors that make you sound like you're trying to sell yourself. Stick to stating what you did. 

 

Then there's the interview... I honestly think that this was the biggest area I improved, and that's what made the difference for me between this year and last year (GPA and MCAT stayed the same). Feel free to pm me if you want my thoughts on that, or have any other questions about NAQ, MCAT, interview, application... I'm so incredibly grateful for this opportunity to study medicine, and would love to be of help to others aspiring to the same path!  

[all_in]

Hey! Let me know if you still need help with your application! 

[yasonji]

If anyone still needs any help, my inbox is open! Also, just gonna quickly plug that I made a YouTube video detailing some tips for the application process + NAQ/ABS writing so if any prospective applicant wants to check that out and ask any questions, feel free to visit the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cFUHRQdUYI&t=213s. I spent a lot of time on trying to pass down as much knowledge possible so hopefully someone here will find it helpful!