Non-Academic Experiences

[Guest soulstress]

I was wondering how many items the rest of you are including in the NAE section of the application. I have around 35 and am already hitting the 3-page limit...I'm not quite sure if this is normal, or if I am writing too much per item. I want to thoroughly describe what I have done but at the same time it's hard to do with so little space. Any suggestions?

 

They are all pretty much equally distributed among the different categories...except I have absolutely nothing in the Rural/Remote category. Would this be a huge detriment to my application?

[Guest kupo]

For the remote/rural experiences, there's really nothing you can do about that. Not everyone will have that benefit/advantage/opportunity. I feel that while it won't be a detriment to your application, others could benefit with some extra points. I think that's a reality and nothing you can do except give kudos to those who have those experiences. You'll have to make do with what you've done and tell them about your own unique experiences.

 

As for the 3-page limit, I'm a supporter of the quality over quantity. Do your best to max out the character limit for the really important entries, giving them 1) a short description, 2) explain why you did it, and 3) tell them what you learned from it (if no space, put in essay). If you can't fit everything, I suggest you put down the most important things, and experiment with combining activities that are similar (for me, I consolidated all sports I did when doing co-op in Ottawa, squash, volleyball, baseball, and soccer, into one entry)..

 

35 entries seems like a lot, but I could be wrong. From my last year's application, I had 24 entries and 95% of them maximized the description character limit. However, if they streamlined the application a bit better this year, who knows how many total entries you can put down in the 3-page limit. You know more about that than I do.

 

I'm no adcom person, but if I was looking at an EC section of someone's application, I wouldn't know the value of your listed activities unless you told me. Therefore, I couldn't give you a more deserving score (which is pretty subjective btw). Of course, some entries have high intrinsic value (olympic athletes, save Africa, help India, go on HIV curing crusade, etc, etc, but adcom understands that not everyone has the luxury of having those experiences under their belt. But to separate yourself from someone who has participated in similar activities (i.e. sports, hospital volunteering, etc), it's best that you give them a description that's about you and your motives.

 

Hope that helps and good luck with your application.

 

Kupo – Med 09

[Guest TKP 123]

also, try to put the contact person (a.k.a. verifiers) for each activity that you have done.

 

this increases the credibility for the item listed.

[Guest cheetahesque]

In the example under Travel/Sports/Arts Experiences they put Family trip to Venezuela. Does that mean we put our travel experiences? And is it necessary to put a contact down for that? They didn't put one in the example but I feel uneasy not putting a contact down.

 

They also changed the format of it from the example in which you fill in all the info (# hrs etc). Would you just leave the blank or scrap recreational travel altogether from the application?

[Guest kupo]

I sure put down my traveling experiences. I used family members as the verifiers. They don't raise a big stink about it. It's all good.

 

Kupo

[Guest physiology]

Hello,

 

Two years ago when I applied, the rural requirement neither counted against you or for you. If you didn't have those experiences, it was okay. However, if you do, it will definitely help, particularly if you are interested in the NMP. Your rural suitability score is something that is looked at with keen interest and rightly so, by the NMP sub-committee.

 

Cheers,

Physio