Autobiographical Sketch FORMATTING !!???

[Guest MedBound786]

Hey guys;

 

How should we space the essay? Single or Double spaced? Also, what margins should we be using?

 

Thanks for all the input !

 

Good luck !!

[Guest fever meds]

double space. 1 inch margins. luck? already through the process :-) thanks though.

[Guest silverjelly86]

Are we really supposed to double space? Isn't it supposed to be 1.5" margins? What about paragraph formatting - indent 0.5" at the beginning of each paragraph, or 0.25"?

[Guest silverjelly86]

Actually, now I see that Microsoft Word automatically sets the top and bottom margins 1" and the left and right margins 1.25". Does that matter, fever meds, or should I change the left and right margins to 1" also?

[Guest westsimba]

Don't sweat the little things - as you will soon have to learn how to do in med school. Since the admissions committee didn't give you guidelines for margins and spacing, I would think that they don't consider that to be of upmost importance.

 

I would use the standard MS word margins and double space your submission for clarity and organization. Focus on content - and don't get too "flower-y" You're applying for medical school and not literature school. Make sure you are concise with your ideas and to the point. While you do want the submission to sound interesting and creative, be sure to put in as much "meat" as possible. The essay is the only way the interview panel gets to know you and will often draw on your essay topics and ask for elaborations

 

I do agree with fever meds that asking "random" med I students to read your papers might not be the best idea. It would probably be more prudent to ask a close friend/parents/prof that knows you well?? However, I'm sure all of us here on the forum would be more than happy to give you general advice and answer questions. There are both in-province and OOP med students that frequent this forum - so all questions should find their way to an answer.

 

Best of luck and we'll see you on pizza friday night!

[Guest Jag]

Margins don't matter, they aren't going to throw your application out for having 1.25 or 1 inch margins, choose what you prefer or what looks best. I would probably do double spacing just because it looks clearer. And indenting? I didn't even indent any of my paragraphs, it doesn't matter too much. Also, all information that Mr. Simba up there provided is excellent too.

[Guest happy2bme]

Scented pink? or aqua marine? Such colour choices......

[Guest sweetstuff25]

umm...the choice is obvious, scented pink man. scented pink all the way.

[Guest fever meds]

joking aside, things like scented paper probably wouldn't bode well, nor would funky fonts. just use common sense and you'll be fine.

 

i don't blame any of you for being neurotic. I think I am close to as neurotic as they come. I worried about all of this. I even had my essay printed at Staples on heavy linin paper with a subtle cream color tone.

 

btw, dress up for the interview! not because you need to, but I think it helps with confidence. most guys for instance, wear suits.

[Guest silverjelly86]

Normal white paper with laser printing is okay, right?

 

I know . . . neurotic.

[Guest fever meds]

make sure you print it on 25 lb paper with at least 90 brightness.

 

j/k anything goes...but I would still pick a heavy and bright white paper. hammermill use to make some great paper.

[Guest Jag]

sweeeeeeeeeet, somebody else went to the length of using linin paper like I did

[Guest Jag]

ps. There is no need to worry about the finer details at all. In fact, I'm not even sure if the panel read my essay, I didn't get asked anything about it at all in my interview. If they did read it, they went over it in under a couple of minutes for sure

[Guest silverjelly86]

4 copies of a (double-spaced) approximately 4-paged essay in linen paper sounds a little overdone. Wasn't that heavy to mail?

[Guest happy2bme]

I have to send a book! Due to two interviews they need 8 essays from me! And a bunch of pics, speaking of which did everyone smile or not smile............

[Guest Jag]

i went as far as getting a 'real' passport photo done, in which the law says you aren't allowed to smile or show teeth in passport photos. Definately not worth the $13 it was to take the passport pics at wal mart in retrospect

[Guest happy2bme]

I just did digital camera against a blank background and printed a bunch on 8x10 then cut them out, I smiled but I can't remember if my pearly whites were shining!!! My real passport photo makes me look like a serial killer so I definitly wasn't using that method again!

[Guest silverjelly86]

Color or black and white?

[Guest WesternMan]

haha get this, I went to Black's to get my passport photos done..I realized they wanted "passport-SIZED" pictures, but I had nothing really recent and I figured at least this way, they would look decent.

 

So I sit down no the chair, and the guy goes "Canadian Law requires that you do not wear glasses in your passport photograph"...I explained that it was actually for an application, to which he replied that they might cause a glare from the flash, so I complied and took the glasses off...

 

The flash goes and he shows me the picture..i look angry, haha not the image I want to send along with the application. So i kindly ask for a reshot, saying "i think i'll smile this time"

 

"Canadian Law does not allow you to smile in your passport photo" (this guy was a robot..)..haha so i say, "man, like i said, this is for an application not a passport."

 

He was confused, but I was paying them for it so he listened to me haha. anyway there's my story for the Manitoba app.

 

man from western.

[Guest fever meds]

Linen? Overdone? No! Neurotic? Yes! I put a lot of hard work into my essay. anything to stand out and seperate yourself from the chaff. (lol just kidding)

 

I also went to Black's and had my passport photo taken. and like Western man, I had a difficult time convincing the photographer that I COULD smile....I eventually had to say, "look, if the pictures suck, I'll be back here next year at this time". How's that for projecting one's problems?

[Guest silverjelly86]

Again, did you guys get them in color?

 

I'm gonna have gray hairs by the end of all this.

[Guest Jag]

color most likely, i'm fairly sure we aren't in the 1920's right now

[Guest silverjelly86]

By the way, where should we put our e-mail address and phone number (and name): maybe the first page of the essay?

[Guest fever meds]

color paper? no, I jused a light cream colour (no pinks or blues, etc)

 

email and phone number on the paper? I don't remeber writting my number on email on the paper. I honestly don't think you need to put your email or phone on the essay itself. maybe jag knows

[Guest Jag]

All I had was an essay on the paper, no phone numbers, addresses, postal codes, cell phone numbers, license plate numbers, social insurance numbers or anything like that. I didn't even have a title (but you could have one if you want to). Maybe the 'title' thing will spark some more anxiety, in which case I apologize in advance for that.