What else can I be doing?

[Guest ioncannon97]

I will be completing the second year of a Biochem program this april. Here's where my "CV" currently stands:

 

G.P.A. (on omsas scale) ~ 3.99

MCAT 11/13/12/R

Volunteer: At Hospital (~40 hrs so far), and rehab centre (~20 hrs so far).

Research: NSERC USRA last summer and again this upcoming summer

 

Although I don't want to go down the road of "resume building", could some of you who have experience with the application process please advise me on what else I can be doing at this point to make myself a stronger candidate for medicine, specifically U of T. Also, I wrote the MCAT after 1st year as sort of a practice shot but ended up getting a good score. Do you think there's any point in rewriting? Any feedback is appreciated.

[Guest JC15]

Hi,

 

I wouldn't rewrite your MCAT. With the exception of Manitoba, most Canadian schools don't put too much weight on the MCAT as long as you meet the cut-offs. With your scores, you'd make the cut-off at every school easily. Of course, it's up to you, but that's just my 2 cents

 

JC

[Guest soapyslicer]

Hi ioncannon97

 

Most schools break down your non-academics into several categories like: community service, leadership. Take a look at your life and see how you can enrich it. For example I have been a paramedic for 15 years, do tons of volunteer stuff and actually had so much stuff it became difficult to figure out what I should put on the applications as there was only so much room. Fortunately UBC helped me organize my thoughts as it lays out the specific categories for you. Cultural/community/service, Leadership/Working with others, Travel/sports/Music/Theatre/Arts, Other.

 

It was a great skeleton for me to clearly see where my weaknesses might be. As well originally I never thought that swimming every lunch hour for the last few years mattered. I stuck the headings on big sheets of paper and stuck them on the wall. As I thought of things that I thought mattered I wrote them down. When I had close friends over they would look and add things they knew I had done but I never added. In the end I then sat down and went over the list very carefully removing only what I couldn't fit. The best part of it was nothing was fabricated or even inflated from what it was. As well those who brought up activities were also my verifiers.

 

Ultimately what you need to do is start thinking about this stuff now and write it down as you think of it. You will be amazed how much easier it makes it come application time. I found it also really helped with essay's.

 

Hope that is helpful,

 

soapy

[Guest aneliz]

Your stats are good....I wouldn't rewrite the MCAT.

 

Your GPA is good....again, nothing that you can do to improve that. Your research looks good too....but it isn't an 'essential'.

 

It is good that you have some volunteer work...and hospital volunteer work can never hurt you, but I wonder if you have enought 'quality' volunteer work....

 

Things that I see as missing from your app:

 

1. Some 'enjoyment' activities that you have made a serious commitment to...like sports, or drama, or music or dancing or karate or something....something that you do to challenge yourself that has absolutely nothing to do with medicine and that you have clearly worked hard at. This shows that you have interests beyond 'getting in' and are 'well rounded'. I would say that almost everybody in my class has something that falls in this category....either playing a musical instrument, fencing, rowing, horseback riding, debating, dancing, acting, etc.

 

2. A volunteer position that you have held long term and you are commited to. (Not just for resume building reasons). This could be anything...from reading with kindergarten students, to working with meals on wheels...to coaching soccer for a youth soccer league..to being a 'big brother/sister', visiting with the elderly, tutoring your peers or working in a volunteer role on campus....anything. It doesn't have to be in any way med related. In many ways it helps to have something 'unique' that will help your app stand out and give you something interesting to talk about at interviews. Hospital and clinic volunteer work can be very rewarding or very boring....I personally think that you can learn a lot more from serving breakfast to the homeless then you can from being a bed-maker and sheet-fetcher in an ER. I am not saying that you should give up your hospital volunteer work...just that it is not necessarily 'the best' volunteer position for a meds app. (But you should have some idea of what medicine is all about before you apply and this will give you some exposure.)

 

Basically, in my opinion, the keys to a good app are:

 

- stats that are good enough to meet the cut-offs but not so good that you have devoted your entire life to doing academics and nothing else.

 

- evidence that you are an active, well rounded person with a variety of interests outside of academics and outside of medicine. You should show some commitment to these...ie one activity that you have been involved in long term and clearly put some effort into is better then 50 activities that you tried for 6 weeks each....

 

- some evidence of leadership, involvement and service to your community (ie volunteering). This does not have to be med related. The more initiative and responsibility this position required, the better....

 

- a grasp on 'reality' and evidence that you have dealt with some adversity in your life and used your own brain and initiative to deal with it.

 

- real, proven evidence of your ability to deal effectively with people....either through your volunteer work, your employment or your extra-curric activities. I personally think, that one of the best ways to do this is to work food retail for a while....really....there is no better place in the world to learn about the huge variety of people and personalities out there and practice being 'nice' to them without allowing yourself to get completely steamrolled.

 

- maturity and the ability to communicate well and be sensitive to others. An awareness of the world around you and evidence that you can think on your feet and form reasonable opinions and evidence that while you can be tactful and sensitive to the positions of others, you aren't going to get steamrolled and be a doormat when faced with adversity - again, all skills that can be practiced by working retail for a few summers.

 

My 25 cents worth!