supafield Posted October 10, 2009 Report Share Posted October 10, 2009 Hi everyone, I was hoping to get a quick idea of what everyone thinks... For the strengths and weaknesses portion of the question.... I find it worded kind of funny. "The Admissions Committee is interested in your experiences in group settings as well as hearing about your challenges (both strengths and weaknesses) that make you an outstanding applicant for Dalhousie Medical School." I'm wondering if that means they want any strengths or weaknesses we mention to be in the for of an example. Or a "challenge" during one of our experiences. At first I just figured I would talk about strengths and weaknesses referring to certain activities of mine.... but the word challenges throws me off. It makes me think they may be looking for a very specific event where your strength or weakness was demonstrated? Just wondering what others think... Also, one more tag along question... do we not have to enter our grades as we do in OMSAS? Do they do it from our transcript? I briefly went through the entire app and didn't see any area to enter them. The self reported grades section seems to be just for the MCAT. Thanks for any help and hope everyone is having a good thanksgiving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted October 10, 2009 Report Share Posted October 10, 2009 hmm, challenges, strengths and weaknesses all relate to actual experiences. In attacking a particular challenge, you may have faced a particular weakness of yours that you never faced or knew of before, and, perhaps, you had to surmount this weakness to successfully deal with the challenge; and as a result, youo are even a better candidate b/c ....... Bottom line, I don't think you need to be thrown off and I believe your approach is sound. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supafield Posted October 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 the confusing thing is though, it's "challenges (both strengths and weaknesses)" not "challenges, strengths and weaknesses" which means they're asking for strength challenges and weakness challenges? It's just weird wording for me... I might try to make my strengths and weaknesses more specific to finite events rather than entire volunteer experience. Ex: Instead of saying I'm fun because I go to parties..... I'll say I'm fun because at parties I bring pinatas and entertain the crowd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJDakoo Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 do you guys know which MCAT score we release to DAL?...most recent or all?? thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xi88 Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 do you guys know which MCAT score we release to DAL?...most recent or all?? thanks! I'm pretty sure you have to release all your scores. At least AAMC didn't let me only release specific scores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doc2B Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 All your scores are released now. But Dal will only consider the one that you have explicitly asked them to consider and the admissions committee will not even see the others so don't worry about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJDakoo Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 I don't know my score yet because I wrote on sept 12...how do I enter scores that I don't have? lol...is there a spot in the app to say 'waiting for score'..or something like that? Thx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supafield Posted October 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 I don't know my score yet because I wrote on sept 12...how do I enter scores that I don't have? lol...is there a spot in the app to say 'waiting for score'..or something like that? Thx The September 12th scores were put up in your MCAT Thx on Friday. They came out early. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terryann Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 They mention research, group activities, strength and weakness...much more specific than the u of t essay, I do not have significant research experience, is it even worthwhile to mention my limited research as they will be reading essays from candidates with stellar research experience..Are we supposed to address all of the catagories mentioned, or is just a guideline Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w8kg6 Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 If you don't think your research experience is worth mentioning in your essay, but you have other things that could use some more space, don't worry about the research. I don't have any research xp either, so my essay focuses more on the work I've done and my other ECs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supafield Posted October 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 "In particular, explain how your experiences (work, volunteer, education, research, extracurricular, etc.)" They list nearly everything lol... and include "etc." There isn't enough room to into all the areas in detail. So I really don't believe it is necessary to talk about research to do well. I know there are plenty of examples of people applying without research experience at all. So I wouldn't worry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xi88 Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 "In particular, explain how your experiences (work, volunteer, education, research, extracurricular, etc.)" They list nearly everything lol... and include "etc." There isn't enough room to into all the areas in detail. So I really don't believe it is necessary to talk about research to do well. I know there are plenty of examples of people applying without research experience at all. So I wouldn't worry. When I sumbitted my essay last year, I didnt adhere to the question asked. I modified the essay I sumbitted for my AMCAS application, which asked "Why medicine? Why me?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terryann Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 wise advice, thanks so much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doc2B Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 Obviously not everyone has research experience. You do want to answer the question but the example activities are just that, examples. If you don't have research experience or you feel it's not worth mentioning what you do have than don't put it in. But don't be worried about what other people have in their essays, your essay is about you and your strengths and weaknesses and experience(s) it's a chance for you to show your passion toward medicine and make the admissions committee understand why you want to be there, that you know what you're getting in to and why you deserve to be there. That being said, as I mentioned above and other posters have mention ANSWER THE QUESTION. It never looks good when you're supposed to discuss strengths and weaknesses and you just talk about why you want to go to med school or you just leave out weaknesses altogether. Remember, everyone has at least a couple of weaknesses. Good luck everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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