Guest 0T6 Posted February 1, 2004 Report Share Posted February 1, 2004 Hi! Just a quick question, are all Canadian WSs marked in the states, by Americans? I ask this because my knowledge of American history is limited - so if I make references to for example the War of 1812 instead of the Battle of Gettysburg or something like that, will the marker understand. Would I be better off looking into some American history? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest CornuAmmonis Posted February 1, 2004 Report Share Posted February 1, 2004 Yes, all of the MCAT is marked at the AAMC site. You have to understand something about what AAMC markers are looking for when they read an WS essay. They coudln't care less about which example you use. I've used Canadian examples all the time. What they are looking for is strength of argument and how your points are connected and compared. Have a look at the essay questions offered on the AAMC website and see the 3 different requirements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aidan Posted February 1, 2004 Report Share Posted February 1, 2004 To your first question, the answer is 'yes', all WS -- Canadian included -- are marked in the U. S. of A. As for knowing American history, however, it's not really necessary. It may be helpful to have some knowledge of things like slavery, the civil rights movement, etc. since many of the prompts allude to them. But then again, you could just as well use international or Canadian people or events in your essays. Being Canadian may even be a bit of a blessing in disguise because the American marker will likely have very little knowledge (if any!) of any domestic examples you discuss, and therefore he or she can't mark you down for being inaccurate, even if you did bend the truth a little. Now, I'm not saying that you SHOULD bend the truth, but if you were in a real fix... Generally, I think it's good to use a variety of examples, both international and domestic, current and historical. It shows that you are somewhat wordly, that you read the newspaper, and that you have some idea of the historical context of daily events. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 0T6 Posted February 1, 2004 Report Share Posted February 1, 2004 Thanks guys, I appreciate the prompt replies. I've just heard that one "should" write the essay from an American perspective with a heavy American influence. I'm glad that's not the way it is! Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aidan Posted February 1, 2004 Report Share Posted February 1, 2004 Pssst... do you want to know the REAL secret to the MCAT writing sample? Use the word "HEGEMONY". Hey, it worked for me! And no, I'm not kidding. It's an awesome word, and the markers like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted February 1, 2004 Report Share Posted February 1, 2004 Hi there, There is absolutely no need to write your Writing Sample essays with American content. In fact, if you're unsure of the minutiae of American history, it might behoove you to steer clear of it entirely and start of with a bank of anecdotes related to other segments of history or society. For one, nerves may exacerbate any propensity for memory blanking and could cause you to forget the details. If, during the exam, you recall an American tidbit that is, in fact, incorrect, then you don't need to take the chance that your essay will lose any credibility/persuasiveness/punch, etc., in the eyes of the US marker (remember, they mark these things holistically). Two figures in history that I found worked very well for many WS essays were Nelson Mandela and Mohandas Gandhi. I already respected both, (and so, had a few of their details stored naturally away), so to prepare for the MCAT, I read more about them from history websites (and watched the Oscar-winning, Ben Kingsley film ). Facets of their lives apply very nicely to all sorts of common MCAT WS topics, e.g., politics, repression, rebellion, leadership, change, motivation, learning... Good luck! Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TimmyMax Posted February 1, 2004 Report Share Posted February 1, 2004 Hey, You don't even need great figures of history to be successful on the writing sample- I quoted Arnold Palmer and Don Cherry in one of my responses and I got an 'S'! So as you can see, it's not the perceived "quality" of your sources of inspiration, rather it is what you do with them that counts! Best of luck! Timmy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted February 1, 2004 Report Share Posted February 1, 2004 Hi there, Yep, I'd agree with TimmyMax's point as well. TimmyMax, I'm interested: can you recall the two (or more?) quotes? I can't imagine. Cheers, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TimmyMax Posted February 1, 2004 Report Share Posted February 1, 2004 Hi Kirsteen, I'm not sure if I can recall both of them, but I think one was something to the tune of the goal of any business is to make a profit and the other was that it is better to be young and innovative than old and experienced. As you can guess, the latter was the one I trucked out the aforementioned quotes for! Best of luck! Timmy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 007 Posted February 1, 2004 Report Share Posted February 1, 2004 Hi, You can also get away with non-descript examples if you need to. I think that in both my essays this year I used completely hypothetical situations, that although they were specific, did not actually involve any real people, place, or company names and I still pulled through with an R. Good luck! 007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cptn med Posted February 2, 2004 Report Share Posted February 2, 2004 Ok, Ive never written the MCAT...is R better than S or the other way around? :\ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted February 2, 2004 Report Share Posted February 2, 2004 Hi there, The WS of the MCAT is currently scored on an alphabetical scale with the lowest score at J and the highest at T. A T equates to the maximum numerical score in both essays, i.e., 6 out of 6, for a grand total of 12. Cheers, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cptn med Posted February 2, 2004 Report Share Posted February 2, 2004 Thank you much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rookiemeds Posted February 6, 2004 Report Share Posted February 6, 2004 As everyone has already stated, I wouldn't worry about using American examples. I used the Mike Harris government for one of my essays and did really well on the WS (two premiers ago... wow I must be getting old ). Again, as long as your examples are well thought-out and explained you will be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tweep0 Posted February 7, 2004 Report Share Posted February 7, 2004 Even though it shouldn't matter, I would not include any arguements that are anti-American. i.e. "Terrorist attacks in the U.S. are the fault of the U.S. governemt because the U.S. government discriminates against and tries to overtake Islamic nations". Americans are the patriotic type (huge generalization), and comments like these might hurt your score. Other than that, even made-up examples can be used. As long as you present a logical, well-organized piece of writing, you'll do fine. In one of my essays, I made up a examples and I still got an R. Tweep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.