Official 2011/2012 Applicant Thread

[thatonekid]

Agreed. And if they do like it, awesome

Yep. I used the OMSAS guidelines (for the ABS) as nice suggestions that I may or may not follow rather than strict rules. I'm not saying everyone should do this, but it worked out ok for me.

 

Sometimes I feel like applications try to make people forget about using common sense.

[taiga gal]

yah, i put a research poster i did in my 4th year nursing under 'research'. we presented it to the public, it took a whole semester to do...yah, maybe it was part of school, but i put it in anyway!

[Diceroll2011]

Can anyone provide any further clarification as to whether an OMSAS length of `9` is correct for a year in which I took nine regular classes and one pass/fail course?

[future_doc]

Contact OMSAS directly.

[SpicyNoodles]

Hey everyone,

 

Just wanted to remind applicants that there are a bunch of us who are available to answer specific questions regarding the application. I've actually had a few people message me in the last few days about their applications and I've been checking my inbox pretty regularly.

 

School does start pretty soon for med students, so I thought I'd invite current applicants to PM away before it gets a little busier for us Just speaking on behalf of the people who can't quite multi-task as well as others

[thatonekid]

Hey everyone,

 

Just wanted to remind applicants that there are a bunch of us who are available to answer specific questions regarding the application. I've actually had a few people message me in the last few days about their applications and I've been checking my inbox pretty regularly.

 

School does start pretty soon for med students, so I thought I'd invite current applicants to PM away before it gets a little busier for us Just speaking on behalf of the people who can't quite multi-task as well as others

+1. Especially the bit about not multi-tasking as well as others. lol

[atesme]

This might be a question for just McGill students.. but if anyone else has a suggestion for an answer I'd appreciate it!

 

So for McGill a course without labs is generally listed as 3 credits, and one with labs + lecture is 4 credits (that's just what it says on our transcript). So what should I put for the number of credits in the OMSAS application, because they consider labs to be two credits? Should it be 4 b/c that's what McGill counts it as, or 5 because that's what the lecture + lab would be according to OMSAS.

 

Also, I took a really big lab course last year - it was seven hours a week in the lab and listed as 4 credits just by itself. Does that still count as just 2 credits? I mean, if that's the case then I won't be considered as taking a 'full coarse load' that year - but it really was a lot of work.

[wall.flower]

I was wondering how long the prep and how long the actual process takes. I'm not applying this year, but plan to do so soon. Since everyone here is applying, any words of advice and/or things to prepare ahead of time or anything?

[future_doc]

Give yourself 3-4 weeks and familiarize yourself of the reuqirements ahead of this. Compelling essays, abstracts, etc do not come out of thin air, nor do describing your activities in a meaningful way.

[Tesla]

Hi Everyone,

 

I am a bit confused about a couple of things in the "Detailed Sketch".

 

1. For "Level of Education"...if I have been playing a sport since 2004, and I am currently in 2nd year...would I write "2004 - 2nd Year (ongoing)"?

 

2. For "Summer or Academic Year"...do we just tell them that it was during "Summer/Academic Year/Full Year"...or do we have to elaborate on something since 100 character limit is given?

 

3. "Specify your education level, ie: 1st year of university. Indicate if the activity was during the summer or academic year, the hours per week and the number of years"

 

Where would I enter "number of year"...I thought "From" and "To" date clearly indicate the number of years...where do we put this information in the detailed sketch?

 

4. For long term activites like playing a sport for over 6 years...would I need multiple verifiers (1 from middle school, 1 from highschool and 1 from university) or would the most recent one suffice? (I only have verifier High School)

 

Sorry for the long post! I would greatly appreciate your feedback in the matter. Thanks in advance!

[miss_q]

I have a quick question. So if my MCAT results came out around Sept 27, then I have to submit my applications first before releasing the marks to them right? I am wondering if I wait till my mark comes out then decide to submit the application then, will that give me enough time to make the deadline? I am worrying the marks won't be good enough for some schools and trying to save the extra application costs.

 

Thanks in advance!

[bj89]

Hi Everyone,

 

I am a bit confused about a couple of things in the "Detailed Sketch".

 

1. For "Level of Education"...if I have been playing a sport since 2004, and I am currently in 2nd year...would I write "2004 - 2nd Year (ongoing)"?

I would go with (the highschool grade you were in during 2004)-2nd year university (current) - i dont think it matters but that's how i did mine

 

2. For "Summer or Academic Year"...do we just tell them that it was during "Summer/Academic Year/Full Year"...or do we have to elaborate on something since 100 character limit is given?

No need to elaborate, just state the facts, i used point form

 

3. "Specify your education level, ie: 1st year of university. Indicate if the activity was during the summer or academic year, the hours per week and the number of years"

i believe specify your enducation level is the same as for your 1st question - your education level during the time period of the activity

 

Where would I enter "number of year"...I thought "From" and "To" date clearly indicate the number of years...where do we put this information in the detailed sketch?

the application does have some redundancy... you can just put like 1 year, 1/2 year, etc. i think i also put in time in months for shorter activities

 

4. For long term activites like playing a sport for over 6 years...would I need multiple verifiers (1 from middle school, 1 from highschool and 1 from university) or would the most recent one suffice? (I only have verifier High School)

only one verifier is good enough

 

Sorry for the long post! I would greatly appreciate your feedback in the matter. Thanks in advance!

 

Hope that helps. Cheers m8

[bj89]

I have a quick question. So if my MCAT results came out around Sept 27, then I have to submit my applications first before releasing the marks to them right? I am wondering if I wait till my mark comes out then decide to submit the application then, will that give me enough time to make the deadline? I am worrying the marks won't be good enough for some schools and trying to save the extra application costs.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Well im sure as you already know, your deadline to submit the application is october 3rd (lucky you - every previous year it's been oct. 1!). So if you really want to hold off to see your mcat, it seems like an OK risk to take. Keep in mind, that the release date of your score is just an estimate, so they may release them a day or two after the expected date. These are all things u will have to take into consideration in terms of risking submitting ur application until u get ur scores.

 

Cheers m8

[miss_q]

thanks a lot!

[FacelessMage]

Ok, I have a couple of questions (some of them are specific to the Dalhousie app form, and some of them are general application questions).

 

1. I have some activities that I used to be quite involved with until a couple of years ago. I've been unable to track down the people who ran these activities, and so I can't use any of them as a verifier. Would it be ok to use a fellow classmate who also participated in the same activities as a verifier?

 

2. Who would you use as verifiers for scholarships if you don't have a contact person for them? I have a couple of them that are government issued, some that are university issues (that are also noted on my transcript), and a couple from the company where my dad used to work (that's pretty much defunct now).

 

3. On the Dalhousie app, what does it mean by "competition involved" in the awards sections?

[Ellen@SDN]

Hi everyone, I a question related to the "sketch" session in OMSAS.

 

I didn't put down some items last year. I would like to include them and be credited for this year. Do you know whether OMSAS compares the 2 applications? How likely they will call me and ask why I didn't put those things down last time?

 

Thanks in advance!

[jojoluvsu2]

For the sketch, where it asks Level of Education, does that refer to the level of education required to participate in/conduct the activity? Or what year of education you were in at the time of that activity? I would think that they could figure out which activities you were involved during university by the indicated years of participation?

 

As it stands I have put N/A for any activities which didn't require a specific level of education (horse back riding, volunteering at summer camps etc)

 

Should I change that?

[jojoluvsu2]

For the sketch, where it asks Level of Education, does that refer to the level of education required to participate in/conduct the activity? Or what year of education you were in at the time of that activity? I would think that they could figure out which activities you were involved during university by the indicated years of participation?

 

As it stands I have put N/A for any activities which didn't require a specific level of education (horse back riding, volunteering at summer camps etc)

 

Should I change that?

 

Never mind, I think I figured it out that yes you need to put your year of study (the small print right above the details, right?) teach me to read a bit more closely

 

And I would imagine post-grad would suffice for things after we complete uni? Now, what if we went back to college (I went back for resp. therapy school), would we indicate UG complete, 1st year college? Or something like that?

[future_doc]

sure and they see the year when it was done

[thatonekid]

Ok, I have a couple of questions (some of them are specific to the Dalhousie app form, and some of them are general application questions).

 

1. I have some activities that I used to be quite involved with until a couple of years ago. I've been unable to track down the people who ran these activities, and so I can't use any of them as a verifier. Would it be ok to use a fellow classmate who also participated in the same activities as a verifier?

 

2. Who would you use as verifiers for scholarships if you don't have a contact person for them? I have a couple of them that are government issued, some that are university issues (that are also noted on my transcript), and a couple from the company where my dad used to work (that's pretty much defunct now).

 

3. On the Dalhousie app, what does it mean by "competition involved" in the awards sections?

1. Yes.

 

2. Use whatever makes the most sense. For the government ones, you can use the issuing agency. For the university ones, you can use the awards office, the registrar, or simple put 'see transcript'. For the company ones, that's a bit trickier, but just put someone who knows you won it. If you don't have anyone else, you can use your dad as the verifier and have his title as whatever his position was within the company.

 

3. I don't know for sure (I didn't apply to Dal) but from what I can deduce based on OMSAS, it means what the competition was to win the award, For example, if you got an university entrance award, the competition involved was all 1st years entering university.

[thatonekid]

Hi everyone, I a question related to the "sketch" session in OMSAS.

 

I didn't put down some items last year. I would like to include them and be credited for this year. Do you know whether OMSAS compares the 2 applications? How likely they will call me and ask why I didn't put those things down last time?

 

Thanks in advance!

They won't compare the 2 applications. You start totally fresh every application cycle for OMSAS.

[future_doc]

Do whatever is in your best interests.

[Leon]

Couple questions for the Holy Ones:

 

1) I know that you are not permitted to include small research projects which are "part" of courses in the sketch. Now, thesis courses are allowed. UTSC introduced several courses last year which are, essentially, one-term thesis research projects. One of these is independant and the other is a team research course where 3 people work together on a project. The course mark was based on a presentation and written paper just like a 4th year thesis course. The work I did in those courses led to publications and conferences.

 

May I list those courses? I will naturally list the pubs and conferences but I did the actual research itself in those courses.

 

2) What does "travel" really mean? Surely not vacations abroad? Queens seems to emphasize travel in the ABS.

 

Thanks!

[thatonekid]

Couple questions for the Holy Ones:

 

1) I know that you are not permitted to include small research projects which are "part" of courses in the sketch. Now, thesis courses are allowed. UTSC introduced several courses last year which are, essentially, one-term thesis research projects. One of these is independant and the other is a team research course where 3 people work together on a project. The course mark was based on a presentation and written paper just like a 4th year thesis course. The work I did in those courses led to publications and conferences.

 

May I list those courses? I will naturally list the pubs and conferences but I did the actual research itself in those courses.

 

2) What does "travel" really mean? Surely not vacations abroad? Queens seems to emphasize travel in the ABS.

 

Thanks!

1. Go ahead and list the research. I can't recall exactly what the application is like, but in the part where you describe the research, talk about what you did, your pubs, your conferences, etc. Just list it like you would your thesis project. If schools don't like it, they'll ignore the entry.

 

2. I don't really have a definition for travel. I was just wondering why you think Queen's emphasizes it? I didn't feel like they were looking for people who were well traveled last year...

[thehumanmacbook]

^Where does it say Queens emphasizes travel? Curious - I know some of the people in the 2015 class who haven't left this country...they said it's not too big of a deal (as generally with all med schools).