Address why you didn't do an elective there?

[e_is_hv]

Hi All,

 

Have you guys given any thought to, in the school specific part of the personal statement, addressing WHY you didn't do an elective there? It's kind of hard to seel "I want to do pgrm x and university Y even though I didn't bother to come there".

 

Scheduling conflicts are possible, or would you just leave htis out entirely?

 

Many thanks guys - and goodluck.

[justletmein]

I would mention it if it was one of your top choices and you sincerely have a good reason for not doing an elective there.... but I would not dwell on it. You don't want to sound like someone who is always making excuses.

 

And really, in the end... the fact that you "wanted" to do an elective there probably won't carry much weight. Programs dont want you to do electives just to say that you did so, but so they can see first-hand how you work and whether you would fit in at their institution.

 

Keep it to one sentence max, if that.

[Lactic Folly]

Programs know that scheduling conflicts occur, so I wouldn't mention it *unless* you have strong reasons for wanting to attend, and all your attempts to arrange an elective were stymied (but they would already know this since you would have been in touch with the program coordinator to ask if they could help set you up with an elective)...

[Lactic Folly]

I'm going to revise my opinion on this slightly - if you did make a bona fide attempt to set up an elective and were stymied, you should put this in your statement so all the committee members know. Otherwise, it's better to just take the route of explaining why you would like to attend the program. If possible, I suggest taking the angle of why you think the program/location are a good fit for you (which would require some degree of reflection), rather than just repeating the strengths listed in the program description on the CaRMS website.