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Official 2012/2013 Applicant Thread


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Hi guys, applying this year as well. I was wandering if anyone has seen the "Md/PhD" option for McMaster on Omsas. When i was making my choices, nothing showed up for McMaster as an option for Md/PhD

 

2) I was trying to decide between two LORs. One is from a high school teacher of mine, who I look up to as a mentor, and we meet up once in a while to discuss things that I might be struggling with, etc

Or, its the volunteer co-ordinator with whom I have volunteered for 6+ years and knows the activities that I have been involved with.

They both know me really well, but i feel like one knows me more as a person and the other knows more about me as a volunteer and a community person.

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Honestly, for LoR's, I think it's the most beneficial for you to just go and talk to the guy/lady face to face and discuss everything over in-depth. This way they will see you are really proactive and that you are doing everything in your power not to leave ambiguities in whatever they will be writing in the LoRs.

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Honestly, for LoR's, I think it's the most beneficial for you to just go and talk to the guy/lady face to face and discuss everything over in-depth. This way they will see you are really proactive and that you are doing everything in your power not to leave ambiguities in whatever they will be writing in the LoRs.

 

makes sense. going to take your advice to heart.

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What exactly counts as formal education?

 

Let's say I play tennis competitively (I put that as an EC), but I also took private tennis lessons with a pro. coach. Is that "formal education" ?

 

I think education would mean anything leading to a certificate of some sort. What you got was private instruction. It doesn't lead to you sayin "I have a degree/diploma in tennis". The formal may imply that a formal document is conferred upon completion.

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What exactly counts as formal education?

 

Let's say I play tennis competitively (I put that as an EC), but I also took private tennis lessons with a pro. coach. Is that "formal education" ?

 

yeah, i'd put it under extracurric. still something that's noteworthy, but i think FE is referring more to having attended an institution that grants a diploma or degree.

 

even life-saving certificates, i would think, would just go under something like awards and achievements or extra curric.

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I think education would mean anything leading to a certificate of some sort. What you got was private instruction. It doesn't lead to you sayin "I have a degree/diploma in tennis". The formal may imply that a formal document is conferred upon completion.

 

Agreed, so say for instance, you have been taking piano lessons and have a Gr.9 certificate with Royal Conservatory of Music, I would put that down in formal education, and add piano lessons in the E.C.'s section.

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yeah, i'd put it under extracurric. still something that's noteworthy, but i think FE is referring more to having attended an institution that grants a diploma or degree.

 

even life-saving certificates, i would think, would just go under something like awards and achievements or extra curric.

 

Yea, CPR is one thing, but having trained to be a paramedic is another. Same with having instruction in playing the Violin vs graduating from a musical academy.

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Agreed' date=' so say for instance, you have been taking piano lessons and have a Gr.9 certificate with Royal Conservatory of Music, I would put that down in formal education, and add piano lessons in the E.C.'s section.[/quote']

 

I actually said the same thing a post below you. lol

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Would it make sense to put:

 

Tennis (competitively) as EC

Private tennis lessons as EC

 

so as 2 separate slots?

 

Or does that look like padding

 

Pretty sure those are mutually exclusive in terms of EC categories. A person who gets tennis lessons isn't always going to play competitively. You went above and beyond.

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Would it make sense to put:

 

Tennis (competitively) as EC

Private tennis lessons as EC

 

so as 2 separate slots?

 

Or does that look like padding

 

i think it's legit to put them as two separate activities, since it's a pro coach.

 

conversely, though, playing competitively kind of implies that your coaches will be knowledgeable. i doubt you can really go wrong. if, in your "tennis (competitive)" activity, you make it clear that your level of competition was pretty elite, you'd prob be fine with just listing one, anyway. plus (if you have space, that is) you could just put that you were trained by a boss coach in your description. HOWEVER, if they're just glancing at your list, they may not take a detailed look at your description. who knows how they do these things, though.

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Thanks everyone :)

 

For our verifiers, OMSAS wants the address... is that the home address of the verifier?

 

Or can we put the address of our school, if its a school club for example, with the name/contact info of the verifier?

 

The verifier probably won't be happy to share his/her home address with you. Use the organization/institution address instead.

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OMSAS booklet says no details are required for Western and McMaster in the Autobiographical Sketch. Since the verifier information is under the details tab, does that mean no verifiers are required for UWO?

 

If I have travelled to Europe and visited many museems, can I put this in my ABS for OMSAS, and what verifier can I use for this? No one was with me.

 

 

 

Found my answer to the first:

 

"Applicants will be prompted to provide more specific details for the Employment, Volunteer Activities, Extracurricular Activities, Awards and Accomplishments, and Research categories. These details are not required for McMaster or Western. "

 

"Applicants to McMaster are not required to provide verifiers for the Autobiographical Sketch."

 

They would have mentioned that Western did not need verifiers if that was the case. These two quotes are from the same document.

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Hi All,

 

I am currently going through the OMSAS process and had a question about the "research" category. I have endlessly looked through the forums, but I am unable to find a clear answer. I have 3 summers of research, but no publication. Would it be okay for me to put the 3 projects under the "research" category? Since I have no publications, can I just put "none" for publications? I am getting the impression that the way OMSAS classifies research is ONLY if you have been published, but I really hope this is incorrect since there is much more to research than publication. Your opinions would be much appreciated.

 

Regards,

 

Paratroxal

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Can I classify my research poster presentation at an undergraduate research fair as a "Poster Presentation at a Scientific Conference"?

 

Ps. For students at UofT, I am referring to the ROP299 research fair.

 

Yes. OMSAS just says you cant if its for a graduate program class.

 

EDIT: Sorry, I think I'm wrong on this: This is directly from a different part of OMSAS: "Please note that projects done as part of a university course do not qualify as research. "

 

Hmm..

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Hi All,

 

I am currently going through the OMSAS process and had a question about the "research" category. I have endlessly looked through the forums, but I am unable to find a clear answer. I have 3 summers of research, but no publication. Would it be okay for me to put the 3 projects under the "research" category? Since I have no publications, can I just put "none" for publications? I am getting the impression that the way OMSAS classifies research is ONLY if you have been published, but I really hope this is incorrect since there is much more to research than publication. Your opinions would be much appreciated.

 

Regards,

 

Paratroxal

 

Of course that's fine :) Not everyone gets published, that doesn't mean years of work should go unrecognized

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My MCAT scores are 13 9 (VR) 13 and Western is known to have a minimum of 11 for VR. Are they flexible with this "minimum" as long as the overall score is above 30 or should I not even bother applying there?

 

Their cutoff is hard, it's almost guaranteed that 9 VR is not worth applying with. A 10 you might have a slight chance of getting away with. In short, save your money, don't apply to western.

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For awards and scholarships, are people entering the value of the award (particularly graduate awards)? For example, CIHR is valued at $17500. Should I enter the value or does that seem pretentious? Plus, I didn't really get $17500... it just supplemented my grad stipend.

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