Shed Some Light on Application Hiccups

[w8kg6]

Hey guys! It's been a while since I've posted, but I haven't forgotten about the stress of med applications. Hopefully you're all handling them fine . Believe me there's for more stress to come once you finally get your acceptance letter, haha.

 

So, regarding the mix-up with the application closing early, everything will be sorted out, don't you worry . I was out with the admissions/student affairs ladies yesterday, and we spoke a little bit about what went down. Basically what happened is that a mistake was made when entering the date for the closure of the application, and it automatically closed early. This wasn't a weird test or anything like that, just the result of an unfortunate mistake along that way, but one that can be easily and fully fixed. As to why the admissions office was closed, yesterday evening was the New Brunswick campus's "First Light" ceremony, and as the Halifax ladies (Carolyn Pelham, Tracy Teed, and Sharon Graham) are a significant part of Dal Med, and also because we love them, they were invited down. They weren't expecting the technical issues, they'd hoped to deal with any problems on Monday (after the application was supposed to close), and their job had brought them to NB, so the office was closed. They're sorry for any inconvenience, though!!!

 

So, that's about it for the issues yesterday, but while I'm here I figured I'd might as well share some advice with regards to the upcoming application stage: The Interview. I guess a lot of this advice might seem obvious, but just be sure to keep it in mind on game-day, as sometimes one can forget. Here goes:

 

1) Sometimes in life (and often in medicine), it's better to listen than to talk.

2) If you take a stance on something, but then you are presented with information that makes you second guess your original views, DON'T BE AFRAID TO CHANGE THEM!!! I seem to remember an idea going around that changing your opinion in a station would be marked poorly, even if new information had been introduced. That's not the case, and truthfully, it's a bit of a silly notion to begin with .

3) Above all else, we're just trying to get to know you in the interviews . You would be very wise to familiarize with the overarching themes and considerations in medicine, but if you're not an expert on the medico-legal aspects of allowing HIV positive refugees into the country, don't worry... odds are your interviewer isn't either. You should know enough about medicine that you're able to have an intelligent conversation about it, but what we're really evaluating you guys on in the interviews isn't how much you can teach your interviewer in 8 minutes, but more so on what kind of a person you are. Just be yourself, be professional, and chill .

 

Ok, so that's it for now. Take it easy on the student affairs/applications ladies, haha, because they DO remember remember the "notables" (the same way one would recollect a particularly "memorable" customer at work). The application process is intimidating and stressful, but also quite simple. You tell us what you've done with your lives so far, you write an essay, we interview you, and then the people who seem the most ready for medicine get acceptance letters. The rest are told what skills they need to hone, and are welcome to reapply in later years. If mistakes are made in the application process, we make sure they're corrected in a way that ensures no one is left out in the cold. There are no tricks beyond that. Anyways, hopefully you're all managing to keep your cool, I hope it all works out for the best, and try your best to enjoy it! You guys are all great.

[trojjanhorse]

Thanks for the tips and encouraging words All that's left now is to wait.

[rdiddles]

thanks! much appreciated.

[rub87ST]

All that's left now is to wait.