Stegalls Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 I am filling out my autobiographical sketch for OMSAS. I am only applying to McMaster this year and I plan on only writing the VR section. I heard that McMaster doesn't look at the autobiographical sketch or doesn't require verifiers? I can get verifiers for some of the activities I participated in, but do I have to contact every single one of them to tell them I'm applying to OMSAS and warn them that OMSAS might contact them or can I just put their names and contact information down? Some other verifiers may be harder to get, in some cases I worked for one day and I may not be able to find a verifier. Do you really need a verifier for every application? Another question. I did a co-op experience in high school at a hospital for over 4 months. It was part of the "co-op course" I took. What category should this be listed under in the autobiographical sketch? Also, if I did volunteer as a research assistant mostly doing grunt work should that be under the research section or volunteer section? If I did paid work as a research assistant but mostly ended up doing grunt work and didn't work under the project should this be under research or employment? Hope someone can help on this. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ygella Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 I'm not 100% sure for McMaster if they would be ok with having no ABS section. But since they only seem to look at your verbal, cGPA and CASPer my guess would be that they wouldn't care. Don't sweat too much about the verifiers, OMSAS doesn't contact them, the schools do and chances are that McMaster won't contact them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakercyclist Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 I've just finished filling out mine as I type this! Really happy not to have to fill out extra details or figure out verifiers. I'm currently sitting at 46 filled spots and trying to decide if any of the remaining dozen activities are worth including. From the OMSAS Guide: "You will need 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." "McMaster applicants are not required to provide verifiers for the autobiographical sketch." There are a lot of threads on this forum about how to categorize research related roles (including one in the last few weeks)! But for Mac you probably don't need to worry about it too much. Just go with what makes the most sense to you, since without the extra details it won't make a lot of sense to them either probably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarvish Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 I only applied to Mac this year and I submitted no verifiers/descriptions and it evidently wasn't a problem. However, Wendy mentioned at the open house last year that they do look at the ABS as a red flag so definitely fill it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
designed Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 I only applied to Mac this year and I submitted no verifiers/descriptions and it evidently wasn't a problem. However, Wendy mentioned at the open house last year that they do look at the ABS as a red flag so definitely fill it out. While I was at my interview, the head of the medical school (some asian guy who spoke to us before our interviews and was quite funny) mentioned how he would look at some applicants' ABS and was amazed at how accomplished we are... so I guess they do look at it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paintedveil Posted July 22, 2014 Report Share Posted July 22, 2014 I am filling out my autobiographical sketch for OMSAS. I am only applying to McMaster this year and I plan on only writing the VR section. I heard that McMaster doesn't look at the autobiographical sketch or doesn't require verifiers? I can get verifiers for some of the activities I participated in, but do I have to contact every single one of them to tell them I'm applying to OMSAS and warn them that OMSAS might contact them or can I just put their names and contact information down? Some other verifiers may be harder to get, in some cases I worked for one day and I may not be able to find a verifier. Do you really need a verifier for every application? Another question. I did a co-op experience in high school at a hospital for over 4 months. It was part of the "co-op course" I took. What category should this be listed under in the autobiographical sketch? Also, if I did volunteer as a research assistant mostly doing grunt work should that be under the research section or volunteer section? If I did paid work as a research assistant but mostly ended up doing grunt work and didn't work under the project should this be under research or employment? Hope someone can help on this. Thanks! I believe after the interview, there is a full file review process, where the ABS section and reference letters will be reviewed for red flags. While it may not be necessary to complete ABS with a great amount of detail, I would not suggest leaving it blank either, just in case that would be considered red flag worthy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ameltingbanana Posted July 22, 2014 Report Share Posted July 22, 2014 While I was at my interview, the head of the medical school (some asian guy who spoke to us before our interviews and was quite funny) mentioned how he would look at some applicants' ABS and was amazed at how accomplished we are... so I guess they do look at it? Yeah I think they do take a look at it, i think Dr. Trinh (think that was his name) was just mentioning how much more competitive everyone/the entire process is these days. He was also possibly trying to give us a self-esteem boost before the MMIs brought us down to earth . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarvish Posted July 22, 2014 Report Share Posted July 22, 2014 Yeah I think they do take a look at it, i think Dr. Trinh (think that was his name) was just mentioning how much more competitive everyone/the entire process is these days. He was also possibly trying to give us a self-esteem boost before the MMIs brought us down to earth . Oh yeah, he mentioned that he read them as well. He was pretty hilarious with his stories and definitely helped calm people down a little. On-topic, definitely fill out just titles and you'll be fine, 100% guaranteed. It's probably just to make sure you have some type of life experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeyd Posted August 17, 2014 Report Share Posted August 17, 2014 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarvish Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 Has anyone ever gotten accepted to Mac w/o filling in ABS and no reference letters? just curious I would say a definite no. We're specifically told that they look at the ABS and reference letters. I'd find it suspicious if you couldn't find 3 people willing to write about you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSchwartz3 Posted January 12, 2015 Report Share Posted January 12, 2015 On this note, I just realized that I misnamed an award that I won. The real name is a Senate Medal, but I stupidly and accidentally named it a Silver Medal, which doesn't even exist. I'm not sure what to do and I am really freaking out. Should I call the school and outright explain what happened? I only just realized this, unfortunately. Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aetherus Posted January 12, 2015 Report Share Posted January 12, 2015 On this note, I just realized that I misnamed an award that I won. The real name is a Senate Medal, but I stupidly and accidentally named it a Silver Medal, which doesn't even exist. I'm not sure what to do and I am really freaking out. Should I call the school and outright explain what happened? I only just realized this, unfortunately. Thank you Just chill out, you are freaking out for nothing. If something doesn't match with your verifier they will probably contact you for explanation. If you do not get contacted, it's not a problem. This will not prevent you from getting an interview...they probably won't even notice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSchwartz3 Posted January 12, 2015 Report Share Posted January 12, 2015 Thank you! I will leave it alone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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