Cvpn -

[wishfulMED]

Has anyone applied more than once (different years)? If so, did you change your personal narrative, a little, a lot? Rewrote it all?

Thanks!

[jj123]

I got in on my third application and I actually did change my CVPN after the first two (beyond the changes of going from personal statement -> structured). My first two CVPNs were boring and basically regurgitated what my CV said. I stated a lot of things about what I did without really talking about WHO I am and what I learned from my experiences. I also tried to tell more of a story in my last application and kept in mind that the person reading the CVPN probably has already read tens of them that day, so I needed to write something exciting, different, and reflective of who I am as a person, not just my experiences. Also, I think the first sentence or two are really imperative to  draw the reader in. Good Luck!

[loodogg]

I got in on my third application and I actually did change my CVPN after the first two (beyond the changes of going from personal statement -> structured). My first two CVPNs were boring and basically regurgitated what my CV said. I stated a lot of things about what I did without really talking about WHO I am and what I learned from my experiences. I also tried to tell more of a story in my last application and kept in mind that the person reading the CVPN probably has already read tens of them that day, so I needed to write something exciting, different, and reflective of who I am as a person, not just my experiences. Also, I think the first sentence or two are really imperative to  draw the reader in. Good Luck!

Hey thanks a lot for your advice, it's really insightful. If you don't mind me asking, how did you manage to incorporate the answers for the three questions into your personal essay; did you specifically answer each question or did you provide a themed essay which had the answer for all questions somewhere within it, not specifically answering any particular question in any particular order?

[jj123]

Hey thanks a lot for your advice, it's really insightful. If you don't mind me asking, how did you manage to incorporate the answers for the three questions into your personal essay; did you specifically answer each question or did you provide a themed essay which had the answer for all questions somewhere within it, not specifically answering any particular question in any particular order?

I decided to write mine as responses [marked solely by A) C)], since my personal narrative from other applications likely wasn't that good anyways (since it didn't get me in ha!) I started completely from scratch. It allowed me to organize my thoughts into sections and ensure I actually answered what they asked. And I think thats an important point. You have so much you want to convey about yourself and why you are a great applicant but so few words to do it in. So its key to remember that they are asking you these questions because they want to know the answers! Not to see the answers sort of crammed in between a bunch of other information. I think you'd have to have a pretty fancy script to answer questions out of the question format and do it in a concise and effective way. But Im sure some people did and were successful! Maybe some of my classmates can comment to this as well...Arztin?

[jj123]

I decided to write mine as responses [marked solely by A) C)], since my personal narrative from other applications likely wasn't that good anyways (since it didn't get me in ha!) I started completely from scratch. It allowed me to organize my thoughts into sections and ensure I actually answered what they asked. And I think thats an important point. You have so much you want to convey about yourself and why you are a great applicant but so few words to do it in. So its key to remember that they are asking you these questions because they want to know the answers! Not to hear the answers sort of crammed in between a bunch of other information. I think you'd have to have a pretty fancy script to break them out of questions and do it in a concise and effective way. But Im sure some people did and were successful! Maybe some of my classmates can comment to this as well...Arztin?

= B ) 

[Arztin]

I got in on my first attempt @ McGill, so I can't say about changing or not your CVPN entirely.

 

I remember just answering the questions, using about 50% of the page for question 1, since it sounded like more important; and equal length more or less for questions 2 and 3 for the rest of the page.

Don't just list. Explain. Quality is better than quantity (of traits) in this case. It's an argumentative essay.

 

Don't use fancy wording. It's not litterature. Make it easy to read for the old man evaluating you on the other side. Don't make him pull his hair and ask wadaheck is this person trying to say.

[loodogg]

I got in on my first attempt @ McGill, so I can't say about changing or not your CVPN entirely.

 

I remember just answering the questions, using about 50% of the page for question 1, since it sounded like more important; and equal length more or less for questions 2 and 3 for the rest of the page.

Don't just list. Explain. Quality is better than quantity (of traits) in this case. It's an argumentative essay.

 

Don't use fancy wording. It's not litterature. Make it easy to read for the old man evaluating you on the other side. Don't make him pull his hair and ask wadaheck is this person trying to say.

That's great advice, much appreciated and thanks a lot. So just to be clear, you specifically and clearly answered each question individually (rather than writing a flowing essay which incorporates all answers to the stated questions but not specifically and separately)? I was going to write a literature style essay but you do raise a good point and I'm definitely re-thinking it.

[loodogg]

I decided to write mine as responses [marked solely by A) C)], since my personal narrative from other applications likely wasn't that good anyways (since it didn't get me in ha!) I started completely from scratch. It allowed me to organize my thoughts into sections and ensure I actually answered what they asked. And I think thats an important point. You have so much you want to convey about yourself and why you are a great applicant but so few words to do it in. So its key to remember that they are asking you these questions because they want to know the answers! Not to see the answers sort of crammed in between a bunch of other information. I think you'd have to have a pretty fancy script to answer questions out of the question format and do it in a concise and effective way. But Im sure some people did and were successful! Maybe some of my classmates can comment to this as well...Arztin?

Thank you so much for the help, much appreciated!

[Arztin]

That's great advice, much appreciated and thanks a lot. So just to be clear, you specifically and clearly answered each question individually (rather than writing a flowing essay which incorporates all answers to the stated questions but not specifically and separately)? 

Yes that's correct. It is what I did.