Autobiograph Sketch 48 item list

[Guest aktpkb]

For the sketch, I have a few EC's that I have devoted lots of time to over a long period of time - as a result I will not have an extensive list. Would it be obvious that I have decidicated lots of time to these activities as opposed to someone who has listed many activities which are short term eg: two weeks? I have heard of the "quality" vs. "quantity" argument for the sketch, but it is troubling to think that my small list of items will be overshadowed by someone who has many short term items.

[Guest Ruenil]

I think they ask for the time period in which you participated... I assume they take this into consideration.

[Guest aneliz]

They definitely ask for the time period involved. So, if you have three activities that you have dedicated multiple hours a week to for years, it will be noted... versus someone that volunteered for 2 hours on a single day at an event or whatever x 5.

[Guest aktpkb]

Is there room for some sort of description? I read in another post that there is limited character space that might hinder a description.

[Guest chenzy]

Hi aktpkb,

 

I think quality over quantity is best, but it may depend on the person reviewing your file. There is room for a brief description of your EC, but space is quite limited.

[Guest 007]

Expect to just be able to give the title of what it is you did. I think you get about 20-30 characters or so. However, if it is a significant activity, you will have room to incorporate it into your answers to the personal questions.

[Guest satsumargirl]

You get a crazy small amount of space to write anything. Not even a whole sentence. I can't remember exactly but it's only a few words...enough to get the point if you carefully select key words. I wrote in key words only pretty much.

 

Ottawa gives you the opportunity to elaborate briefly. And you must list not only hours per week of commitment but also when you did it (i.e summer, student enrolled in school etc).

 

I think a solid commitment over several years is not going to work against you. And well...what can you do about it now anyway! Are you really going to go out and sign up at a bunch of places to add it on. Emphasize your strengths and show who you are and if it's meant to be it will be. I doubt anyone would consider that someone who had many short term volunteer commitments would be a better MD than someone with a longer commitment. The committee just wants to get to know who you are and see that you have more to your life than academics.

 

That's my 2 cents for what it's worth

 

Good luck!!

[Guest aktpkb]

Thanks everyone for their response.

 

I am just worried that when the admissions people look at applications, they go through the autobiographical sketch part pretty quickly and only see that one person has many items versus someone who has few, but long term ones, and then base the decision on that.

[Guest peachy]

I understand your concern, because I definitely felt that way when I was applying! But I think that you have to put yourself in the place of the people evaluating your application. Doesn't it seem obvious that they're going to be on the lookout for resume padders? After all, it's something that everyone knows about and everybody despises. So the best you can do is to trust yourself to be good at your job (making the best use of your time, conveying this convincingly on your application), and trust them to be good at their job too!

[Guest aktpkb]

I guess there is nothing I can do but use this limited space to try to make an impact/impression on the reviewers.

[Guest 4shattered4]

Does anyone mind letting me know what exactly they make you fill in for the 48 list thing? i.e. do they ask time period, or hours/week or contact person, etc..that type of thing.

Thanks!

[Guest 007]

They make you put in the date range in terms of year and month, a description/title with a reference number and the geographic location (enough room to put Toronto, ON). You end up referencing all of your activities with a number. I think most people put (1) for example and this DOES take up characters in your descriptor space. Then, at the end, you have to put full contact information for all of your verifiers. Each activity is further categorized by type of activity (education, volunteer, employment etc). So, a typical entry looks like:

V (for volunteer) 2002/09-ongoing Volunteer at Toronto General Hospital (3) Toronto, ON

 

And then in your Verifier list you have

1....

2....

3. Mr. Jones, Volunteer Supervisor, Toronto General Hospital, 500 University Ave, Toronto, ON M5X 2G7 CANADA 416-123-4567

 

Edited to add: That's just an example of how you might fill out the description space. Sometimes I felt it was more important to give more about what I did so I might have put "Volunteer in ER and Cardiac Clinic" and then put Toronto General as the location. It gets tricky, but you do have the chance to save things and come back to it and edit so things are a bit more consistent.

[Guest 4shattered4]

Thanks for answering my question 007! I had another question as well, for anyone who would like to give some advice =), is it better to leave things blank in case people will think of you as a resume padder or should I include some short-term activities I took part in? I mean, it's pretty unfair that we get a bad image just because we volunteered in some short-term one-day events. We are devoting our time, non? Of course, it may not look as good as some long-term activities (I do have some of those too, just not a lot), but isn't it better than doing nothing at all?

 

As long as we're honest about the time we spent for it and the type of activity, I don't see why medical schools have to regard this with a negative eye.