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Shortening Descriptions Naq


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Hi guys, 

 

This seems like a bit of a silly question, but do you guys have any useful tips for shortening descriptions in the NAQ section of the application. I am finding it difficult to properly summarize my role in a certain position in under 350 characters. 

I was wondering if anyone uses things like "&" instead of "and", or point form instead of full sentences? 

 

Any tips would be much appreciated :) 

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My philosophy was to make sure that my app was as easy to read as possible for the adcom, which meant not using too many abbreviations (or making sure that I had the full name and then brackets around the abbreviation) and not cutting corners on legibility, which meant no symbols etc.

 

The position title should impart to the adcom a degree of involvement in said activity and your description should aim to clarify it. For example, I was on the executive team for a conference, which implied leadership and a certain degree of responsibility for setting up said conference. I used the description to narrow down what I did (contacting speakers, organizing schedule etc).

 

There's no magic formula. I'm sure others have had (greater or worse) success in other ways of structuring their applications but as long as the adcom doesn't get frustrated in trying to decipher what your actual role was, you should be fine.

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I also made sure I had complete sentences, and didn't use & instead of "and", because I wanted it to be more "reader-friendly". I remember having the same debate though...it took me a while to figure out how I could word things to fit under the 350 character limit, but its possible.

 

I'm pretty sure this question was also asked around this time last year, and someone mentioned that they did use "&" a lot (and they got in), so I doubt it matters too much. One thing I would recommend though is to be consistent! I personally find it annoying when people switch between "and" and "&" but that's just purely a personal thing. Who knows.

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