Awards And Verifying Activities

[carebthenarb]

Hey guys, got a few more questions I'd like to ask you.

 

To start, how big of a flag is it if they can't verify something? I worked at IKEA for a summertime job about 3 years ago, and I listed that as part of the Employment section. Pretty standard stuff, except I'm a little concerned over the verification. I listed my manager as the person to verify with, but I've tried calling her and I haven't been able to get in touch. I'm just worried that if the U of A's admissions team do call IKEA and my manager forgets who I am, denies I worked there, or just refuses to say anything, I would be in trouble.

 

As for awards, I have a few that I think I can put down, but I'm not sure which are the best, so I'll ask you guys for help.

 

1. Louise McKinney and U of A Undergrad scholarship. Both of these are very similar, with a $2500 award. I'm thinking I should put down only one of these(probably the Louise McKinney one) to make space for other awards. Who would I put as the verifier?

 

2. Governor General award. I got this because I had top marks in my high school when I graduated. Along with this came a bunch of similar awards, such as "Top Math and Science Mark" and whatnot. I believe I'm only allowed to list the Governor General award though. Who would be the verifier? Could I use my old high school vice principle as the verifier? The Governor General award has no monetary value, but some of the awards that came with it do, like the Math and Science award was $300. 

 

3. Most Valuable technician. I can't remember the exact name atm(I'll hunt it down), but basically its an award for when I did a bunch of AV tech stuff with my high school.

 

4. Royal Service award. High school gave this out to people who did community service and leadership stuff. 

 

5. Volunteer Appreciation award. Can't remember the name, but I'll get the actual name if I put the award down. I did a bunch of volunteering with my church, and they recognised it and gave me an award with for it. Got $50 in iTunes cards.

 

Looking at my awards, how do you think would be best to put them in my application? I can only specify one award each time, for up to 4 right? Would it be better if I did all the big, academic ones(Louise McKinney, Undergrad Scholarship, Governor General) or do a mix?

 

Currently, I'm thinking I'll do Louise McKinney and Governor General for sure. Then I'm not sure as to which of the volunteer awards I should put in. The Technician, Royal Service, and Volunteer one. I'm thinking I'm going to go with Technician and Royal Service/Volunteer. Thoughts?

 

Also, what do you think of putting down some kinda vague volunteerism stuff? Like with my church, I've been a general volunteer for many different events, like Family Day or something, over the span of 7 years. Would it be OK to give such a large timeline(7 years) when I'm occasionally doing large events, like 2-3 times a year? Total I have like 200 hours doing events and whatnot.

[Friendly Magpie]

Hi CareB,

 

Do you have anyone else who could verify the employment at IKEA? It doesn't necessarily have to be a manager. It could be a co-worker or even someone who knows you worked there.

 

As for awards (Full disclosure - this is my weakest section), put the ones that are most unique. I got the impression from MD Admissions that if it's something that everyone has, then it doesn't hold as much weight.

 

I don't see a problem with including a seven year span for church volunteering as long as you indicate that it was doing large, occasional, events in the description and include the number of hours. 

 

I hope that helps. 

[carebthenarb]

Hi CareB,

 

Do you have anyone else who could verify the employment at IKEA? It doesn't necessarily have to be a manager. It could be a co-worker or even someone who knows you worked there.

 

As for awards (Full disclosure - this is my weakest section), put the ones that are most unique. I got the impression from MD Admissions that if it's something that everyone has, then it doesn't hold as much weight.

 

Thanks. My problem with IKEA is that I didn't really know anyone. It was a summertime job with no real attachments to.

 

For the awards, I guess I'll have to do more thinking. I don't think my awards are really unique, although not many people have them. I think the Louise McKinney one is the one that most people will have. Governor general is 1 per high school(highest mark), and the others are smaller ones within the organizations. Not many people have them, but they aren't like big awards either.

[GH0ST]

See below ...

 

Hey guys, got a few more questions I'd like to ask you.

 

To start, how big of a flag is it if they can't verify something? I worked at IKEA for a summertime job about 3 years ago, and I listed that as part of the Employment section. Pretty standard stuff, except I'm a little concerned over the verification. I listed my manager as the person to verify with, but I've tried calling her and I haven't been able to get in touch. I'm just worried that if the U of A's admissions team do call IKEA and my manager forgets who I am, denies I worked there, or just refuses to say anything, I would be in trouble.

 

Let that be a lesson to you... keep track of your supervisors / colleagues in case you need their help. Let them know ahead of time that you may be asking for a reference as soon as you leave that work/volunteering/internship etc... Most of the time they'll just ignore your entry as if you didn't do it. Although having multiple no responses from verifiers will probably make them raise an eyebrow at how many of your entries are actually real. 

 

As for awards, I have a few that I think I can put down, but I'm not sure which are the best, so I'll ask you guys for help.

 

1. Louise McKinney and U of A Undergrad scholarship. Both of these are very similar, with a $2500 award. I'm thinking I should put down only one of these(probably the Louise McKinney one) to make space for other awards. Who would I put as the verifier?

 

If you have multiple awards, group them under an umbrella category (ex. awards for post-secondary academic achievement) 

 

2. Governor General award. I got this because I had top marks in my high school when I graduated. Along with this came a bunch of similar awards, such as "Top Math and Science Mark" and whatnot. I believe I'm only allowed to list the Governor General award though. Who would be the verifier? Could I use my old high school vice principle as the verifier? The Governor General award has no monetary value, but some of the awards that came with it do, like the Math and Science award was $300. 

 

3. Most Valuable technician. I can't remember the exact name atm(I'll hunt it down), but basically its an award for when I did a bunch of AV tech stuff with my high school.

 

4. Royal Service award. High school gave this out to people who did community service and leadership stuff. 

 

Do you have anything recent....... a lot of this is from high school... 

 

5. Volunteer Appreciation award. Can't remember the name, but I'll get the actual name if I put the award down. I did a bunch of volunteering with my church, and they recognised it and gave me an award with for it. Got $50 in iTunes cards.

 

Looking at my awards, how do you think would be best to put them in my application? I can only specify one award each time, for up to 4 right? Would it be better if I did all the big, academic ones(Louise McKinney, Undergrad Scholarship, Governor General) or do a mix?

 

Currently, I'm thinking I'll do Louise McKinney and Governor General for sure. Then I'm not sure as to which of the volunteer awards I should put in. The Technician, Royal Service, and Volunteer one. I'm thinking I'm going to go with Technician and Royal Service/Volunteer. Thoughts?

 

Also, what do you think of putting down some kinda vague volunteerism stuff? Like with my church, I've been a general volunteer for many different events, like Family Day or something, over the span of 7 years. Would it be OK to give such a large timeline(7 years) when I'm occasionally doing large events, like 2-3 times a year? Total I have like 200 hours doing events and whatnot.

 

Vague events leave little to talk about, don't put certain things in unless they are significant events or long term. 

 

 

- G

[carebthenarb]

> Let that be a lesson to you... keep track of your supervisors / colleagues in case you need their help

 

The thing is that its not even like asking for a reference. All I'm doing is letting her know that I'm applying, and that I'm putting her name down as the person to verify, since she was my boss. I was just trying to inform her that someone might call. What concerns me is that if the person calls, and she denies I worked there.

 

> a lot of this is from high school...

 

I'm just started my second year, so other than Louise McKinney and Undergrad, not really. Should I have been expected to have lots of awards past high school even in my first year?

 

> Vague events leave little to talk about, don't put certain things in unless they are significant events or long term.
 

Its a long term commitment, but when I say vague I mean it in the sense that its not specific towards an event. Rather, because its long term and covers multiple events that I volunteered at, I can't specify my duties for each event. I have to kinda generalize what I did, and say that I was a volunteer part of the like "setup, supervisor/operator of sections, and teardown crew" or other general statements of what I would generally do as a volunteer.

[koreanboy123]

> Let that be a lesson to you... keep track of your supervisors / colleagues in case you need their help

 

The thing is that its not even like asking for a reference. All I'm doing is letting her know that I'm applying, and that I'm putting her name down as the person to verify, since she was my boss. I was just trying to inform her that someone might call. What concerns me is that if the person calls, and she denies I worked there.

 

> a lot of this is from high school...

 

I'm just started my second year, so other than Louise McKinney and Undergrad, not really. Should I have been expected to have lots of awards past high school even in my first year?

 

> Vague events leave little to talk about, don't put certain things in unless they are significant events or long term.

 

Its a long term commitment, but when I say vague I mean it in the sense that its not specific towards an event. Rather, because its long term and covers multiple events that I volunteered at, I can't specify my duties for each event. I have to kinda generalize what I did, and say that I was a volunteer part of the like "setup, supervisor/operator of sections, and teardown crew" or other general statements of what I would generally do as a volunteer.

 

If you are just starting second year how do you have a louise mckinney already? They notify receipients in november don't they? At least thats what they do at U of C...

[PotatoInAlberta]

 

> a lot of this is from high school...

 

I'm just started my second year, so other than Louise McKinney and Undergrad, not really. Should I have been expected to have lots of awards past high school even in my first 

 

I guess you have a fair point, but also keep in mind that there are individuals from high school that receive prestigious awards such as Top 20 Under 20, etc, and everyone's on a (relatively) fair playing field.