Originally Posted by Rhythm

hey thanks mitch for a detailed response when u mentioned that u started working on ur autobiographical thing very early do u mean like in ur second year? also is there a form with Q&A for that or do you just write it as an essay? lastly how much extra-curricular activities is considered acceptable because im volunteering in clinics and hospital but i dont do any extra-curricular activities during school year...what should i do? :S sorry for asking too many questions (its just that i don't know many people who got in mac med school and im very curious about it!)

thanks again!

P.S im probably doing English and physics 1bb3 at York next summer

Your ABS (Autobiographical Sketch) is basically a list of all the volunteer/extracurricular activities that you've done since the age of 16. It also includes awards that you've won. Usually the actually essay/short answer questions that come from the schools don't get released until July of the year that you are applying. You can get started earlier though ...

If you want a head start, make sure you keep track of 1) the activities you've done, 2) the number of hours per week that you have contributed to that activity, 3) a verifier for that activity (e.g. a supervisor for the volunteer activity, president of a club, boss for a job). Number three is usually the most time-consuming. I ended up finishing that part of my application by July.

With respect to extra-curricular activities, anything is considered acceptable - unless you're doing sketchy activities in your free time. Apparently one girl on premed101.com was a stripper, you probably won't want to include things like that. Most of my extra-curricular activities were social justice related (Amnesty International at Mac, working with kids at the Eva Rothwell Centre, campaigning for a referendum side, helping new immigrants adapt to life in Canada, International Travel, etc.). I did a limited amount of hospital volunteering during my university years, but I did serve as a team leader for a Campus Health Team in Health Promotion. You don't need X number of hours and Y number of placements. Instead, being able to self-reflect on why these experiences have contributed to who you are and why you would make a good physician is more important.

I would highly recommend that you do activities that you enjoy during the school year. The Admissions Committee (AdCom) is looking for people who are well-rounded and who can handle the pressures of medical school. This is shown through participating in extra-curricular activities and volunteering during the school year.

Hope that helps.

Originally Posted by Lij

Your ABS (Autobiographical Sketch) is basically a list of all the volunteer/extracurricular activities that you've done since the age of 16. It also includes awards that you've won. Usually the actually essay/short answer questions that come from the schools don't get released until July of the year that you are applying. You can get started earlier though ...

If you want a head start, make sure you keep track of 1) the activities you've done, 2) the number of hours per week that you have contributed to that activity, 3) a verifier for that activity (e.g. a supervisor for the volunteer activity, president of a club, boss for a job). Number three is usually the most time-consuming. I ended up finishing that part of my application by July.

With respect to extra-curricular activities, anything is considered acceptable - unless you're doing sketchy activities in your free time. Apparently one girl on premed101.com was a stripper, you probably won't want to include things like that. Most of my extra-curricular activities were social justice related (Amnesty International at Mac, working with kids at the Eva Rothwell Centre, campaigning for a referendum side, helping new immigrants adapt to life in Canada, International Travel, etc.). I did a limited amount of hospital volunteering during my university years, but I did serve as a team leader for a Campus Health Team in Health Promotion. You don't need X number of hours and Y number of placements. Instead, being able to self-reflect on why these experiences have contributed to who you are and why you would make a good physician is more important.

I would highly recommend that you do activities that you enjoy during the school year. The Admissions Committee (AdCom) is looking for people who are well-rounded and who can handle the pressures of medical school. This is shown through participating in extra-curricular activities and volunteering during the school year.

Hope that helps.

How important are high school activities? I find myself much more involved in university than high school and my high school involvements do not have the sort of substance I would want them to.

As well, has anybody considered staying a 5th year to really dedicate themselves to polishing off their roster of experiences? I know Danielle (lorend) has recommended it for grad school but does any med school applicant have any advice on that?

Originally Posted by goodnews.inc

How important are high school activities? I find myself much more involved in university than high school and my high school involvements do not have the sort of substance I would want them to.

As well, has anybody considered staying a 5th year to really dedicate themselves to polishing off their roster of experiences? I know Danielle (lorend) has recommended it for grad school but does any med school applicant have any advice on that?

Ottawa doesn't care about high school activities and only considers your university years. I wasn't nearly as involved during my high school years. I did have a long-term commitment to a nursing home that I volunteered at and continued to volunteer during my summers off in university. I only volunteered for a summer at an oncology clinic, but it was a life-changing experience so I ended up including that in my essays. In general, the number of hours and number of placements that you do don't really matter - as long as you can make it to the interview stage (Ottawa is a bit more strict). What's more important is what you get out of these experiences and how you articulate these experiences during your interview.

If I didn't get in this year, I would have stuck around at Mac to do a special 5th year. I find it easier to find volunteer and leadership placements with organizations that are familiar with me. However, it's not uncommon and many people often take the year off to improve on their application. Most people don't get in after their first attempt.

Edit: Keep in mind that some schools like Ottawa do not count the GPA of years that do not contribute to a degree. Others like Western and Queens do. So, if you have a minor see if you can do a second degree in order to qualify.

Originally Posted by Lij

Your ABS (Autobiographical Sketch) is basically a list of all the volunteer/extracurricular activities that you've done since the age of 16. It also includes awards that you've won. Usually the actually essay/short answer questions that come from the schools don't get released until July of the year that you are applying. You can get started earlier though ...

A lot of what Lij talked about in this post is relevant to this article: http://talentegg.ca/incubator/2009/0...ld-you-choose/

@ Rhythm - I agree with everything Lij said in her answer So I won't go into it any further. You don't think of it as working on your autobiographical sketch, but just keeping active in the community. Eventually when the time comes, you just list these things when you are applying. I could give you a list of things I did if you wanted some ideas.

@ Goodnews - Don't worry if you weren't as involved in high school. I actually never got really involved with things until after second year. In high school I just had 1 job over 2 years...that's all I did outside of school

Also, I think I've mentioned before that I took this past year off as a 5th year for jobs and extra classes. I decided against an MA or PHD because I did alot of research on my choices and found that it didn't work for me. Everyone I know has said that to only do an MA or PHD if you really want it...never to take it as just a time waster to apply for med. Also, it doesn't help you with your med app (unless you complete at least a degree), compared to doing extra jobs and classes like I did. However, if you really want to do a masters and medschool is just a bonus, then absolutely go for it and if you don't get into med, then at least you'll be on the way to getting another degree. But be warned, that doing a masters/phd is very time consuming and hard work, so you wouldn't have time to really build your sketch outside of doing that.

-Mitch

Originally Posted by mitch

Also, I think I've mentioned before that I took this past year off as a 5th year for jobs and extra classes. I decided against an MA or PHD because I did alot of research on my choices and found that it didn't work for me. Everyone I know has said that to only do an MA or PHD if you really want it...never to take it as just a time waster to apply for med. Also, it doesn't help you with your med app (unless you complete at least a degree), compared to doing extra jobs and classes like I did. However, if you really want to do a masters and medschool is just a bonus, then absolutely go for it and if you don't get into med, then at least you'll be on the way to getting another degree. But be warned, that doing a masters/phd is very time consuming and hard work, so you wouldn't have time to really build your sketch outside of doing that.

-Mitch

Just to add onto that, if you decide to do a Master's as a time-kill, most research based masters programs take 2 years. Since you're applying as a grad student, for some schools with a grad student pool like U of T one of your references MUST be your thesis supervisor. If you're leaving their lab early, then you probably won't get a good reference letter unless you discuss this at the start of your program. Also, some schools require you to FINISH your masters program before you apply.

You're given a 1% bonus for Mac if you have a Masters degree. 5% if you have a PhD. Many schools like Ottawa have removed the special considerations for graduate students. That said, doing a Masters may be useful for U of T which has a large research emphasis.

hey thanks Lij and mitch for you help! and mitch if u could please give me some pointers on where u volunteered or what extra-curricular stuff u did that would be wondeful

Just a question about western - do they take your two most recent years or your two best years overall?

Originally Posted by SciMania

Just a question about western - do they take your two most recent years or your two best years overall?

Two best.

Just as a note, the calculations for the OMSAS schools are here: http://www.macinsiders.com/showthrea...6.html?t=21916

Rhythm - Check your PM

Hey Mitch! I have to say like everyone else, congratulations on getting into Mac's Med School! I know it says I'm in Commerce but I'm very confused about what faculty I really should be in and have always wanted to pick a med school student's brain .

It seems like you've been a little bogged with questions, but it would be great if you found a chance to answer mine. I'm just hoping for a little clarification; you said you took the MCAT and got a 16 the first time, then took a Kaplan prep course and received a 31 (or at least that's how I interpreted it)? So did you take the MCAT for the first time after you finished your second year of kin, weren't happy with your mark, then took the prep course and re-took the MCAT? I guess I'm just looking for a basic timeline. Also, in your year off, what kind of work did you do?

Thanks!

Hi Lizzie!

Thanks for the congratulations and I absolutely don't mind answering more questions Unlike the past few years, I'm not working very much at the moment and have quite a bit of free time.

I'm not sure if you asked me about your faculty, but let me just say that it really doesn't matter what your undergrad is. As long as you fulfill the prereqs and are able to do the MCAT alright.

To clarify my past MCAT experience, I took my first practice test before taking the Kaplan course and got a 16. So everything MCAT related for me was done after my second year. I only took the test once for real and got a 31.

I've worked 7 jobs over 7 years (I actually told someone in a private message 6 jobs, but I recalculated ). The most important thing about my work experience is that the jobs have progressed in maturity, complexity and importance quite nicely over time. In my past year off, I did 3 jobs.
1. Director of The Children's Technology Workshop summer and after-school program.
2. Certified Kinesiologist for an insurance firm
3. Certified Kinesiologist for In-Home motor vehicle accident patient assessments
It's been a great year and a great learning experience. All of these jobs were last second things, as I never planned to take a year off. I guess it turned out well!

-Mitch

Hey Mitch,

Glad someone caught on to the Zelda Hype! Link FTW! As you were saying earlier, about how you took physics and english in summer school, the American med schools recognized those 2 courses even though you did them after you got your degree? I was under the impression that the American Med schools would recognized prerequisite courses within your undergraduate year? Does this also apply to Canadian Med schools? If you could provide the list of medschools you applied in the states that would be awesome! Thanks you once again for your help Mitch and good luck!

Hey Darklink, yeah I'm a huge Zelda fan, but the newest one doesn't look as appealing as it should

To answer your question, neither the American nor the Canadian med schools care if you complete your prereqs before or after you complete your degree. As long as you have finished them by the end of the application year you are okay. So for me applying last Summer/Fall to get in this year, I had to complete the physics and english by the end of the 2009/2010 academic year. And just to clarify, I never took any summer school courses. This was my year off and I completed physics and english throughout the normal academic year at York.

There are a very few American schools that require your prereq courses to be done by the time of application instead of matriculation(date of acceptance). You'll have to search them yourself, but they weren't any of the schools I applied to, since I didn't have those prereqs done by the time of application. Also, if you wanted to know, summer courses are a whole different ball game, with many schools having different views on them. Some accept them as prereqs, some don't and some do with conditions.

As for the American schools I applied to, they are a comprehensive list of all schools that accept Canadians which I thought I had somewhat of a shot at.

Albany, Albert Einstein, Eastern Virginia, George Washington, Georgetown, Jefferson, Loma Linda, Medical college of Wisconsin, New York medical college, Rosalind Franklin, SUNY Upstate, Stony Brook, Tulane, University of Kentucky, University of Maryland, University of Minnesota, and Wayne State.

I hope that helps!

-Mitch

Originally Posted by mitch

Albany, Albert Einstein, Eastern Virginia, George Washington, Georgetown, Jefferson, Loma Linda, Medical college of Wisconsin, New York medical college, Rosalind Franklin, SUNY Upstate, Stony Brook, Tulane, University of Kentucky, University of Maryland, University of Minnesota, and Wayne State.

I hope that helps!

-Mitch

Wow. That's a lot of money in applications/travel. At least you're going to a Canadian school so you ended up saving in the long run xD.