About a year and a half ago, I wrote an article on my thoughts about what to keep in mind when applying to university, using my personal experience as an example.

In that article, I focused mostly on figuring out which university fits you best based on program, location, opportunities, etc. However, there is one more important question you need to ask yourself when thinking about your education that I completely failed to mention.

In short, that question is: what do I want out of my education?

At first glance it may seem like an odd question to ask, but it’s really not. It seems odd because many of us have our own ideas about what the purpose of your educational experience is or should be – but the truth is that your educational experience is whatever you want it to be. There is no one right way to view your education, and it’s important to always realize that, despite what people may argue.

Some people just want to learn. Very often they are genuinely and strongly interested in the topics at hand, and want to sponge up as much as possible.

On the other hand, some people go to university purely for the degree. Usually this in terms of job prospects or further education requirements (e.g. professional schools, graduate schools, etc.).

Of course, if you’re applying to professional school (such as medical school), marks matter. So some people go to university primarily to get the grades required to move on to something else.

In my opinion, these are all legitimate. It bothers me when people try to act as if there is some universal agreement as to what we should want out of our education (e.g. “You shouldn’t be picking your school just for the sake of getting good marks!” There are reasons why doing so is often not a good idea, but it has nothing to do with a right or wrong way of looking at education). Quite often, what we want out of our education will be some combination of 2 or 3 of these views, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

When you are thinking of where you want to go to university, you need to reflect on all of these issues, because different undergraduate programs will be more conducive to one of these aspects than the others.

So take the time to figure out what you want out of your university education – it’ll save you a lot of head ache down the road!

Related posts:

1. What’s up with premed altruism and nobility? As I have mentioned many times before, I feel like...
2. Mastering the University of Toronto Medical School Essay – Part 4: How Your Premedical Studies have Prepared You for Medicine Disclaimer: I will be a University of Toronto medical student...
3. Mastering the University of Toronto Medical School Essay – Part 5: Putting it All Together Disclaimer: I will be a University of Toronto medical student...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The other day, someone asked me if I could write an article on shadowing. While I don’t have any real advice for finding mentors to shadow besides “just asking”, I remembered an article I wrote a few years ago about my experience shadowing a physician, and why I thought job shadowing as a whole is important and something every student should take the time to explore. I dug up the article, and I hope you guys find it helpful…

I observed intently as Dr. Rutka took a deep breath before sharing the grave news with the mother. Her son, who has had epilepsy for years, requires brain surgery to remove a tumour that the doctor believes to be causing his seizures. However, there are huge risks involved, especially if the boy has a seizure during surgery. I felt a lump in my throat as the mother hammered the doctor with questions in a hysterical manner, clearly concerned over the health of her son. My eyes gazed in admiration at the powerful calm in Dr. Rutka’s voice as he consoled the mother. His compassion for the boy and his family resonated throughout the room. I began to wonder if I could keep the same poise and composure if I were in Dr. Rutka’s position. I was sure it was situations like these that make a career in medicine difficult, stressful and often heart wrenching.

A few patients later, I watched attentively as Amro, a neurosurgery resident, performed a routine check up on a young girl who had brain surgery just a few months before. Although he was still in training, Amro showed obvious passion for the long career in neurosurgery that lay ahead. The girl’s mother watched Amro in awe, saying, “when I think about how many lives you’re going to save one day, I can’t help but feel inspired”. I couldn’t help but smile and share in the special moment. It was then that I realized in spite of the blood, sweat and tears of a career in medicine, moments like these made everything worth it.

The opportunity to shadow a world class pediatric neurosurgeon at the Hospital for Sick Children doesn’t come along everyday. In the last few years, my interest in medicine – particularly in pediatrics and neuroscience – have grown. Still, I wanted to make sure that the health care environment was right for me. The privilege to learn from Dr. Rutka over the current school year comes from a career mentorship program run by Youth in Motion, a Canadian organization striving to help shape the futures of our youth. Youth in Motion develops and implements career mentoring programs that connect youth with adults in their choice of career.

“Career mentoring is a highly valuable and worthwhile experience for youth. It enables them to explore a career field in a unique and personalized format,” says Akela Peoples, President and CEO of Youth in Motion. “Dialoguing with someone in the workforce enables students to get important and relevant questions answered, provides an opportunity to learn directly from someone who has travelled a particular path before them and, most importantly, facilitates the transfer of unfiltered information.”

Observing Dr. Rutka’s work has only enhanced my aspirations to enter a career of medicine, and I now hope to work at the Hospital for Sick Children someday. It is fortunate that this “shadowing” experience reinforced my aspirations; indeed, I could just as easily have detested the hospital environment. If that were the case, imagine how dreadful it would be if I had gone through the endless years of education and training to become a doctor, only to realize it wasn’t the career for me!

For aspiring entrepreneurs like David Wen of Surrey, British Columbia, connecting with the CEO of a company created a life changing relationship. “Mentors are people who truly care for your well being, since their success is not dependant on yours,” says Wen, whose mentor has allowed him to witness many aspects of business, including sales pitches. “They are like honest and determined salespeople who do not work on commission.”

James Valitchka, already an 11 year old best-selling author hailing from Ottawa, Ontario, believes that you can never be too young to seek out a mentor for advice. “It’s really important to have a mentor to talk to about life and the future,” claims Valitchka, who has been paired up by Youth in Motion with a businessperson and one-time author. “They keep you encouraged and their advice can stop you from making mistakes. They share their experiences with you and make you a better and smarter person.”

As students, you are in the midst of a journey of discovery and reflection, trying to determine your direction in life. Like many before you, you might feel absolutely sure that you will become a lawyer, surgeon, web designer or teacher. At the same time, how can you be so sure that defending criminals in court, performing brain surgery, designing websites or teaching high school is something you would be happy doing? The fact is you won’t know until you try. And while shadowing won’t let you experience the job directly, you will better understand the field.

Having career mentors becomes ever so important for those of us about to embark on a brand new journey – the transition into adulthood. For some of us, the distance ahead is as clear as the sky; for others, it is a blurry mixture. There are those who have planned their entire lives out for the next fifty years, and for the rest of us, every thought, action and decision is perhaps spontaneous. Yet no matter how prepared you are for the future, you need to step in the shoes of those careers yourselves – and there is no better way to do so than by actually learning from individuals in the field.

Related posts:

1. What do I want out of my university education? About a year and a half ago, I wrote an...
2. Hidden Luck Luck, variance, randomness – whatever you want to call it,...
3. So I didn’t get into medical school… what now? If you applied to medical school this past year, you...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Sometimes I read advice online for medical school admissions from medical students that I think is fundamentally wrong. Of course this would seem counter-intuitive – how could someone be wrong about advice if they got in?

Consider a game of rock, paper, scissors (yah yah, how many times have I used this example now?). Imagine your opponent is playing scissors. Now also imagine that you’ve never played the game before, so you enlist the help of a friend who has. This friend has defeated this opponent before and tells you to play rock because it worked for him last time. If you listen to him and play rock, you’ll win too. Great.

But what if your opponent decides to play paper instead? Of course your friend comes along and again tells you to play rock because that’s what he did last time and it worked for him. But if you play rock, you’ll quickly realize that it doesn’t work this time. So what went wrong, and how could your friend win at this game but fail to help you this time?

Short-Term Success does Not Necessarily Equate to True Understanding

The reason why you lost is because you assumed that your friend understood the game simply because he was successful at it once. He played one game of rock, paper, scissors and got it right, and you both jumped to the conclusion that he knew how to play. But once the situation of the game changed, it became clear that the value of his advice was limited – and the value of his advice was limited because his actual understanding was limited.

One of the mistakes we tend to make is being too results oriented, particularly when it comes to attributing the success of others to genuine understanding. This can become problematic if we spend more time asking for advice and less time actually thinking about it. If the main character in our little hypothetical situation spent time thinking and figuring out rock, paper, scissors, he would realize that the advice he received was bad. He would understand that the justification of “it worked for me last time” isn’t enough to guarantee success in the future.

So how does this relate to medical school advice, and well, advice in general? Sometimes I see successful individuals view their short-term results as evidence for the idea that their strategy was correct. But instead of thinking about why their strategy may have worked, they just assume it was a good strategy because everything worked out. But like I explained, unless you can actually explain why your ideas are good, you are taking the risk of actually being quite wrong.

For instance, there are some students with a resume a mile long who get into medical school. So when they see a medical school applicant list a shorter resume and ask what their chances of getting in are, these students chime in and say it probably isn’t long enough, since they got in with a longer one. I hope you can see the logical problems with this line of thinking, and while it may seem obvious, it’s amazing how often we don’t realize it at the time.

This is precisely the reason why I don’t like answering the questions like “what courses did you take and what things did you do to get into medical school?”. Instead, I like to write articles that take a more analytical approach to the admissions process and aim to provide an understanding of the process.

Common Pitfall: Projection

One common mistake we make when providing advice and thinking about it is projecting the way we think onto other people. It’s a mistake to think that other people or groups both should and do think the way you do.

For instance, let’s visit the claim that medical schools prefer students who have studied at more “reputable” universities. For the sake of discussion, let’s assume it’s true that these more reputable universities have, on average, more challenging undergraduate programs. Some students take this idea and think to themselves that it would only seem “right” to take this information to account, and thus, they propose that medical schools prefer students who go to these more challenging undergraduate programs.

However, such students are making huge and unfounded assumptions, primarily that medical school admissions committees think the way they do. That is, they are projecting their own model of thought on the admissions committees for no apparent reason. To students, if they have to work harder than others for the same grades, they deserve to have some sort of advantage in the admissions process.

Instead of assuming other individuals or groups think like you, it’s better to picture yourself in their shoes, and try and figure out how they would perceive the situation, concept, or idea at hand. Imagine you are on a medical school admissions committee. Even if you knew that certain undergraduate programs must be more challenging, how would you react to that? How would you know which actual courses were harder at which universities, and given that the student populations are different, how could you adjust the marks submitted to you? Moreover, how could you do it in a fair, objective way?

It’s really hard if you think about it, and personally, I haven’t been able to come up with a solution myself besides just leaving things the way they are.

Are You Saying I Shouldn’t be Taking Advice from Others?

Oh no, I am definitely not saying that. In fact, I take advice from others all the time. However, what you should do is not accept advice blindly. You need to spend the time critically thinking about advice you’re given, and whether it’s logical and makes sense. You are definitely doing yourself a disservice if you accept anything I say blindly.

Imagine if a lottery winner told you to pick the numbers 3, 14, 16, 22, 31, 44 because it worked for her. You would quickly realize that’s absurd – yet for some reason it doesn’t seem so absurd to many students when they hear from teachers, parents, guidance counselors, or older students that medical schools actually care which university you did your undergraduate studies at.

If you’re given advice that could seriously affect an important decision of yours, make sure you understand the reasoning behind the advice. And if you’re not sure, ask the person giving the advice. If they can’t provide a reason that makes logical sense, you should be wary of it.

However, keep in mind that not understanding the advice is not a justification for viewing a piece of advice as bad. It’s easy to shrug off things you don’t understand, but from personal experience, some of the best advice I’ve received were things I just didn’t understand at the time.

Related posts:

1. Mastering the University of Toronto Medical School Essay – Part 4: How Your Premedical Studies have Prepared You for Medicine Disclaimer: I will be a University of Toronto medical student...
2. So I didn’t get into medical school… what now? If you applied to medical school this past year, you...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I was once asked in an interview to talk about an accomplishment I was proud of. Prior to the interview, I had come up with a list of practice questions and what my general approach to them would be – the “accomplishment question” was one of them. I had planned on mentioning my TD Canada Trust Scholarship because of it’s prestige, the hard work it represented, and how it has allowed me to continue doing a lot of my volunteer/non-profit work during university without worrying about having to pay for my education. But as soon as I was asked the question, I decided to change my mind and pick an experience that I had spoken about before, but had not planned on using as my answer for this type of question.

Instead of the TD Scholarship, I decided to talk about June 29, 2006. It was 9 a.m., and I was at City Hall in downtown Toronto. I was also really, really tired. I was tired because the previous day was a big day for me. Not only was June 28 my 18th birthday, but it also ended up being the day of my graduation and high school prom (yah, my high school was weird that way). Needless to say, June 28 was a really big and exciting day for me, but also a very tiring one.

So why did I need to be up at so early the day after my birthday, graduation, and prom? The previous fall, my friends and I started a Make Poverty History student banner that was signed by students in over 30 schools and university campuses in Southern Ontario. June 29, 2006 was the one-year anniversary of the Live 8 concert, and so there was a Make Poverty History press conference held at City Hall to commemorate the event, as well as remind world leaders to put issues of poverty on the agenda for an upcoming G8 meeting. To celebrate the work of all the students involved, we were given the opportunity to present our banner at the press conference.

Part of that presentation involved me giving a speech about the banner. It was a really cool experience, especially the chance to share the podium with the likes of Gerry Barr (past-chair of Make Poverty History Canada), Steven Page (of the Bare Naked Ladies), and Toronto Mayor David Miller. The reason why I was proud of that moment was more than because it culminated the achievement of our banner campaign. It was a great personal achievement for myself – if you had told me four years before when I started high school that I would be at that podium a day after turning 18, I would never have believed it. That wasn’t the person I was when I entered high school – I was much too shy. For me, that moment also represented the personal transformation I went through in high school as I opened myself up to more experiences, and for that reason, I was very proud of myself.

Telling Stories

The reason I changed my answer at the last minute was because I remembered the importance of being memorable and producing memorable answers. This is important for a few reasons.

You see, in most scholarship or medical school interviews, the interviewers aren’t writing down what you say. Rather, they hear what you have to say, and then discuss and score you afterwards. Interviewers are regular people just like you and me – meaning that, just like you and me, they aren’t going to remember everything you say. In general, interviewers are going to remember two types of candidates – people they liked and people they didn’t like. When competition is stiff for so few spots, you want to be the good kind that’s remembered.

How do you produce answers that are memorable? One way is by telling stories.

Everyone loves a good story, and I would guess that most people would rather here a story than facts. You have to keep in mind that your interviewers are probably going through a long day of interviewing many candidates. Anytime you can entertain them, make them laugh, or give them something interesting to listen to, you are being a bright spot in a sometimes long, tedious day for them. Stories can accomplish all of these things.

Imagine if I had told the interviewers that my greatest accomplishment was my TD Scholarship – just straight facts. It’s not something that’s likely to be remembered. It’s also not that interesting. And if my interviewers don’t remember my answer when they are evaluating me after the interview, it’s almost as if I didn’t answer the question.

But compare that to the story I told about June 29, 2006. Talking about city hall, Steven Page, etc. creates a vivid image in my interviewers minds about that day. It likely captivates them much more than talking about my scholarship – it is clearly way more interesting, and so they are less likely to zone out when I’m talking. And as a story, it is something they are way more likely to remember after the interview.

In a vacuum, is the story that much of a better answer than talking about my scholarship? Perhaps not, but if it is significantly more likely to be remembered and gives the interviewers a more positive, captivating experience, then it is most likely much better.

If the interviewers are looking at a wall of photos of candidates at the end of the day, comparing the interview experiences, telling interesting stories makes me less likely to be one of the candidates who they don’t remember interviewing at all (that’s hopefully an extreme case, and I would hope that doesn’t happen to any candidate, but you get the point). They might not remember my face on its own, but they’ll remember my story, and if they do, they will probably remember my face and the rest of me.

A Second Example

I also like to use this approach whenever I’m asked in an interview about an important leadership experience. When answering this question, I think some candidates might just pick their most impressive-sounding leadership experience – but I don’t think this necessarily ends up being the best possible answer. Let me use myself as an example to better explain this.

One of my most impressive and important leadership experiences was creating the SMARTS network for Canadian youth interested in science. If I had to give a one hour talk about leadership, it’s one of the stories I would definitely focus on. But you don’t get one hour to talk about a leadership experience in an interview – you get maybe a few minutes to answer the question.

Trying to convey a complete, captivating, and most importantly, coherent story about SMARTS in just a few minutes would probably come out pretty awful – I just wouldn’t be able to do it. I could try, but I think I would end up just confusing the interviewers more than anything. I could just focus on the basic details, but then I wouldn’t have time to talk about the leadership skills I developed and obstacles I overcame, which I think are things you want to mention in your answer. And if I focused on those things, I wouldn’t have time to talk about all the details, and so on.

So instead, I like to talk about my leadership experience at the Shad Valley summer program and the company and product my teammates and I developed. It’s not only an interesting story, but as the project only lasted two months, I am able to tell a complete, coherent story in the few minutes I have.

Basically, my point is that if you choose to answer a question with a story, it’s important to be strategic about exactly which stories you choose to tell. Not all stories make sense to be used in the context of an interview. So if you choose to tell a story, you should select one that’s interesting, meaningful, and can be delivered clearly within a few minutes.

Be Careful – Don’t Use Stories Just for the Sake of Using Them

I want to make it perfectly clear that you don’t need to spend a ridiculous amount of time and effort making everything you say memorable. Of course that’s not going to happen, and it would be a pretty awkward interview if you answered every single question with a story.

Some questions are going to lend themselves better for stories than others. I just want to get you thinking about and exploring the possibilities of improving the memorability of your interview by using stories.

In preparing for an interview, one of the things I suggest you do (and I will explore this technique more later on) is come up with a list of questions you are very likely to be asked, and come up with some possible ways you could answer each question. Explore story and non-story type answers, and see what works better for you for those types of interview questions.

Related posts:

1. So I didn’t get into medical school… what now? If you applied to medical school this past year, you...
2. Mastering the University of Toronto Medical School Essay – Part 4: How Your Premedical Studies have Prepared You for Medicine Disclaimer: I will be a University of Toronto medical student...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Every medical school has a different philosophy when it comes to evaluating applicants. Some schools, like Queen’s and Western, look at your GPA and MCAT scores first, and pretty much guarantee you an interview if you meet certain cutoffs. Some schools, like the University of Toronto, look at your entire application package first before granting an interview: GPA, MCAT, personal essay, biographical sketch, and reference letters.

As with any medical school, you will get complaints about the process. Personally, I think it’s great that the medical schools have such different philosophies on admissions, so that many great candidates with different backgrounds are likely to get in somewhere. But when it gets more personal, and your application package isn’t as competitive at a certain school, it’s understandable for people to be a bit frustrated.

As an example, some applicants have voiced frustration with the fact that UofT’s medical school admissions places a greater weight on reference letters than some other schools. The most common argument is that there is a lot of variance involved with reference letters since it is out of the applicant’s control, in terms of how well the referees are able to write. So it is very possible that an applicant is fantastic, but his or her referee just lacks the skills, experience, and knowledge to put those ideas well onto paper.

In this article I want to analyze this common frustration, and then give my argument for why I think a medical school (or scholarship organization, summer program, etc.) might value reference letters.

Variance Exists Everywhere – Deal with It

I’m not going to deny that there is variance when it comes to reference letters. Considering the letters are supposed to be confidential, it’s quite possible that no matter how hard your referee tries, he/she could end up writing a letter that is relatively poor compared to the average, simply because he/she isn’t used to writing stuff like this. For sure, there is some skill involved in writing a strong reference letter, and it takes experience and knowledge to do that.

The problem with this complaint is that it’s essentially founded on the ideas of variance, chance, and luck. If you’re going to be upset with variance, then logically, you should be upset with the entire medical school application process.

For instance, it’s true that some applicants are naturally better writers than others. Should we throw out the personal essay too? Or, let’s analyze that fact that most applicants don’t get the same interviewers, which also leads to a lot of variance (as I’ve written extensively on before). Should we scrap the interview process too?

The fact is that most things in life, whether medical school related or not, consist of some things out of our control. Sometimes you just need to be lucky.

That being said, one question we can ask is whether a component of the admissions process has an unacceptably high amount of variance. While we can’t eliminate variance or chance, we should always try to reduce it whenever possible. And this is a question that needs to be asked for every component of the process.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the knowledge or experience to say whether there is too much variance in the use of reference letters. I would like to think that the admissions committees have seen enough reference letters over the years to recognize the type of variance involved, and adjust their selection process accordingly (and likewise with other aspects of their admissions process).

The Second Factor: How Strongly a Potential Referee is Likely to Support You

I’d imagine that most applicants have only been on one side of the reference letter process – that is, have had reference letters written for them but have never been in a position to write reference letters for others. As the founder of SMARTS, I have had to write my fair share of reference letters for some of our student volunteers over the past few years. By now having been on both sides of the fence, I’ve come to understand an extremely important concept that I don’t think many applicants realize about reference letters.

There are essentially two factors that affect the strength of your reference letter. The first factor is something we already know, and that is somewhat uncontrollable: the skills of the referee in writing a good reference letter. However, there is a second factor that most applicants don’t really realize, and I don’t think put enough thought into when choosing potential referees.

You see, many applicants just assume that anyone they could reasonably ask is going to write them the most fantastic reference letter. They assume that just because they asked for a fantastic letter, they are going to get one. The reality is that this is simply not the case. How good of a reference letter you can get also comes down to how strongly your referee feels about supporting you.

For example, when I’m asked to write reference letters for SMARTS student volunteers, I can honestly say that not all students get the same quality of letter from me. If you’re a student who I don’t work with on a personal basis, not only is it hard for me to fill up a letter with content and impossible for me to comment on your personal qualities, but I don’t have a strong enough personal connection with you to feel the urge to write you the best letter possible. The result is a letter that is much more formal and sparser in detail – I’d be lying if I wrote otherwise. In such a case, it would have made much more sense to ask a teacher or other supervisor who has seen your work in action, and can comment on personal qualities in a detailed fashion.

On the other hand, if you are a SMARTS student volunteer who I know personally and have seen in action on a regular basis, not only can I write much more detailed about you, but I end up writing a ridiculously fantastic letter. Why? Because of the personal connection we have developed, I personally want you to succeed and want to do anything possible to help.

So What Do Reference Letters tell Medical School Committees (or other judging committees)?

The importance of the reference letters is that they tell medical schools about how other people think about you, and how good of a physician they think you’d make. It’s easy for you to write a personal essay claiming to be a fantastic person – but of course they expect you to do that. And of course your opinion of yourself is going to be positively biased. You might say that you are a fantastic leader, communicator, and team player – but where is the proof? The closest thing to objective proof that the judges have are your referees.

Extremely strong reference letters show medical schools that there are actually people, other than yourself/your family, who genuinely believe you would make a great physician. If someone else can write a letter advocating for you so strongly, logic says there must be something really good about you. And unless they lack a ton of integrity (and are just making stuff up), referees are generally not going to write you absolutely fantastic letters unless they really believe you deserve one – I mean, do you really think that first year biology professor who only knows you from class really cares to write you an outstanding letter? I mean, why would he care whether you get into medical school or not? Why would he waste his time getting the letter “just right”? Furthermore, strong letters show that you can form meaningful personal relationships with other individuals.

I’d imagine that any referee would approach the letter writing process like I do. If they know you well, are impressed by you, and honestly desire to support you to the best of their ability, they will spend their time writing the best letter possible. But if they barely know you or aren’t particularly impressed by you, it’s a bit naive to expect a really strong letter.

So What Does this Mean for Picking My Referees?

In short, this means that you should pick referees who know you very well and who you know want to support you.

Don’t just pick someone because they have a really prestigious title. The person’s title makes up a few words, but what he/she writes makes up the entire page – which part do you think the judge is going to focus on and remember?

I know when I picked my medical school referees this year I followed those two exact criteria. I picked people who I knew for at least a few years, who I felt were impressed by me, and who I knew genuinely wanted to support me in my endeavours.

If you do that as well, I think you will be getting your best reference letters possible.

Related posts:

1. So I didn’t get into medical school… what now? If you applied to medical school this past year, you...
2. Hidden Luck Luck, variance, randomness – whatever you want to call it,...
3. Mastering the University of Toronto Medical School Essay – Part 4: How Your Premedical Studies have Prepared You for Medicine Disclaimer: I will be a University of Toronto medical student...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

NOTE: It may take a minute or two to load depending on your browser.

Questions?

If you have any further questions about the University of Western Ontario National Scholarship Program, please leave a comment, and I will do my best to answer them!

Related posts:

1. Mastering the University of Toronto Medical School Essay – Part 4: How Your Premedical Studies have Prepared You for Medicine Disclaimer: I will be a University of Toronto medical student...
2. Mastering the University of Toronto Medical School Essay – Part 5: Putting it All Together Disclaimer: I will be a University of Toronto medical student...
3. Roller Coaster of a Day Okay not really much of a roller coaster, but definitely...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

NOTE: It may take a minute or two to load depending on your browser.

Questions?

If you have any further questions about the York University Awards of Distinction, please leave a comment, and I will do my best to answer them!

Related posts:

1. Mastering the University of Toronto Medical School Essay – Part 4: How Your Premedical Studies have Prepared You for Medicine Disclaimer: I will be a University of Toronto medical student...
2. Mastering the University of Toronto Medical School Essay – Part 5: Putting it All Together Disclaimer: I will be a University of Toronto medical student...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

“What is real? How do you define real? If you’re talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then real is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain.”

This is a famous quote from the character Morpheus of one of my favourite movies of all time, The Matrix. In this part of the movie, Morpheus is helping Neo to realize that the world he once believed to be his reality was no more than a computer simulation. Yet for everyone else stuck in the “matrix”, this simulation was as real as anything.

After watching The Matrix for the first time, I remember randomly asking myself: How do I know this world I’m in is real? I know I can hear my own thoughts, but how can I know for sure that everything around me is real? My family and friends seem real, but without being able to hear their thoughts, how can I know for sure?

But because I can perceive all of the world around me, I believe it to be real. Because I can smell roses, I believe them to be real. Because I can hear my brother speak, I believe he is real. In order to live in my reality, I have to rely on the notion that my perceptions are interpreting a true reality.

Marketing: Delivering a Perception You Want Customers to Adopt

Marketing takes advantage of this very same concept. In marketing, you’re not just promoting a product – you are also promoting a specific image or idea about that product. Essentially, marketers present a certain perception of their product that they want customers to have. And for potential customers, that perception is often interpreted as reality.

For instance, take the famous brand name paper towel product: Bounty – “the Quicker Picker-Upper”. Their television commercials portray Bounty as a superior paper towel that is able to absorb moisture much better than its competitors. Most of us don’t and will probably never know if Bounty is even among the best paper towel products, but due to the perception their company has created for their product, many of us who have seen the commercial probably believe that Bounty is indeed the best paper towel in the market.

The fact of the matter is what we only know what we’re told. That is, unless someone else comes along and tells us that Bounty isn’t the best paper towel, we see no reason to believe otherwise. I mean, seriously, when is the last time you researched studies for the best paper towels? Or the most durable shoe on the market?

By nature, humans are quite lazy in that sense. We don’t like working for information – we would much prefer that the information to come to us. The problem with this mindset is that by allowing other people to control the information that is “marketed” to us, we are essentially allowing other people to dictate our perceptions, and subsequently our realities.

Marketing Yourself: Creating the Image You Want

When I was in Grade 7, I was selected to represent Toronto at the Ontario Mathematics Olympics. Because of the size of our city, Toronto was allowed to send three teams to the competition. Each team was composed of one Gr. 8 girl, one Gr. 8 boy, one Gr. 7 girl and one Gr. 7 boy.

After the initial 12 students were selected, a single preparation day was held before the actual event for the students to go through some practice problems. In addition, the coordinators of Team Toronto would use this day to do a bit more evaluation of the students and try and make the best teams possible. Because of the difficulty of the competition, it would make sense for the coordinators to put all of the best students on the same team, thus maximizing the chances for Team Toronto to be victorious. There was one student was clearly the best mathematics student there by far, and it made sense for the coordinators to try and build the best possible team around him.

On the actual preparation day, I was just myself. But for those of you that know me, that meant just doing what I was told, not answering questions unless someone asked me, etc. On the other hand, I noticed a few students who were more talkative and participated more in the activities – these students ended up being on the “best” team with that exceptional student I mentioned earlier. Led by that student, this team ended up placing an excellent 5th in the province.

Nothing motivates me more than losing, so when I made Team Toronto again the following year, I was determined to be a part of the “best” team. Recalling the previous year, I realized that the coordinators probably assumed that whoever participated the most in the preparation day were probably the strongest students. That was their perception of ability, and in all fairness, the only real evidence they could go by. I mean if you think about it, if only certain students answer your questions, you can’t assume the other students even knew the answers. Maybe this logic isn’t the best, but I believe this is what the coordinators went by.

So when I was in Gr. 8, I went to that preparation day determined to be outspoken, answer questions, and generally participate as much as possible. My suspicions turned out to be correct when I ended up being on the same team as the other students I believed to have been the strongest. I definitely was not the strongest Gr. 8 male math student there (I am sure one of my other friends was), but I ended up on the better team because I projected the exact image the coordinators were looking for.

They believed I was the strongest candidate because they perceived me to be the strongest.

You Are Whoever You Say You Are

This is essentially the same concept I am talking about whenever I say that it isn’t necessarily the best candidate who gets rewarded, but rather, the candidate who the judges perceive to be the best – because perception is reality.

No one can know how great of a person you are unless you project that image. That’s why knowing how to market yourself properly on applications and interviews is extremely important.

Whether you are taking part in a job interview, applying for a grant, or anything else where you need to impress someone else, you’re not going to be successful unless you sell yourself as the best candidate.

If you look at any of my articles or videos about interviews or applications, you’ll realize the central theme to all of them is marketing. I think about the factors that could affect the judge’s perception of you, and try and highlight the specific factors that are good for you.

That being said, in the end, it comes down to you.

No one can market yourself except you!

Related posts:

1. So I didn’t get into medical school… what now? If you applied to medical school this past year, you...
2. The Transition Today marks the transition as I begin my journey to...
3. Mastering the University of Toronto Medical School Essay – Part 4: How Your Premedical Studies have Prepared You for Medicine Disclaimer: I will be a University of Toronto medical student...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I love multiple choice tests more than any other type of tests. They’re great because you don’t even have to know the answer to have a shot at getting a question right!

Especially when it comes to courses where you are expected to know a lot of information (e.g. biology), it helps when you only need to recognize details instead of having to come up with them yourself. When you’re cramming so much information in your head the night before, it’s really useful to have possible answers right in front of you to jog your memory.

When all you have is a question and blank space, it is really easy to sometimes blank out. For example, I would find it much easier to identify the three tenets of cell theory than to write them out myself (and also have to make sure you write them in an acceptable way). Moreover, with multiple choice tests, you can’t lose marks due spelling, grammar, subjectivity, etc.

That being said, multiple choice tests can often be tricky and difficult. At the core of it, multiple choice tests rely on logic and deduction. There must always be reasons why a certain answer should be singled out among the available choices.

If you want to ace multiple choice tests, there are some things you need to know.

Understand the Question

It is crucial that you know exactly what you’re being asked. If you don’t know what the question is even asking, how will you know what type of answer to look for?

Keep in mind that even a single word can change the entire meaning of a question. You have no idea how many multiple choice questions I’ve gotten wrong simply because I didn’t see the word “not”. If you tend to forget important words like that, it often helps to underline them every time you see such a word in a question.

So take your time when reading the question. Make sure you understand it right the first time, so you don’t have to worry about making silly mistakes just because you misread something.

Realize that the answer choice you pick must answer the question. Just because an answer “sounds” good, isn’t enough of a reason to pick it. Sometimes professors like to trick students by making the correct answer the least sophisticated sounding – don’t fall into this trap! Above all else, whatever you choose must clearly answer the question being asked.

Read Every Single Answer Choice and Use Process of Elimination

It is imperative that you read every single answer choice before making your final decision. A common mistake students make is when they select the first good answer that they see – the problem is that there might be more than one possible answer, and unless you consider all of the available choices, you won’t know if there is a better answer. There is only one “best” answer (see next section), and if you don’t read all of the possible answer choices, you are often going to end up missing it.

So here’s what I personally do, and what I suggest you do. As you read each answer choice, immediately cross out any answer you know cannot be 100% true. That is, only cross out choices you are completely sure to be wrong. If you are unsure about an answer choice, leave it for now. Then go back, and consider those answer choices left remaining.

By doing this, you don’t make the mistake of overlooking the correct answer. If there is one answer choice left, then obviously select that one. But if there is more than one answer choice left after your first pass, then you will need to analyze the answer choices left over, and come up with reasons why one of those answers is better than the rest.

If after a decent amount of time, you still aren’t sure about the correct answer, then just pick any of them for the time being, mark-up that question, and move on with the intention of coming back later if time permits. The good news is that if you’re able to narrow the question down to two or three possible choices, you always have a decent shot at getting it right. Knowing this, it makes sense to just move on and work on increasing your probability of getting another question correct, instead of spending all of your time on one question where you already know you’re going to get correct 50% or so of the time.

Coin Flipping

A lot of times I narrow a question down to two or so equally good choices, and I end up just picking any of them – I’m essentially coin flipping for this question, since I have a 50/50 shot at getting it right.

Sometimes I get lucky and “coin flip” really well on tests, other times I don’t get so lucky and “coin flip” badly. Remember that your luck will even out in the long term. Realize that even the best students have to “coin flip” sometimes on tests.

Select the Best Possible Answer

Some professors or teachers will write on their test to “select the best possible answer” and some won’t, but in general, that is the motto you should follow. You’re often going to come across more than one answer that is technically true, but for some reason, one answer should be more correct than any of the other ones. When this happens, you will need to do a bit of thinking and investigating, to figure out what the difference between those few answers are and to eventually find the necessary reasons one why one is a better answer than the other.

For example, sometimes the best possible answer is the one that is more detailed. For example, an early high school chemistry quiz might ask: “What are atoms composed of?” You might get the answer choices “Atoms are composed of subatomic particles” and “Atoms are composed of subatomic particles: protons, neutrons, and electrons”. While both of these answers are technically correct, the second answer is a “better answer” because it provides more detail.

In any case, the important idea is to remember that simply because a certain answer is true does not make it the answer you should immediately select. This is a mistake students often make when they do multiple choice tests – they just look for any answer that is true, and select it. This strategy is sure to fall apart when you have tricky professors or teachers who require you to compare and contrast possible true answer choices.

Circle Your Answer on the Question Sheet

Whenever I choose an answer for a question, I make sure to not only bubble my answer on the answer sheet (e.g. a Scantron card), but I also make sure to circle the correct answer on my question sheet. There are a few important reasons why I do this.

First, it lets me quickly check at the end of the test if I bubbled my answers correctly. All I do is compare the answers I circled to answers I bubbled in, just to make sure that I didn’t accidentally bubble in the wrong answer – this happens to everyone at some point, and if you don’t circle the answer on your question sheet, it’s hard to catch these silly mistakes.

Secondly, when I am double checking my answers, it helps that I can double check my answers right on the question sheet without having to go back and forth with the answer sheet. When it comes to tests, it’s important to spend your time wisely.

Thirdly, professors let you take the question sheets with you after the test. Having my answers circled lets me know what mark I should expect, and therefore, whether or not I need to make an appointment to see my answer sheet when I get an unexpected mark back.

Finally, when you are using your previous test to prepare for your exam, it helps to not have to do all the grunt work again when reviewing the questions and answers. Seeing your old test notes and even just the correct answer can help jog your memory of how you solved the question. Moreover, some professors actually re-use similar questions on the test, and it can sometimes help to have an easy way to memorize some of them in advance.

What About Tests that Penalize me for a Wrong Answer?

The only time I’ve ever gotten penalized for a wrong answer on a multiple choice test has been on those high school mathematics or science contests. This has never happened to me on a university test (and I doubt it ever happens), but I figure I might as well comment on this issue just in case it happens to anyone.

In these types of tests, what normally happens is that you get say 1 mark for a correct answer, 0 marks for leaving it blank, and -0.5 marks for getting it wrong. The idea here is to prevent students from getting rewarded for outright guesses. Clearly then, if you are very sure of your answer, you should obviously select it and not worry about getting it wrong.

The only time when you should consider leaving an answer blank is if you’re not sure. At this point, it is important to look at the mathematics of the situation, and see what your neutral point is in terms of when it’s worth taking a guess at the question. Let me show you with an example.

Let’s use my above mentioned test format where you get 1 mark for a correct answer, 0 marks for a blank answer, and -0.5 marks for a wrong answer. Also, let’s assume there are four possible answer choices (e.g. A, B, C, D).

If we completely guess for a question, we have a ¼ chance of getting it right and a ¾ chance of getting it wrong. Therefore, for a complete guess, our expectation in the long term for a single question is: (1/4)(1 mark) + (3/4)(-0. 5 marks) = (0.25 marks) + (-0.375) marks = -0.125 marks. That is, whenever you randomly guess on this test, you lose on average -0.125 marks. So in this specific test format, it is always better to leave a question blank if you have no idea what the answer could be.

But what if we were able to narrow it down to 3 choices and then guess? In that case, we have a 1/3 chance of getting it right and a 2/3 chance of getting it wrong – much better odds. Let’s look at what our expectation would be: (1/3)(1 mark) + (2/3)(-0. 5 marks) = 0 marks. This is our neutral point. What I mean by this is that when we have narrowed it down to 3 choices, it doesn’t matter whether we guess or leave it blank, since our long term expectation for both cases is getting a 0 on the question.

What this does mean is that we should always guess when we’ve narrowed it down to 2 choices, since our expectation would be positive (you can try the math to prove it yourself).

So whenever you are in this situation, make sure you figure out the neutral point for your test, and then decide whether a question is worth guessing on.

Don’t Get Stuck on a Question

I mentioned this briefly before, but as my final word on this topic, I feel it is important to say it again. Each question is worth the same, so getting a hard question right is just as important as getting an easy question right.

Particularly for multiple choice tests, never forget that your goal should be to get as many questions right as possible.

Related posts:

1. So This is What It’s Like to be “Below Average” Looks like I started a trend with the very last...
2. So I think I know why my marks have dropped… So I’m happy to say that I passed my Brain...
3. Clarification of My Last Post So I got this nice email today… Liu, Joshua Paul...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

A lot of students have asked me why I chose to go to York University to study undergraduate biology. I get this question a lot, and the reason for this is quite obvious – a lot of people have the impression that York University’s reputation in science and engineering is not as strong as other universities, and so they wonder why I would go there, especially since I’m interested in applying to medical schools.

However, making a decision on where to go for university is much more complicated than that. There are numerous factors to consider, and we must be critical of the information we acquire when considering those factors.

I can’t tell where you should go for university, because everyone is different and only you can make the “right” decision for yourself. But what I can do is go through many of the questions I thought about while going through the decision making process myself, and how my answers to those questions eventually led me to York University.

Hopefully, going through my thought process will help provide some perspective and insight into some important things to consider when making your own selection.

Should I Even Go to University?

A lot of students are deciding on university programs before they even consider whether university is right for them in the first place. Whether or not to attend university itself should be the first and biggest question you ask, but it’s amazing that most students don’t even realize it. It seems as if it’s taught as a fact that it is in your best interest to pursue a university degree or other post-secondary education regardless of your actual circumstances.

However, this issue is much more complicated than what we’re usually told. Suffice to say, I don’t believe university makes sense for everyone, and certainly not at the same point in everyone’s lives. Sometimes students end up in the “wrong” programs because they just didn’t have enough time or experience to really think the decision through.

I know students who realized university at the time wasn’t right for them, left school to pursue other opportunities available, and through these experiences, realized what they truly wanted to study in university. It just took a little bit of life experience and maturity to realize what they really wanted to pursue.

Today, students are often taught this mentality that they should all go to university, and that they should know by the time they graduate high school what program they want to go into, and subsequently, what careers they should pursue. Sure it helps if you have this all planned out, but to think that all high school students should know themselves so well that they are able to select a lifelong career right after high school is a bit ridiculous.

You should be going to university for a real reason. Every major decision you make in life should be supported by strong reasons – that is, your crucial decisions should make sense to you.

You shouldn’t be going to university because your parents want you to, or because all your friends are. If you’re going to spend a significant amount of money and time on something like a university education, shouldn’t you be sure this is exactly what you want to do? That it makes sense for you at this moment in your life? That you’ll be able to approach it somewhat seriously?

I have met students who didn’t know what university programs they wanted to pursue, but didn’t want to be the odd one out with their friends or disappoint their family. So they started a university program that “sounded right”, and mid-way or post-graduation, realized they didn’t have any real interest in that field. But that’s time and money wasted, and often there is no choice but to just go with it. There just might not be enough time or money to reflect or start over – I don’t think that students should ever have to be in that situation.

For me, it was pretty simple – I was interested in medicine. And to apply to medical school, I need to be in an undergraduate university program, so the choice to attend university was a no brainer for me. I’m fortunate that I had an interest that required a university education, so I didn’t have to spend as much time thinking or reflecting on whether to even go. But not everyone is at the same points in their lives, and not everyone is ready to make the same decisions at the same time.

I have a friend who is pretty darn smart, but his grades don’t reflect that. He procrastinates his work and studying, and sometimes if he’s procrastinated too much, he just gives up and doesn’t complete his tasks. The problem is that he has no set goals or vision for what he wants to do after his degree or for a career, so he sees no reason to take his education seriously.

Conversely, I know that my GPA matters when I apply to medical school, so I take my courses much more seriously. If I didn’t feel like my marks mattered or I had no plan for why I was doing my degree, I could definitely see myself slacking off completely in school.

You need to ask yourself why you want to go to university, if it makes sense for you to do it, and subsequently, if it makes sense for you to do it right now.

Which Universities Have the Program I Want?

If you know what types of programs you want to pursue, it makes sense to apply to universities that actually have the programs you want. Sure, it’s possible that you might think other factors are more important than program (e.g. your friends/loved ones are going to certain universities, so you want to go with them, etc.), but that’s your choice. Personally, if you’re going to spend three to four years and a decent chunk of change, I think you should be learning things and getting a degree in something you actually want.

I decided to pursue some sort of life sciences program at university so that it would be easy for me to complete all of my medical school prerequisites. I applied to biology programs at most of my university choices, neuroscience at the University of Toronto, and health sciences at McMaster University.

Does It Matter Which University I Attend?

It really amazes me sometimes how much we listen to rumours and random people instead of going to the actual source for our information. Then again, I do it too – I read the newspaper, even though they are by no means the experts on any real world situation. It’s often easier to ask nearby sources – I mean, if your parents tell you something, you believe it, right?

At the same time, you need to realize that the only place you’re going to get completely accurate information from is the original source. If you’re interested in your school’s policy on a certain issue, and need to be 100% sure about it, you’re best off consulting your school’s actual documents instead of asking your principal or teacher.

When it comes to making crucial life decisions, you want to be as close to 100% sure as possible about your information. If you have a question about a certain university’s admissions guidelines, don’t ask you teacher – go to that university’s admissions webpage. Because seriously, who do you think would have the most accurate and up to date information? Sometimes I find it strange when students ask me questions about scholarship application policies, when it’s much safer to email the scholarship organization itself – I don’t work there, so it’s very possible that I could be wrong about some things.

I remember sitting at a medical school seminar hosted by one of my university’s student services clubs last year. The seminar involved six first year medical school students talking a bit about certain medical school topics and then doing some Q & A. I remember someone asking one of the medical school students what the previous year’s MCAT cutoffs were for Queen’s Medical School. I distinctly remember that the answer he gave was way off base (since Queen’s had posted their cutoffs for the previous year on their website), but of course, this student had no reason not to believe him – though like I said, I don’t see why someone would ask him a question that they could get the right answer for 100% of the time from the official website. Though it goes to show you that despite good intentions, you’re always best off getting your information from the original source.

A lot of high school (and even some university) students think that Canadian medical schools care about which university you attended for undergraduate studies, and that students from university’s with “worse reputations” are discriminated against in the admissions process. For whatever reason, York University’s science programs are sometimes labeled as having not as strong a reputation as some of the other university science programs in Canada – yet the funny thing is that if you ask a lot of students what this means and what evidence this is based on, they can’t answer. If you’re concerned about the quality of undergraduate science education, I really doubt there is a significant difference between Canadian universities. Of course, there will always be slight differences in types of programs or varieties of courses offered, and you may factor that into your decision.

I always have students asking me why I chose York University since they have heard from friends, parents, and teachers that medical schools “don’t accept applicants from York” or “discriminate against York applicants” or other similar things. Well, I know firsthand this isn’t true because my older brother, Jerome, had several medical school interviews the past couple of years, and is currently attending medical school at the University of Toronto – and yes, he’s a York University graduate. I have also met or know of several York University undergraduate students who got into Canadian medical schools the past few years. Never mind the fact that Canadian medical schools explicitly state on their websites that they essentially accept applicants from all Canadian universities. It really boggles my mind when students choose not to go to York University based on false ideas from individuals not even associated or knowledgeable on the medical school admissions process, instead of asking the actual source itself.

So for me, I didn’t have to worry about which university I ended up choosing, since all of them are acceptable for medical school applications.

Am I saying university reputation doesn’t matter or doesn’t exist? No, I am definitely not saying that, but I’m also not saying that it does. It might be true that certain employers discriminate against students from a certain university or program while showing better treatment to others – I can’t say, and that’s something you’ll have to research on your own. I don’t know the truth to this and the extent of it outside of the medical school admissions process, so I can’t accurately comment on it.

Long story short, you need to figure out whether where you go to university matters in terms of your overall career plan, and adjust your choices accordingly. And when you do research this information, please go to the original source and make sure you’re getting accurate information!

Does the University have Opportunities I’m Interested In?

A university is more than just about the classroom. It is an opportunity to not only grow and develop academically, but also socially, spiritually, personally, etc. I think all of these different types of growth are important to most people, so it’s important to pick a university that satisfies your needs and interests in areas outside academics.

If you’re interested in athletics, does the university have the teams or intramurals you enjoy and excel in? If you’re interested in music, does the university have musical bands or other types of groups you would want to join?

One of the key things that attracted me York University was research opportunity. In high school, I always wanted the chance at hands on laboratory research, but the opportunity never fully materialized – so I looked forward to the experience in university. When I was offered one of York University’s major scholarships, I inquired and was told that I could possibly start a research experience right after high school graduation. Although that could not happen for certain reasons, York University did connect me with a mentor and distinguished researcher for the fall of my first year.

Throughout the year, we would meet once or twice a month just to talk about how my university experience was going. He also let me do a bit of research shadowing during the year, attend a lab meeting, go to some talks, etc. During my summer after first year, he let me volunteer in his lab doing the exact same things other full-time summer research students were doing. In my year, I recall several other first year science students at York University also being connected with mentors, though I am not sure if this program continues today. That being said, I think this is pretty rare, and most professors at any university probably would not go out of their way to help first year students in this manner. I am very fortunate that my mentor is a big supporter of students.

In contrast, when I went to a scholarship interview at another university, I asked the judges if first year students were allowed to get involved with hands on research, and they told me that I probably wouldn’t be allowed to volunteer or work in a lab until after second year. I’m not sure if this is actually true, but at the time, the perceived differences in opportunity for hands on research available swayed my opinion heavily to York University. I liked the fact that student research opportunities were there, and I could get involved right away if I wanted to.

So if there are certain opportunities or activities that are important to you, search out and see which universities support those things.

Do You Like the University Campus?

If you’re going to spend a lot of time or even live there, you’d better make sure you like the university campus. You want to make sure that you’d enjoy the overall environment there. While there are times to take university seriously, there are also times to have fun or even just enjoy the scenery.

Most of the university campuses I’ve been to were pretty nice for the most part. Some just stood out as being a really awesome place to be, while a few seemed a bit gloomy. While I don’t think York University had my favourite campus, I preferred the more modern look it had compared to other more traditional-looking universities.

Does Location Matter?

For some students, the most important thing about university is that it’s far, far away from home. Other students don’t mind living at home if that means being able to save up some money for other things.

For me, there were a few activities in Toronto that were important to me, such as my church choir. Going to York University would allow me to remain involved with that. I also lived on campus for my first two years, so I still sort of had somewhat of an “away from home” experience. I personally don’t like change that much, so to be able to have a bit of change but not too much was a nice balance for me.

Other Factors?

We’re all different, and some of you will probably have different and additional factors to consider when choosing where you go for university. In addition, you will probably value each of these factors differently from everyone else.

There’s no “correct” or “right” combination of factors to consider when choosing your university. I just want you to encourage you to look at this as a serious decision, and use the amount of thought that it deserves. This is a decision that will affect the next three to four years of your

Related posts:

1. Mastering the University of Toronto Medical School Essay – Part 4: How Your Premedical Studies have Prepared You for Medicine Disclaimer: I will be a University of Toronto medical student...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.