I was curious about the Honors and awards section on VMCAS. What do you guys think? If you received the same award two year in a row, would you list them singly? or just list it once and comment that you received the award both years?
I was curious about the Honors and awards section on VMCAS. What do you guys think? If you received the same award two year in a row, would you list them singly? or just list it once and comment that you received the award both years?
I think that you'd be find doing it either way, but i would list them separately if it were my application. That way the adcoms couldn't miss that you received it both years. I can't remember if that section asks you to list them in date order or in order of importance - if it is in date order, than you prob would need to list them separately anyways.
I would list it twice (if you still have room in the section) unless it's something like Dean's List or a scholarship.
I personally just listed my repeat awards as a single entry, and then wrote out in the description of duties area that I received the award more than once (I explicitly listed the dates). But my only repeat honor was Dean's List, which I think is pretty standard and not too special.
I kind of think this could go either way and be fine. Just make sure writing it more than once doesn't get repetitive or water down your application too much. An adcom once told me she doesn't like extra stuff bogging down this part of VMCAS because she only has a few minutes to skim each application . . . taking the time to read the same thing twice might mean that an adcom could run out of time and miss something else interesting/unique.
Thanks guys!
The award's in question, for me, are in Horse back riding (dressage) and were year end championship awards. So they were from different competitions but still called the same thing. Does that change your opinion? I was kinda thinking along the lines of Moosenanny, but they are also pretty significant national awards, so I dont want them to be missed, either. My goodness this whole process is insane! the stuff we agonize over that in reality is rather trivial
I listed awards like that as a category then detailed the information in the explanation area for that award. If there is one or two in particular that you feel should be held higher, list those seperatly. IE the zoo programs I developed won several important awards, but they were pretty much for the same thing; however the WWF grant was a small fotune from a big name, so I listed that one seperatly. Just try not to seem like you are double dipping. IE someone doing canine conformation might group all the regional shows but list Westminster seperatly.
Thanks guys!
The award's in question, for me, are in Horse back riding (dressage) and were year end championship awards. So they were from different competitions but still called the same thing. Does that change your opinion? I was kinda thinking along the lines of Moosenanny, but they are also pretty significant national awards, so I dont want them to be missed, either. My goodness this whole process is insane! the stuff we agonize over that in reality is rather trivial
Sorry to hijack your thread, but I have a question about this section of the application. Are we supposed to be writing everything we can about each award/honor, or is a simple description sufficient? Or does it depend on the award/honor? I mean, there's no way I need 480 characters to describe Dean's list. I know it's one area we get to highlight all our good deeds, but how much lauding do they expect us to do about ourselves?
Edit: I'm a ***** and didn't really pay too much attention to how few 480 characters are. Please disregard my above post. I'm applying to vet school and my brain has apparently contracted the stupid.
Last edited: Aug 31, 2010
The issue with this approach is that a single season of competition in some animals sports may amount to dozens or hundreds of awards, particularly for those ascending into the top competitions. At some point an applicant has to balance sharing their experience/skills/success with the adcoms willingness to read a long list of similar experiences (and maybe viewing the need to list every single award as boasting or fluffing.)
The issue with this approach is that a single season of competition in some animals sports may amount to dozens or hundreds of awards, particularly for those ascending into the top competitions. At some point an applicant has to balance sharing their experience/skills/success with the adcoms willingness to read a long list of similar experiences (and maybe viewing the need to list every single award as boasting or fluffing.)
I have the same issue as the OP, as I have ridden and shown horses for years and have numerous championships and year-end awards. I only listed one special award (a sportsmanship award), and then mentioned somewhere else (I can't remember where) that I had won numerous championship and year-end awards.
I have the same issue as the OP, as I have ridden and shown horses for years and have numerous championships and year-end awards. I only listed one special award (a sportsmanship award), and then mentioned somewhere else (I can't remember where) that I had won numerous championship and year-end awards.
I noted the most important ones, then listed an award with the title of 'additional awards in X' and then in the description made a list (ie state grand champion 1995, 1996, 1998, honors at nationals 1992, 1995, 1998, etc)
Thanks guys!
The award's in question, for me, are in Horse back riding (dressage) and were year end championship awards. So they were from different competitions but still called the same thing. Does that change your opinion? I was kinda thinking along the lines of Moosenanny, but they are also pretty significant national awards, so I dont want them to be missed, either. My goodness this whole process is insane! the stuff we agonize over that in reality is rather trivial
for anyone else who shows horses - are you listing year end awards? i wasn't at first, but i was wondering what everyone else thought
for anyone else who shows horses - are you listing year end awards? i wasn't at first, but i was wondering what everyone else thought
Eh, I haven't decided yet. I know that I am going to list one (a sportsmanship award I won), but haven't decided about the others, as I have a lot from showing horses for almost 10 years I just hate to "fill up" application space, especially when I already have a lot of other awards/honors listed. I think when I put down my riding experience in the animal section, I mentioned that I had won numerous year-end awards, so I might just leave it at that.
Eh, I haven't decided yet. I know that I am going to list one (a sportsmanship award I won), but haven't decided about the others, as I have a lot from showing horses for almost 10 years I just hate to "fill up" application space, especially when I already have a lot of other awards/honors listed. I think when I put down my riding experience in the animal section, I mentioned that I had won numerous year-end awards, so I might just leave it at that.
Agreed. There are multiple opportunities to list equestrian competition on your application. I don't think winning a local year end award is that notable. That's part of the reason some people have so many to list (the other part is they're great riders, not doubting that!). Winning the Maclay, USET medal, NHS, QH Congress/Worlds, etc - that would be notable.
Relatedly to some above posts, I think I'm just going to list my renewable scholarships once, as the first year I earned them, and then put in the beginning of the description that they were renewed.
Sorry to revive a 6 year old thread, but I had a semi-relevant question . for the "Achievement" section of the VMCAS application, I'm not sure what I should include. I have one semester when I made Dean's List and one semester when I made President's List. I was splitting credit hours between two different universities for a few semesters so I didn't have enough enrolled hours at either one to earn a transcript honor, even though my GPA from the time was fine.
I haven't had any scholarships or other official academic awards. I think I've had a pretty magnanimous and successful volunteer and employment career thus far, although I don't have any awards to really show for those efforts.
I feel that including 2 semesters of pretty generic academic honors, amongst 8 years of undergraduate records is pretty unimpressive, and may just come across as pandering / desperation. Am I better off just leaving this section empty?
Sorry to revive a 6 year old thread, but I had a semi-relevant question . for the "Achievement" section of the VMCAS application, I'm not sure what I should include. I have one semester when I made Dean's List and one semester when I made President's List. I was splitting credit hours between two different universities for a few semesters so I didn't have enough enrolled hours at either one to earn a transcript honor, even though my GPA from the time was fine.
I haven't had any scholarships or other official academic awards. I think I've had a pretty magnanimous and successful volunteer and employment career thus far, although I don't have any awards to really show for those efforts.
I feel that including 2 semesters of pretty generic academic honors, amongst 8 years of undergraduate records is pretty unimpressive, and may just come across as pandering / desperation. Am I better off just leaving this section empty?
Do you maybe have any awards you might have earned in extracurriculars or something? I didn't much to talk about in terms of academic awards but I ended up listing a few dog show awards after seeing similar things listed on accepted applicant threads. Maybe take a look at accepted applicant threads just to get a feel for what types of things people have listed.
Personally, I think you should list what you have even if that's all there is. There's no reason to leave it empty just because you don't think your awards are particularly meaningful. Is an empty awards section among 8 years of undergraduate records going to look better than two semester of awards?
Someone else might have a different opinion though and that's just my two cents.
