ERAS and undergrad gap

[medstudent22]

I have searched SDN and most responses regarding this topic have to do with post undergrad gaps.

I completed 1 semester of undergrad after high school. Grades were fine, B's, nothing special or concerning. After the first semester I took a leave of absence due to a family illness/death and I wasn't sure I even wanted to be in college at that point. Started working and held all types of different jobs landscaping, manufacturing, serving/bartending -- all full-time.

Returned to college after the 2 year hiatus, at a different undergrad and transferred that 1 semester. Continued straight through 4 years undergrad.

So my question is do I include that 1 semester of college at a different university under the education section? And then having to "account" for my time list all of those unskilled jobs I held for 2 years when I was 18 and 19 under work experience?

I have no problem listing this if it is necessary just to be completely transparent, obviously I had to for AMCAS. But I feel like it adds a lot of irrelevant information to a professional CV. I've repeatedly heard not to include medically unrelated experiences unless it is very important or "fills gaps." Not sure if this qualifies as one of those gaps that need explanation, so I defer to those who know more...

Hopefully aPD and others will have advice. Thank you!

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[NotAProgDirector]

I would avoid gaps in your timeline -- people might assume you're hiding something (like going to jail, etc...). A simple compromise would be to list one experience for the 2 year period, and state that you had many low skilled jobs including landscaping, bartending, etc. That way it doesn't become a huge distraction on your CV, but fills the hole. Don't worry about the "Supervisor" field etc. just put "Various" and you'll be fine. If you want to list them all as separate activities, that's fine also.

 

[medstudent22]

I would avoid gaps in your timeline -- people might assume you're hiding something (like going to jail, etc...). A simple compromise would be to list one experience for the 2 year period, and state that you had many low skilled jobs including landscaping, bartending, etc. That way it doesn't become a huge distraction on your CV, but fills the hole. Don't worry about the "Supervisor" field etc. just put "Various" and you'll be fine. If you want to list them all as separate activities, that's fine also.

Thanks aPD, I appreciate the advice and suggestion. So just to clarify, for myself and anyone with any permutation of the timeline above, it is important to account for all time from high school graduation until present in ERAS?

I guess I was confused because, unlike AMCAS, ERAS doesn't explicitly state that it is necessary to include all undergrad institutions attended, etc. Thus, if I only include the college I earned my BA from, there would be no gap to explain, unless someone were to do the math based on my age, I suppose. But it appears the bottom line is that the ERAS app doesn't mimic a professional CV so much as it should be a continuous account of activities since high school. Is that the correct understanding?

 

[NotAProgDirector]

I agree, but that's just my opinion. n=1, others may disagree.