How important are ECs?

[Quicksilver005]

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[jr doctor in sd]

I know a guy with over a 3.9 from UCI and a 38 MCAT denied an interview at UCI SOM (avg of 3.7/32). He had a few months of research/ a half year of clinical volunteering. Besides that, he had NO other medically-related extracurriculars. He also wrote his PS on his love for Tae Kwon Do (which I lol'd at him for and told him I did not know if writing an essay about hurting people and fighting is good for a career of empathy and caring for the injured/sick).

That being said, there are people on and off of SDN getting into med schools with 3.6/30 MCATs with great ECs - and these people aren't even URM! (gives me tons of hope!)

How important are ECs really? the way i see it, ecs are just there to decide if two people with the same gpa, mcats, level of LORs, then they go to the ECs to differiate. Do ECs give you a major bump or are they just a small portion of the overall application process?

I got a lotta different ecs thats a little unique, but iono if it will do me much. im a drama major, but med schools dont give about our majors, so iono how much weight my ecs carry.

 

[DrYoda]

Clinical ECs are very important and a lack of them can quickly sink your application. You don't need hundreds of hours, which seems common on SDN, but you definetly should have some. Alot of schools are also looking for research, but that depends on the individual school.

I have an EC that is a bit unique and I put down basically to take up space and show an outside interest. It ended giving me something in common with one of my interviewers and much of the interview ended up being a conversation related to that EC. So you never know what will be helpful.

 

[Mobius1985]

Do ECs give you a major bump or are they just a small portion of the overall application process?

Even if you think ECs are just tie breakers, you play the game, or you lose.

 

[Textuality]

He also wrote his PS on his love for Tae Kwon Do (which I lol'd at him for and told him I did not know if writing an essay about hurting people and fighting is good for a career of empathy and caring for the injured/sick).
)

Haha, that was half of my PS too!! And it actually came up at a lot of interviews, which was fun.

And how much EC's matter also probably depends on the level of competitiveness the school you are applying to. For example, you can have great numbers, but if you have nothing else, you'll probably still get edged out at schools like Hopkins and Harvard (Penn for example takes a lot of nontraditionals these days, which probably says something about the value of ECs and experience!).

 

[hanjg]

I'm certainly hoping they count for something at the competitive research schools. It is very hard to quantify and mdapps will leave your head spinning and your stomach turning trying to figure it out. Some schools do appear to be more number hungry than others. Some appear to be more holistic. I'm doing my best to find the ones that will look a point or two below their mean for a non-urm but I'm having trouble identifying them with the data we all have to view.

I think I'll invest in a dart board AND some 1-800-Fortune calls to Madame ZsaZsu.