In terms of activities...

[Dattebayo]

Greetings SDN,
I've been an on-and-off peruser of these forums and wanted to get some advice/input on my ECs as I plan to apply this June.

Campus Club - president (1 year), active member (3 years)
Hospital Volunteer - 80 hours
Running Club for the disabled - active member (1 year)
Research involvement - 60 hrs
Shadowing (3 different physicians)
2 Internships in my major
Volunteer services - 90+ hours
Worked part-time 2 different jobs in college (15-20 hours/week) to pay rent/help with tuition

- first job 6 months, 2nd job 1 year​

Medical mission (2 weeks)
EMT-certified
Involved in summer camp throughout college

-Currently working at assisted living home (~20 hours/week)
-Currently involved in leadership of a local organization
-Currently starting up volunteering work again

Help me identify any weaknesses! I am open to suggestions and/or constructive criticisms. I tried to summarize as best as possible but will clarify anything if needed. Thank you!

[EDIT] I am a non-trad, and recently finished taking the MCAT. Would like insight on how to adequately spend my time since I have more time now...hopefully!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Erza]

I can't say I'm accurate but from what I think
-do more hospital hrs to 100...
-everything is good like you're overqualified in terms of ECs
... Just my opinion

 

[Dattebayo]

I can't say I'm accurate but from what I think
-do more hospital hrs to 100...
-everything is good like you're overqualified in terms of ECs
... Just my opinion

Thanks Erza! I was wondering whether my nursing home job would be considered in place of hospital volunteering, since I interact with patients on a regular basis.

 

[Goro]

ECs are, frankly, weak. Double those numbers to be competitive, especially the volunteering and the research? At least 10 that. In my prime, I could spend 60 hrs in the lab in a single week (over 7 days!)

And get off campus and out of your comfort zone.

The medical mission will be viewed as "medical tourism"

Greetings SDN,
I've been an on-and-off peruser of these forums and wanted to get some advice/input on my ECs as I plan to apply this June.

Campus Club - president (1 year), active member (3 years)
Hospital Volunteer - 80 hours
Running Club for the disabled - active member (1 year)
Research involvement - 60 hrs
Shadowing (3 different physicians)
2 Internships in my major
Volunteer services - 90+ hours
Worked part-time 2 different jobs in college (15-20 hours/week) to pay rent/help with tuition

- first job 6 months, 2nd job 1 year​

Medical mission (2 weeks)
EMT-certified
Involved in summer camp throughout college

-Currently working at assisted living home (~20 hours/week)
-Currently involved in leadership of a local organization
-Currently starting up volunteering work again

Help me identify any weaknesses! I am open to suggestions and/or constructive criticisms. I tried to summarize as best as possible but will clarify anything if needed. Thank you!

 

[PB&Jam]

Somewhat related question: I have been working in labs since the summer after my freshman year in college (I am now a junior). I have accrued at least a couple hundred hours I'm sure. However, I haven't been documenting them very closely. When taking about my research, should I estimate? I don't want to sell myself short or, on the flip side, vastly overestimate my lab experience.

 

[Pagan FutureDoc]

How you do have just 60hrs of research, there's no way that's a meaningful experience.

 

[Dattebayo]

ECs are, frankly, weak. Double those numbers to be competitive, especially the volunteering and the research? At least 10 that. In my prime, I could spend 60 hrs in the lab in a single week (over 7 days!)

And get off campus and out of your comfort zone.

The medical mission will be viewed as "medical tourism"

Thanks Goro!
Unfortunately, I've been out of school for a while and wasn't able to continue my research after graduation. They had a requirement of being an undergraduate to stay in the lab. So I've been concentrating my efforts on my interests, which would be volunteering for the homeless and working with the elderly. Please let me know how I could better show schools that I am fit to apply.

 

[Goro]

Show service to others less fortunate than yourself, and more clinical volunteering. You're a non-trad now, and so can get cut some slack for the low research hors. The working part-time through college is always a plus.

Thanks Goro!
Unfortunately, I've been out of school for a while and wasn't able to continue my research after graduation. They had a requirement of being an undergraduate to stay in the lab. So I've been concentrating my efforts on my interests, which would be volunteering for the homeless and working with the elderly. Please let me know how I could better show schools that I am fit to apply.

 

[Dattebayo]

How you do have just 60hrs of research, there's no way that's a meaningful experience.

Please see my response to Goro above. I actually started this pre-med track a little late, hence the lack of experiences that many might expect. Of course, that by no means should exempt me from low experience hours. I am trying!

Also, I disagree with your 60hr =/= meaningful experience. To me, it was my first research experience and though it may have been grunt work, I gleaned a lot from my PIs experiences as well as the post-docs working with me.