Question about Activities/Work section on AMCAS

[PreMade]

1) How do I list the hours for when I helped my parents out at work? What section would this go under?

My parents have a small business which I help them out with. I'm not actually an employee (they don't claim me as an employee nor do they pay me), but I do have a role that consumed much of my life. I have helped them for over 10 years, but I'm a nontraditional student and the hourly commitment varied throughout the years. One year I wasn't going to school I helped them out 7 days a week for 12 hours each day. Another year when I was busy with school and volunteering, I only helped out for 3 hours a day after classes. Some days I didn't help due to exams. I have no clue how many hours I have helped them.


2) What do I put for contact that no longer exist?

For my activities section I want to put martial arts, but the place I went to closed down and I have no way of contacting these people. What do I put for the contacts? I don't want to say "I did this and that" and not put a contact. Would they think different if I didn't have a contact?

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[Catalystik]

1) How do I list the hours for when I helped my parents out at work? What section would this go under?

My parents have a small business which I help them out with. I'm not actually an employee (they don't claim me as an employee nor do they pay me), but I do have a role that consumed much of my life. I have helped them for over 10 years, but I'm a nontraditional student and the hourly commitment varied throughout the years. One year I wasn't going to school I helped them out 7 days a week for 12 hours each day. Another year when I was busy with school and volunteering, I only helped out for 3 hours a day after classes. Some days I didn't help due to exams. I have no clue how many hours I have helped them.

2) What do I put for contact that no longer exist?

For my activities section I want to put martial arts, but the place I went to closed down and I have no way of contacting these people. What do I put for the contacts? I don't want to say "I did this and that" and not put a contact. Would they think different if I didn't have a contact?

1) List this experience as Employment. I'm sure you received other benefits besides a paycheck, whether tangible or not. Make a best-faith effort to approximate hours worked.

2) You are not required to list a contact for a Hobby. If you wish, you could list a friend who can attest to your involvement, or yourself.

 

[PreMade]

Thanks for the reply.

Should I put volunteering work I did that is not that meaningful?

This volunteer work was nothing meaningful in terms of the role I had (usual labor work) and I will not include it in my personal statement, but should I still put it in the activities section?

I know we are only suppose to include meaningful activities/volunteer/work, but that is the only volunteering work I did that semester and it looks like I wasn't doing anything EC besides school. I spent a good time doing it but there's really nothing to talk about in terms of having meaning.

I have many other volunteering work to add, but just don't like having gap semester where it makes me look unproductive.

 

[Catalystik]

Should I put volunteering work I did that is not that meaningful?

This volunteer work was nothing meaningful in terms of the role I had (usual labor work) and I will not include it in my personal statement, but should I still put it in the activities section?

Tell me more details about the role you took and what the volunteer position entailed.

 

[kraskadva]

1) How do I list the hours for when I helped my parents out at work? What section would this go under?

My parents have a small business which I help them out with. I'm not actually an employee (they don't claim me as an employee nor do they pay me), but I do have a role that consumed much of my life. I have helped them for over 10 years, but I'm a nontraditional student and the hourly commitment varied throughout the years. One year I wasn't going to school I helped them out 7 days a week for 12 hours each day. Another year when I was busy with school and volunteering, I only helped out for 3 hours a day after classes. Some days I didn't help due to exams. I have no clue how many hours I have helped them.

I'm also a non-trad and had something similar with a family business, though I was paid.
In AMCAS for experiences you can list multiple date periods (up to 5, IIRC) for the same activity and they ask for total hours for each repetition. I broke mine up into PT vs FT, calculated or estimated total hours for the time period and used that.
Also, if there is another employee at your parent's business that you can get to serve as the contact, it looks better than putting your Mom down.

 

[samac]

I wouldn't list it as volunteering because you're not doing anything that really helps people other than your family. If you list it at all I'd list it as employment but don't put your parents as the contact.

 

[PreMade]

Tell me more details about the role you took and what the volunteer position entailed.

I helped organize audio tapes into sections and placed braille onto books that would be used for the blind.

I had a reason and "meaning" why I wanted to volunteer there. If asked during the interview I will elaborate why I choose to volunteer there. When I say "not really meaningful," I didn't know I wanted to be a doctor at the time and volunteering there didn't contribute to me wanting to becoming a doctor. I will not mention it in my personal statement because I like to focus on areas that really contributed to me wanting to pursue medicine.

 

[Catalystik]

I helped organize audio tapes into sections and placed braille onto books that would be used for the blind.

I had a reason and "meaning" why I wanted to volunteer there. If asked during the interview I will elaborate why I choose to volunteer there. When I say "not really meaningful," I didn't know I wanted to be a doctor at the time and volunteering there didn't contribute to me wanting to becoming a doctor. I will not mention it in my personal statement because I like to focus on areas that really contributed to me wanting to pursue medicine.

It sounds like the activity was meaningful in a societal sense, even if you don't feel it gave you personal insights. Everything on your application need not be applicable to medicine, nor should everything be mentioned in the PS (thank goodnesss). What was the organization? Do you have a contact to list? How many hours did you spend doing this?

 

[LizzyM]

1) How do I list the hours for when I helped my parents out at work? What section would this go under?

My parents have a small business which I help them out with. I'm not actually an employee (they don't claim me as an employee nor do they pay me), but I do have a role that consumed much of my life. I have helped them for over 10 years, but I'm a nontraditional student and the hourly commitment varied throughout the years. One year I wasn't going to school I helped them out 7 days a week for 12 hours each day. Another year when I was busy with school and volunteering, I only helped out for 3 hours a day after classes. Some days I didn't help due to exams. I have no clue how many hours I have helped them.

I concur that listing your parents' small business should be listed as employment. Even if you did not draw a paycheck, you contributed to the business which in turn provided your family with the income needed to pay your expenses. At one time there were several of us on the adcom who had worked in similar family businesses... we get it. If there are no non-family members, it would be ok to list your mom or dad as the contact.

I helped organize audio tapes into sections and placed braille onto books that would be used for the blind.

I had a reason and "meaning" why I wanted to volunteer there. If asked during the interview I will elaborate why I choose to volunteer there. When I say "not really meaningful," I didn't know I wanted to be a doctor at the time and volunteering there didn't contribute to me wanting to becoming a doctor. I will not mention it in my personal statement because I like to focus on areas that really contributed to me wanting to pursue medicine.

This is a very unusual volunteer activity and one that will set you apart. It doesn't matter that it was not related to your desire to be a physician, it shows your willingness to be of service, in this case to be of service to people you may never meet. No warm fuzzies from grateful recipients, no glamorous foreign travel or any of that stuff; adcoms will be impressed.