should i email my references to let them know they may be contacted?

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bceagle411

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Should i make sure my references in the AMCAS activities section know they are listed and may be contacted by a lot of medical schools? or am i overthinking this?

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I don't think it's necessary to do so for most. I only did it for one because these directors didn't know I was applying to medical school and I didn't want to blindside them. For many of your activities, particularly those which got you a letter of recommendation or doctors you shadowed with, it won't be necessary. However, for others, you could consider it. In this case, there wouldn't really be any harm in doing so as it's likely to be perceived as courteous, but the chances of them being contacted at all are slim to none.

In short, you don't have to and it likely won't be necessary, but it also won't hurt if you want to - just don't say they're likely to be contacted by a lot of schools; it's more "there is a small chance you'll be contacted by a school or two".
 
People are rarely ever contacted. I've been listed as a contact for something for 3-4 years now and I have only been contacted once by a secretary. This isn't like finding a job where every calls everyone. Only when something looks suspicious do people check
 
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When they agree to be a reference, they take for granted that someone might contact them.
Haha I'm pretty sure OP (and many others, including me) don't bother to tell the people we put down on AMCAS that we did so. Hence, the question. I still don't think of it as anything serious since being listed on AMCAS is very different than being listed as a business/academic reference for jobs.
 
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