Great tips for entering your "Work/Activities" for AMCAS

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hey guys, i was wondering if you guys could help me out with the following...

1. is dean's honor list (5 semesters) worth putting on the work/activities section?

2. can "organization name" just mean the name of a club?

3. if i was in club X as a general member freshman year and the secretary during sophomore year, should i put that down as two different activities?

thanks so much!
 
stagenames said:
1. is dean's honor list (5 semesters) worth putting on the work/activities section?

2. can "organization name" just mean the name of a club?

3. if i was in club X as a general member freshman year and the secretary during sophomore year, should i put that down as two different activities?
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1. Don't mention it unless you have other awards/honors/scholarships, in which case it can go in the same space. It will be clear from your transcript if you performed well academically.

2. Yes.

3. No. You would list it under leadership for the dates that you held office, then mention in the narrative that you were a general member the year before that.
 
BrainBuff said:
You are WRONG. Some abstracts are published in top journals which happen to have an ABSTRACTS SECTION. They are Pubmed searchable as such and they are indeed PUBLICATIONS. Abstracts that are part of a conference, as a presentation, and which are not associated with any journal, are a completely different thing.
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Sure, if you have an abstract that's been published in a peer reviewed journal, list it under publications. Most of the time when people are talking about abstracts though, they mean something submitted to a conference and then "published" in the conference proceedings.
 
klmnop said:
I disagree, do whatever you want but 99% of the people you ask don't use bullets.

she admits other adcoms like paragraphs... its merely a personal preference. do your homework assdumb: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=9650316&postcount=2458

this is more of what i was driving at: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=9643574&postcount=170
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You clearly missed the point of her post, ( and the sarcasm ) so try to restraint yourself before calling others unnecessary names.

Warm, fuzzy paragraphs are usually more fluff than anything else. But, then again, some people have a hard time saying anything meaningful in a few words.
 
BrainBuff said:
You clearly missed the point of her post, ( and the sarcasm ) so try to restraint yourself before calling others unnecessary names.

Warm, fuzzy paragraphs are usually more fluff than anything else. But, then again, some people have a hard time saying anything meaningful in a few words.
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I didn't miss anything, she continues in other posts do indicate the importance of conciseness above all else. the emphasis of my post was not on her description, but the fact that other adcoms prefer things written out. if you can show me evidence that LizzyM's preference for bullets is the majority, then i welcome the correction. If you read my advice you will see there is nothing warm and fuzzy about what I suggested, and no rambling. i said 4-5 sentences which should be far lower than the character limit. IMO a short description shows the adcom your ECs weren't doctored or performed hastily. if you can convince them in 4 sentences that you actually did something in your lab and learned something, instead of washed beakers (or whatever the experience) then I would most definitely write it out.

i dont know what lizzym would say but i suspect bulleted points allow her to weed out applicants faster whose activities have no value.

also, i called you a name because you said i was "WRONG".... for future reference, opinions cannot be wrong. i made no claim that lizzym said this, or adcoms like that. i voiced my opinion in response to the question. learn how to do this yourself
 
Hey guys, this thread is very helpful! I've looked around for the answer to my question, but am coming up with different answers.

Over the year I've been working as clinical research assistant for a surgeon. In March an abstract for one of our studies was submitted. It will eventually be published and presented to the American College of Surgeons sometime in October.

I've already listed my research experience as one of my activities, but from previous posts, I understand that I should also include this abstract submission as a publication. Is that correct?

Thank you,

k20.
 
k20z3 said:
Over the year I've been working as clinical research assistant for a surgeon. In March an abstract for one of our studies was submitted. It will eventually be published and presented to the American College of Surgeons sometime in October.

I've already listed my research experience as one of my activities, but from previous posts, I understand that I should also include this abstract submission as a publication. Is that correct?
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No.

If the abstract has been submitted but not accepted, don't list it anywhere.

If it is accepted to a peer-reviewed national journal, you may cite it as a Publication at the end of your narrative about the research activity, even if the page number isn't yet known (usually you would know the month it will appear). Once it appears in print, it's listable in the category "Publication."

If it has been accepted for presentation at a conference and the abstract will appear in the booklet published by the conference, it is not a publication.

You could list it under Presentations after you present it, but not before. If it is not yet presented by the time you submit, you mention the accepted abstract at the end of the Research description, and then later update schools after the Presentation has occured in one of your update letters.
 
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Catalystik said:
No.

If the abstract has been submitted but not accepted, don't list it anywhere.

If it is accepted to a peer-reviewed national journal, you may cite it as a Publication, even if the page number isn't yet known (usually you would know the month it will appear).

If it has been accepted for presentation at a conference and the abstract will appear in the booklet published by the conference, it is not a Publication.

You could list it under Presentations after you present it, but not before. If it is not yet presented by the time you submit, you mention the accepted abstract at the end of the Research description, and then later update schools after the Presentation has occured in one of your update letters.
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Thanks for the clarification, Catalystik!
 
klmnop said:
i dont know what lizzym would say but i suspect bulleted points allow her to weed out applicants faster whose activities have no value.
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But, you are WRONG. And just follow your own suggestions and don't be lazy. You can learn what LizzyM would say by doing a simple search. Her feedback is all over this thread and BULLETS are strongly recommended.

Needless is to say that we all really trust her advice, over YOURS. Now go and have a cookie, it seems that you need it.
 
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BrainBuff said:
But, you are WRONG. And just follow your own suggestions and don't be lazy. You can learn what LizzyM would say by doing a simple search. Her feedback is all over this thread and BULLETS are strongly recommended.

Needless is to say that we all really trust her advice, over YOURS. Now go and have a cookie, it seems that you need it.
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why such vitriol? i've had adcom members say i should absolutely never do bullets. it's clearly a preference issue..
 
BrainBuff said:
But, you are WRONG. And just follow your own suggestions and don't be lazy. You can learn what LizzyM would say by doing a simple search. Her feedback is all over this thread and BULLETS are strongly recommended.

Needless is to say that we all really trust her advice, over YOURS. Now go and have a cookie, it seems that you need it.
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AGAIN.........please see my own post on the previous page.

It is adcom dependent. Here at BUSM they say never to do bullets because you don't show why or how your activities are important.

They prefer the following 3 things to be seen from the 2-3 adcom members I met here:

1. What you did
2. Why you did it
3. What you learned.

This was also recommended by 2-3 adcoms at USF med.

That said, bullets are liked by some other adcoms elsewhere like LizzyM.

The point is and this is the point I made when I was reviewing this section for people last summer and last year,

1. Do what you feel will make you come across and say what needs to be said to sell yourself i.e. market yourself to an adcom the best that you can.

If you can do point number 1 above effectively with just bullets that's fine. if you think telling why you did it and what you learned will better market yourself then do it.

But which ever method you use

1. Be concise.
2. Don't over do it. i.e. don't use all 1325 characters just for the sake of it if you can do either method above with less and be more effective. That's when adcoms get annoyed and can see through you.
3. Be able to market yourself well with whichever method you use.

Also, people LizzyM is a great help but remember she is ONE adcom member at ONE school. what some adcom members like might be different then others.

so the decision to use bullets vs. paragraphs which answer the 3 questions I spoke of is something you have to decide for yourself not just by taking one person's word that they prefer one method. Because as you talk to more committee members you see that different people and different schools have different views.

So you will have to determine what is more effective for you. there are quite a few on here who were able to use just bullets but did so effectively and got in places. And then there were others who were more effective at selling themselves and bringing themselves across to the medical school by using the method that both BUSM and USF COM recommended to me.

Ok. that's my piece. Good luck.
 
I've done some non-basic science research (ecology/biodiversity related) and I was wondering whether this holds much value. Should it be listed if even if I was not published?
 
goobears said:
I've done some non-basic science research (ecology/biodiversity related) and I was wondering whether this holds much value. Should it be listed if even if I was not published?
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i would say yes though i am not an adcom.
research is like a job and because you spent a significant amount of time and effort on it i think it is significant enough to mention for sure.
if your research has any biomedical links or crossover at all, then all the better.
 
hi,

for research, i have not been to any of the conferences, but i was second author for a poster and 2 talk abstracts for national conferences. how should i list these? should i combine these with my research section or list them under another category?

thanks!
 
txt1234 said:
hi,

for research, i have not been to any of the conferences, but i was second author for a poster and 2 talk abstracts for national conferences. how should i list these? should i combine these with my research section or list them under another category?

thanks!
Click to expand...


There is a separate subcategory on activities for conferences attended and for presentations/posters and for publications.

So which of those 3 tabs you choose is the question. Personally I think presentations/posters would be the best category for this. I would list under such.

Whether you group them together or list them separately is up to you.
 
txt1234 said:
i was second author for a poster and 2 talk abstracts for national conferences.
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gujuDoc said:
I think presentations/posters would be the best category for this. I would list under such.
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Give yourself credit for second authorship, but be sure to include that the poster/presentation was given at
1) XXXX Conference, in XCityX, on Xdate, by ________. And
2) YYYYY Conference, in CityY, on Ydate, by ________________.

If you are short on spaces, it would be equally appropriate to add the poster/abstract authorship to the end of the description of the Research, with the same information as above.
 
Catalystik said:
Give yourself credit for second authorship, but be sure to include that the poster/presentation was given at
1) XXXX Conference, in XCityX, on Xdate, by ________. And
2) YYYYY Conference, in CityY, on Ydate, by ________________.

If you are short on spaces, it would be equally appropriate to add the poster/abstract authorship to the end of the description of the Research, with the same information as above.
Click to expand...

Good call. Yeah do what the above states. Good luck.
 
1. Should I list a publication in my university's undergraduate journal as a publication, but mention in the description that it is not peer-reviewed?

2. If I had a publication (above), presentation, and bench/lab research, should I list them as three separate activities?
 
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BiochemGuy said:
1. Should I list a publication in my university's undergraduate journal as a publication, but mention in the description that it is not peer-reviewed?

2. If I had a publication (above), presentation, and bench/lab research, should I list them as three separate activities?
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1. No. I would list it at the end the the description of the Research instead.

2. Publication trumps Presentation. List the Research and list the Pub, putting it at the end one of the listings that you presented it at XXXX Conference, in XXXCity, on XXXX date.
 
Can I group together under research one time when I actually did typically summer research in organic chemistry and another time when I was basically just helping out with whatever I could in a lab? I did kind of have a project in the second one, but it was mostly just me helping out with other peoples project. The thing is, with this one, if I were to get grilled about it in an interview, I would be done..
 
In the explanation section, I just talk about what the activity is. For things like shadowing, I basically put that I watched surgeries, clinic hours and departmental meetings.

Am I supposed to put why I did the activity or what I learned or anything like that? That would take up significantly more space and I hear they don't want that.
 
Dr Gerrard said:
In the explanation section, I just talk about what the activity is. For things like shadowing, I basically put that I watched surgeries, clinic hours and departmental meetings.

Am I supposed to put why I did the activity or what I learned or anything like that? That would take up significantly more space and I hear they don't want that.
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I did the same. For a couple of activities, I barely had enough room to explain what all was involved, much less describe its impact on me.

Several secondaries I've looked at, though, ask you to discuss a few of the activities from your primary in more depth. I'm guessing you'll also be asked about them in interviews if you get to that point. I wouldn't worry too much about it, but if you can put meaningful stuff in there I would include it.
 
I'm on the varsity basketball team at my college and I've already listed it under intercollegiate athletics. However, our team also does some community service every year including holding basketball clinics and habitat for humanity. I was wondering if I can list this separately. If so, what should the experience name be?

Thanks
 
Hi all,

who do I put as contact name for being president of amsa local chapter and being a regular member of the national organization?

And where do I put shadowing experience under? Answer will be much appreciated. Thanks
 
Hi:
I have couple of activities that I am not sure how to handle.

1. Volunteered at a hospital for 2 summers in high school and then 1 summer after high school. During first year college, not much activity due to scheduling of "training" required to move from that volunteer position to another higher position. After completing the training, started volunteering at higher position in the summer after first year college and it is continuing to date. Should I not mention the summers done in high school at all. Or should I combine the whole experience into one activity (started in 2005) or I should make two: one for summer experience and one for the higher position experience

2. Similar situation with coaching. In high school, played a sport in the same program that I am coaching now for three year. Got into coaching a little bit in high school as team statistician (go figure!) . So, should I not mention the high school experience or combine it with coaching or keep it separate.

Thanks for your help!
 
lilazyballer said:
I'm on the varsity basketball team at my college and I've already listed it under intercollegiate athletics. However, our team also does some community service every year including holding basketball clinics and habitat for humanity. I was wondering if I can list this separately. If so, what should the experience name be?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Call it volunteer, non-clinical and be sure to list it. Most varsity athletes don't have much in the way of volunteerism on their applications because they are so pressed for time. Give yourself credit for what you did and be sure to list it as a separate entry.
 
Dr Gerrard said:
Can I group together under research one time when I actually did typically summer research in organic chemistry and another time when I was basically just helping out with whatever I could in a lab? I did kind of have a project in the second one, but it was mostly just me helping out with other peoples project. The thing is, with this one, if I were to get grilled about it in an interview, I would be done..
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It might be better to list them separately. Does the 2nd gig fall under Employment by any chance?
 
FLATPEG said:
1) who do I put as contact name for being president of amsa local chapter and being a regular member of the national organization?

2)And where do I put shadowing experience under? Answer will be much appreciated. Thanks
Click to expand...
1) If there was no faculty mentor, or organizer at the headquarters, then list the VP.

2) Other. Then name the experience Physician Shadowing.
 
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concernedP said:
1. Volunteered at a hospital for 2 summers in high school and then 1 summer after high school. During first year college, not much activity due to scheduling of "training" required to move from that volunteer position to another higher position. After completing the training, started volunteering at higher position in the summer after first year college and it is continuing to date. Should I not mention the summers done in high school at all. Or should I combine the whole experience into one activity (started in 2005) or I should make two: one for summer experience and one for the higher position experience

2. Similar situation with coaching. In high school, played a sport in the same program that I am coaching now for three year. Got into coaching a little bit in high school as team statistician (go figure!) . So, should I not mention the high school experience or combine it with coaching or keep it separate.
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1) I would list them as two activities.
a) List the Community Service-Medical/Clinical and name the activity, Give the dates for the summer after HS. Put in the hours per week. Describe. Give total hours. Then list the dates for the previous two summers after saying uyou engaged in the same activity for the previous two summers. Give hours for each year. At the end of the narrative, give a grand total of hours for that activity.
b) Community Service-Medical/Clinical or Leadership (depending on what you think). Give a different name to the activity. Give the start date and put "to present". Give hours per week. Describe (including its extention from the previous activity). In the narrative you can mention the details of the training since it sounded prolonged. Give total hours at the end.

2) You would not list the HS sport on its own. But you may include the HS coaching since it continued into the college years. In the narrative about the coaching, you can mention the HS involvement with that sport. Coaching can go under Teaching or Leadership, depending on your opinion. I presume it was not year-round. Some options:
a)You could list the most recent season with beginning and end dates, then hours/week. Then mention the other seasons you participated in the narrative, giving a grand total for hours for all seasons at the end.
b) OR, you could name it Seasonal or Spring Coaching (as a cue that it is not year-round), put the first date when you began and the last date as the end of the most recent season. Don't put in hours per week in the header. In the narrative make clear that the activity took place for X years, during these dates, for X hours per week. Give a grand total of hours at the end.
 
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If I had a year of hospital volunteering in college, and 4 years of hospital volunteering in HS, is it alright to focus on the experience in college but tag a line at the bottom of the description about the HS experience? Or is it too long ago to have it mentioned?
These are 2 different hospitals I have volunteered at... as well as different departments.
 
dragon529 said:
If I had a year of hospital volunteering in college, and 4 years of hospital volunteering in HS, is it alright to focus on the experience in college but tag a line at the bottom of the description about the HS experience? Or is it too long ago to have it mentioned?
These are 2 different hospitals I have volunteered at... as well as different departments.
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It is ok to do. Just make that distinction bit more clear. I did something like this in my shadowing stuff since I grouped shadowing and they weren't all at the same place.

At least I feel its ok. A lot of people use their HS experiences more in their PS cuz that's the place where you can talk about stuff prior to college.
 
I've got 9 activities/jobs that are solid, but I don't have too much more to add. I've also got a few other things that I could include, but that aren't great. Should I include any of these?

1) Dean's list (pretty much every semester I think)
2) Pre-health honor society (went to some meetings, but not hugely involved)
3) Intramural sports (good soccer teams, flag football)
4) Boys State (American Legion program before senior year of high school)

Also, should I group hobbies/activities that I enjoy together if I haven't done anything special with them? Or should I even bother?
 
First post! 😍
Thanks to everyone for excellent advice! My question is regarding abstracts: can I lump accepted abstracts for future conferences (2) together with abstracts from past conferences? And give the dates of future conferences? Thanks!
 
AH3 said:
I've got 9 activities/jobs that are solid, but I don't have too much more to add. I've also got a few other things that I could include, but that aren't great. Should I include any of these?

1) Dean's list (pretty much every semester I think)
2) Pre-health honor society (went to some meetings, but not hugely involved)
3) Intramural sports (good soccer teams, flag football)
4) Boys State (American Legion program before senior year of high school)

Also, should I group hobbies/activities that I enjoy together if I haven't done anything special with them? Or should I even bother?
Click to expand...

1) If you have space I would include this
2) Meh. I doubt that it would hurt/help you.
3) I included these because I really enjoyed being involved in intramural sports and thought my involvement helped my argument that I would be a good addition to the class.
4) If you did it in high school then I wouldn't include it.
 
lam27 said:
First post! 😍
Thanks to everyone for excellent advice! My question is regarding abstracts: can I lump accepted abstracts for future conferences (2) together with abstracts from past conferences? And give the dates of future conferences? Thanks!
Click to expand...

Seems a little strange to me to list things you haven't actually done yet. You can always mention these during the interview.
 
AH3 said:
I've got 9 activities/jobs that are solid, but I don't have too much more to add. I've also got a few other things that I could include, but that aren't great. Should I include any of these?

1) Dean's list (pretty much every semester I think)
2) Pre-health honor society (went to some meetings, but not hugely involved)
3) Intramural sports (good soccer teams, flag football)
4) Boys State (American Legion program before senior year of high school)

Also, should I group hobbies/activities that I enjoy together if I haven't done anything special with them? Or should I even bother?
Click to expand...
1) if you have other Awards and Honors you're listing, throw the deans list into the same slot. Otherwise, don't bother.

2) No.

3) Yes. If you have other hobbies you can include them in the same slot, or use a new slot if it's something involved or more meaningful. Include all hobbies, as they are great fodder for interview conversations and it makes you look more interesting.

4) No.
 
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JJMrK said:
Seems a little strange to me to list things you haven't actually done yet. You can always mention these during the interview.
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Well, the abstracts have been completed and accepted to the conference, so it is perfectly alright to list them. I don't know what you mean about ' a little strange '...
 
I have read through a lot of this thread and many times the advice to people with too many activities is to group them. My problem is, how? I am a Spanish major, and have had many different medical translating activities. 1 semester shadowing a translator in a hospital, and 1 semester each interning at 2 different clinics (that obviously have different contact people). Ideally I would like to list these things together under something like, "Medical Spanish Translation", but how do I list the amount of hours/contact name/organization name when they are all different?
 
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I know what you mean. Fortunately, there is not ONE correct way of doing that. Try to make it as clear as possible. If you have extra spaces to use, then do not group them. List them separately.
 
BrainBuff said:
Well, the abstracts have been completed and accepted to the conference, so it is perfectly alright to list them. I don't know what you mean about ' a little strange '...
Click to expand...

IMO it looks like padding. List them if you want.
 
Hello Everyone,

I have started filling out my work/experience section for application. But I am confuse regarding one activity. I would appreciate if anyone could help me out with it. I have certificate for Microsoft as well as I have certificate for CPR frm Red cross. I am not sure whether I should include my certification coz I still have place to list 3 more activities.

Also one last concern, I am 19 years old but when I was 15, I was selected for national Exchange program. So I am not sure whether I shld include my experience in PS or work/experience section
 
A question on what should go under "Experience Name" - is that only your title (should the organization not be listed there because there's an organization field?)

For example, on that field should I just write: Research Associate

OR

Research Associate, X Research Institute

Thank you!
 
RB93 said:
A question on what should go under "Experience Name" - is that only your title (should the organization not be listed there because there's an organization field?)

For example, on that field should I just write: Research Associate

OR

Research Associate, X Research Institute

Thank you!
Click to expand...

makes sense to do the former, but the latter works too. doesn't matter
 
If listing the promotion separately then do it as leadership or under the job employment category and title it with your new promotion title.

Otherwise, the other option is to list it in the description section of that particular job and explain when you were promoted and what it meant to be promoted in terms of duties and responsibilities.

KinasePro said:
Hi All,

2 quick questions, both are based on gray areas resulting from my work in the bio-tech industry:

1) How do you address filed patents in the AMCAS application? They're definitely considered "publications" but the problem is that there is an 18 month turnaround time between submission (filing the patent) and the patent application becoming available for viewing by the general public. I have 3 co-inventorships, all which were filed in the last 14 months (so patents can't be seen for AT LEAST another 4 months...). Any thoughts?

2) What about promotions in a post-undergrad career? After undergrad I joined a bio-tech company, and was promoted rather quickly, which would be a nice feather in my cap if I could figure out where/how to mention it!
Click to expand...
 
Total180 said:
I have read through a lot of this thread and many times the advice to people with too many activities is to group them. My problem is, how? I am a Spanish major, and have had many different medical translating activities. 1 semester shadowing a translator in a hospital, and 1 semester each interning at 2 different clinics (that obviously have different contact people). Ideally I would like to list these things together under something like, "Medical Spanish Translation", but how do I list the amount of hours/contact name/organization name when they are all different?
Click to expand...
List it under Other. Name it Spanish Translator. Don't put contact persons in the header. If the activities were fairly continuous, list a beginning and end date, otherwise leave it blank. In the narrative for each activity put dates, another name of the activty, like Shadowing translator, Med Translator Internship #1, give location and contact information, etc. End with total hours for each activity. After all three activities are listed, give a grand total for hours.

Alternatively, put the shadowing with your other Shadowing and list the internships separately (could be under Employment if paid).

Alternatively, list the most recent internship #2 with the traditional information in the header, including start and end dates, then in the narrative, mention the shadowing and internship #1 (with dates, contacts and total hours).

There's no one right way. Do what seems logical and feels right.
 
khushiamar said:
I am confuse regarding one activity. I would appreciate if anyone could help me out with it. I have certificate for Microsoft as well as I have certificate for CPR frm Red cross. I am not sure whether I should include my certification coz I still have place to list 3 more activities.

Also one last concern, I am 19 years old but when I was 15, I was selected for national Exchange program. So I am not sure whether I shld include my experience in PS or work/experience section
Click to expand...
I would not list certifications on their own. They don't help you if you don't use them. If you are a programmer or did a programming project (or have a hobby), mention the microsoft certification in the narrative about that activity. If you have a job or volunteer position that requires or allows use of the CPR certificate, then mention it in the context of that activity.

I would not mention the Exchange program from HS in the Experiences section. If it had an impact on your decision to go into medicine, touch on it in the Primary Statement. Another place (maybe better) for it might be in one of the Secondary essays about a challenge, a stress, or significant educational impact (all are common).
 
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