ECs!!

uva11 · Jun 4, 2010

I'm going into my fourth year of undergrad and will be taking a gap year so I'm not applying until this time next year. My ECs are nothing special and I need some advice on what to do in the next year to improve them.

1 year research in a Biological Clocks lab (first opportunity that came my way so I took it but turns out I'm not that passionate about the subject so I don't really want to pursue it any longer. Is it too late to join another lab?)

lots of high school volunteering but only 1 year volunteer work in college in a rehabilitation hospital spending time with patients

just started work in a pediatricians office doing reception work/eventually getting my CNA

no shadowing!!

Its mind-blowing to me how all of you have time for all these impressive ECs!! Any suggetions would be much appreciated!

Side question: do schools seriously consider how rigorous your undergrad institution was or do they try to treat all applicants the same?

uva11 · Jun 4, 2010

oh and in my lab I was listed under contributions in a publication that was written by the post-doc I was working with - does that count for anything?

NotAsking4Much · Jun 4, 2010

No. Contributions or acknowledgements do not mean anything unfortunately.

Honestly, the best ECs are something you're passionate about. So...what do YOU want to do?

Catalystik · Jun 4, 2010

In the next year try to get in 60-80 hours of physician shadowing split among 2-3 docs. Hopefully the pediatrician will be one, as adcomms like to see that you had a view of medicine from the trenches.

You already have a year of clinical experience, which is great, so you'll have two years by the time you apply with your new employment. (1.5 years seems about average)

It would be good to have some weekly nonmedical/noncampus community service, ideally for a cause you care about: soup kitchen , food pantry, homeless shelter, crisis hotline, Human Society, Habitat for Humanity, womens shelter, tutoring middle school kids, are examples.

A year of research is about average for applicants. If you aspire to a strong research-oriented med school, then it's best to get more, but for general purposes you're fine.

Teaching and leadership are other desirable activities that are considered to boost your application, as are hobbies, and artistic endeavors.

The MCAT score is the great equalizer, regardless of the school you go to. A high GPA from an unknown school is better than a mediocre GPA from a well-known school.

mdbound1987 · Jun 5, 2010

Catalystik said:
In the next year try to get in 60-80 hours of physician shadowing split among 2-3 docs. Hopefully the pediatrician will be one, as adcomms like to see that you had a view of medicine from the trenches.

You already have a year of clinical experience, which is great, so you'll have two years by the time you apply with your new employment. (1.5 years seems about average)

It would be good to have some weekly nonmedical/noncampus community service, ideally for a cause you care about: soup kitchen , food pantry, homeless shelter, crisis hotline, Human Society, Habitat for Humanity, womens shelter, tutoring middle school kids, are examples.

A year of research is about average for applicants. If you aspire to a strong research-oriented med school, then it's best to get more, but for general purposes you're fine.

Teaching and leadership are other desirable activities that are considered to boost your application, as are hobbies, and artistic endeavors.

The MCAT score is the great equalizer, regardless of the school you go to. A high GPA from an unknown school is better than a mediocre GPA from a well-known school.

I completely agree with all of this. OP, you mentioned high school volunteering...typically they do not want to see any high school activities. A way to let them know what you did in high school that is medically related is to refer to it in you personal statement. This is what I did because I wanted them to know that my medically related experience did not just start in college. The only thing I put on AMCAS that occurred in high school is that I am an Eagle Scout. I am told this is one of those accomplishments that follows you at every level, but other than something like that, do not put high school experiences.

ECs!!

uva11

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uva11

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NotAsking4Much

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Catalystik

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mdbound1987

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