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[username1000]

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[ciestar]

You’re right, your ECs are very cookie cutter but it is really hard to avoid for most applicants, especially traditional applicants like yourself. Your dance experience will give you a bit more “uniqueness”

My advice would be to get in more nonclinical service to the less fortunate. Think soup kitchens, homeless shelters and the like.

 

[el_duderino]

I think soup kitchens and homeless shelters for a few hours here or there is not the best choice, unless you're really into it or something. Do something you care about. Volunteer to teach dance to kids or something. The best thing you can do for yourself outside of medicine/academics is have something you're passionate about and use to contribute to the betterment of your community/world.

 

[ciestar]

I think soup kitchens and homeless shelters for a few hours here or there is not the best choice, unless you're really into it or something. Do something you care about. Volunteer to teach dance to kids or something. The best thing you can do for yourself outside of medicine/academics is have something you're passionate about and use to contribute to the betterment of your community/world.

This. (I only mentioned the soup kitchen as a broad example lol)

I did a thing at a homeless shelter that used dance therapy for the kids there after honework time.

My nonclinical volunteering came up at every one of my interviews. I loved it and they knew.

 

[MyOdyssey]

I'm currently a Junior at a top California school. I am planning on applying in a year and a half at the end of my senior year (2020) and I want to make sure I am doing everything I can to optimize my chances of getting into a school and hopefully, possibly, have a shot at a top 20 or a school in California.

Here are my stats and extracurriculars:
CA Resident
GPA: 4.0
MCAT: currently studying for, I will be taking it this summer
Extracurriculars:
-Clinical Volunteering: 300 hours at University hospital across multiple departments
-Leadership: 200 hours as a coordinator for other volunteers at this hospital
-Research: ~700 hours in a lab, no publications
-Non-Clinical Volunteering: 100 hours in one organization that supports people with a chronic disease that I have family connections to. I assist with planning and hosting events, education, and child care.
-Teaching: ~200 hours of self-employed tutoring
-Shadowing: 50 hours across multiple specialities including primary care (family medicine, pediatrics, radiology)
-Hobbies: Many, many of hours of dance, which I have done since I was very young

Does anyone have any advice for what I can do to improve my extracurriculars? I have noticed that for a lot of top 20 schools, matriculants typically check all the boxes but they have something that makes them stand out that pushes them above the rest. Is there anything I should focus on in particular to help me stand out?

Thanks!

***Please don't quote this message because I will delete it later for anonymity***

More nonclinical volunteering. If you go to the undergrad that you appear to attend, then there must be a wealth of student volunteer organizations there or if you want to go big, then form your own volunteer group that's perhaps related to dance.

Win some national awards in dance.

Publish some research articles ideally as first author.

 

[LonelyBoi]

Just focus on your MCAT. Once you get an MCAT score, then put the extra shine on your ECs. If you were not to do anything else with your ECs (I don't recommend), a 520+ should net you some top 20 interviews if you apply early.

 

[username1000]

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[el_duderino]

No, stick with where you are. Jumping around is a bad look. Your application is shaping up to be very very good.

 

[MyOdyssey]

Okay, thank you all for the advice. I didn't realize that my extra-curriculars were that cookie-cutter. The lab I'm in right now does not look like I am going to be involved in any publications, likely just a poster in the future. Should I consider switching labs?

If you've been in your current lab for about 2 years, then it makes sense to try something different if only to diversify your research experience. If you've been in your current lab for less than a year, then it's probably best not to change. Anywhere in between is a judgment call.