2009-2010 AMCAS Questions Thread

[Appless]

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I was gonna add deans list but....i guess that is kinda ridiculous. I only have 6 activities now and 2 of them are just normal useless jobs w/o dean list...🙁

 

[Myuu]

I was gonna add deans list but....i guess that is kinda ridiculous. I only have 6 activities now and 2 of them are just normal useless jobs w/o dean list...🙁

Did you learn anything from these normal, useless jobs?

 

[witness23]

I was gonna add deans list but....i guess that is kinda ridiculous. I only have 6 activities now and 2 of them are just normal useless jobs w/o dean list...🙁

you have long term commitments from your mdapps. take this opportunity to speak a bit more about the experiences since you probably learned a lot from it and had a significant role in them. If you have any specific accomplishments/awards/pubs from your ECs you can use another tab to list all. If you also have any significant hobbies that is a part of your life, you can add it as well. Good things to add would be intercollegiate/intramural sports, acappella group, and others. If you are hot, you may want to use a tab to put down a text image of yourself

 

[aznb0y129]

I was gonna add deans list but....i guess that is kinda ridiculous. I only have 6 activities now and 2 of them are just normal useless jobs w/o dean list...🙁

You can put all your awards (Dean's list, scholarships, etc.) under one slot. Just don't spread them out.

 

[Appless]

Did you learn anything from these normal, useless jobs?

Nope but I pretended like I did and wrote stuff😛....it was a factory job and a retail store nothing really interesting outside of the fact i had to work full time to make sure my son and I could get by. ACtually one job i wrote a ton of stuff about but it wasnt about the job, it was more about the area it was in...very rural poor area i wrote about how i saw a differnet side of everything blah blah, medically underserved blah blah...think thats ok? Its not part of my PS but it will be part of my 2ndary apps and possibly interview as its one area i would want to practice in/come back too.

you have long term commitments from your mdapps. take this opportunity to speak a bit more about the experiences since you probably learned a lot from it and had a significant role in them. If you have any specific accomplishments/awards/pubs from your ECs you can use another tab to list all. If you also have any significant hobbies that is a part of your life, you can add it as well. Good things to add would be intercollegiate/intramural sports, acappella group, and others. If you are hot, you may want to use a tab to put down a text image of yourself

. I think I just got a 7th activity😉

 

[Myuu]

Nope but I pretended like I did and wrote stuff😛....it was a factory job and a retail store nothing really interesting outside of the fact i had to work full time to make sure my son and I could get by. ACtually one job i wrote a ton of stuff about but it wasnt about the job, it was more about the area it was in...very rural poor area i wrote about how i saw a differnet side of everything blah blah, medically underserved blah blah...think thats ok? Its not part of my PS but it will be part of my 2ndary apps and possibly interview as its one area i would want to practice in/come back too.



. I think I just got a 7th activity😉

Hmmm ASCII artist is an activity that I would love to see, but I'm not sure how you're going to deal with the whitespace issue...

 

[G1SG2]

If I want to list a paid internship under work/activities, does that go under the "other" category? What's the Paid Employment-Not Military tab for?

 

[CielloStelatto]

I am planning on taking an underwater basket weaving class to make my app stronger.

 

[Myuu]

If I want to list a paid internship under work/activities, does that go under the "other" category? What's the Paid Employment-Not Military tab for?

I went with paid employment-not military myself. It's the category for jobs that pay but aren't the military.

 

[Myuu]

I am planning on taking an underwater basket weaving class to make my app stronger.

I bet that comes up at 50-60% of your interviews, too.

 

[witness23]

If I want to list a paid internship under work/activities, does that go under the "other" category? What's the Paid Employment-Not Military tab for?

i'd go with the paid employment - non military tab.

and also, Eminem worked in a factory too - he didn't leave it out in the 8 mile. just make it interesting

 

[CielloStelatto]

If I want to list a paid internship under work/activities, does that go under the "other" category? What's the Paid Employment-Not Military tab for?

use that category. it just means it was a job, you got paid for it (i.e. not volunteer), and it wasn't with the military.

 

[witness23]

damn myuu has me beat today

 

[CielloStelatto]

good thing pookiez now has 3 identical responses to that question. 😎

 

[G1SG2]

good thing pookiez now has 3 identical responses to that question. 😎

haha, I love SDN!!!

 

[Myuu]

good thing pookiez now has 3 identical responses to that question. 😎

How unusual! Quick, let's tell him he'll be a terrible doctor, just to make it a real SDN experience.

 

[Appless]

i'd go with the paid employment - non military tab.

and also, Eminem worked in a factory too - he didn't leave it out in the 8 mile. just make it interesting

lol eminem...sigh.........that makes me want to just leave it out all together

 

[G1SG2]

Maybe this is another dumb question, but is it bad to list your beliefs..? For one my activities, I wrote:

"I co-directed/co-produced a documentary on an interfaith program between Muslim and Jewish students. As a senior at ______ High School, I was involved in an interfaith program with __________ in ________. I thoroughly enjoyed this program, as I am someone who loves interfaith dialogue. Additionally, this gave me the opportunity to expose my family to the interfaith program, as we held a parent-student conference. This was very important to me, as my conservative family is now more accepting of my liberal beliefs."

Is the last part too much? I'm just being honest, I'd love to include that in my app...

 

[Myuu]

Maybe this is another dumb question, but is it bad to list your beliefs..? For one my activities, I wrote:

"I co-directed/co-produced a documentary on an interfaith program between Muslim and Jewish students. As a senior at ______ High School, I was involved in an interfaith program with __________ in ________. I thoroughly enjoyed this program, as I am someone who loves interfaith dialogue. Additionally, this gave me the opportunity to expose my family to the interfaith program, as we held a parent-student conference. This was very important to me, as my conservative family is now more accepting of my liberal beliefs."

Is the last part too much? I'm just being honest, I'd love to include that in my app...

Nah, that's fine. Just don't use a box to say "I was touched by his noodly appendage." Noodly-appendage touchings are not extracurricular activities, regardless of what they tell you.

 

[G1SG2]

Lol

 

[witness23]

posted twice

 

[witness23]

Maybe this is another dumb question, but is it bad to list your beliefs..? For one my activities, I wrote:

"I co-directed/co-produced a documentary on an interfaith program between Muslim and Jewish students. As a senior at ______ High School, I was involved in an interfaith program with __________ in ________. I thoroughly enjoyed this program, as I am someone who loves interfaith dialogue. Additionally, this gave me the opportunity to expose my family to the interfaith program, as we held a parent-student conference. This was very important to me, as my conservative family is now more accepting of my liberal beliefs."

Is the last part too much? I'm just being honest, I'd love to include that in my app...

nah, its fine. I thought You Don't Mess with the Zohan was a good movie also. sounds interesting (they say you shouldn't put down hs activities though).

 

[Myuu]

Oh, wait. It was high school? Is there anything you've done at the university level that you could tie that to?

 

[CielloStelatto]

I just called my sister to ask how old all my siblings are. 😛
to be fair, they're step-siblings. but she laughed.

 

[G1SG2]

Oh, wait. It was high school? Is there anything you've done at the university level that you could tie that to?

Noo, it was after I graduated HS. I landed that internship the summer right before my first semester in college, but I obtained it through my HS experience. The documentary was released during my freshman year of college. That's fine, right?

 

[somemom]

LizzyM
05-03-2006, 12:13 PM

Hi Lizzy. Thank you so much for chiming in! I've been debating this topic for awhile now. How do adcoms quantify being disadvantaged if you were not consistently disadvantaged your entire childhood? For instance, say you lived with a single parent on welfare for ten years and then moved in with a relative who was middle class for your remaining years of growing up, but still had to pay for your college expenses, expenses past age 18, and what not?


Most people have to pay for college (particularly rich people!) and many people have to earn their own way after age 18. Those don't make for a disadvantaged childhood.

Due to family finances did you miss out on cultural activities (like local museums, zoos, etc), extracurricular activities in grammar school (music & dance lessons, sports & athletic participation), or go without appropriate food, clothing, our housing? If you were without some or all of these things during part of your childhood, did a subsequent change in family circumstances make up for the earlier deprivation?

Certainly, there are people who would claim that they had a disadvantaged childhood if they lost everything at the age of 10 and went from being middle class to being very poor. In junior high and high school there seem to be a lot of opportunities for kids with money (travel, academic tutoring & sports coaching, lessons, etc) and if you were missing out on those, it might not seem to matter that things were pretty good before disaster struck.

If you went from being very poor from birth to age 10 then quite comfortable, the question I think is, were you able to get on a level playing field with your peers (catch up in terms of educational enrichment) such that you got to college without considering yourself at an educational disadvantage in comparison to your classmates.
*******************

I read this to say that if you qualify for any one of the categories, it is still poor form to say you are disadvantaged if your parents or other family made sure you were exposed to many opportunities.

 

[antspants]

What do you mean "unaffiliated?" Did you take these classes independently? You must read the AMCAS PDF, and even then, it may not answer your question.

If you attended a foreign school independently, unaffiliated with an American college via a semester abroad type program, you probably need to talk to someone at AMCAS.

FWIW, I did 2 different study abroad programs.

One was affiliated with my college, and it appears on my transcript. No need for the foreign school transcript, but I do have to list the foreign college on the "attended" input, and then link it to my home institution for the transcript.

I did another program, NOT through my home institution, but through another US college. So I had to list that college, plus the foreign school, and then I will request the transcript from the other US college, even though it all appears on my home institution transcript - very confusing, needlessly complex.

If you did a foreign program completely independently of a US college, you need to read the PDF very carefully.

Hey, yeah, I read the online directions but they were confusing and didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Basically, I studied through an approved program arranged through my university. It's really just a standard study abroad experience...I enrolled at a foreign university and my credits there counted towards my home university degree. This was all arranged through my home university, but they do not run the foreign program. The classes I took there appear as P/F courses on my transcript and count towards my total credits but not towards my undergraduate GPA. Included with the official transcript my university sends out is a copy of my study abroad semester transcript (from the foreign university) with the actual grades on it (both percent % and a letter grade). These of course are different in the UK...where a 70%=A, 60%=B, 50%=C and so on.

I tried adding the foreign university as an additional college I attended, but it's not listed as an option under the UK tab (there are just a couple of American universities that have campuses there). Should I just add the courses to my home university and put them as P/F? I just don't want the adcoms to think I spent a whole semester taking only P/F courses...there's no study abroad description to add to them.

 

[icekream]

hey does anyone know what happens to future classes that are already listed on our transcripts?

im already done with the spring 2009 semester, and i want to send in my transcript; my transcript already lists classes i have selected for fall 2009 (future classes)

will these be listed on my app even if i dont list them? if i list classes i want to take but are not yet listed for fall 2009, will it still go on my transcript?

basically, does have classes listed for fall 2009 affect my app in any way?

Thanks.

 

[AMCAS]

Hey just a quick few questions

(1) Can I send in my transcripts now even though I haven't submitted my application yet? (I'm an alumni so there won't be any new grades to wait for).
(2) How do I enter in study abroad courses onto AMCAS (foreign university, not US affiliated)? They appear on my home universities transcript as P/F courses under "study away" and my university sends a copy of the foreign university transcript with my actual grades (which are in A, B, C format).
(3) Anyone willing to privately look at my activities list/descriptions? don't want to post it publicly and all and not sure what to consolidate/get rid of/include instead?

Thanks all!

1. Yes, AMCAS will accept official transcripts prior to submitting the application

2. AMCAS will only accept foreign credit as it has been accepted by your US school. List the foreign school in Schools Attended, and enter the coursework under that school BUT as it appears on your US school's transcript. If only pass/fail credit was granted and no grades appear, then leave the transcript grade blank.

 

[Myuu]

1. Yes, AMCAS will accept official transcripts prior to submitting the application

2. AMCAS will only accept foreign credit as it has been accepted by your US school. List the foreign school in Schools Attended, and enter the coursework under that school BUT as it appears on your US school's transcript. If only pass/fail credit was granted and no grades appear, then leave the transcript grade blank.

Behold the voice of authority.😱

 

[G1SG2]

Hey Myuu, it's alright if I list that experience if it was during the summer right after HS and right before my first semester in college, right?

 

[BlueElmo]

You can put all your awards (Dean's list, scholarships, etc.) under one slot. Just don't spread them out.

Cool thanks, that sounds about right.

 

[Myuu]

Hey Myuu, it's alright if I list that experience if it was during the summer right after HS and right before my first semester in college, right?

They're following me. GETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFFFFFFFFF!!!



I think it would be ok, but make sure you connect that to your more recent experiences. A general rule of thumb is not to list high school-related activities unless they were continued as you went through college.

 

[witness23]

Behold the voice of authority.😱

now where shall we go to?

 

[G1SG2]

They're following me. GETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFFFFFFFFF!!!

Yes indeed!!! 😛😛😛

I think it would be ok, but make sure you connect that to your more recent experiences. A general rule of thumb is not to list high school-related activities unless they were continued as you went through college.

I actually continued working on this project as I entered college (maybe around the first two months or so), to put the final touches on the project, editing, etc-would that count????

 

[Myuu]

now where shall we go to?

A distant plane where premeds apply using AMCAS, but AMCAS in its godlike wisdom does not descend upon the mortals to answer their prayers. Or questions. Or something.

 

[Myuu]

Yes indeed!!! 😛😛😛




I actually continued working on this project as I entered college (maybe around the first two months or so), to put the final touches on the project, editing, etc-would that count????

Haha, sure. Have you done any interfaith work since then? You could tie the experiences together.👍

 

[D and D]

I've been doing research for 3+ years, so this is one of my activities.

I was awarded an HHMI Fellowship to fund my research (the same research I've been doing) for this summer... should I list this as a separate entry or in the description of my research?

 

[witness23]

I've been doing research for 3+ years, so this is one of my activities.

I was awarded an HHMI Fellowship to fund my research (the same research I've been doing) for this summer... should I list this as a separate entry or in the description of my research?

list your research as one, include a sentence in about the HHMI fellowship. If you plan to add other awards - ie Dean's list - list the fellowship there, as well, and combine all your awards

 

[G1SG2]

Haha, sure. Have you done any interfaith work since then? You could tie the experiences together.👍

Well, I haven't done any "official" interfaith work since then, but I have participated in small group dialogue/discussion put together by friends. Would that count, since it's more personal and not official?

 

[Zona Pellucida]

Awesome! So did you choose that on AMCAS, or Biology, or do people choose "pre-professional"/"premed" since we're completing the preprof curriculum (if your school has one), although it's technically not a major?

I would assume you would choose Biology. The Biology department at my school requires you take all of the necessary pre-med reqs. to complete the major anyways.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

I've been doing research for 3+ years, so this is one of my activities.

I was awarded an HHMI Fellowship to fund my research (the same research I've been doing) for this summer... should I list this as a separate entry or in the description of my research?

I say list it as two separate experiences...I listed my research experience and then my research awards/abstracts separately, especially if research is a big part of your app.....unless you are bound for space.

 

[Zona Pellucida]

Just curious...

I'm at about 12 activities right now:

2 Hobbies/Interests
2 Past Paid Jobs
2 Shadowing
1 Volunteer
1 Teaching Aide
1 Research
1 Scholarship/Poster Presentation (Go together)
1 Conference
1 Permanent Dean's List Status

I obviously have more hobbies than 2... should I fill up the last 3 spots or would it seem as if I am just trying to "fill up the spaces"?

 

[ChubbyChaser]

Just curious...

I'm at about 12 activities right now:

2 Hobbies/Interests
2 Past Paid Jobs
2 Shadowing
1 Volunteer
1 Teaching Aide
1 Research
1 Scholarship/Poster Presentation (Go together)
1 Conference
1 Permanent Dean's List Status

I obviously have more hobbies than 2... should I fill up the last 3 spots or would it seem as if I am just trying to "fill up the spaces"?

ehh...I wouldnt put down meaningless stuff, 12 is plenty, especially if they are a big part of your life. However, I did lump pretty much all my random intramural sports into one category ..flag football, softball, tennis, volleyball, etc.

 

[G1SG2]

When listing work/activities, for "Experience Name", do you list your position or the actual experience? For example, would you list "Hospital Volunteer", or "Volunteer Program in so and so hospital"?

 

[Appless]

I was wondering should I put the time i work with my son on my AMCAS as an activity. Hes autistic and with the work his therapists send home i spend about 3 hrs a week working with him...I just dont know if that could count for anything since hes my son. Obviously it takes up time and is part of the reason i dont have as much activities as most of you guys here...so i thought listing it might be useful? Or no

 

[ChubbyChaser]

When listing work/activities, for "Experience Name", do you list your position or the actual experience? For example, would you list "Hospital Volunteer", or "Volunteer Program in so and so hospital"?

Either would be fine, but I think for those names...shorter is better, just so the adcom can get the point without having to read further.

 

[Appless]

When listing work/activities, for "Experience Name", do you list your position or the actual experience? For example, would you list "Hospital Volunteer", or "Volunteer Program in so and so hospital"?

for hospitals i just put "Emergency Room Volunteer" as the name.

 

[Zona Pellucida]

ehh...I wouldnt put down meaningless stuff, 12 is plenty, especially if they are a big part of your life. However, I did lump pretty much all my random intramural sports into one category ..flag football, softball, tennis, volleyball, etc.

Thanks CC... I will probably put down 1 more hobby as I do think it is a major part of my life, but I would be pushing it to throw down 2 more.

 

[G1SG2]

Are you guys using the full 1325 characters for description? What's considered "too little"?