activist experience in AAMC application?

[MCATBear]

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I'm wondering whether it will work in my favor to include activist experience in my med school application. I don't really have a good sense of how conservative adcoms tend to be and I guess I'm scared it may turn them off. My experience includes anti-war/labor activism with a group called "students for social justice," working with a group called "queers for economic justice" facilitating support groups in homeless shelters and working with a group called "students for labor solidarity" to kick a multinational corporation off campus and also organize and inter-campus labor weekend workshop. I'm worried some of these organization names or activities would make me come across as too radical? I'm really quite boring. Did anyone else have to make a decision about this?

 

[njbmd]

If your activism has shaped your desire to become a physician then use it in your AMCAS application. If you are trying to read the political bend of the members of an admissions committee, you are going to have some difficulty. As long as you didn't break any laws, then use whatever experiences you have.

 

[inthedark]

I say be true to who you are. Better to be strong of character and a person of action than to be self-doubting and apathetic (aka 'boring'). Reflect on yourself. Why did you participate in these things and what did it satisfy for you? Did you chose to act, through sociopolitical channels, to make perceived improvements on the world? Are you now called to work toward this ultimate end (of betterment), and to satisfy your personal ambitions, in a different and perhaps more intimate and universal way, by improving the quality of life for individuals through medical treatment?

And in terms of adcoms judging you, think about it.... haven't you known people who you respected despite your disagreement on fundamental issues? If so, what were the qualities that translated regardless of specific religious, political or sexual orientations?

And finally, you should shout your affiliations from the rooftop, because if there IS an active bias against/for your 'type', it might do you well to situate yourself in a community that appreciates you.

 

[apumic]

I say be true to who you are. Better to be strong of character and a person of action than to be self-doubting and apathetic (aka 'boring'). Reflect on yourself. Why did you participate in these things and what did it satisfy for you? Did you chose to act, through sociopolitical channels, to make perceived improvements on the world? Are you now called to work toward this ultimate end (of betterment), and to satisfy your personal ambitions, in a different and perhaps more intimate and universal way, by improving the quality of life for individuals through medical treatment?

And in terms of adcoms judging you, think about it.... haven't you known people who you respected despite your disagreement on fundamental issues? If so, what were the qualities that translated regardless of specific religious, political or sexual orientations?

And finally, you should shout your affiliations from the rooftop, because if there IS an active bias against/for your 'type', it might do you well to situate yourself in a community that appreciates you.

I am going to differ slightly here and, while I agree w/ the above posters, suggest moderation is in order. I think you're right to have at least some concern for how conservative people are. From what I've been told, medicine is still a fairly conservative bunch, so you may want to watch just how much you emphasize the activism. If you were doing social justice stuff like spreading awareness and encouraging action in Darfur or Uganda, I doubt anyone would be able to fault you in any way. That's amazing work and I really can't see anything anyone would have against you for it. On the other hand, if what you were doing was controversial and may have been offensive to many (e.g., encouraging people to lash out against our own military because it went to war when many people did not feel it was a legit conflict and/or our battle to fight), you might have an adcom decide you exercised poor judgment in encouraging hatred toward soldiers who had little choice but to go to war when the President commanded it. In that case, you could be seen as having little empathy (even though you may have been acting on a heart for the Iraqis or whomever) and/or poor judgment. I think it's critical you ask yourself how you should frame your actions.


Edit: After reading your post over a 2nd time, I saw some aspects that would (at least to me) seem to be esp. helpful (e.g., the homeless shelter, organizing an intercampus labor workshop, etc.), while others are more controversial (e.g., anti-war activism, kicking a corporation off-campus -- was there a specific reason for this?). I think it's important to consider the difference between having a passion and simply following along. Many, many, many people in social justice are simply followers. They know nothing of their cause beyond the fact that they are "supposed" to follow it. You don't want to be perceived as that person!

 

[MCATBear]

Thanks for the advice folks. I decided to just put in the homeless shelter support group. The other things I didn't feel like I had as much of a leadership role: I was more interested and learning. If someone were to ask me about my passion for labor issues in an interview, I wouldn't have much to say. I believe people should be able to earn a living wage, but I don't think about it very often. So even without considering possible prejudice or false assumptions, they probably aren't the most worthwhile use of my activities.