Adcoms (or anyone), please help me choose which of these activities should be listed as most meaningful when I re-apply next year

[GoPenguinsGo]

When I reapply next year I will have to choose between these 4 activities as most meaningful on the AMCAS application:

1) Research (1500 hours from Sep 2019 - December 2021)
-this was “wet” lab research I did for my Masters thesis in Pharmacology and Toxicology. It will result in a first author publication by this time next year.

2) Non-Clinical volunteer (180 hours Aug 2020 - present)
-Volunteered at a food dispensary for the impoverished in a nearby community. Theres a moderate amount of direct personal contact with these people but I want more

3) Clinical Volunteering (450 hours November 2020 - present)
-Volunteered at a local free health clinic where I worked with patients who are undocumented immigrants or do not have health insurance (Medicaid etc) of any kind. These patients are important to me since they lack any other means of health care access. Most dont speak English so its been pushing me out of my comfort zone to work with this population either by phone calls for appointment reminders, check in / screening st the front desk and when they must leave where I will help them schedule a follow up either with us or a nearby hospital free of any charge to them.

4) Hospice volunteer (100 hours Jan 2021 - present)
-I have the most direct patient contact here where I work with and act as an end of life companion to those receiving end of life care. I aid them in chores but mostly just spend time with them trying to ease their time and hopefully, when I can, take their mind away from their health condition.

5) Supplemental Instruction Leader (200 hours)
-You know what it is SI’s do by now.


I can only choose three. Experiences 2-4 were not on my app this past cycle and I received two MD interviews. I had a 3.33 sGPA and 503(2018) and a 516(2020) MCAT. So far Im 8 credits in to a DIY post bacc of undergraduate upper division bio classes at a local medical school and have a 4.0 so far (sadly cant take more credits at a time due to time it takes to write and conduct the work for my thesis).

Help me pick which of these experiences should be included as most meaningful. In honesty, they all mean something to me so its hard for me to choose without input from others.

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[seanm028]

Forget about medical school for a moment and just reflect on these experiences. Which three were the most meaningful to you? Adcoms will see all of these activities (assuming you list them in your 15), so it's not like you need to designate any of them to draw attention to them. It's just an opportunity for you to talk about how the three most meaningful activities affected you and helped you grow. People here say it all the time — if you try to designate the ones you think an adcom will want to see, you're probably going to come across as disingenuous, and that's the exact opposite of the intent of the most meaningful designation.

 

[DigNewton]

...if you try to designate the ones you think an adcom will want to see, you're probably going to come across as disingenuous, and that's the exact opposite of the intent of the most meaningful designation.

^^this.

OP - this process is stressful, and it's easy to feel like you need to choose the "right" most-meaningful activities, but I agree with the post above (and it seems to be the general advice on here): choose the ones that truly meant the most to you. As long as you can explain why it was meaningful and contributed to your desire to be a physician, you should be fine.

FWIW, I wrestled with this a lot when I applied. I felt like I was supposed to list another volunteer activity or clinical experience, but the truth was a previous job as a software engineer. I chose to take the consensus advice from SDN and listed the software job, worked to clearly explain why I chose it, and ended up getting positive responses about it. Be yourself, tell adcoms what was most meaningful to you and why, and you'll be fine.

 

[candbgirl]

Are you applying for matriculation in 2022 or 2023? If you really aren’t applying until June 2022 why pick a MME now. Who knows how you’ll feel a year from now? If you are reapplying now pick the ones you are passionate about, those that have impacted your life. Forget about what looks good to ADCOMS or what they will like.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

1,3,4 or the ones you can describe well.

 

[Goro]

When I reapply next year I will have to choose between these 4 activities as most meaningful on the AMCAS application:

1) Research (1500 hours from Sep 2019 - December 2021)
-this was “wet” lab research I did for my Masters thesis in Pharmacology and Toxicology. It will result in a first author publication by this time next year.

2) Non-Clinical volunteer (180 hours Aug 2020 - present)
-Volunteered at a food dispensary for the impoverished in a nearby community. Theres a moderate amount of direct personal contact with these people but I want more

3) Clinical Volunteering (450 hours November 2020 - present)
-Volunteered at a local free health clinic where I worked with patients who are undocumented immigrants or do not have health insurance (Medicaid etc) of any kind. These patients are important to me since they lack any other means of health care access. Most dont speak English so its been pushing me out of my comfort zone to work with this population either by phone calls for appointment reminders, check in / screening st the front desk and when they must leave where I will help them schedule a follow up either with us or a nearby hospital free of any charge to them.

4) Hospice volunteer (100 hours Jan 2021 - present)
-I have the most direct patient contact here where I work with and act as an end of life companion to those receiving end of life care. I aid them in chores but mostly just spend time with them trying to ease their time and hopefully, when I can, take their mind away from their health condition.

5) Supplemental Instruction Leader (200 hours)
-You know what it is SI’s do by now.


I can only choose three. Experiences 2-4 were not on my app this past cycle and I received two MD interviews. I had a 3.33 sGPA and 503(2018) and a 516(2020) MCAT. So far Im 8 credits in to a DIY post bacc of undergraduate upper division bio classes at a local medical school and have a 4.0 so far (sadly cant take more credits at a time due to time it takes to write and conduct the work for my thesis).

Help me pick which of these experiences should be included as most meaningful. In honesty, they all mean something to me so its hard for me to choose without input from others.

Dude, only you can do this. Be honest.

 

[GoPenguinsGo]

Dude, only you can do this. Be honest.

Ugh being honest usually doesnt work out for me historically. One time back in kindergarden I drank this girl I had a crush on at the time’s juice box so she would talk to me, teacher asked if I did it, I said frick ya Mrs Becker.

She made me move my pin to red that day. Lying woulda saved me alotta trouble back then

 

[seanm028]

Ugh being honest usually doesnt work out for me historically. One time back in kindergarden I drank this girl I had a crush on at the time’s juice box so she would talk to me, teacher asked if I did it, I said frick ya Mrs Becker.

She made me move my pin to red that day. Lying woulda saved me alotta trouble back then

Well, there you go, there's your adversity essay!

In all seriousness, I'm a big believer in the idea that the right way is rarely easy, and the easy way is rarely right. Keep doing the right thing, and it will eventually pay off. There's a lot of temptation in the world, especially the cutthroat premed world, to take shortcuts. Don't give in.