Am I going to need some fluff? (EC's)

[WhizoMD]

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Up to this point I've only been participating in EC's I have a legitimate interest in, but if I continue this I'll only have like 3 or 4 activities to list when I apply. Those will include hospital volunteering/shadowing, research I'll start next semester, and possibly an intro bio discussion leader position next fall. This doesn't seem like much considering the 15 slots available to list activities. So my question is this: should I add some fluff EC's?
By fluff I mean activities that I have little to no interest in, so I'd be participating purely to have more stuff to list on my app. For me these would include things like pre-med club, pre-prof. club, public health club, habitat for humanity, random cancer/aids walks, etc.

 

[LizzyM]

No. Don't bother with stuff you don't care about.

Do you have any hobbies or interests in athletics, fine arts (studio or performance), crafts, media & communications, outdoors/nature?

Have you had a paying job even one unrelated in any way to medicine? What have you done each summer?

Your research might fill 3 spots if you have a presentation and a publication.

 

[schrizto]

Joining clubs just to be a member is a waste of time.

 

[WhizoMD]

Do you have any hobbies or interests in athletics, fine arts (studio or performance), crafts, media & communications, outdoors/nature?

I have hobbies and other interests, but nothing really solid or "listable" comes out of them, just one off things like a one time q&a session with a med school class explaining my illness to them, and authoring articles and such, but these aren't sustained over a period of time.

 

[45408]

Nope.

 

[calimed214]

Just include things that matter. Not everyone is going to fill out all 15 slots. If you list clubs and ECs that are "fluff", it's going to be readily apparent. Better to only have 4 ECs that you're really passionate and excited about than 15 things you obviously did just to have more to write down on an application.

 

[lstone13]

In my opinion, quality is better than quantity, and if you have more depth in your activities, you may be able to fill multiple slots with one over-arching activity.

 

[Tin Man]

I would say that while it's stupid for me to disagree with LizzyM on this subject, since she has more experience than probably everyone here combined, I will say one thing which, at least in MY field (which evaluates a lot of the same traits as the medical adcoms) would be somewhat contrasting.

While nobody cares about you doing things just to be impressive (ie, most fluff people do in pre-med), there is something to be said about demonstrating your ability to do things that DON'T actually come naturally or that you aren't already interested in.

For instance, if you have low chemistry grades (C range), it certainly wouldn't hurt to show participation in several extra chemistry courses or EC's (clubs, etc) in order to demonstrate that you're willing to continue to succeed, despite your shortcomings in this field.

Likewise, if you have no leadership experience demonstrated, and the reason is that you aren't comfortable being a leader or taking responsibility, it would be wise, in my opinion, to try to find a way to get that experience, regardless of whether or not you're interested in it.

While many people have a passion to "be a doctor", that goal requires doing a lot of things that you aren't comfortable with or may not be interested in, but those same things will be essential to your development into a good doctor. If you can show that you can do things that you aren't interested in well, and it's obvious that you're doing this to prove that you can do it (and not just to impress people by doing something you're already good at), then I at least would see it as a benefit to your application.

 

[LizzyM]

I've never looked at the experience section to determine if someone with a poor chem grade was a member of the chemistry club or whatever...

The "experience" section is an opportunity to show that you are well-rounded and have some things that you do for fun, and that you are engaged in activities with others (not a loner), as well as an opportunity to highlight service activities, employment and research.

Four items that are ubiquitous on med applications would be "bare bones". Sometimes it is the feeling that "I'd like to meet this person" that prompts an adcom member to recommend interview. You need to come across as someone who would be interesting to talk with and that usually means a few varied interests and experiences.

 

[Caprica6]

In my opinion, quality is better than quantity, and if you have more depth in your activities, you may be able to fill multiple slots with one over-arching activity.

I agree. I had nowhere near 15 activities to list, but the activities I did list were mostly long term employment/research ones. I applied this cycle so I can't tell you yet how successful my app will be. But I'm sure adcomms can spot BS/fluff ECs from a mile a way, just think about how many applications they look at every year.

 

[Tin Man]

I've never looked at the experience section to determine if someone with a poor chem grade was a member of the chemistry club or whatever...

I've looked to make sure that people were trying to improve upon their obvious weak spaces, but admittedly, I'm not admitting people to medical school. I also rarely have more than a couple hundred people's applications to look through. I just figured the principles were the same, but whatever.

You need to come across as someone who would be interesting to talk with and that usually means a few varied interests and experiences.

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