AMCAS EC's/Work/Research/Honors

[wetlightning]

question for 2005 amcas'ers or anyone else who might know:

since we only have 15 spaces for ALL our EC'S, work, publications, research, honors, etc., what kinds of things are you guys putting down?

i have volunteering, work experience, multiple publications and honors, and research, and they're all meaningful to me -- i especially want to show off my honors/publications in english, since i'm a non-trad major. i also have an upcoming publication based on my science research, as well as volunteering, non-medical EC's and community service, etc.

can you squeeze in more than one thing into a slot?

sorry if this sounds like an obsessive/ neurotic question -- just wondering how to best present myself and highlight achievements that mean a lot to me

when we get secondaries, do we have more room to elaborate on these things? that would help a lot

any advice would be appreciated!

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[diosa428]

I'd definitely try to combine things if you can. For example, if you list your scientific research as an EC you can also write about your upcoming publication in the same box instead of creating a second one. And if your honors/publications in english are related at all, you could probably put those together.

 

[wetlightning]

I'd definitely try to combine things if you can. For example, if you list your scientific research as an EC you can also write about your upcoming publication in the same box instead of creating a second one. And if your honors/publications in english are related at all, you could probably put those together.

thank you! bump -- anyone else?

 

[Sansfrontier]

I combined a lot of mine. Say publication, research award, presentations all under research. Other awards, leadership experience, community service, under one student organization etc... If you have several of these and feel that they are all equally important to you, stick them together. Now that character limit has been increased to 1325, you can easily fit different things under one activity. Make sure they are somehow related though!
Hope this helps!

 

[SanDiegoSOD]

You should browse through the "official amcas 2006" thread - there's a lot of talk on this topic on that thread.

 

[crazy_cavalier]

since we only have 15 spaces for ALL our EC'S, work, publications, research, honors, etc., what kinds of things are you guys putting down?

i have volunteering, work experience, multiple publications and honors, and research, and they're all meaningful to me -- i especially want to show off my honors/publications in english, since i'm a non-trad major. i also have an upcoming publication based on my science research, as well as volunteering, non-medical EC's and community service, etc.

can you squeeze in more than one thing into a slot?

when we get secondaries, do we have more room to elaborate on these things? that would help a lot

I'd definitely try to combine things if you can. For example, if you list your scientific research as an EC you can also write about your upcoming publication in the same box instead of creating a second one. And if your honors/publications in english are related at all, you could probably put those together.

I agree with diosa. Yes this is not only suggested, but strongly encouraged. For example you would not fill up 4 slots with "Dean's list - so and so semester" but rather one slot as "Academic notation: Dean's list" and list the 4 semesters there in the description. The same goes for things like shadowing, rather than fill up a slot with each shadowing experience you make one encompassing "shadowing" slot and provide each instance in the details.

If i were you i would list "Research publications" under one slot and list all those juicy publications underneath them. You should list your honors/thesis project as a separate slot, most def. I wonder if you have attended any conferences and made any posters as well? That would be worthy to note in another slot as well.

As for my own listing system, I have five main categories: volunteering, clinically-related experiences, life experiences, academic awards (just dean's list for me, unfortunately ) and hobbies. Under hobbies I will probably only dedicate one slot and talk briefly of my passions for chess and tennis and how I did those things (including joining and being active in clubs for them) since middle school. Under hobbies I'll also talk about the other perky stuff I like (which will hopefully give my app a more unique air.) For life-experiences, I will also only dedicate one slot and I will talk about my trip(s) to Europe and other foreign countries, and the different languages I dabble in and things like that. Volunteering and Clinical is too extensive for just a single slot and will require further branching for those activities that have had an impact on me and that I highly value.

At any rate, good luck on your application venture and from the sounds of it you are in great shape! Congrats on your pubs and it seems to me like you have a really interesting background, great material for interviews. Don't worry too much about not getting enough room to elaborate on your EC's, the primary app isn't really geared too heavily on EC's... it focuses more on GPA, MCAT, and identifying you (name, social, aamc id, and address.) The secondaries and interviews will certainly expand on those areas of your application that are not highlighted too heavily at this point in the game.

Hope that helps!

 

[wetlightning]

At any rate, good luck on your application venture and from the sounds of it you are in great shape! Congrats on your pubs and it seems to me like you have a really interesting background, great material for interviews. Don't worry too much about not getting enough room to elaborate on your EC's, the primary app isn't really geared too heavily on EC's... it focuses more on GPA, MCAT, and identifying you (name, social, aamc id, and address.) The secondaries and interviews will certainly expand on those areas of your application that are not highlighted too heavily at this point in the game.

Hope that helps!

you are such a DARLING!

thanks so much --- that helps tons! i hadn't really thought about separating slots based on types of abilities, but that seems like a great/organized way to do it! i'll definitely spend some time subdividing my activities now.

but seriously, thanks for all your encouragement...it means a lot! best of luck with your application as well! and hope those computer games are going well