AMCAS question

[jfksenior]

for people who have applied already,

do you think mentioning something in your essayhas more weight than putting it in your post-sec. experiences?

i just can imagine the basis of an interview being alomst wholly based on the essay, and skirting over the experiences...
any thoughts?

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[relatively prime]

Wow... good question! I haven't applied yet, but I wonder the same thing...

It probably depends on the type of experience. I would think that an activity that doesn't seem like something that would have had a great impact on you, but has... that would have more weight in the personal statement where you could explain why such an experience impacted you so much... whereas something like getting published pretty much speaks for itself and probably has equal weight no matter where you put it.

That's just my educated quess... I hope more experienced people post their thoughts.

 

[UCMonkey]

OK, I'll give this one a try.

Basically, the essay and list of experiences give the your interviewers something to ask about (and show that you can write coherently).

If you have an interviewer that hasn't had a lot of time to review your file, they'll just scan down your list of experiences. I had one interviewer that asked me about them *in the order that they appeared on the AMCAS app*. He had obviously not taken much time with my app.

On the opposite end, if the interviewer really cares, then they will take the time to read your essay, like in the case of another interview I had. He brought up fine points from both my PS and the "Practice Vision" essay that you guys don't have to write.

I think what it boils down to is this: What you talk about in your interview will stick out more when the ADCOM looks at you, so depending on your interviewer, that could be what you put in your essay or what you put in your list of EC's.

I hope that makes sense.