Anyone got in or is applying in June without awesome ECs?

[Apparition]

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I feel like I am the only one applying soon whose ECs are virtually nonexistant. I will have done only about 9 months of hospital volunteering and one semester of research. I decided to apply to med school my junior year and between completing pre-reqs, my non-science major, and a variety of part-time jobs, this is all I had time for. I haven't done anything for the first and second year of college. Is/was anyone in a similar situation? Thanks.

 

[jlee9531]

why the rush?

9 months of volunteering

1 semester of research

some part time jobs...

hmm.

well of course if you gained something meaning out of these activities then that is the most important thing, but the thing is will people believe you when you only spent a relatively small amount of time on these experiences?

unfortunately you have to remember that you are one applicant out of many. and unless your gpa and mcat speak volumes about your brilliance its going to be very tough for you this upcoming application cycle. in addition to that you are applying right out of college too. the thoughts on this are varied of course because there are many students that get accepted right after undergrad, but for me...i am of the opinion that taking some time off is helpful to an applicant. you can get better LORs from the outside activities you are doing as well since they will get to know you better.

with the added year you can go around and volunteer more and do some shadowing which is a good place to get some experience about clinical care. you can prepare for your application better etc...

yeah...im just one thought out of many but i thought id just chime in and let you know how i felt about your situation.

 

[Sharkfan]

I was sort of in your situation when I applied this past June. I was a varsity athlete for four years, which completely dominated any and all time I might have been able to put towards medically-oriented EC prep. I knew I didn't have a good thing going, so I added another major, stayed a fifth year, and worked on it. Outside of about as much volunteer work that you say you have, I had some nice athletic achievements and a few nice awards... but little else. SO I did research from May-Dec this past year, which I think upped the strength of my application.

Three schools saw enough in me to interview me, and so far I have been accepted by one. (I will find out about another tomorrow night, and hopefully the third within the next few weeks.)

I guess the morale to my story is that all is not lost. Make an effort to work on your application strength, and try to put a positive spin on everything!

🙂

 

[camstah]

i applied this year with not that great EC's...like you, i worked most of my free time in college.....did about six months of volunteering, and about a year and a half of research (the research was more simple brained than anything though)...got a master's in public health, which apparently isn't looked upon favorably by some adcoms (why i have no idea, i'd say public health departments are pretty damn important....doctors think they know everything!)...great mcat score but mediocre gpa.....and am applying...for the second time...last year applied only to cali schools and got two late interviews (august mcater plus one of my LOR writers was slow) and waitlisted at both....this year applied again and got one cali interview, applied to two out of state schools and interviewed at one.....so don't worry, you'll get interviews if you dont' care about staying in a particular area....and do pretty well on the mcat....as for what comes after the interview, i don't know, i think my lack of great EC's hurt me there......anyway, that's my story...hope it helps....good luck!!😀

 

[lilithny]

now I'm getting nervous.

In ugrad, I did some voluntering (RMH, AHA marathons, etc.), did an internship where I co-authored a policy proposal (it's published, sitting in the state library somewhere), and that's about it.

From what I keep reading, that's nowhere near enough.

Now that I'm back in school, I haven't done anything. I've been pretty focused on knocking off the pre-req's. I have more free time this semester, and I was looking to go volunteer at a hospital and shadow a doctor over the summer (when I'll have even more free time). That's pushing it back too far, isn't it?

Arrrgh. Head hurts. need rest.

 

[bella_dottoressa]

I just want to chime in to say that the premeds you find on SDN are not representative of the nation of premeds out there who predominate the pool of applicants. When you hold yourself in comparison with most of the people on here, what you see can be a little skewed. I think there are lots of applicants out there who don't have a hundred ECs and still do fine. But what do I know 🙂

 

[CalBeE]

I'd make sure the application is strong before I apply. Applying without a solid app wouldn't do you any good. You may get lucky and get in somewhere, but it may not be somewhere you like. Ultimately, if your app is stronger, you'll have more choices for school at the end.

 

[ixitixl]

Originally posted by Apparition
I feel like I am the only one applying soon whose ECs are virtually nonexistant. I will have done only about 9 months of hospital volunteering and one semester of research. I decided to apply to med school my junior year and between completing pre-reqs, my non-science major, and a variety of part-time jobs, this is all I had time for. I haven't done anything for the first and second year of college. Is/was anyone in a similar situation? Thanks.

My GPA is low AND I have virtually nonexistant ECs. I was told to take a year off after I graduated but it didn't improve anything. I still managed to snag a few interviews and an acceptance. I know people who've applied their junior year and they generally wish they had waited a year although the reasons for this vary tremendously.