Medical Can I use sorority leadership for most meaningful experience?

[Raryn]

I served as chapter president of my sorority while in college and it has largely shaped how I view leadership and working as part of a team. I am thinking about including it as one of my most meaningful experiences and focusing on what I learned about myself as a leader and team member, but I also know there is stigma associated with Greek life. My organization is known for being full of the quirkiest, most academic and ambitious women on our campus and they have played a large role in shaping my confidence and challenging me to grow - but I'm not sure if placing Greek life as most meaningful will give the wrong impression of me. If I don't use being chapter president as one of my MMEs, then likely all three of my MMEs will be repeats of activities that were included in my PS (though diving into different aspects of them to avoid redundancy). For reference, here are those three: working as an entrance screener and emergency room technician in a local hospital, conducting research in a child development genetics lab, and studying global health abroad in Vietnam, South Africa, and Argentina.

I don't think it would be a problem, depending on what you write. I wasn't in Greek life - but my brother was, and he chose leadership in his fraternity as one of his most meaningful experiences. He wrote his essay about the community service experiences they did together, not the beer they drank together, and he had no issues that stemmed from this. At its most fundamental, it's basically a social club- but what you did in the context of that social club can absolutely be meaningful.

I also have a secondary question - if I include my research as a MME, would it be off-putting to focus on the relationship with my mentor and why that has been incredibly impactful for me? It doesn't necessarily describe the impact I have had but rather how seeing her be a successful educator, clinician, researcher, policymaker, mother, and wife has shown me its possible to be involved in so many different things that matter to me while also having a work/life balance that allows me to be present with my family.

Thank you in advance!!

I think that the purpose of the meaningful experience essays is in how they made you grow as a person - meaningful to you. Maybe to a lesser extent how it was meaningful to society, but really, it's primarily the factor of how *you* were affected by the experience. Talking about the example served by your mentor is fine from that context - but make sure to connect it to yourself.

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[Mr.Smile12]

Greek life has some interesting stereotypes to overcome, and you have to remember a little bit who would likely be reading your essays who may have the most sway. Of course, you can't predict these wtihout asking your admissions officers before you apply, and not everyone can give you a straight answer.

So I won't say don't do it, but you need to be very clear how you are using your MME to leverage it on your preparation for a career in medicine and health care. Sure you can grow as a person, and I agree that is meaningful depending on who you were before the experience. But how does this really help me get a better idea of your professional development as a future physician is going to be one way people will assess how you use this opportunity to talk about your most meaningful experience. (Same thing in approaching MME for your research if you're going to take the perspective of the mentoring you had.)

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

I think using the Greek life as your MME is good as long as your phrase things the right way and really focus on how your experiences have made you into a better person or increased your love for xyz. Experiences are experiences so maybe try and frame it as that and not so much “Greek life” if that makes sense?

 

[lord999]

It really depends on the medical school you apply to. There are some (include three of the Ivy's and mine in the Midwest) that have known antipathy for Greek life due to having recent issues with substance abuse and other issues within the school. You will need to get a feel for the schools you apply to whether they have issues. If you research and find gender relations or substance abuse issues within the recent couple of years, it would probably be a good idea to downplay it.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Yeah in regards to greek just be really clear if your sorority has been in the news for bad reasons in the recent past that will come up on a Google search. You may have had nothing to do with it, but it’s not worth risking.

I highlight my mentors all the times in talking about my career. As long as you can relate it to your story that is good.