Can this be listed as an award?

[danimastani]

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Hi, I was invited for international mission of medicine among a pool of other people. Though I did not go for it for several reasons, can I still enlist it as award? Also, there were couple of socities, I was invited to, but did not want to pay 60$. Can I still enlist them under my award as, "nominated for Golden key national honor society"?

 

[CaMD]

Hi, I was invited for international mission of medicine among a pool of other people. Though I did not go for it for several reasons, can I still enlist it as award? Also, there were couple of socities, I was invited to, but did not want to pay 60$. Can I still enlist them under my award as, "nominated for Golden key national honor society"?

I guess you could, but I wouldn't.

 

[danimastani]

why not? any more inputs?

 

[jlee9531]

i wouldnt either.
golden key is pretty much a waste and i would think most adcoms would just see this as fluff. i figure its about as lame as Whos Who for High School students.

and being invited to a mission, isn't really an award. on top of that...you didnt even go.

 

[zola]

I guess I'll take a shot at this, with the caveat that this is just my uninformed opinion. I would not put the first one, and would maybe put the honor society invites if you don't have anything else good. (Definitely put them all as one experience if you do put them down.)

I wouldn't put the international mission or whatever it was called because the most likely result is that at an interview people will ask you why you didn't actually go. So you will then be in the position of making excuses, which, even if they are all very good reasons, you don't really want to have to do. It would be better to be able to talk about something interesting that you actually did.

 

[CalBeE]

Both of the items seem like fillers. Try to see if there are other more significant stuff to put in instead.

 

[TRUE]

My 2 cents are that you don't put in either of them. Those aren't the type of things that are going to qualify as good experiences to talk about at interviews or help to impress adcom's with your diverse experiences.

You should stick more to volunteer experiences, research, published papers, sports teams you were on, dean's list, etc...

 

[SusieQ]

Stick to stuff that you can talk about significantly during interviews. It's quality more than quantity. Keep in mind that ADCOMs see A LOT of ECs and they are going to want your ECs to reflect things you've actually done to show your interest in medicine, etc.... Best of luck 🙂

 

[AlternateSome1]

If you are going to start listing honors you could have had, and activities you could have done, you might as well start listing colleges you could have gone to, and grades you could have achieved. Seriously though, your application is about what you did, not what you didn't do. Leave out anything you were just nominated for.

 

[Gleevec]

I wouldnt. The next logical question would be "so how was it," upon which you would have to tell your interviewer you didnt go for whatever reasons.

 

[CalBeE]

If you are going to start listing honors you could have had, and activities you could have done, you might as well start listing colleges you could have gone to, and grades you could have achieved. Seriously though, your application is about what you did, not what you didn't do. Leave out anything you were just nominated for.

that reminds me of a time when I was reading applications to an honors society. An applicant listed a volunteer program that I was in charge of...I practically know most people by names and I don't recognized that person at all. So I emailed that applicant and it turned out that he was "planning" to join my volunteer program, but ended up missing the orientation. I told him it was a BAD idea to do that. He ended up not being selected to join the honors society.

 

[kaikai128]

i i figure its about as lame as Whos Who for High School students.

I got Whos who College level...is that something that should be included?

 

[fullefect1]

I got Whos who College level...is that something that should be included?

Only if you have nothing else more important to put on it. I wouldn't put it over something that you actually dedicated time and effort into.

 

[chickenpotpie]

golden key is pretty much a waste and i would think most adcoms would just see this as fluff. i figure its about as lame as Whos Who for High School students.

not according to my adviser who recommended it... golden key is considered to be one of the few reputable honor societies. i would not put that you were nominated--only list it if you are actually a member.

 

[TheFlash]

The only honor society worth any mention at all is Phi Beta Kappa. Fillers like NSCS and Golden Key aren't worth much salt.

 

[raven]

no
too short
no

 

[AlternateSome1]

Ouch. I'm glad you got to screen that one! It amazes me what people will do when they think it will help their resume/application.

that reminds me of a time when I was reading applications to an honors society. An applicant listed a volunteer program that I was in charge of...I practically know most people by names and I don't recognized that person at all. So I emailed that applicant and it turned out that he was "planning" to join my volunteer program, but ended up missing the orientation. I told him it was a BAD idea to do that. He ended up not being selected to join the honors society.

 

[SpiritiualDuck]

You can't list things you could have done. That's a huge stretch. I almost had a date with a model once. I don't tell my friends how I could have had that A**. Actually, I have told a couple of friends.

Gold Key is a joke. It's just based on GPA. So, it's a given if you have a certain GPA you qualify. Most of us on here could have joined. I got an invite. Didn't join and didn't list it.

Find significant things you can talk about like research projects, independent studies, volunteer work.

 

[CalBeE]

The only honor society worth any mention at all is Phi Beta Kappa. Fillers like NSCS and Golden Key aren't worth much salt.

I've heard of PBK at various places and it seems like a big deal...but how is it so? Just like Golden Key, it looks at your GPA, but on top of that, also the breadth of courses you have taken in the humanities and sciences. But that's still solely based on academics though.