Continutity of Activities

[Nymphicus]

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Hey everybody!
First just wanted to say what a great resource SDN is. I have been reading up and learning a lot. Now on to the good stuff.

I originally typed out this whole detailed explanation, but then realized I was pouring out to the whole internet community more of my life than I was comfortable with.

Basically though, I am very involved with both volunteering and athletics. I started playing my sport in 8th grade, and have gone to national level tournaments in the later years of highschool with club teams. I now play NCAA Division III. In addition, I am an assistant coach with my old highschool team.

I have been also involved in volunteering with music and retirement homes/Alzheimer's homes/hospitals. I started when I was 10, and kept going. My catholic highschool required a service learning project, which was basically a volunteer project combined with research paper and poster that you had to present to faculty and members of the community! I did my project on the affect of music on alzheimer’s (i.e. why do alzeheimer’s patients remember nursery rhymes but not their children). In college have continued to volunteer, but more often, and at many locations, around the
country.

I also have lived abroad for 2 years in middle school and 1 year in high school (in the same city in Asia both times). Because I was immersed in this different and fascinating culture, I became really interested in learning more during my college years. Some examples would be being a member of the relevant club on campus, and taking the relevant language courses instead of lets say, Spanish, for my foreign language GE requirements. I am also half Asian (and half middle-eastern). this paragraph was not typed out very well

I realize that adcoms don't normally look at what you did in highschool and earlier, but in the context of showing continuity, (i.e. "I have been doing this since middle school and have continued my involvement to an even greater extent."), I was thinking that this would be relevant.
Anybody have anything to weigh in? I’d be especially grateful if anybody with admissions experience could share their thoughts. Also, I just wanted to add...if you can't tell I do these things because I love them, and would have done them and will continue to do them even if they had no bearing on my application (obviously, when I was 10, I was not planning for medical school...haha). But since they do show what I'm passionate about, I was wondering how to best show that.

Thanks!

 

[Narmerguy]

It's definitely a great plus to have been doing a lot of that stuff since middle school. Yes, I would include it. As always though, don't expect it to make up for the poor issues elsewhere in an application.

But I definitely thing continuity is the one thing that is often lacking in applicants that participate in a lot of activities.

 

[LizzyM]

(i.e. why do alzeheimer’s patients remember nursery rhymes but not their children).

I've written lyrics set to popular tunes that incorporate my children's names. Maybe they'll sing their names to me when I'm too far gone to remember them otherwise. 😉

On to your question... as you enter each experience in the AMCAS application, you can use a start date going back years & years and, if need be, leave out the hours per week. Then, in the description field, describe how this activity has evolved over time much in the way you did in your description here.


The foreign language studies will be on your transcript. If there are any immigrants from that country to the US, you might highlight that on secondaries. It might not be as common as Spanish but the availability of interpreters may not be as common either which means you have a very valuable skill on rare occasion. You can list the club membership in the experience section and then in the explanation describe that you lived in X for 3 years as a child and are familiar with the customs & culture. This intensifies the value of your language skills because you also have a feel for the non-verbal communications etc of patients from that part of the world.

The sports thing.... I'd suggest listing the start & end date of your college sports career & then in the narrative describe that you starting playing the sport at age x and played on a ___ team in HS. List the coaching job separately as either employment or volunteer.

 

[Nymphicus]

Thanks for the insight! I appreciate it.