Deep versus Broad EC's

[Deleted member 737595]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi all,

So I've been perusing the WAMC thread, and it seems like a lot of people have A LOT of EC's with low hundreds of hours. For example:

-soup kitchen ~100 hours
-shadowing ~50 hours
-Drama club ~400 hours
-cancer advocacy group ~200 hours
-reading to cancer patients ~75 hours
-after school tutoring to kindergarteners ~80 hours
-hospital volunteering ~300 hours
-performed c sections in Ethiopia ~1 week
-MCAT tutor
-Premed club treasurer
-
etc
etc
...etc

is this 'better' than ONE or TWO substantial clinical experiences, ONE substantial non-clinical, ONE substantial leadership, ONE substantial hobby?

@LizzyM talks about spreading oneself too thin. What is the balance here?

 

[HomeSkool]

There's no hard and fast answer. You ought to have a couple things that you dive into deeply, as well as several others that give you well-roundedness without being all-consuming passions. In other words, prove that you care deeply about some activities but get enough exposure to other things that you don't become a one-trick pony.

What @LizzyM means about "spreading oneself too thin", I think, is that some applicants try to do so much that they just scrape the surface of fifteen things and don't delve deeply or show a meaningful commitment to any of them. Even more concerning to me, though, are the applicants who're clearly only doing things to check the boxes without showing any real commitment, kind of like a person who flits from one project to the next hoping for lots of publications without having to actually contribute anything of value. Those people are usually as shallow as their ECs.

 

[KU Brendan]

Speaking as someone who interviews students, I cannot imagine paying that much attention to specific hours and number of activities. Personally, I like to see that someone did an activity or some activities, clinical or non-clinical, for a good amount of time--but more importantly, that they can talk about them passionately in an interview. It's great to get out there and do lots of things, but only if you enjoy them and they aren't hurting the other parts of your application (grades, MCAT, etc.).

 

[KU Brendan]

While what I said above is true, do know, though, that if you have not performed C-sections in Ethiopia for at least one week AND cured at least 25 puppies of cancer, you are not going to make it into medical school.

 

[Deleted member 737595]

While what I said above is true, do know, though, that if you have not performed C-sections in Ethiopia for at least one week AND cured at least 25 puppies of cancer, you are not going to make it into medical school.

You think I haven't done that yet?? That's the bare minimum.😏