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[SentientWave]

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[PONS]

I doubt high school achievements have any merit in med school admissions because I don't think admissions committees care about how much of a bum/superstar that you were when you were teenager. I think they are more interested what you achieved/experienced as an adult after high school imo so I wouldn't bother including high school extracurriculars or awards unless they were on a national scale.

 

[Moko]

I am planning to list some of my awards earned during highschool - I am not sure if I should include these but I am an immigrant and much of my life has been out side of the US, so I think listing these all under one entry won't hurt, especially because I have 7 entries to spare. These awards include winning a science fair competition, winning a science quiz competition and winning a team sports tournament in high school. Should I list these? And if so, how do I go about the contact section - I have listed myself, with the title being "Applicant" is this appropriate? Should I just put the name of my school.

Also important to note is that I have a certificate and/or the trophy from my school for each of the awards I list, and I mention that. Not sure if putting myself or my school is better for the contact, thank you a lot for the help!

None of these awards are worth mentioning imo. The Vegas rule applies to most activities that happened entirely in high school. However, activities that were started in high school and continued in college are a different story. Just my thoughts.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

Shouldn’t list them unless the science fairs along the lines or Siemens, Intel, math Olympian.

These would be worth listing imho

 

[KnightDoc]

Shouldn’t list them unless the science fairs along the lines or Siemens, Intel, math Olympian.

These would be worth listing imho

Even then, I'm not so sure. If you built on it in college, that is what would be important, and will be obvious from your post-HS body of work. If not, that would only highlight the fact that you peaked in HS. Either way, why would a med school value a prestigious HS honor with no college follow through, when pretty much all successful medical school candidates have a pretty extensive list of post-HS accomplishments?

 

[SentientWave]

None of these awards are worth mentioning imo. The Vegas rule applies to most activities that happened entirely in high school. However, activities that were started in high school and continued in college are a different story. Just my thoughts.

Thank you for the input! Still, if I were to include them under one entry like I describe in the post, what is the best way to go about it?

Even then, I'm not so sure. If you built on it in college, that is what would be important, and will be obvious from your post-HS body of work. If not, that would only highlight the fact that you peaked in HS. Either way, why would a med school value a prestigious HS honor with no college follow through, when pretty much all successful medical school candidates have a pretty extensive list of post-HS accomplishments?

I get that adcoms will prioritize recency, however, I think for my specific situation, it works because I have only recently immigrated, and I have a good GPA and MCAT - so I feel like it shows I was studious and dedicated since HS. Additionally, I do not have much athletic stuff to list in the US (covid hit not long after I came to the US), so I need to draw attention to that to look more balanced.

 

[Med Ed]

Additionally, I do not have much athletic stuff to list in the US (covid hit not long after I came to the US), so I need to draw attention to that to look more balanced.

It will just look silly. Like you don't know the rules of the game.

Medical schools use varying degrees of so-called holistic review, meaning they use a E-A-M (experiences, attributes, metrics) model to evaluate applicants. Thus far you have nailed the M part, but E needs a lot of work to make you broadly competitive. We discern attributes from recommendation letters and other parts of the application.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Agreeing with earlier statements, high school accomplishments need to be from a nationally or internationally competitive rigorous process. If you were an Intel/Siemens finalist or won a Jack Kent Cooke scholarship, those would be worthy of inclusion.

If you got your awards in another country, that is going to be even more difficult. Very few faculty or administrators will even recognize awards like the Wool4School competition in Australia or the Google coding competitions. If you met the highest levels of government or acknowledged you for your achievement, that would be good in any secondary essay about "what's cool about you (that we would otherwise never know about you)." Otherwise, skip it.

 

[Deltasidearm]

Take the seasoned advice repeatedly given to you. Do not try to fluff your application. All it does is distract from what you accomplished as an adult that may actually get you into medical school.

 

[candbgirl]

“
I get that adcoms will prioritize recency, however, I think for my specific situation, it works because I have only recently immigrated, and I have a good GPA and MCAT - so I feel like it shows I was studious and dedicated since HS. Additionally, I do not have much athletic stuff to list in the US (covid hit not long after I came to the US), so I need to draw attention to that to look more balanced.”


So when did you immigrate? We’re these awards from US high schools? Please listen to the excellent advice you have received from actual ADCOMS. Not one of the ADCOMS said it would be helpful to your application.

You seem pretty intent on using these high school things. Perhaps you should put off applying until next cycle and find some appropriate activities to add to your application.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

Even then, I'm not so sure. If you built on it in college, that is what would be important, and will be obvious from your post-HS body of work. If not, that would only highlight the fact that you peaked in HS. Either way, why would a med school value a prestigious HS honor with no college follow through, when pretty much all successful medical school candidates have a pretty extensive list of post-HS accomplishments?

These awards are so prestigious that they tend to follow people for their entire lives. I’ve seen professors at Princeton and portfolio managers at Bridgewater still mention math Olympiad in their biographies. I’m sure these would be seen as a positive for med schools. Obviously it wouldn’t supersede college level stuff or wouldn’t be an auto admit type thing but it would probably help.

Local science fair on the other, not so much

 

[KnightDoc]

“
I get that adcoms will prioritize recency, however, I think for my specific situation, it works because I have only recently immigrated, and I have a good GPA and MCAT - so I feel like it shows I was studious and dedicated since HS. Additionally, I do not have much athletic stuff to list in the US (covid hit not long after I came to the US), so I need to draw attention to that to look more balanced.”


So when did you immigrate? We’re these awards from US high schools? Please listen to the excellent advice you have received from actual ADCOMS. Not one of the ADCOMS said it would be helpful to your application.

You seem pretty intent on using these high school things. Perhaps you should put off applying until next cycle and find some appropriate activities to add to your application.

This^^^. It's not about prioritizing recency. It's about not caring, AT ALL, about what you did as a kid if you haven't done anything noteworthy since, and not caring about what you did as a kid if you HAVE achieved impressive accomplishments since.

Bottom line -- they just don't care about your status as a HS valedictorian, or your science fair, science quiz, etc., etc., etc. You are not going to "look more balanced" by "drawing attention" to HS activities. You are only going to be drawing attention to the fact that don't have a lot to talk about since arriving in America after HS. If you have nothing else and think it's going to help you to include what you did in HS in another country, feel free to go ahead.

The answer you are looking for is that it's not going to matter who you use as a contact, or whether you use one box or seven to describe this. They will not be calling to check. Believe me! Good luck.

 

[eigen]

To add to the growing list of “don’t don’t”, one other thing to consider is that if you did something in HS and then stopped in college, you’re directly showcasing a downward rather than upward trajectory. Not only might it not help you but you’re inviting questions on why you haven’t kept up with those activities.

It’s why it’s valuable to showcase things started in HS and continued after that can contribute to a narrative. For instance, competing in the science fair and hen helping run and judge them, or playing HS sports and then volunteering as a coach.