Early College Enrollment, Do ECs count?

[whatageek]

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I'm looking to apply to medical school this summer and I'm trying to figure out what I can include and what I can't include. For those who move directly from high school to college, I've heard that your college career starts the summer after high school. I have a little bit of a different situation in that my high school had a program in which high school seniors could take classes at a local college, simultaneously earning high school and college credits. I went for broke and enrolled full time during my senior year in high school. My question is how is this handled? Surely my GPA from this time frame counts, right? It did contribute to filling the requirements of my college degree. Is that year then considered my "freshman year" even through I was technically still a high school student? So does that mean any ECs I participated in during that year count as a "college EC"?

I'm appreciative of any advice. Thanks!

 

[deleted357625]

If you were enrolled in college "full-time" then your fine.

 

[whatageek]

That's what I was thinking as well. Thanks!

 

[Wisco1]

AMCAS makes no requirement that you only list "college ECs". Medical schools want to see experiences that have shaped you or influenced your desire to pursue medicine. Obviously they like to see continuous involvement, so list the most recent stuff first, but don't feel like you can't list an experience that was important to you even if occurred in high school. An example that I did was volunteer tutoring children during my senior year in high school. That experience working with kids has really shaped my interest in pediatrics.

 

[Lil Mick]

You choose your 15 most meaningful activities and describe those on AMCAS, so if there's something you've loved and been doing since then, it counts. Research is a good example of an activity that might come up in that situation (start in high school, stay on the project).

You'll also need to supply transcripts for the colleges/universities you've attended, including those in which you were a part-time student. I started auditing and taking courses at university very early, and, if a lot of time has passed since you were enrolled, you may want to start requesting your transcript early (mine took over a month). Your medical school may ask for complete transcripts from every university (even if you never graduated from that school) when you enroll, as well.