EC's List

[Bcranger]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Lol

 

[Josh7]

These are my EC's as of now:

Research:
Goldwater
2 Years Research 20hrs/week fall/spring; ~30 hours summer, paid
Publication, 3rd author, contributed 25% of data
Started working on a first author project but unlikely to be completed before med school application and tons of things go unexpectedly in research!
1st place oral presentation at regional research conference
1st place university research expo poster presentation

Volunteer:
YMCA facility volunteer, 1 semester ~6 hrs/wk
~200 Hours Childrens Hospital PACU Volunteer over 1 year
~80 Hours University Hospital Volunteer over .5 year

Clinical:
70 Hours Shadowing (Heptaology, Gastrointestinal, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Neurology)

Leadership:
Water Polo secretary club, team captain
University's Honors Program Intramurals Committee

Academic Honors:
Outstanding General Chemistry I&II Performance Award
Honors Biology Program
Honors Program (special subsection run by university)

Other:
Water Polo Team Captain, avg 10 hrs/wk; 2nd place regionals team
Chemistry TA
Online tutor
Private peer tutor
Paper Publication on fitness program participants; Pertains to physical fitness trends in correlation to exercise level & diet
Summer pharm tech 10 hr/week at walmart
Fitness; won 2011 Arnold Classic Teen Fitness Challenge

As a rising junior at a major research insitution, are these EC's well rounded and competitive for an MD-PHD applicant to MSTP programs? In particular, is volunteering for a year okay or should I keep volunteering another year (the volunteer work is actually very fun but I am debating on shifting more time to research and my individual honors thesis project)?

Lastly, does the water polo make me stand out at all? The team is club-based but we have over 60 members and we are quite serious about it.

...yes

 

[Bcranger]

Don't take it me the wrong way; I just heard that med schools like quality of quantity and I was mainly unsure of whether volunteering for an year extra or shifting that time to research would be more beneficial. I would assume the latter. Also, my leadership is not too prevalent outside of sports; would that matter? Lastly, I heard that MTSP even at lower tier schools are very competitive...

 

[flatearth22]

If you don't get accepted it certainly won't be because of your EC's.

That said, I've found that what's more important than the actual activities is how you reflect on them in your app and interviews so focus on that.

 

[NonTraditional3]

Obviously, MD-PhD programs will place more emphasis on your scientific endeavors than anything else. However, why MD-PhD instead of PhD? You should be prepared to answer this question....so do not completely abandon whatever clinical activities you are currently involved in. It is not a bad idea to shift more time to your research, but make sure you remain in a clinical setting to some extent, and remain involved even through your application year.

 

[Bcranger]

Okay, thanks for the replies! I will definitely keep the clinical relevancy in mind.

 

[NonTraditional3]

Don't take it me the wrong way; I just heard that med schools like quality of quantity and I was mainly unsure of whether volunteering for an year extra or shifting that time to research would be more beneficial. I would assume the latter. Also, my leadership is not too prevalent outside of sports; would that matter? Lastly, I heard that MTSP even at lower tier schools are very competitive...

ALL MSTP's are very competitive. Do not be fooled into thinking MSTP at a school like SUNY Stonybrook is substantively less competitive than MSTP at Columbia. Limited seats, and the cost of MSTP (for the school/NIH) is roughly half a million dollars per student, regardless of the school. Are you worth $500,000+? $500,000+ at Columbia = $500,000+ at Texas A&M = $500,000+ at Stonybrook = $500,000+ at Northwestern, etc. You see the pattern here right?

 

[Bcranger]

Do you think Goldwater will help my application substantially? It seems like that and my publication are pretty much my only standouts besides water polo?

 

[circulus vitios]

Do you think Goldwater will help my application substantially? It seems like that and my publication are pretty much my only standouts besides water polo?

 

[NonTraditional3]

Do you think Goldwater will help my application substantially? It seems like that and my publication are pretty much my only standouts besides water polo?

Goldwater looks good - It's particularly meaningful if you're at a big school, because only 4 students per institution per year can be nominated for the award; it means you would have beat out the top performers at a big school to have earned the award. I'm not sure how much water polo would stand out. Is participation in a club team really that much different than the girl who just runs 7 miles a day? Or the guy who power lifts with his buddies 4 nights a week? It is cool, don't me wrong - but it is not like you play D1 basketball or D1 swimming, where you must go to practice....if you wanted to, you could walk from polo, with no real consequences to deal with. I don't think it stands out or makes as great a statement as varsity sports, but if you wanted to show what you do with your 'free time' I think that's what it can accomplish for you. I think intramural sports are no different than putting "running" as a hobby, but I'm just playing devils advocate here.

 

[flatearth22]

Goldwater looks good - It's particularly meaningful if you're at a big school, because only 4 students per institution per year can be nominated for the award; it means you would have beat out the top performers at a big school to have earned the award. I'm not sure how much water polo would stand out. Is participation in a club team really that much different than the girl who just runs 7 miles a day? Or the guy who power lifts with his buddies 4 nights a week? It is cool, don't me wrong - but it is not like you play D1 basketball or D1 swimming, where you must go to practice....if you wanted to, you could walk from polo, with no real consequences to deal with. I don't think it stands out or makes as great a statement as varsity sports, but if you wanted to show what you do with your 'free time' I think that's what it can accomplish for you. I think intramural sports are no different than putting "running" as a hobby, but I'm just playing devils advocate here.

Meh. Quality > quantity. Getting a Goldwater from a small, elite place like CalTech beats getting it from a place with a bunch of mediocre undergrads like ASU.

 

[NonTraditional3]

Meh. Quality > quantity. Getting a Goldwater from a small, elite place like CalTech beats getting it from a place with a bunch of mediocre undergrads like ASU.

Yeah but then you have schools like Penn, Cornell, Northwestern, UVA, UCLA....these are not easy schools to get into as an undergrad, and by no means are they small schools. I meant that, getting goldwater at a big school like Cornell or Michigan >>>> than receiving it at a small school like St. Olaf or Suffolk University or Stonehill College or some other small liberal arts school.

 

[mmmcdowe]

Moving to WAMC forum.

 

[Gnomo]

According to the Associate Dean for Admissions at my state school: MCAT > GPA > Shadowing > ECs. Point being what you're doing is important and impressive, but your grades have to be there and when the time comes, your MCAT has to be there, too.

 

[NonTraditional3]

According to the Associate Dean for Admissions at my state school: MCAT > GPA > Shadowing > ECs. Point being what you're doing is important and impressive, but your grades have to be there and when the time comes, your MCAT has to be there, too.

Shadowing is separate from EC's?

 

[Bcranger]

Righto; my GPA is very solid right now and MCAT we will see in a few months 😉

 

[NonTraditional3]

Righto; my GPA is very solid right now and MCAT we will see in a few months 😉

define very solid. It is quite subjective and doesn't at all help us to gauge what your working with here. Help us help you.