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[jesuisbacke]

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[Moko]

I met with my advisor recently who seemed very intent on the idea that a med school app should just be research + stats + box checking, and she advised me very strongly against including any "unusual" activities.

The EC I'm referencing is a somewhat less common sport (not football/basketball/baseball etc.) but should still be known/recognized. I've been competing since I was a little kid, and I've had some achievements including an international recognition, and during college, I've had the opportunity to compete in events against elite professionals and even some highly ranked opponents in the world. Though it's not the highlight, I've also placed highly in a college event as well. I spent a lot of time during undergrad practicing and competing (honestly north of 5,000 hours), and I've been able to compete in professional/master level competitions with decent placement as well.

My hope was that this'll help my application since it's somewhat unique, but talking with family, they were worried mentioning this when applying to the med school associated with my undergrad and ignoring the advising offices advice could have consequences. They feel as though the benefit is marginal and outweighs the risk which I strongly disagree with personally.

I wanted to know how much of a impact something like this could have (with the appropriate stats, research, clinical etc.) and if it's really marginal - I feel as though omitting it would really hinder my app. Also, is it better to list lifetime hours (15-20k+) or college hours alone (5k+). Hoping for some clarity on which would be more appropriate.

@LizzyM @Goro @Moko any advice strongly appreciated, really appreciate the help!

You've dedicated a significant amount of time to this extracurricular activity and it may potentially even be a good conversation starter. You should definitely include it in your app! Listing lifetime hours would be appropriate here.

To address your concerns: your undergraduate premed adviser is highly unlikely to be directly involved with medical school admissions. And even if they were, the benefit that you would gain at other schools would still greatly outweigh any negligible adverse effect it would have at your school. Just my thoughts.

 

[Goro]

OP, listen to the wise Moko.

 

[jesuisbacke]

You've dedicated a significant amount of time to this extracurricular activity and it may potentially even be a good conversation starter. You should definitely include it in your app! Listing lifetime hours would be appropriate here.

To address your concerns: your undergraduate premed adviser is highly unlikely to be directly involved with medical school admissions. And even if they were, the benefit that you would gain at other schools would still greatly outweigh any negligible adverse effect it would have at your school. Just my thoughts.

Awesome, that’s what I was thinking as well. I was hoping to include the caliber of some of the events I’ve competed in during undergrad and the level of some of my best results/achievements (as I’ve mentioned here with much more specifics of course). Is it ok to use the activity description like that. I definitely haven’t counted the time I spent, but being honest with myself, definitely at least 15,000+ hours. Listing such high hours when it’s honestly been a massive part of my life won’t raise any eyebrows right.

 

[LizzyM]

List your best estimate of a start date and an end date. If you want to break into pre-high school, high school, college with three separate time frames, AMCAS will let you do that and show the estimated hours during each time frame.

The ignorance and bad advice of advisors is legendary here. Believe me when I tell you that we like to see something that distinguishes a student and makes the applicant appear less "cookie cutter" which almost can't be helped when all you list is coursework, research, clinical exposure and service. To see "the skiier", the "trumpet player", even "the drama queen" (an actual role at one university -- the person who organizes regularly scheduled movie nights) helps us to remember you and helps you stand out from the rest.

 

[cj_cregg]

Tons of people list things like competitive cultural dancing, varsity sports, music, etc. and that seems well-liked by the adcom people I know. The only thing in this category I have seen rankle some folks is listing (competitive or otherwise) video games as an EC - even some of our more lenient/younger members, whether that's fair or not.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

talking with family, they were worried mentioning this when applying to the med school associated with my undergrad and ignoring the advising offices advice could have consequences

Addressing the "family" issue: advisors advise, but they carry no weight in the decision unless they somehow vote on adcom decisions (which does not happen as far as I know). I get where your family may have concerns, but at some point, you have to trust yourself and your counsel.

Placing everything in balance, include the fun hobby. People are competitive in Rubik's Cube, e-sports, capturing Golden Snitches,... If it's something that has kept you focused and mentally sharp while in school, great! It's nice to have people with PERSONALITY since that's what patients will connect with and will make you cool to be around... not necessarily the actual hobby itself. Interviewers have asked "What do you do for fun?" You can't possibly whiff on that softball question! Your file will still be evaluated on the merits of your preparation and your mission fit.

 

[jesuisbacke]

List your best estimate of a start date and an end date. If you want to break into pre-high school, high school, college with three separate time frames, AMCAS will let you do that and show the estimated hours during each time frame.

The ignorance and bad advice of advisors is legendary here. Believe me when I tell you that we like to see something that distinguishes a student and makes the applicant appear less "cookie cutter" which almost can't be helped when all you list is coursework, research, clinical exposure and service. To see "the skiier", the "trumpet player", even "the drama queen" (an actual role at one university -- the person who organizes regularly scheduled movie nights) helps us to remember you and helps you stand out from the rest.

Thank you!

if I don’t foresee an end date can I list that as well, and would it be okay to spend the activity description mainly talking about some high level successes and my accolades/recognitions?

 

[LizzyM]

Thank you!

if I don’t foresee an end date can I list that as well, and would it be okay to spend the activity description mainly talking about some high level successes and my accolades/recognitions?

yes and yes.

 

[eigen]

Unless there's something particular about this activity that is making your advisor recommend leaving it off for this particular school, your advisor sounds like they're giving you what I'd consider bad advice.

I'm an undergrad advisor, and these types of activities are usually things that get the most interest / traction on my students applications! Belly dancing, bread making and quidditch have all featured heavily in past applications I've seen.

That said I have had cases where I've advised students of potential cons of including particular activities because of potentially negative associations, along with the (personal) advice that they probably wouldn't be happy at a school that wouldn't approve of something that was such a major part of their life.

 

[jesuisbacke]

Unless there's something particular about this activity that is making your advisor recommend leaving it off for this particular school, your advisor sounds like they're giving you what I'd consider bad advice.

I'm an undergrad advisor, and these types of activities are usually things that get the most interest / traction on my students applications! Belly dancing, bread making and quidditch have all featured heavily in past applications I've seen.

That said I have had cases where I've advised students of potential cons of including particular activities because of potentially negative associations, along with the (personal) advice that they probably wouldn't be happy at a school that wouldn't approve of something that was such a major part of their life.

It’s pretty much just a normal sport that people have heard of with no negative associations. Thanks for the advice!

 

[LunaOri]

Assuming it’s a competitive sport like fencing, it’s great! I might be a little leery if it’s MMA.

 

[BCN04]

List your best estimate of a start date and an end date. If you want to break into pre-high school, high school, college with three separate time frames, AMCAS will let you do that and show the estimated hours during each time frame.

The ignorance and bad advice of advisors is legendary here. Believe me when I tell you that we like to see something that distinguishes a student and makes the applicant appear less "cookie cutter" which almost can't be helped when all you list is coursework, research, clinical exposure and service. To see "the skiier", the "trumpet player", even "the drama queen" (an actual role at one university -- the person who organizes regularly scheduled movie nights) helps us to remember you and helps you stand out from the rest.

Mind if I ask you: what are some of the more "unique" hobbies you have seen listed on applications? And what are some of the more common ones—cooking, baking, gardening, exercising, etc.?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Mind if I ask you: what are some of the more "unique" hobbies you have seen listed on applications? And what are some of the more common ones—cooking, baking, gardening, exercising, etc.?

Years ago, I did an analysis of the most common activities, and it pretty much matched what you listed. Off the top of my head...

Music: piano, guitar, violin, orchestra, band. Won competitions. Taught kids instruments. Strangely enough, not as many who emphasized singing as a hobby, though I can see choir/musical theater involvement. Ironically, very few (literal) "rock stars" among the "rock stars."

Exercise: lifting, running (marathons, etc), swimming, NCAA scholarship sports (football, basketball, baseball/softball). I could lump in hiking, sailing, yoga/meditation. Also see a lot of people coaching.

Domestic arts: baking, gardening, repairing cars, building computers, etc. Lawn care/landscaping as a business.

Fine arts other than music: knitting, sculpture, painting, photography. Pinterest/Etsy or competitions also mentioned.

 

[LizzyM]

Concur with above. Some of the interesting/unusual ones: repairing and reselling old cameras and phonographs on eBay, lost wax casting of jewelry, medieval costume construction.

 

[jesuisbacke]

Assuming it’s a competitive sport like fencing, it’s great! I might be a little leery if it’s MMA.

It’s a competitive sport like fencing, probably a bit more widely known/recognized. Nothing like MMA, not controversial at all. (E.g table tennis maybe is similar)

 

[jesuisbacke]

Concur with above. Some of the interesting/unusual ones: repairing and reselling old cameras and phonographs on eBay, lost wax casting of jewelry, medieval costume construction.

Years ago, I did an analysis of the most common activities, and it pretty much matched what you listed. Off the top of my head...

Music: piano, guitar, violin, orchestra, band. Won competitions. Taught kids instruments. Strangely enough, not as many who emphasized singing as a hobby, though I can see choir/musical theater involvement. Ironically, very few (literal) "rock stars" among the "rock stars."

Exercise: lifting, running (marathons, etc), swimming, NCAA scholarship sports (football, basketball, baseball/softball). I could lump in hiking, sailing, yoga/meditation. Also see a lot of people coaching.

Domestic arts: baking, gardening, repairing cars, building computers, etc. Lawn care/landscaping as a business.

Fine arts other than music: knitting, sculpture, painting, photography. Pinterest/Etsy or competitions also mentioned.

Would you list this under hobby on AMCAS? Or a different section? As you can probably guess, I spent way more time, and was far more invested in this than the typical hobby. Is there a better way to list this? I also don't know that the sport is super unique (less niche than fencing imo, I only described it the way I did to preserve anonymity), I definitely am proud of the level at which I've competed during undergrad and being recognized at the international level which I think is pretty rare. Will the sport being relatively non-unique matter here? Hopefully not.

 

[Angus Avagadro]

Concur with above. Some of the interesting/unusual ones: repairing and reselling old cameras and phonographs on eBay, lost wax casting of jewelry, medieval costume construction.

I had one who entered and won several "YO YO" competitions. Clearly he made an impact as I still remember him.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

It’s a competitive sport like fencing, probably a bit more widely known/recognized. Nothing like MMA, not controversial at all. (E.g table tennis maybe is similar)

Total aside: I think "Cups" made this so much more popular. And it's popular among breaks during baseball or football games. (Robotics games are also a thing now.)

World Sport Stacking Association

www.thewssa.com

 

[LizzyM]

It's been awhile since I've looked at the "tags" one can use in the Work & Activities section of the AMCAS but I seem to recall that there is at least one tag related to athletics and another related to artistic endeavors, in addition to hobbies.

 

[Goro]

Mind if I ask you: what are some of the more "unique" hobbies you have seen listed on applications? And what are some of the more common ones—cooking, baking, gardening, exercising, etc.?

Common:
Dancing
Cooking
Sewing
Art
Sports
Exercise
Hiking
Camping
Movies

Uncommon:
Rock climbing
Sky diving
Scuba diving
Surfing
Skeet shooting
Model building
Acting
Movie making
Flying

 

[shambho]

Deleted

 

[LizzyM]

What’s wrong with MMA?

"Mixed martial arts is a full-contact sport. It's violent. It can sometimes be bloody, and combatants do suffer injuries both in training and during the fights."
~Bleacherreport
Boxing has been condemned by the AMA and while MMA might not be as bad as boxing, it doesn't sound like it is as safe as croquet or badminton.

 

[shambho]

Deleted

 

[chilly_md]

Closing as the OP has removed their initial post that was the basis for discussion.