Great tips for entering your "Work/Activities" for AMCAS

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Status
Not open for further replies.
Members do not see this ad.
Quick question that I do not think has been asked thus far:

Is it okay to use actual bullet points in your descriptions? I'm taking the LizzyM-suggested approach and only writing about what I did for descriptions and not making long paragraphs about how that activity affected me, what I learned, blah blah blah.

So basically do you think adcoms will appreciate actual bullet points or should I just leave space between my points?

I know this is a bit neurotic but just humor me please 🙂
 
How would i enter this:

I began volunteering at a doctor's office for the first summer (3 months) and would come back during the year like for winter and spring break to volunteer/observe as well.

Then, the next summer, she hired me to work in her office so i did that for two more summers/vacations/time back at home.

Then, since i graduated, i have been working there every week like 3 days a week.

How would i enter all of that and NOT make it confusing? 😕

ALSO: I have been figure skating since I was 4 y.old (i am now 24). I used to compete, but now i just do it for fun since i went away to college and graduated. Is that something worth mentioning on my work/activities section...EVEN IF i discuss it in my personal statement??
 
Ari1584 said:
How would i enter this:

I began volunteering at a doctor's office for the first summer (3 months) and would come back during the year like for winter and spring break to volunteer/observe as well.

Then, the next summer, she hired me to work in her office so i did that for two more summers/vacations/time back at home.

Then, since i graduated, i have been working there every week like 3 days a week.

How would i enter all of that and NOT make it confusing? 😕

ALSO: I have been figure skating since I was 4 y.old (i am now 24). I used to compete, but now i just do it for fun since i went away to college and graduated. Is that something worth mentioning on my work/activities section...EVEN IF i discuss it in my personal statement??
Click to expand...

Just explain concisely in the description section.
 
BlueElmo said:
Just explain concisely in the description section.
Click to expand...


But how do i enter the dates and the hours/week? Over all the years, the dates and hours have varied so much so I am not sure what to fill in?
 
if one participated in not intercollegiate sport like boxing, what should be put in
Experience Name:


should one write "Boxing" ?


Also, would one need to describe the activity or is it pretty much self-explanatory?

Finally, where would won tournaments go? under desctiption for "Boxing" or should one make a separate entry like "awards"

Thanks.
 
DocDrakeRamoray said:
if one participated in not intercollegiate sport like boxing, what should be put in
Experience Name:


should one write "Boxing" ?


Also, would one need to describe the activity or is it pretty much self-explanatory?

Finally, where would won tournaments go? under desctiption for "Boxing" or should one make a separate entry like "awards"

Thanks.
Click to expand...

yes.
 
Thanks MCP1 for your help on my previous post. I have a few more questions...

So far this is what I've included:
1. Lab/Research
2. Lab/Research
3. Clinical Volunteering - Hospital A (school year)
4. Clinical Volunteering - Hospital B (1 summer)
5. Tutoring/Teaching - Teaching Assistant
6. Leadership - Class representative
7. Tutoring/Teaching -tutoring program
8. Clinical Shadowing (grouped together)
9. On-Campus Employment
10. Scholarships, Awards & Honor Societies
11. Hobbies (grouped together)
12. (future) Summer Research fellowship

A. For the scholarships, should I include the money amounts? Many of them were from a community foundation which divvies up different scholarship funds each year to the applicants. When I combine all of these for each year, they add up to a substantial amount, but individually range from $200-$1000. I was thinking of putting something like “The following Scholarships, totaling $x, were awarded by the _____ Community Foundation…” . Also since I’m grouping all of my awards together, is there any consensus on what date to chose?

B. Should I include the research fellowship which I’ll be starting in June (#12)? I know exactly what I’ll be doing.

C. For the Hobbies, should I just list each one and then give a short description of my involvement? Is it stupid to include something such as Autograph Collecting?

D. And finally, regarding my remaining spots:
Most of my non-clinical volunteering/teaching activities have been within my senior year. Should I try to add something I did freshman and sophomore year to show that I’ve been somewhat involved around campus for all 4 years even though it isn’t as meaningful to me? (such as hall council representative, Ski & Snowboard Club, Pre Health society, etc.)
My other options are:
1. 3 different summer jobs all from separate summers – all non clinical. I was thinking about grouping these together as previously discussed on page 27 of this thread and specifying the hours in the description.
2. My study abroad experience – I mention it briefly in my PS, but other than that and the list of classes I took on my transcript, there’s nothing. Is it worth adding it? (It was definitely meaningful)

Sorry for the long post and thanks for your help!
 
I want to talk about writing recreationally, but I've also published two stories in the school literary magazine and have joined as a member and have helped them fix their constitution.

So, should I enter in my writing as an artistic endeavor with information about joining the magazine in details? Or should I enter it in as membership to the magazine as an extracurricular, with a note about enjoying to write recreationally in the description?
 
Mizo said:
I want to talk about writing recreationally, but I've also published two stories in the school literary magazine and have joined as a member and have helped them fix their constitution.

So, should I enter in my writing as an artistic endeavor with information about joining the magazine in details? Or should I enter it in as membership to the magazine as an extracurricular, with a note about enjoying to write recreationally in the description?
Click to expand...

Don't double post, please.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=624943&page=21
 
Hello everyone!

I think this question may already have been answered previously, but bear with me here.

I shadowed a neurologist for 10 hours/week for an entire semester as a junior in college. There was also a course component to this--i.e. i shadowed and then once a week I met with others in my program who were shadowing different doctors, we discussed topics in healthcare, our experiences etc. Since I received course credit for this program, it is listed in the "Courses" section of my AMCAS.

I got a lot out of this experience and spoke about it in my personal statement as well. Since I received course credit, can I put the shadowing in my "activities" section as well, and just note that it was part of the course?

I just think it would be kind of strange to write about a shadowing experience so extensively and then not have it be on my activities list.
Thanks in advance to LizzyM or whoever comments!!
 
whosinthebunker said:
Hello everyone!

I think this question may already have been answered previously, but bear with me here.

I shadowed a neurologist for 10 hours/week for an entire semester as a junior in college. There was also a course component to this--i.e. i shadowed and then once a week I met with others in my program who were shadowing different doctors, we discussed topics in healthcare, our experiences etc. Since I received course credit for this program, it is listed in the "Courses" section of my AMCAS.

I got a lot out of this experience and spoke about it in my personal statement as well. Since I received course credit, can I put the shadowing in my "activities" section as well, and just note that it was part of the course?

I just think it would be kind of strange to write about a shadowing experience so extensively and then not have it be on my activities list.
Thanks in advance to LizzyM or whoever comments!!
Click to expand...
yes u can put it in your activities and you should.
 
Is it better to put unique activities, even if you didn't dedicate that much time to it? I coached a special olympics team over the summer, but it was no more than 3-4 hours a week. I was also part of student council at my university, and while my contribution isn't anything amazing, I've still dedicated more time to that activity. However, I feel like coaching a Special Olympics team is a much more unique activity that not very many people have, and it's something they might be interested in enough to invite me for an interview, whereas loads of people are involved in student council. Which one should I put? (by the way, I am EXTREMELY crunched for space, as I have way more than 15 significant things to put down and must now unfortunately start cutting stuff out).


As far as research and publications go, my pre-med advisor told me that I should combine my research and any publication I got from that research into one entry, rather than separating them out if I'm struggling for space. According to her, the adcoms will read your whole application, so they WILL see that you have both research + publication. Just because you don't highlight them separately, it doesn't mean you're at fault; they'll read everything regardless. Thoughts?
 
junkct said:
Is it better to put unique activities, even if you didn't dedicate that much time to it? I coached a special olympics team over the summer, but it was no more than 3-4 hours a week. I was also part of student council at my university, and while my contribution isn't anything amazing, I've still dedicated more time to that activity. However, I feel like coaching a Special Olympics team is a much more unique activity that not very many people have, and it's something they might be interested in enough to invite me for an interview, whereas loads of people are involved in student council. Which one should I put? (by the way, I am EXTREMELY crunched for space, as I have way more than 15 significant things to put down and must now unfortunately start cutting stuff out).


As far as research and publications go, my pre-med advisor told me that I should combine my research and any publication I got from that research into one entry, rather than separating them out if I'm struggling for space. According to her, the adcoms will read your whole application, so they WILL see that you have both research + publication. Just because you don't highlight them separately, it doesn't mean you're at fault; they'll read everything regardless. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

You can combine it if you're crunched for space. sounds like Special Olympics is more important to put. 3-4 hours is not insignificant. that is the standard time a lot of people spent per week volunteering at any clinical place. It is also working with those with medical problems and it sounds more significant then being part of student council. I'd definitely put the Special Olympics thing if I had to choose.

Again remember some schools will allow you space on your secondaries to put other things that you didn't put on AMCAS or additional info you want to add. you can add the student council thing there if it is truly that important.
 
I am really confused here. I have read so much conflicting information on these forums. Can we please straighten this out guys? Should we do bulletpoints or write descriptions of what we learned and so on. Any successful past applicants can really help shed some light here for us ... thanks in advance. good luck to you all!
 
I'm with you. My premed advisor says to use the description to show how the experience has prepared you to be an excellent clinician. The AMCAS instruction manual says that it's an "opportunity to describe or summarize each experience."

From what I've read/heard, bullet points are never a good idea, so I would say go with a paragraph. But beyond that, I've got no idea.
 
drareg said:
I am really confused here. I have read so much conflicting information on these forums. Can we please straighten this out guys? Should we do bulletpoints or write descriptions of what we learned and so on. Any successful past applicants can really help shed some light here for us ... thanks in advance. good luck to you all!
Click to expand...

Do what you are comfortable doing. I'm sure there is no one answer that is right because different people on different adcoms have different views. The guys I talked to in USF Admissions said to do full descriptions with what you learned and what you did and why you did it if possible to tell that as well.

On the other hand some adcom members like less words because it requires less reading when they have 1000s of apps to deal with.
 
I did bullet points and just described what my responsibilities were/what I did for specific activities. I didn't mention why I did it or what I learned.
 
MedYEP said:
I did bullet points and just described what my responsibilities were/what I did for specific activities. I didn't mention why I did it or what I learned.
Click to expand...

See this is the point I was trying to make.

OP,

No answer is more correct then the other. Do what you feel more comfortable doing to sell yourself and market yourself the best to schools.
 
gujuDoc said:
See this is the point I was trying to make.

OP,

No answer is more correct then the other. Do what you feel more comfortable doing to sell yourself and market yourself the best to schools.
Click to expand...

I agree. It's a personal preference. Bullet points worked best for what I was trying to describe, and for some activities I didn't have room to explain what I learned/why I did it even if I wanted to.
 
gujuDoc said:
See this is the point I was trying to make.

OP,

No answer is more correct then the other. Do what you feel more comfortable doing to sell yourself and market yourself the best to schools.
Click to expand...

👍.
 
MedYEP said:
I agree. It's a personal preference. Bullet points worked best for what I was trying to describe, and for some activities I didn't have room to explain what I learned/why I did it even if I wanted to.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Put what you feel comfortable putting. Just remember that they wiill most likely be using this to see if they want to invite you for an interview and learn more about you, so I don't really think you need to get all mushy and talk about why your experience will make you a good doctor or whatever.

And along these lines, I'm wondering about how much to write for a research experience. just a brief description? I know some people just list their responsibilities on their projects, but for most of my research I've been in charge of my own projects, so I do pretty much all the work and discuss the results with my PI, so it would take me WAY more than the allotted space to really hash out what I did. I mean, if they care enough, they'll ask me to talk about it in the interview, right? What did you guys do?

And finally, what about secondaries? Does anyone know how much weight they really hold in comparison to the primary? looking at all the secondary threads, a lot of the prompts seem like BS, and some schools (even top ones like Penn) skip the secondary altogether. Thoughts?
 
gujuDoc said:
You can combine it if you're crunched for space. sounds like Special Olympics is more important to put. 3-4 hours is not insignificant. that is the standard time a lot of people spent per week volunteering at any clinical place. It is also working with those with medical problems and it sounds more significant then being part of student council. I'd definitely put the Special Olympics thing if I had to choose.

Again remember some schools will allow you space on your secondaries to put other things that you didn't put on AMCAS or additional info you want to add. you can add the student council thing there if it is truly that important.
Click to expand...

Ok, sounds good. So when I combine it, I'll probably list it as publication or poster instead of research (just for the added highlight 😀).

Also, If I mention something in my personal statement, would it be appropriate to put it in my AMCAS? I mean, if I mentioned going to China and shadowing some physicians, do I really need to make an entry for it in the work/activities section? Well maybe that's a bad example because shadowing NEEDS to be in work/activities, but what if I mention that I coached special olympics in the personal statement... then should I also list it in work/activities?

sorry for all the questions... I just need to sit down and think this stuff through LOL
 
junkct said:
Ok, sounds good. So when I combine it, I'll probably list it as publication or poster instead of research (just for the added highlight 😀).

Also, If I mention something in my personal statement, would it be appropriate to put it in my AMCAS? I mean, if I mentioned going to China and shadowing some physicians, do I really need to make an entry for it in the work/activities section? Well maybe that's a bad example because shadowing NEEDS to be in work/activities, but what if I mention that I coached special olympics in the personal statement... then should I also list it in work/activities?

sorry for all the questions... I just need to sit down and think this stuff through LOL
Click to expand...

I see what you are saying. I answered this question above but I'll repeat myself. If you are trying to conserve space then leave out what is in the PS because you talk about it in the PS so you can use the space to talk about something else not in the PS. If you have room you can always list it both places.
 
This is a big thread to go through, but what is the consensus on grouping?

i.e., i was a Teaching Assistant in more than 3 classes (different subjects as well). Can I just put Teaching Assistant once and then list the courses i did it for in the description?

i.e. grouping all publications from one lab into one line, or separate each one?

i.e. if i presented a poster at a conference that turned into a publication. which one out of the 3 is it?

i.e. grouping all hobbies into 1 line.


also, my fraternity is kind of a service fraternity. we do march for babies, some mentoring at a local school, voting drives, etc...can i just list the fraternity as service/volunteer and then list everything we do?
 
I searched for an answer to my question, but need some further clarification. When I enter my work experiences on AMCAS, should I write multiple experiences for the same type of job? I ask this because I worked for multiple companies in different time periods over a couple of years. So, should I just list the different companies in one space, or should I list all of them in separate spaces?
 
However u want to do it. If the work was exactly the same, but only the company changed, list it in 1 box, and then explain in the space given that such and such company for so long etc.
 
That was the deal. I have done the same job for the past two years with different companies, and I was wondering about listing it all in the same box. That seems to make the most sense.

Thanks.
 
Yup, I think Ksmi will merge this thread pretty soon.
 
rmj254 said:
I searched for an answer to my question, but need some further clarification. When I enter my work experiences on AMCAS, should I write multiple experiences for the same type of job? I ask this because I worked for multiple companies in different time periods over a couple of years. So, should I just list the different companies in one space, or should I list all of them in separate spaces?
Click to expand...

BlueElmo said:
Yup, I think Ksmi will merge this thread pretty soon.
Click to expand...

WRONG! I got it first! :meanie:

Merging with the "Great tips for entering your "Work/Activities" for AMCAS" Thread 🙂
 
Thank you for your reply. I read through quite a bit of that thread, however, and I found much of it to be extraneous for my purposes. I was looking for something a bit more specific, and I believe the first person answered what I was already thinking.

I really do appreciate your response. I hope that didn't come across the wrong way, and that the tone of the post was not harsh. I certainly didn't mean it that way.
 
Jolt21 said:
This is a big thread to go through, but what is the consensus on grouping?

i.e., i was a Teaching Assistant in more than 3 classes (different subjects as well). Can I just put Teaching Assistant once and then list the courses i did it for in the description?

i.e. grouping all publications from one lab into one line, or separate each one?

i.e. if i presented a poster at a conference that turned into a publication. which one out of the 3 is it?

i.e. grouping all hobbies into 1 line.


also, my fraternity is kind of a service fraternity. we do march for babies, some mentoring at a local school, voting drives, etc...can i just list the fraternity as service/volunteer and then list everything we do?
Click to expand...
anyone?
 
s28w said:
Thanks MCP1 for your help on my previous post. I have a few more questions...

So far this is what I've included:
1. Lab/Research
2. Lab/Research
3. Clinical Volunteering - Hospital A (school year)
4. Clinical Volunteering - Hospital B (1 summer)
5. Tutoring/Teaching - Teaching Assistant
6. Leadership - Class representative
7. Tutoring/Teaching -tutoring program
8. Clinical Shadowing (grouped together)
9. On-Campus Employment
10. Scholarships, Awards & Honor Societies
11. Hobbies (grouped together)
12. (future) Summer Research fellowship

A. For the scholarships, should I include the money amounts? Many of them were from a community foundation which divvies up different scholarship funds each year to the applicants. When I combine all of these for each year, they add up to a substantial amount, but individually range from $200-$1000. I was thinking of putting something like "The following Scholarships, totaling $x, were awarded by the _____ Community Foundation…" . Also since I'm grouping all of my awards together, is there any consensus on what date to chose?

B. Should I include the research fellowship which I'll be starting in June (#12)? I know exactly what I'll be doing.

C. For the Hobbies, should I just list each one and then give a short description of my involvement? Is it stupid to include something such as Autograph Collecting?

D. And finally, regarding my remaining spots:
Most of my non-clinical volunteering/teaching activities have been within my senior year. Should I try to add something I did freshman and sophomore year to show that I've been somewhat involved around campus for all 4 years even though it isn't as meaningful to me? (such as hall council representative, Ski & Snowboard Club, Pre Health society, etc.)
My other options are:
1. 3 different summer jobs all from separate summers – all non clinical. I was thinking about grouping these together as previously discussed on page 27 of this thread and specifying the hours in the description.
2. My study abroad experience – I mention it briefly in my PS, but other than that and the list of classes I took on my transcript, there's nothing. Is it worth adding it? (It was definitely meaningful)

Sorry for the long post and thanks for your help!
Click to expand...

If you are short of space and it is on the PS, then don't list it.

2. Hobbies are not necessary to list on AMCAS unless you think them ultra significant i.e. competitive or group things like dance performances or musical performances etc.

You can list your hobbies in secondary where they ask if there is anything else you want them to know about you, to describe yourself, hobbies, etc. in a essay, or where they ask you specific questions like that i.e. do you collect things, what sports do you participate in, etc. Fl. schools ask questionsl ike these. I'm sure other schools do. I know most schools at least ask if there is anything else you want to add, you can answer this there.

3. sure list the scholarship amounts.
4. How are you going to combine different jobs with different supervisors. I'd not do that. Split them out since you still have 3 spots. Don't list the travel abroad since its talked about in the PS. Expand upon it in secondaries along with your hobbies, etc.

Also keep number 12 on there even though its a soon to be future thing.
 
Jolt21 said:
This is a big thread to go through, but what is the consensus on grouping?

i.e., i was a Teaching Assistant in more than 3 classes (different subjects as well). Can I just put Teaching Assistant once and then list the courses i did it for in the description?

i.e. grouping all publications from one lab into one line, or separate each one?

i.e. if i presented a poster at a conference that turned into a publication. which one out of the 3 is it?

i.e. grouping all hobbies into 1 line.


also, my fraternity is kind of a service fraternity. we do march for babies, some mentoring at a local school, voting drives, etc...can i just list the fraternity as service/volunteer and then list everything we do?
Click to expand...

1. if space is an issue list out hobbies. Those can be added in secondaries later as I just explained in my above post. I'd do that if I were you.
2. Separate out publications.
3. If something was a poster and you later got a pub for the same research and you presented at a conference then it is all 3. You can have one for conferences attended, one for publications, one for posters/presentations. each would be separate entries. you can always leave out the conferences attended and explain in the posters/presentations that you presented it at a conference and combine it that way. I'd list it as a poster if you had to choose one because that's more significant then just the mere fact that you attended a conference.

List the fraternity in either Other and then say Student organization or as a Extracurriculars/Hobbies/Avocations not listed elsewhere. Then in the description section list the sort of volunteer activities you did with it and explain that it was a service organization. At least that's what I did for those kinda organizations. Otherwise I split it out as listing the organization if it had something other then just volunteer activities and then listed miscellaneous volunteering in the nonclinical volunteering to list the actual volunteer type of activities that I did with the organization.
 
rmj254 said:
I searched for an answer to my question, but need some further clarification. When I enter my work experiences on AMCAS, should I write multiple experiences for the same type of job? I ask this because I worked for multiple companies in different time periods over a couple of years. So, should I just list the different companies in one space, or should I list all of them in separate spaces?
Click to expand...

Different companies would mean different employment opportunities right????

If that is the case then yes you should list them separately because it is misleading to list them together when they are different jobs.
 
Ari1584 said:
But how do i enter the dates and the hours/week? Over all the years, the dates and hours have varied so much so I am not sure what to fill in?
Click to expand...

You can leave it blank and explain it in the description section or put an estimate of the overall average you've spent doing them and then explain it in the description section better.
 
Ari1584 said:
How would i enter this:

I began volunteering at a doctor's office for the first summer (3 months) and would come back during the year like for winter and spring break to volunteer/observe as well.

Then, the next summer, she hired me to work in her office so i did that for two more summers/vacations/time back at home.

Then, since i graduated, i have been working there every week like 3 days a week.

How would i enter all of that and NOT make it confusing? 😕

ALSO: I have been figure skating since I was 4 y.old (i am now 24). I used to compete, but now i just do it for fun since i went away to college and graduated. Is that something worth mentioning on my work/activities section...EVEN IF i discuss it in my personal statement??
Click to expand...

General rule of thumb, if it is in your PS and you are running out of space, don't put it in the activities section. if you have room then you can list it as a hobby since you are no longer doing it competitively or doing something like teaching it to youngsters as a volunteer or job position.
 
Hey guys,

Sorry if this has been asked before but for hobbies, would going to the gym to workout count? I only ask because I go for about an average of 1-1.5hrs a day 6 days a week and it's something that takes time out from my day and I love doing so I just wanted to know if it's worthwhile to add it or not.


Thanks and GL
 
secants said:
Hey guys,

Sorry if this has been asked before but for hobbies, would going to the gym to workout count? I only ask because I go for about an average of 1-1.5hrs a day 6 days a week and it's something that takes time out from my day and I love doing so I just wanted to know if it's worthwhile to add it or not.


Thanks and GL
Click to expand...

I don't think that will count. :shrug:
 
As far as entering hobbies...

I race motorcycles (not professionally or anything) but the experience has taught me a lot....quick decision making, risk management/assessment etc...

Should I put that on there? It's a rather larger chunk of my life outside of school...I'm unsure how racing might be viewed though...any thoughts/comments would be helpful!

Thanks
 
Oxygen206 said:
As far as entering hobbies...

I race motorcycles (not professionally or anything) but the experience has taught me a lot....quick decision making, risk management/assessment etc...

Should I put that on there? It's a rather larger chunk of my life outside of school...I'm unsure how racing might be viewed though...any thoughts/comments would be helpful!

Thanks
Click to expand...

well as long as it is not drag racing on the main roads where it could kill someone I'm sure it won't be viewed negatively if you put the positive spin on it that you describe above. its like penalizing someone for being a fan of racecar shows like Nascar.
 
On another note, I have to say I'm surprised by the number of people who are asking about hobbies and the EC section this year. I'm so used to only seeing the questions that are about standard activities i.e. research, employment, clinical hours, volunteerism. So this is a refreshing change to see on here.
 
gujuDoc said:
On another note, I have to say I'm surprised by the number of people who are asking about hobbies and the EC section this year. I'm so used to only seeing the questions that are about standard activities i.e. research, employment, clinical hours, volunteerism. So this is a refreshing change to see on here.
Click to expand...

👍.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

C
Formatting work&activities for multiple publications
Replies
4
Views
582
circestree
C
F
Selecting LORs for activities?
Replies
1
Views
188
Goro
Goro
L
Work and Activities Review
Replies
0
Views
400
lizadav02
L
myribosomesbad
Mistake in AMCAS Work/Activities
Replies
4
Views
2K
LizzyM
LizzyM
mscott.115
Improvements/tips for ECs
Replies
5
Views
393
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
Top