Extra cirricular

[joejacob]

This question is several fold:
Before I ask them, I just wanted to give some background: I'm a sophomore at SUNY Stony Brook. Currently, I have no extracurricular activities and I have tried applying to research positions only the professors do not respond.
1) What are some ways to get an undergraduate research positions?
2) Does volunteering at a hospital look good?
3) Does TAing for a class look good (upper division biology course)?
4) Does work experience like working at the library look good?
5) What are some other extracurricular activities that look good on your applications?
6) What are some other ways to get involved?
7) any other tips would be great.
-Thank you and I'm sure as hell this question has been asked many times before but I would greatly appreciate any help on the matter

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[medoc4]

1) Talk directly to professors/ pre-med advisors/ peers who currently have research positions.
2) Yes.
3) Yes.
4) If you need the money, sure.
5) Use search.
6) Use search.
7) Use search.

 

[sinombre]

Just a tip: when you're emailing professors, problems with spelling and/or grammar can really hurt you. Make sure you're extra careful about the way you compose emails. The fact that you spelled "curricular" incorrectly in the title and ask questions such as "what are some ways to get an undergraduate research positions?" seems to suggest that you need to be a little bit more careful.

 

[Planes2Doc]

1) Ask around, first going to professors you know. Then you can also cold email some. Also ask peers which has been mentioned above.
2) If it looked "good," then it wouldn't be an unwritten requirement. In most cases, "typical" pre-med volunteering will not make you look good. Instead, it will keep you from looking bad.
3) Yes, anything you can add to your application will likely help you.
4) Yes, read response above. Plus in my opinion, non-clinical activities can give you some different things to talk about versus the pre-meds that did entry-level clinical work.
5) You want to pursue the typical SDN Cookie Cutter scheme. Clinical volunteering is a must. Everyone also sprinkles their applications with additional non-clinical volunteer work. You can also get an entry-level clinical job, which are pretty hard to come by actually. They can also harm you due to the many shifts you need to work, which can hurt your grades. Also mention hobbies or other stuff as well. Shadowing is a must as well.
6) If there's something you genuinely enjoy, go do it. It'll look better than forcing yourself to do stuff you hate. In my personal experience, 95% of my hospital volunteering sucked because I was doing scut work for the orderly. It's a required evil though. On the other hand, my non-clinical volunteer work was awesome. I admit that I may not have been as involved had I not been pre-med, but I genuinely enjoyed it. Sadly it was too sporadic. So if you can find something like that, tack it onto the necessary clinical work that will suck in most cases.
7) Just so you know, SDN is made up of people that are extremely involved in the medical school admissions process. While people on here tend to think that pre-med advisors are idiotic, I don't think that's always the case. Pre-med advisors will tell you to what classes to take, tell you to do clinical volunteering, and shadow. That's bare bones Cookie Cutter stuff, but it works! People get into medical school with those things. Therefore, is it worth it to devote your entire time in college to the process? I don't think pretending to be passionate about things ADCOMs want you to be passionate about is the best way to spend the best years of your life. But it's up to you, you decide what's most important. People on SDN will definitely steer you toward devoting your life to the process.

Good luck!

 

[BuddyTheElf]

Just a tip: when you're emailing professors, problems with spelling and/or grammar can really hurt you. Make sure you're extra careful about the way you compose emails. The fact that you spelled "curricular" incorrectly in the title and ask questions such as "what are some ways to get an undergraduate research positions?" seems to suggest that you need to be a little bit more careful.

Agreed. Spelling and grammar can really hurt you. Comes off as unprofessional, to say the least. Just a tip.
Also, search function can be very helpful for these generic questions

And to SDN.
One tip: SDN can be a very helpful place (helped me tremendously through the application process), but take everything said with a grain of salt. SDN seems to have a high number of students with 4.0 gpa, 40+ MCAT score, and 5000+ hours of volunteering, etc.. hence a discouraging place. As always with the internet, be careful what to believe on here.
Good luck throughout the rest of your undergrad!

 

[joejacob]

Thank you all for your replies. I greatly appreciate your advice and yeah I just realized that i butchered the spelling of extracurricular...and any more advice concerning the matter is welcome

 

[Aerus]

Thank you all for your replies. I greatly appreciate your advice and yeah I just realized that i butchered the spelling of extracurricular...and any more advice concerning the matter is welcome

These questions have been answered you death, so a use of the search function wouldn't hurt you. ;o

Remember, you want to SELL YOURSELF when emailing PI's. Why should they pick you over the hundreds of other undergrads that email them each day? What can you offer that they can't? PI's gain nothing by taking on an undergrad, so if they are generous enough to do so, they want to pick the best ones.

Are you a very dedicated worker who can spend hours in the lab each week? Are you willing to dedicate yourself long term to the lab (2+ years) and not simply use the lab as a "stepping stone" for yourself? Can you offer a positive attitude to the environment and work well with everyone else there?

Find your strong points and really emphasize on them. If you have prior research experience, tell them! If you don't, mention how eager you are to learn!

For your other questions, any extracurricular in which is meaningful to you will look "good". Don't simply do it because it traditionally looks good. Find meaning in it or don't do it.