Extracurricular recommendations

[estradiol9]

---

Members do not see this ad.

What types of extracurriculars did you participate in/list on or plan to list on your medical school applications?

I feel like I have always heard about the following things being the most important for your application: GPA, MCATs, and extracurriculars.

I am currently a sophomore undergraduate. I have a pretty good GPA but I am still working on it (3.7). I am beginning to get ready for my MCATs which I haven't taken yet. As for extracurriculars I feel like I don't have enough. What do you think?

I have...
-1000 ish hours of volunteer patient contact/health care experience as an EMT on a volunteer first aid squad.
-a leadership/committee position within this first aid squad that has its own responsibilities in addition to being a volunteer emt
-a part time job as an administrative assistant
-10 hours of shadowing experience so far but this will probably be about 30 hours soon since i have had two physicians contact me about my requests to shadow
-participated in various school clubs and organizations including biology society, pre-health society, emergency medical services society, & student activities organization.
-some leadership positions within the school clubs/organizations listed above.
-dean's list, a freshman greek honors society, and a biology greek honor society

I am also in the process of becoming a volunteer for the Red Cross. I am hoping that I can become a CPR instructor there. I am also applying for an RA position at my school and a biology tutor position. Lastly, I am also in the process of reading more about research done by the professors at my school and plan on contacting them soon in hopes for some research experience.

Do you think there is anything else I should be doing or anything that seems to be missing?

 

[aSagacious]

I encourage you to make use of the 'search' function located in the top-right corner of your screen. This topic has been belabored ad nauseum, and is well documented within the forums.

If I were to recommend an activity to add, I would suggest a couple semesters of research (medical or otherwise).

 

[Astarael]

A couple thoughts:

1) The RA thing is a great idea. I did it for two years and it's probably the single best thing I've ever done, both for my application and myself.

2) Do something non-medical if you can. It doesn't really matter what it is, and in fact being an RA would cover this, but medical schools want you to be well-rounded (as in have experiences outside of medicine).

3) Be careful not to over-extend yourself. Your GPA is in a decent place right now and with two years left you have a good shot at getting it up to a pretty competitive point. It would suck if you took on too many activities and ruined that chance.

 

[estradiol9]

Yeah I have been thinking of getting involved in something else that doesn't have to do with medicine. Hmm...

 

[tabascosauce]

Yeah I have been thinking of getting involved in something else that doesn't have to do with medicine. Hmm...

I have found working with kids is a great experience like coaching a youth sports team. U dont even need to be advanced in knowledge of that sport, just get the basics down and make sure kids/parents have fun.

Its purdy coo and doesnt involve medicine and you get to be a good role model.

 

[estradiol9]

I have found working with kids is a great experience like coaching a youth sports team. U dont even need to be advanced in knowledge of that sport, just get the basics down and make sure kids/parents have fun.

Its purdy coo and doesnt involve medicine and you get to be a good role model.

I was thinking of doing this for girl's lacrosse, which I played in high school. Or maybe gymnastics, I did that as well. But i'm not nearly as in good shape as I was then.