Extracurriculars

[Ragtime]

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I'm currently a junior and I'm planning on applying to medical school at the end of my senior year around graduation. I don't think I have typical ECs. My EC's are non-medical related, for example, I was a wrestling coach, a music producer/DJ, and I worked part time for a year. I do have very limited hospital volunteering but not very much because I didn't feel like the experience I was receiving was an accurate representation of how working in medicine as a physician is like. My experiences in volunteering in the Emergency department were basically cleaning gurneys, setting up patient charts, working with triage, stocking medical equipment etc. I have two more years of undergrad and I was wondering if it would be enough to continue volunteering at a different site for a more significant experience, and shadow a couple doctors.

So by the time of application I hope that my ECs would be like this:
Wrestling Coach
Music Producer/DJ
Volunteer Experience
Part-time Job 1-year
Shadowing

Is this enough to be competitive? I know GPA (like ~3.3) and MCAT (N/A) are important variables, but assuming they are fine, would I be okay with these ECs?

 

[adriano710]

Are you saying your GPA is a 3.3 bc that's on the low side slightly, even for DO schools. MCAT can make or break it when applying to medical school obviously. Specifically speaking about your EC's, I would say are a little weak. At this point you need to 30+ MCAT to be fairly competitive. Undergrad research may help beef up your app. Maybe an abroad trip to an underdeveloped country. You also have no leadership position which is a big turn off for med schools. Why haven't you joined any clubs? Sorry for sounding pessimistic but your current GPA + current EC's make you not an ideal candidate for med school at the moment. The MCAT, however, can change all that with a 30+ score. So study hard and keep mind on that acceptance letter. Best of luck. Direct message me for any other thoughts.

 

[allantois]

All your ECs are largely irrelevant while some may even raise some eyebrows. Focus on your academics and get back to relevant volunteering.

 

[Doctorman45342]

Get more clinical volunteering hours. This is a must! Clinical volunteering means you are close enough to the patients to smell them. Go to a psychiatric hospital and volunteer there or something. Research is also great. Get the GPA up by taking (and acing) your upper tier biology courses. MCAT is also huge so study hard for that. Don't give up if you are really fixed on getting to med school!

 

[keels99]

What I found with my application process is it is not necessarily medical volunteering that is relevant, but volunteering that shows that you are interested in helping people that are different than you or an experience that was unique and important to you specifically. I had zero medical volunteering hours and it didn't really matter.

 

[AlteredScale]

I'm currently a junior and I'm planning on applying to medical school at the end of my senior year around graduation. I don't think I have typical ECs. My EC's are non-medical related, for example, I was a wrestling coach, a music producer/DJ, and I worked part time for a year. I do have very limited hospital volunteering but not very much because I didn't feel like the experience I was receiving was an accurate representation of how working in medicine as a physician is like. My experiences in volunteering in the Emergency department were basically cleaning gurneys, setting up patient charts, working with triage, stocking medical equipment etc. I have two more years of undergrad and I was wondering if it would be enough to continue volunteering at a different site for a more significant experience, and shadow a couple doctors.

So by the time of application I hope that my ECs would be like this:
Wrestling Coach
Music Producer/DJ
Volunteer Experience
Part-time Job 1-year
Shadowing

Is this enough to be competitive? I know GPA (like ~3.3) and MCAT (N/A) are important variables, but assuming they are fine, would I be okay with these ECs?

The point of clinical volunteering isn't to make your decision to pursue being a doctor, it's to see whether or not you can see yourself in a clinical setting. Also your services in volunteering mean much more than you believe so take pride in it. 🙂

If you can find a volunteer experience that is still clinical but perhaps more "significant" to you that'd be great, but honestly try and stick it through at your department. Make friends with the staff, get to know them, show them that you're not just another volunteer they see come in an leave!

If you have a 3.5 GPA/30 MCAT with some volunteering and join a few pre med clubs to be "treasurer" you will not stand out at all.

Your EC's are unique and I would stick with them, it shows you are much more than another premedical robot. Do not quit them. Simply be sure to add EC's that show your commitment to medicine. Also in time you may figure out how these "non relevant" EC's helped developed and matured into a person who is ready for a career in medicine.

There is no one answer to prove that commitment to med by the way. You have to find your passion in something medically related (example: I loved volunteering, but bench research in IBD led me to a non profit org that does events for patients with IBD and I found a HUGE love for it, so I volunteer there now!), remember that AdComs see right through the BS and know if you are just racking up numbers. It's not quantity, it's quality.

For what it's worth, I have a friend of mine who was a also a producer/DJ and was flown to New York to a gig there. That was right before he went to UCLA Med 😉

Last I heard he was doing a presentation at a conference for the American Association of Neurological Surgery (something like that).

 

[Ragtime]

Thank you all for the answers!

Are you saying your GPA is a 3.3 bc that's on the low side slightly, even for DO schools. MCAT can make or break it when applying to medical school obviously. Specifically speaking about your EC's, I would say are a little weak. At this point you need to 30+ MCAT to be fairly competitive. Undergrad research may help beef up your app. Maybe an abroad trip to an underdeveloped country. You also have no leadership position which is a big turn off for med schools. Why haven't you joined any clubs? Sorry for sounding pessimistic but your current GPA + current EC's make you not an ideal candidate for med school at the moment. The MCAT, however, can change all that with a 30+ score. So study hard and keep mind on that acceptance letter. Best of luck. Direct message me for any other thoughts.

I was thinking that maybe being a wrestling coach and a team captain is a unique form of leadership.

What I found with my application process is it is not necessarily medical volunteering that is relevant, but volunteering that shows that you are interested in helping people that are different than you or an experience that was unique and important to you specifically. I had zero medical volunteering hours and it didn't really matter.

That makes a lot of sense. I really love helping people whether it's academically or non-academically like with sports and music. I take pleasure in helping people grow and develop in whatever way possible.

The point of clinical volunteering isn't to make your decision to pursue being a doctor, it's to see whether or not you can see yourself in a clinical setting. Also your services in volunteering mean much more than you believe so take pride in it. 🙂

If you can find a volunteer experience that is still clinical but perhaps more "significant" to you that'd be great, but honestly try and stick it through at your department. Make friends with the staff, get to know them, show them that you're not just another volunteer they see come in an leave!

If you have a 3.5 GPA/30 MCAT with some volunteering and join a few pre med clubs to be "treasurer" you will not stand out at all.

Your EC's are unique and I would stick with them, it shows you are much more than another premedical robot. Do not quit them. Simply be sure to add EC's that show your commitment to medicine. Also in time you may figure out how these "non relevant" EC's helped developed and matured into a person who is ready for a career in medicine.

There is no one answer to prove that commitment to med by the way. You have to find your passion in something medically related (example: I loved volunteering, but bench research in IBD led me to a non profit org that does events for patients with IBD and I found a HUGE love for it, so I volunteer there now!), remember that AdComs see right through the BS and know if you are just racking up numbers. It's not quantity, it's quality.

For what it's worth, I have a friend of mine who was a also a producer/DJ and was flown to New York to a gig there. That was right before he went to UCLA Med 😉

Last I heard he was doing a presentation at a conference for the American Association of Neurological Surgery (something like that).

Thank you so much for sharing this information and advice with me! I make sure to also preserve the person that I was before academia, which is the athlete and musician. I've been booked to perform at several events in different states as well! 🙂 And I am also a 2x national champion in Judo.

 

[Ragtime]

Get more clinical volunteering hours. This is a must! Clinical volunteering means you are close enough to the patients to smell them. Go to a psychiatric hospital and volunteer there or something. Research is also great. Get the GPA up by taking (and acing) your upper tier biology courses. MCAT is also huge so study hard for that. Don't give up if you are really fixed on getting to med school!

I guess my time in the ED counts as clinical volunteering then! Thank you for the inspiration

 

[Ragtime]

All your ECs are largely irrelevant while some may even raise some eyebrows. Focus on your academics and get back to relevant volunteering.

What do you mean by some may raise eyebrows? Like in a bad way??

 

[Dreamstoo]

What I found with my application process is it is not necessarily medical volunteering that is relevant, but volunteering that shows that you are interested in helping people that are different than you or an experience that was unique and important to you specifically. I had zero medical volunteering hours and it didn't really matter.

Yes, I have heard of a few friends who had barely any medically related and had no problems getting in whatsoever. I, myself, do have some non medical volunteering but it does not accumulate to nearly as much of my medical volunteering. Most of them are science related however even if they weren't medical.

 

[Goro]

The non-clinicals seem weak, and you're definitely going to need clinical volunteer experience to be considered competitive. So find another place. It doesn't have to be in a hospital: think hospice, nursing homes, Planned Parenthood, clinics, camps for sick children.

So by the time of application I hope that my ECs would be like this:
Wrestling Coach
Music Producer/DJ
Volunteer Experience
Part-time Job 1-year
Shadowing

Is this enough to be competitive? I know GPA (like ~3.3) and MCAT (N/A) are important variables, but assuming they are fine, would I be okay with these ECs?[/QUOTE]

 

[allantois]

What do you mean by some may raise eyebrows? Like in a bad way??

I can imagine somebody would wonder why you were a DJ and a wrestling coach (although the later one does show leadership skills) instead of doing more clinical/non-clinical volunteering, research and focusing on your grades (but that's assuming that your current ECs interfere with your studies). The job is fine if you have to make some extra cash to support yourself.

 

[adriano710]

What I found with my application process is it is not necessarily medical volunteering that is relevant, but volunteering that shows that you are interested in helping people that are different than you or an experience that was unique and important to you specifically. I had zero medical volunteering hours and it didn't really matter.

What were ur stats getting accepted?

 

[costales]

The non-clinicals seem weak, and you're definitely going to need clinical volunteer experience to be considered competitive. So find another place. It doesn't have to be in a hospital: think hospice, nursing homes, Planned Parenthood, clinics, camps for sick children.

^ This. After all, medicine is about sick people.

 

[dutchie000]

Are you saying your GPA is a 3.3 bc that's on the low side slightly, even for DO schools. MCAT can make or break it when applying to medical school obviously. Specifically speaking about your EC's, I would say are a little weak. At this point you need to 30+ MCAT to be fairly competitive. Undergrad research may help beef up your app. Maybe an abroad trip to an underdeveloped country. You also have no leadership position which is a big turn off for med schools. Why haven't you joined any clubs? Sorry for sounding pessimistic but your current GPA + current EC's make you not an ideal candidate for med school at the moment. The MCAT, however, can change all that with a 30+ score. So study hard and keep mind on that acceptance letter. Best of luck. Direct message me for any other thoughts.

Wouldn't you say being a wrestling coach is a leadership position? I think it would be considered a leadership position. I personally think it's a good thing that you are doing things you are interested in rather than just picking a bunch of random health clubs and joining them..

Anyway, I agree that you should do some extra stuff to beef up your app. You have some unique stuff, that's for sure, but I think you would benefit from some clinical and nonclinical volunteering. I get that the ED volunteering probably seemed mundane and not "clinical" enough, but it is something to get your foot in the door and that will expose you to a medical environment. It's something to do in the meantime while you look for something else. Try volunteering and doing tutoring or educational stuff. It's meaningful, fun, and will give you more to talk about in your application.

I recommend looking into an EMT course or CNA course. That will open up some doors for you as well! Find stuff that you are interested in because it will be hard to stay passionate about stuff you don't like. For example I tried research and hated it and dreaded going to the lab.

 

[keels99]

What were ur stats getting accepted?

26 MCAT, 3.48 GPA