Just a reality check on importance of EC's. Two real cases of people I know. First case: guy who smoked/killed/assasinated/etc. the MCAT. He even taught at Princeton Review and tutored and taught ochem at the community college level. Real smart guy, but started in on his EC's a bit late in the game. He did an internship at a local hospital to get clinical exposure, and then he did some research at a state medical school to get that experience. But both experiences lasted a maximum total of 4 months each. He may have had other experiences beyond that, but those are the ones I know of for sure. Of course, great grades, LOR's, the whole nine yards. He wanted to get into an allopathic school, but applied to DO schools as a backup. He did not get into a single allopathic school (he is now attending a DO school), and from others who knew his application very well, they say that what held him back were the ECs. He did not have an extensive volunteering background and had limited clinical experiences.
Second case: Again, another student who absolutely smoked the MCAT. We're talking 40+. Had leadership experience, some volunteer experiences here and there, but very limited clinical exposure. 4.0 student, honors college, everything. Sure shot for the top 10 huh? Nope, barely made it into the state school off of the waitlist. Why? Again, everyone who was familiar with her application said that it was the lack of clinical experiences that kept her from her dream schools.
Lesson: Don't just settle for a couple of experiences. Be well rounded. But that doesn't mean you have to be a fanatic overachiever who is in every single club on campus. Find your niche. Find out what your passions are, and pursue them. But don't limit yourself to only shadowing and your academics. Being well-rounded is more than taking a diverse course load. It means being able to balance your time between all of your life's passions and on top of that, letting all of your life's activities shape you into a better person. Whether that is volunteering at the local homeless shelter, giving dancing lessons to underprivileged kids, or being the star rugby player on your school's team, let your skills, your passions, and your personality shine through in those ECs that you will list on your application. I am sure that there is nothing more boring do an adcom than a cookie-cutter premed who never did anything but studied, followed docs around, and made nice with the profs. Most med schools pride themselves on picking very diverse classes (classmates). If you are not a diverse person, based on what your experiences were in undergrad (your ECs), then you might have nothing to offer a school. i.e. they may not pick you over someone who has great ECs and maybe not even as good as scores and stats as you. Something to think about.
