Format for Writing Work / Experiences Section of AMCAS

[Laura Jean]

I have heard of two very different ways to write your descriptions for the work and experiences section of AMCAS:

Opinion #1: For activities that are obvious (no explanation needed like EMT, tutor, pre-medicine club, etc.) you should avoid describing what you did because every ADCOM knows what you most likely did. You should instead write a story that is interesting and shows your specific impact, its impact on you, etc to show the adcom that it was meaningful and to make the description more exciting to read.

Opinion #2: Stick to (boring) simple descriptions of what you did, etc.

I can't really decipher from all the information I've read about which one is the correct route to go. I love Dr. Ryan Gray (from Medical School Headquarters) and all his youtube videos/podcasts and he is a big believer in option #1, but I've read other things saying option #2 is better.... So which is it????

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[Catalystik]

I have heard of two very different ways to write your descriptions for the work and experiences section of AMCAS:

Opinion #1: For activities that are obvious (no explanation needed like EMT, tutor, pre-medicine club, etc.) you should avoid describing what you did because every ADCOM knows what you most likely did. You should instead write a story that is interesting and shows your specific impact, its impact on you, etc to show the adcom that it was meaningful and to make the description more exciting to read.

Opinion #2: Stick to (boring) simple descriptions of what you did, etc.

I can't really decipher from all the information I've read about which one is the correct route to go. I love Dr. Ryan Gray (from Medical School Headquarters) and all his youtube videos/podcasts and he is a big believer in option #1, but I've read other things saying option #2 is better.... So which is it????

I'm sure the answers will be adcomm dependent.

Every essay need not follow the same format. Some anecdotes are fine, but not at the expense of providing a bigger picture of your role and responsibilities, with maybe lessons learned and impact, too. I find it tedious to plow through story after story and feel like I have no real understanding of what the applicant did on a day to day basis.

Make your own decision about how to best present each activity, where detail is important and where its not. Don't use a formulaic approach.

 

[Laura Jean]

I'm sure the answers will be adcomm dependent.

Every essay need not follow the same format. Some anecdotes are fine, but not at the expense of providing a bigger picture of your role and responsibilities, with maybe lessons learned and impact, too. I find it tedious to plow through story after story and feel like I have no real understanding of what the applicant did on a day to day basis.

Make your own decision about how to best present each activity, where detail is important and where its not. Don't use a formulaic approach.

I see where you are coming from. Both are important, #1 makes it interesting to read and #2 makes adcoms know the necessary details of what you did. I think I will try and combine the 2 in some instances, focus on #1 for extremely well-understood experiences like being a university tutor, and focus on #2 for more unique opportunities that adcoms might not know about right away. Thanks.