Future Expectations

[mlaurel380]

I saw a tweet where someone who is part of an admissions committee claimed that some of the others expected applicants to have started businesses/NPOs on top of volunteering (only to be shut down by the director). I know social media is an awful metric but it got me thinking—as the number of applicants increase faster than the number of available spots, will there be even higher expectations for extracurriculars?

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[jinjames0]

I saw a tweet where someone who is part of an admissions committee claimed that some of the others expected applicants to have started businesses/NPOs on top of volunteering (only to be shut down by the director). I know social media is an awful metric but it got me thinking—as the number of applicants increase faster than the number of available spots, will there be even higher expectations for extracurriculars?

No expert, but that has been the general trend with colleges and med schools in the past 30 years. My boss/doc said “that’s crazy” when I told her what it’s like nowadays. She did not have secondaries for med school and applied to 8 (it wasn’t as convenient as AMCAS tho).

Personally, I have two schools of thought. One) adcoms understand that these overachievers are rare and not expected. They’re looking for future doctors, not doctors. Two) adcoms don’t have a reason to reject them given all else are the same

 

[Goro]

I saw a tweet where someone who is part of an admissions committee claimed that some of the others expected applicants to have started businesses/NPOs on top of volunteering (only to be shut down by the director). I know social media is an awful metric but it got me thinking—as the number of applicants increase faster than the number of available spots, will there be even higher expectations for extracurriculars?

No. That tweet was BS too

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

At schools like Harvard, UCSF, Stanford, Hopkins, you most certainly need something to stand out.

It doesn’t necessarily have to be starting a nonprofit, but could include things like

-Olympic or division I athlete
-Winner of a national debate competition
-Valedictorian at an Ivy
-Nature/cell/science publication
-Rhodes or Fullbright scholar
-Author of a successful novel
-Founder of a startup
-Activism that leads to speaking with state legislators



At mid and low tier MD schools? Of course not.

 

[Analog_Emeritus]

At schools like Harvard, UCSF, Stanford, Hopkins, you most certainly need something to stand out.

It doesn’t necessarily have to be starting a nonprofit, but could include things like

-Olympic or division I athlete
-Winner of a national debate competition
-Valedictorian at an Ivy
-Nature/cell/science publication
-Rhodes or Fullbright scholar
-Author of a successful novel
-Founder of a startup
-Activism that leads to speaking with state legislators



At mid and low tier MD schools? Of course not.

I would question this as hyperbolic as well.

No doubt those things help, but I know a fair number of people who are now med students at those schools and none of them have had any of these (not saying no one does, of course the competition is fierce).

But having good grades, community service, research, passionate work really seems to be enough, not that that's at all easy.

 

[deleted1136042]

I would question this as hyperbolic as well.

No doubt those things help, but I know a fair number of people who are now med students at those schools and none of them have had any of these (not saying no one does, of course the competition is fierce).

But having good grades, community service, research, passionate work really seems to be enough, not that that's at all easy.

Good grades + community service + research is a great combo but definitely will not be enough for most applicants who want to attend any of the schools @voxveritatisetlucis mentioned. The demographic of the candidate ultimately decides what is necessary for gaining admission

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

Good grades + community service + research is a great combo but definitely will not be enough for most applicants who want to attend any of the schools @voxveritatisetlucis mentioned

Yes, this seems like more of the baseline for any MD school. Of course each of these things is subjective.

Does good grades refer to graduating summa cum laude from Yale or just maintaining a 3.7+

Does community service mean going above and beyond to start an activism org or does it mean doing the bare minimum at a local soup kitchen

Does research mean publishing in high impact journals or making a poster for a major course elective


There is nothing wrong with the latter in any of these cases and they would be good enough for mid and low tier MD schools, but the former seems to be more important to have a good chance at top schools. Can also mix and match but I would say that at least one outstanding element is needed for HMS and peers.

 

[Goro]

I would question this as hyperbolic as well.


But having good grades, community service, research, passionate work really seems to be enough, not that that's at all easy.

This still holds true. Many years ago, there was a troll named Walt who had this obsession with "God tier" ECs like the Medal of Honor, Olympic medalist, or first author Cell papers.

He constantly posted about whether someone with X would get into Stanford/Harvard class schools. Eventually, he earned a Banhammer smack.

But I asked a ton of people who got accepted into the schools, and what was striking was that they had hundreds if not thousands of hours of service to others, either clinically or non clinically.

Service in public health seem to be one common thread.

 

[deleted1138671]

At schools like Harvard, UCSF, Stanford, Hopkins, you most certainly need something to stand out.

It doesn’t necessarily have to be starting a nonprofit, but could include things like

-Olympic or division I athlete
-Winner of a national debate competition
-Valedictorian at an Ivy
-Nature/cell/science publication
-Rhodes or Fullbright scholar
-Author of a successful novel
-Founder of a startup
-Activism that leads to speaking with state legislators



At mid and low tier MD schools? Of course not.

Yup. Can confirm. My TA is a UCSF med student and he was a Fulbright scholar.