Great tips for entering your "Work/Activities" for AMCAS

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i'm gonna have to go with LizzyM and say that anecdotes are don'ts. i read from someone on SDN that it was a good idea to write most meaningful experience, etc for each EC and of course being a gullible pre-med i obeyed. let me tell you, i got a new one torn for me at most of my interviews of interviewers making fun of me and saying it was cute for the first one but then got really annoying and asking me what the hell i was thinking. i mean i got into half of the schools but nevertheless i think it hurt rather than hurt me to write freaking paragraphs w/ seventh heaven like moral endings for each EC.
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LizzyM said:
Yes, put it in the activities section. That quantifies the hours per week and the time period, something you may not want to include in the personal statement for lack of space. Also, sometimes an adcom member will make a quick look through the experience section and note a lack of clinical experience or research listed there and that can hurt you --
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Thanks for the information LizzyM. I think I made a huge mistake last application cycle by not including my Health Care research in my activities, for some reason I just didn't think it was necessary :confused:

Thanks again!
 
FON86 said:
I'm volunteering for an organization with many different outpatient clinics ( for example they have urgent care, diagnostic and surgery centers). Should i put all the clinics under one activity, and describe what i did in each center in description section. my responsibilities were pretty much the same, checking patients into the clinic, but other centers gave me more some more responsibilities.

also i am getting one letter from the supervisor of volunteering for all the clinics, idk if this affects how i should put in this activity in amcas.
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List it once. Combine all the dates & hours you served that organization. In the description, give the details of the different units and your basic duties as well as the added duties in selected units.
 
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I'm wondering what kind of language to use when filling out this section- structured sentences or semi-structured (more like what you would see on a resume).

I had been planning on using structured sentences but then a friend forwarded me his application from last year and his reads more like a resume.

thoughts?
 
When I am entering my research experience, how should I go about putting the papers (4) that have been submitted but not approved/published yet? Should I put in the title of the papers and a description or just a description of each? Also, I've presented m research at my ugrad at the request of a professor to her classes (guest lecture and posters)... Do I put that in this research spot as well, or does it get its own slot in the experience section?

Basically, I won't have enough space to put down information about my responsibilities AND stuff about the papers OR presentations all in the same experience...

As for working during ugrad: I have had a TON of P/T jobs during ugrad (nothing to write home about). Should I even list these (even just under one experience)? I am working F/T this year (graduated already), so should I just put all the other stuff in with this experience?

THANKS A LOT (and i hope i didn't confuse anyone too much haha)!
 
In a situation where your activity is both extracurricular and leadership (say, as a president of a student group), which category is the best one to list for this? Also, if it is leadership, should it still be listed as such if you don't have any other ones in the extracurricular categoy (since they'd all be moved over to leadership)?
 
If we have more than i type of award, can we jsut put them all under one title of awards? what should we put at the date? What if we TAed more than once but it was not consectutive, what do we do about those dates?
 
1. What if your activity is EC/leadership/ and community service? I'm president of student organization, and we have a community service committee that volunteers at clinics and host blood drives and stuff. Do those belong together?
 
wow, thanks. this should be part of the FAQ. I always wondered what's the hell I have to write in the description section. Sometimes, it was easy, sometimes hard.
 
since i have so many "double-dipping" ECs, ie pres of service soceity, im planning on seeing what category is most lacking and then just choosing that category for the double-dipping EC

frickonastick said:
In a situation where your activity is both extracurricular and leadership (say, as a president of a student group), which category is the best one to list for this? Also, if it is leadership, should it still be listed as such if you don't have any other ones in the extracurricular categoy (since they'd all be moved over to leadership)?
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What experience type do you think physician shadowing should go under?
 
I have my lab job from a summer in one section and the publications from it in another section. Is it ok to have these in separate sections?

Should I summarize the publication or is a citation enough if I already described the general research topic in the previous section?


Thanks.
 
DynMD said:
What experience type do you think physician shadowing should go under?
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This is a tough one... I don't like to see it labeled "Volunteer-clinical" if you didn't actually provide some kind of service to or on behalf of the patients but many people use this label. Is there a category called "other"?
 
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jimmyl930 said:
I have my lab job from a summer in one section and the publications from it in another section. Is it ok to have these in separate sections?
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Yes, a job & publication can & should go in separate sections.
Should I summarize the publication or is a citation enough if I already described the general research topic in the previous section?


Thanks.
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A citation is enough to describe the publications. Most of us have access to library resources online and can pull the article in a matter of minutes if the citation is accurate. Be sure that you've spelled names, etc correctly.
 
In addition to a publication and the actual research activity, I was also "acknowledged" in another paper from our lab (i.e. "we thank <sesil> for providing valuable information for this project"). Should I include this somewhere such as in the description for the research activity? Is it even worth mentioning? Thanks
 
should study abroad be considered an activity?
 
I am working on this section and wondering how to structure the experience description. Should the experience list just what we finished (e.g. Adult Volunteer - did so and so) or should we include something we learned also from the experience (e.g. Adult Volunteer - by doing so and so, the volunteer pledge of being a better communicator was fulfilled)?

Thanks in advance !
 
gujusnike said:
I am working on this section and wondering how to structure the experience description. Should the experience list just what we finished (e.g. Adult Volunteer - did so and so) or should we include something we learned also from the experience (e.g. Adult Volunteer - by doing so and so, the volunteer pledge of being a better communicator was fulfilled)?

Thanks in advance !
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Just list what you did. Some (few) applicants are able to spin things in a good way... for example in describing a job as a waitress they might mention "team member in a fast paced, customer-service driven restaurant in a resort community" rather than "served dinner guests and private parties".
 
sesil said:
In addition to a publication and the actual research activity, I was also "acknowledged" in another paper from our lab (i.e. "we thank <sesil> for providing valuable information for this project"). Should I include this somewhere such as in the description for the research activity? Is it even worth mentioning? Thanks
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It is not worth mentioning. Of course, you will list the research activity.
 
How should I enter publications that are submitted but not yet approved? I have three publications that are submitted to peer-reviewed neurosurgery journals, but I am not sure how to put that in the experiences section.

If I put all three in the slot where I have my research activities, it's going to cut away a lot of the important duties I am responsible for...
 
If I volunteered as a tutor for middle school students and then a year later for language classes, should I list them as separate activities or just "Volunteer tutor"?
 
Just for clarification, I mean list them as volunteer tutor in the experience name and then explain that I did both in the description box.
 
So, say I've researched in two different labs on two completely different subjects. Can I lump them together under the Experience Name: "Research" and then decribe each research experience, or should I list them seperately. I'm running out of room on the Work and Activities section!

Also, I was in the college marching band (the flagline). Should I put it under Extracurricular or under Artistic Endeavors?
 
I've entered 13 experiences so far (volunteering, research, shadowing, etc), and I'm wondering if any of the following experiences are worth including also: second author on a psychology publication, second author on a poster presented at a psychology conference, teaching assistant for a statistics class, and various jobs as a human resources consultant. I already listed my one first author conference presentation, so is it worth it to list a second author publication that's not medically related?
 
frickonastick said:
In a situation where your activity is both extracurricular and leadership (say, as a president of a student group), which category is the best one to list for this? Also, if it is leadership, should it still be listed as such if you don't have any other ones in the extracurricular categoy (since they'd all be moved over to leadership)?
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I was wondering the same thing...
 
bumping this up, took me a while to find this afternoon.

anddddd if anyone is willing to read over my ECs and offer feedback on my wording, grammar, etc (similar to the PS readers found in other threads) that would be awesome! not likely i know, but still worth a shot... PM me or reply here to let me know.

good luck y'all
 
can i list graduation awards under one section?
 
Which ones should I leave out, or combine into one?

Eagle Scout
Lifeguarding
Tennis Instructor
Tutoring/Volunteering to elementary school kids
Building Houses-volunteer
undergrad researcher
Outdoors Club
3 poster sessions
Dean's list
Hospital volunteer

should i make the poster sessions as one activity, or just combine it into one or combine it with my undergrad researcher part?
 
I have been involved with a club for four years, with four different positions each year.... I don't want to take up 4 activities with just one thing. Should I just combine all four positions + descriptions under one heading? If yes, then what do I put for "Position" in the form field of the application ... all four separated by commas?
 
AppTrail said:
Which ones should I leave out, or combine into one?

Eagle Scout
Lifeguarding
Tennis Instructor
Tutoring/Volunteering to elementary school kids
Building Houses-volunteer
undergrad researcher
Outdoors Club
3 poster sessions
Dean's list
Hospital volunteer

should i make the poster sessions as one activity, or just combine it into one or combine it with my undergrad researcher part?
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I'm no expert, but my two cents... you have 10 good activites listed and all of them should be included.

I would think about the poster sessions in terms of amount of content and importance. If they were all small projects, I would combine them. But I would isolate the ones that are bigger projects with more content or projects that you want to highlight/talk more about.
 
To be perfectly honest, with my experience I have a lot of things I want to list about what I learned from each. They're not BSing, they're very accurate and meaningful to me. They participate in the story of how I came to where and who I am now. I would like to include a little more wordy of an explanation about these, but reading this thread has scared me. Feedback? Is it absolutely going to be better if I trim these down to more cut and dry descriptions?
 
What do you think legitimately counts as "leadership" in the activities/EC section? Obviously president/vp-type positions would count, but what about other types of positions in student clubs (i.e. treasurer, secretary, etc...)?

Also, if I was in an organization for several years and held leadership positions within it, should I list the activity or the positions I held in the "experience name"? If the latter is best, can I put several titles in the "experience name" and then specify the time frame in the description?

And finally, what length do you recommend for the descriptions? Mine are running 800-900 for the more significant experiences...I know it's well below the limit, but considering how little time AdComs spend on them, just wondering.
 
I hate to flood this thread, but I've been working on the EC section all evening, and the questions just keep popping up.

Is it really a bad thing to fill up the EC section? I am at 15 right now, in great part because my research and presentations are taking 4 spaces, and my jobs are taking another 3. I have 3 slots for volunteering (1 clinical, 2 not), and 5 slots for actual ECs (2 leadership, hobbies, arts, and other).

Obviously, some of these are more important and relevant than others. So, should I try to condense/cut down? Or is there some advantage to having a wide range of ECs on the AMCAS?
 
In my opinion, although I am not a professional, I think it is good to fill up the space if you are filling it up with medically related experiences. I am not sure how much things like "hobbies and arts" really belong in their own space if they didn't contribute in your decision to become a doctor or aren't incredibly unique. I dont know your situation so I am not sure how relevant yours are.


Kraazy said:
I hate to flood this thread, but I've been working on the EC section all evening, and the questions just keep popping up.

Is it really a bad thing to fill up the EC section? I am at 15 right now, in great part because my research and presentations are taking 4 spaces, and my jobs are taking another 3. I have 3 slots for volunteering (1 clinical, 2 not), and 5 slots for actual ECs (2 leadership, hobbies, arts, and other).

Obviously, some of these are more important and relevant than others. So, should I try to condense/cut down? Or is there some advantage to having a wide range of ECs on the AMCAS?
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i have a question about entering courses that were repeated

i know that I have to enter the course twice and include both grades received, but I'm confused about the "Special Courses Type" box at the bottom, where I indicate the repeat course. Should I check the "repeat" box for both entries? or just for the second entry?


Thanks!
 
silverlining1 said:
Bumping as well as asking a question!

I'm having trouble figuring out what to name each experience; I'm especially having trouble with the volunteer/tutoring/leadership experience that I described above. I was thinking of something like "Volunteer at elementary school" and then describing what exactly I do in the description box. Should I be more/less specific, or include other information?

Basically... how should experiences be named?
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Necrothreadmancy!
 
goosie said:
I'm wondering what kind of language to use when filling out this section- structured sentences or semi-structured (more like what you would see on a resume).

I had been planning on using structured sentences but then a friend forwarded me his application from last year and his reads more like a resume.

thoughts?
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I was wondering the same thing. Also, should we use first person "I did this, etc..." What do you recommend, LizzyM?
 
DayDune said:
I was wondering the same thing. Also, should we use first person "I did this, etc..." What do you recommend, LizzyM?
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No need for the pronoun. Keep it short and sweet

"tutored fifth grade student in reading, math and spelling."

"prepared and executed science demonstrations in middle school classrooms. Taught concepts related to physics, chemistry and earth science."
 
I am a little unsure what to write down for contact person in regards to a completely student run organization I'm pretty heavily involved with. I can think of several people who I could list as a contact person, but it has shifted and they are all undergraduates. Does it not matter since it doesn't seem the schools will actually contact the person?
 
So is there any consensus regarding the experience section and its descriptions? Should we use quick descriptions and expect to expand in the PS and interviews or should we include what we learned and other important parts of the experience?
 
RJain said:
I am a little unsure what to write down for contact person in regards to a completely student run organization I'm pretty heavily involved with. I can think of several people who I could list as a contact person, but it has shifted and they are all undergraduates. Does it not matter since it doesn't seem the schools will actually contact the person?
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If the group has identified a leader (president or secretary) for the coming academic year, list that person... or list no one. It is very, very unlikely that anyone would contact this person.
 
cervenka08 said:
So is there any consensus regarding the experience section and its descriptions? Should we use quick descriptions and expect to expand in the PS and interviews or should we include what we learned and other important parts of the experience?
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Last year was the first time that applicants were permitted to write more than 3 lines in the description section (I don't know how many characters but it was previously very short).

Last year, the 12 adcom members I worked with most closely complained about how wordy the descriptions had become (they didn't know that AMCAS had changed the rules). Make it short and hope that you'll be invited to flesh out the details and what you learned during the interview.
 
premeddick said:
In my opinion, although I am not a professional, I think it is good to fill up the space if you are filling it up with medically related experiences. I am not sure how much things like "hobbies and arts" really belong in their own space if they didn't contribute in your decision to become a doctor or aren't incredibly unique. I dont know your situation so I am not sure how relevant yours are.
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Try to have at least one or two items that are just "fun". It shows that you do something artistic, athletic, creative, or just as a way to relax. It doesn't have to be unique. We have dozens of pianists, poets, potters, and pitchers... and that is just fine. It helps us picture you as something other than a worker bee.
 
LizzyM said:
Try to have at least one or two items that are just "fun". It shows that you do something artistic, athletic, creative, or just as a way to relax. It doesn't have to be unique. We have dozens of pianists, poets, potters, and pitchers... and that is just fine. It helps us picture you as something other than a worker bee.
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Ok, thanks LizzyM for the clarification. She is a professional, so trust her, not me.
 
i went on a couple trips to new orleans with habitat for humanity and wanted to put these together with my involvement with the HFH club on campus. what do i put for hrs/wk as it is more of a semesterly involvement rather than weekly (you need to volunteer so many weekends per semester)?
 
What do you think about putting all the pre-med on-campus groups in one section? For example, I'm involved with AED, AMSA, and MAPS. Also, do adcoms know what all these are or do I need to explain it and/or provide the full name and not just the acronym in the description? Thanks!
 
LizzyM said:
If the group has identified a leader (president or secretary) for the coming academic year, list that person... or list no one. It is very, very unlikely that anyone would contact this person.
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Thanks LizzyM. Do you (or anyone else) have any feedback about listing future activities (such as summer plans) or would it just be better to leave that to secondaries?
 
I have two questions about the EC section and would really appreciate some advice:

1. Since I have played Collegiate soccer in Japan and somewhat know how to play soccer, I helped out with a local club soccer team in the states for two summers. I designed some of the practices and assisted the coaches. Would I include this in Community Service-Volunteer (not medical-clinical), Leadership or Teaching-tutoring? I would like to put it into community service-volunteer.

2. I just got accepted to a medical scribing program, but I will start training in July. Would it be a bad idea to list this? I plan on submitting my primaries late june-early july. I ask this because I only have half a year of clinical experience so far. (time wise it just doesnt seem significant enough, although I can elaborate on the experiences I had if asked at an interview)

Thanks!
 
For LizzyM, or anyone else in the know:

One of the courses listed on my transcript is one of those "special projects" or "directed research", where 12 hours per week in the lab = 3 credits with a letter grade. I never published an abstract on this, but it was a specific project and had clear goals and a hypothesis. Should I just leave it alone in the coursework section, or make special mention in the Extracurriculars? Thanks

(as a side note, because of my time there that semester, they offered me a full time job at the conclusion of the semester, which is where I am now. So I figure I should at least mention that somehow)
 
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