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

[dr2be111]

i've seen this semi-answered in a couple of posts in this thread, but just want to be completely clear.

should we not write a concluding sentence or two at the end of the description to say what we learned from the experience?

also, i am assuming adcoms do not want to hear about the specific scientific scope of our research in this description? for instance, i wouldn't write about the science behind my project.

thanks in advance.

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[AppleseedCast]

I am also wondering about listing future activities. Are these better left off? I have accepted a position at a hospital and as a medic with a local fire department starting within the next few weeks, which is why I ask.

 

[LizzyM]

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)?

Count up the hours you were involved for the total activity. Count up the number of weeks. Divide to find the average hours per week.

As an aside, never say that something required 168 hours per week. We won't believe you.

 

[LizzyM]

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!

Unless you were an officer and revived the group from moribund to thriving, no one really cares if you belonged to a group or club.

If you must mention it, do spell it out as the avg adcom member doesn't have a clue what these groups are.

 

[LizzyM]

I am also wondering about listing future activities. Are these better left off? I have accepted a position at a hospital and as a medic with a local fire department starting within the next few weeks, which is why I ask.

If you are applying inJune and can list the dates as 6/07-present then you might squeak by. Otherwise, yes, you should save it for the secondary or as an up-date to your file when you interview.

 

[LizzyM]

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.

It sounds like volunteer to me... unless you put it under athletics.

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!

Don't list it. See above.

 

[LizzyM]

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)

You should certainly list it as paid employment... in the description, explain that you worked 12 hours per week in the lab for credit and were offered a job after you completed the semester. This will be considered a BIG deal at some schools.

 

[LizzyM]

i've seen this semi-answered in a couple of posts in this thread, but just want to be completely clear.

should we not write a concluding sentence or two at the end of the description to say what we learned from the experience?

also, i am assuming adcoms do not want to hear about the specific scientific scope of our research in this description? for instance, i wouldn't write about the science behind my project.

thanks in advance.

Some of the basic science people on the adcom would love a sentence or two about the science behind your reserach or a listing of the techniques you've learned or the specific aims of your projects. What no one has time for are trite commentaries : "after 3 months in the lab I realized I wanted to work with people and not at the bench for the rest of my life."

 

[AppleseedCast]

For those entering in shadowing as one of your activities, how are you guys categorizing and what are you putting for dates and avg hours per week if you have had multiple experiences?

thanks

 

[AppleseedCast]

Is anyone else listing their shadowing experiences together in one entry? How are you going about it?

 

[TCIrish03]

You should certainly list it as paid employment... in the description, explain that you worked 12 hours per week in the lab for credit and were offered a job after you completed the semester. This will be considered a BIG deal at some schools.

Thanks for the response, but allow me to clarify:

The semester in question was the spring of 2005. I wasn't paid with money, but earned course credit (an A, for 3 credits), so I still list it as paid employment? This was the last semester of my post-bacc, and they offered me a job as a technician in their lab right after that (salary, full benefits, the works), which is where I am today (the same job I referenced in yesterday's question that you answered, concerning how to cite publications related to a job).

 

[AJVic123]

Should I list a future TA job in the fall in the description of my volunteer tutoring activity?

 

[AppleseedCast]

do you guys think phi beta kappa is worth mentioning if I got in as a third year student?

What do you guys suppose one should fill out for "avg hours/week" since this is an honor society...
Thanks!

 

[Frank Hardy]

How should I list posters that were presented at conferences by my PI but my name was also listed on it (because of data contribution).

Should I list it as an abstract or a poster?

Is this an appropriate format

authors, title, conference, location, date.

Thanks.

 

[DayDune]

Is anyone else listing their shadowing experiences together in one entry? How are you going about it?

Yea, just one entry then listing the dates, number of times, and specialties of the docs I shadowed in the description.

 

[AppleseedCast]

Yea, just one entry then listing the dates, number of times, and specialties of the docs I shadowed in the description.

How did you answer avg hours/week and dates of experience? What about contact info?

 

[KhanDHV]

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

I'd like to ask about this as well. I wasn't published, but I have been listed in the acknowledgments of a paper from the lab where I worked too. How should I note this?

With regard to the question of addressing what an experience meant to me, I've been told different things. My undergrad premed adviser told me it was ok to just describe, while my postbac adviser told me I should explain how/why it was meaningful too. I'm thinking a good way to balance this out would be to do things resume-style for some experiences and be introspective on the more meaningful ones, especially if they were clinical.

 

[campanile]

Count up the hours you were involved for the total activity. Count up the number of weeks. Divide to find the average hours per week.

Thanks for your reply. Just for clarification, should i add the 40 hr/wk trips to that or just find avg hrs for the club and put the two trips as a separate entry?

 

[DrVanNostran]

Random question:

Would being a President or Vice-President of a student Club be considered an Extracurricular or Leadership activity?

 

[LizzyM]

Random question:

Would being a President or Vice-President of a student Club be considered an Extracurricular or Leadership activity?

Fielder's choice. I'd go with Leadership.

 

[LizzyM]

Thanks for your reply. Just for clarification, should i add the 40 hr/wk trips to that or just find avg hrs for the club and put the two trips as a separate entry?

Avg it together and put in the activities section that you were involved in mtgs on campus plus the 2 trips.

 

[LizzyM]

I'd like to ask about this as well. I wasn't published, but I have been listed in the acknowledgments of a paper from the lab where I worked too. How should I note this?

An acknowledgement could be mentioned in the description section of the activity which would be "research" but don't call it a pubication. (Not saying you would, but just sayin'.)

With regard to the question of addressing what an experience meant to me, I've been told different things. My undergrad premed adviser told me it was ok to just describe, while my postbac adviser told me I should explain how/why it was meaningful too. I'm thinking a good way to balance this out would be to do things resume-style for some experiences and be introspective on the more meaningful ones, especially if they were clinical.

Just my two cents.... adcom members I met with on a regular basis last cycle (~3 meetings a month) always seemed to be complaining about the long, emotion-filled stuff in the experience section. I'd have to side with your premed advisor on this one based on my experience. Not saying that the other way is a deal breaker but it can put an adcom member in a bad mood and that is not good for your application.

 

[LizzyM]

How should I list posters that were presented at conferences by my PI but my name was also listed on it (because of data contribution).

Should I list it as an abstract or a poster?

I'd suggest listing it as an abstract unless you also attended the mtg and presented the poster.

Is this an appropriate format

authors, title, conference, location, date.

Thanks.

Yes, that's fine.

 

[LizzyM]

Should I list a future TA job in the fall in the description of my volunteer tutoring activity?

No. What if something happens and you aren't able to follow through? You can always add it to your file when you go for interview.

 

[LizzyM]

do you guys think phi beta kappa is worth mentioning if I got in as a third year student?

What do you guys suppose one should fill out for "avg hours/week" since this is an honor society...
Thanks!

Yes. This is just about the only honor society that adcom members seem to recognize and make a note of. Leave "hours per week" blank for honors, scholarships and the like.

 

[FrickenhugeMD]

Is it important to use all 15 spots? I mean, I can fill them all if I have to, but I dont want to have a couple 'fluffs' on there if they arent nessesary

 

[LizzyM]

Is it important to use all 15 spots? I mean, I can fill them all if I have to, but I dont want to have a couple 'fluffs' on there if they arent nessesary

Dear Lord! Don't add any fluff. Adcom members are faculty members who volunteer to read applications. Don't waste their time with fluff. Only filling 4 or 5 slots is too little but good, solid, long-term activities (employment, hobbies, research, volunteering, honors/scholarships etc) that fill just 6 slots (or filling more than that with short-term activities) is just fine.

 

[AppleseedCast]

LizzyM thank you so much for all the advice you've been giving. It certainly is invaluable and appreciated!

 

[campanile]

Thanks LizzyM, you're awesome!

 

[Encrypted]

For the hobbies and art, I don't have a traditional musical or artistic thing I like to do for fun. But I like to make websites and programs and I enjoy doing this. It takes creativity to make websites and develop them. So should I put website development under this category? Or does this seem too academic?

 

[justmoi]

Thank you LizzyM for all your great advice. Its been a life saver!

I have a couple of hobbies...like i'm a dancer and perform professionally, and write and I am also learning another language. I'm actually getting very good at it, but the thing is that I started studying it independently because its not offered in my school and I couldn't afford any language classes outside. It was a sudden interest and I've pursued it for a year, and not just the language but the entire culture, music, etc. Can I mention this in my application, even if I don't have coursework or classes or anything as evidence? Or just stick to the other hobbies? I'd like to include it because its a significant experience for me, and I'm also hoping to travel to the country in the future in my medical career.

Thank you very much!!

 

[LizzyM]

For the hobbies and art, I don't have a traditional musical or artistic thing I like to do for fun. But I like to make websites and programs and I enjoy doing this. It takes creativity to make websites and develop them. So should I put website development under this category? Or does this seem too academic?

It sounds like a very interesting hobby/talent and one that might make you a welcome addition to the student body. List it!

 

[LizzyM]

Thank you LizzyM for all your great advice. Its been a life saver!

I have a couple of hobbies...like i'm a dancer and perform professionally, and write and I am also learning another language. I'm actually getting very good at it, but the thing is that I started studying it independently because its not offered in my school and I couldn't afford any language classes outside. It was a sudden interest and I've pursued it for a year, and not just the language but the entire culture, music, etc. Can I mention this in my application, even if I don't have coursework or classes or anything as evidence? Or just stick to the other hobbies? I'd like to include it because its a significant experience for me, and I'm also hoping to travel to the country in the future in my medical career.

Thank you very much!!

I think that professional dancer goes under employment or maybe under hobby/advocation if the "professional" isn't very much or very often... writing would be hobby/advocation. The language stuff would be a very interesting addition to your PS or you can save if for the supplementals. I think that it would be better as a chunk of prose rather than trying to fit it into the blanks in the Experiences section.

 

[LizzyM]

Thanks for the response, but allow me to clarify:

The semester in question was the spring of 2005. I wasn't paid with money, but earned course credit (an A, for 3 credits), so I still list it as paid employment? This was the last semester of my post-bacc, and they offered me a job as a technician in their lab right after that (salary, full benefits, the works), which is where I am today (the same job I referenced in yesterday's question that you answered, concerning how to cite publications related to a job).

If you earned course credit, you need not put it in the experience section but many people do and label it Research (same with volunteer-clinicial when the class requires it). Of course, the period of time during which you have been employed there goes on the list as paid employment or as research. Either way, in the explanation you flesh out the details.

 

[bullishMD]

I have multiple research jobs right now. one is in the lab everyday, another one is like once a week and the other one was work at home bymyself. Should i put these all under one research activity or separately?

 

[LizzyM]

I have multiple research jobs right now. one is in the lab everyday, another one is like once a week and the other one was work at home bymyself. Should i put these all under one research activity or separately?

Any full time job should go on the form as should, IMHO, any paid employment of >16 hrs/wk. (or >4 hrs/wk if you are concurrently enrolled in school full-time). Basically, I am saying that you should account for your time.

 

[docdocgoose]

Questions:

1. Good idea or bad idea? I am a professional dance teacher part-time now, which I'm listing as an EC, but before that I was on ballroom dance teams for 5 years (executive board 3 years) and also in March of this year started helping the organizing group of a local dance club. Also I did about 10 years of theatre as a child through collge. I was thinking to list this as:

(Category: Artistic). Theater and Dance Performer and Executive Board Member. - 6 years after-school/ summer participation in theater, high school through college, 10-20 hours/week. Collegiate ballroom dance teams 5 years, exectutive board 3 years, 6-12 hours/week. blah blah blah.
​

2. Similar question to a previous poster's. Good or bad idea? I did a for-credit required research project (social science - motivation & attitudes of underpriviledged middle-school science fair club participants vs. their non-participant peers). Does this get an EC?

3. LizzyM, I only did very little shadowing (one day w. pediatric rheumatologist in academic institution) and informal observing (about 10 times) of GYN procedures while managing the medical office. They did have a strong impact on me. Would it be a good idea to include this or smarter to leave it out?

4. Is graduating Magna Cum Laude an honor/award that should be mentioned or left out? If I mention it, maybe I should add "Provost's Honors - x # of quarters" to the description?

Many thanks for all the help in this thread!

 

[LizzyM]

Questions:

1. Good idea or bad idea? I am a professional dance teacher part-time now, which I'm listing as an EC, but before that I was on ballroom dance teams for 5 years (executive board 3 years) and also in March of this year started helping the organizing group of a local dance club. Also I did about 10 years of theatre as a child through collge. I was thinking to list this as:

(Category: Artistic). Theater and Dance Performer and Executive Board Member. - 6 years after-school/ summer participation in theater, high school through college, 10-20 hours/week. Collegiate ballroom dance teams 5 years, exectutive board 3 years, 6-12 hours/week. blah blah blah.
​

Seems like a good approach.

2. Similar question to a previous poster's. Good or bad idea? I did a for-credit required research project (social science - motivation & attitudes of underpriviledged middle-school science fair club participants vs. their non-participant peers). Does this get an EC?

For sure. It is research.

3. LizzyM, I only did very little shadowing (one day w. pediatric rheumatologist in academic institution) and informal observing (about 10 times) of GYN procedures while managing the medical office. They did have a strong impact on me. Would it be a good idea to include this or smarter to leave it out?

Can you work it into your personal statement?

4. Is graduating Magna Cum Laude an honor/award that should be mentioned or left out? If I mention it, maybe I should add "Provost's Honors - x # of quarters" to the description?

Many thanks for all the help in this thread!

Academic honors is a short hand way of saying "this person had an excellent gpa, did well in all classes." Because the adcom can see your entire transcript, this short-hand system really is redundant in this circumstance. Leave it out.

 

[Kiara]

Hi Lizzy,

In my final year of engineering I did a design project that included research + presentation, its basically a thesis. I've mentioned it in my ps so should I just leave it out of the extrac's?

Thanks!

 

[docdocgoose]

LizzyM - so many thanks!!!

 

[charles17]

Does anyone know if we can write about our traveling experiences as a hobby for one of AMCAS activities?? Thanks in advance.

 

[LizzyM]

Does anyone know if we can write about our traveling experiences as a hobby for one of AMCAS activities?? Thanks in advance.

Yes, this is done rather frequently.

 

[LizzyM]

Hi Lizzy,

In my final year of engineering I did a design project that included research + presentation, its basically a thesis. I've mentioned it in my ps so should I just leave it out of the extrac's?

Thanks!

Yes, leave it out.

 

[bullishMD]

If we are lumping our shadowing experiences together who should we put for the contact name?

and is it alright to not put hours for some of them in the specified box but to put them in the description?

 

[LizzyM]

If we are lumping our shadowing experiences together who should we put for the contact name?

and is it alright to not put hours for some of them in the specified box but to put them in the description?

It is OK not to have a contact name. It is ok to describe the hours per shadow experience in the description and skip the hours per week field.

 

[mmcnam]

I'm confused about how to list my senior thesis. It's an "Honor" because the thesis was not required and I completed it through the most difficult thesis program at my university. It was also conducted alongside a study abroad trip - I needed to go to Africa under the name of a university so as to avoid complicated research permits etc. I completed part of my project as a study of medical anthropology in Kenya. However, the main thesis dealt with the narratives of physicians who volunteer in Africa. (I'm an English major.) I also received full funding from the university to do my research on Kenya. Lastly, parts of my main thesis are being prepared for publication (to be submitted to medical humanities journals).

Do I list the amount of money I was awarded? Do I include the research scholarships with the "Honors" listing of my thesis completion or separately?

Do I list medical anthropology and the literature stuff separately? Study abroad in Kenya is listed on my transcript as "Independent Study in Anthropology". Do I need to elaborate or should the difference be ignored?

Can I state that the thesis is being prepared for publication?

Also - random and non-related to the thesis: does one describe a position as a waitress? Should I talk about why I chose to work in a restaurant rather than volunteer in a hospital? (Financial motivations etc...)

Thanks!

 

[justmoi]

One more question from me....
I did a health-care related project (focused on a particular afflication) last year. The project caught the eye of an international organization that caters to medical professionals and patients in this field, and they are taking it up. We submitted an abstract to the annual conference, it was accepted and I presented it this year.

Now my questions are...
1. Can I use this as my health care related EC, even if it was a project? We spent almost 1.5 years on it, with 10-20 hours a week.
2. Where do I put the information on the acceptance of the abstract and the project presentation? Under Awards/Honors/Recognition or Research?

3. I have lots of other research experience in neuroscience, but should I add this in there too? It wasn't research as much as a field-survey kind of project to develop a tool that can now be useful to the organization.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[mmcnam]

I'm also confused as to what I should enter as an EC if I've mentioned things in my PS. I mentioned shadowing and the thesis in my PS, but if I leave them out of the EC's no one will know dates/hours etc.

Also, I'm taking a year off and planning to move to LA to work in a hospital. Can I mention those plans in my PS so that people know I have something clinical set up for myself next year or should I wait until secondaries come around?

 

[camd2b]

edit: made seperate post
more questions...

1) Anyone else in a sorority? Should I list as leadership or other? There are many activities... I held two leadership roles, went to leadership conference, gave many community service hours, coordinated big alumni events, and was tutor for Greeks. Also, do I explain exactly what my volunteering through sorority was, e.g. cancer walk, fundraiser for so and so....

2) Similar question: for a club where I was President but also coordinated big community service events like blood drive or toy drive, do I list everything together under one entry?

3) For research I did, is it important to list it was under grant from bigger school? Is it important to say it is apart of a big international project? How specific do you need to get in your description?

4) Anyone know of a place where I can find basic examples of EC's?

5) And finally who else is tempted to put Project Director as your contact's title? Ha-ha&#8230;

Thanks everyone for your time!

 

[camd2b]

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