High school ECs in primary app - which ones?

[wjin06]

Hey,

Would you guys put ANY high school stuff in your work/activities section? I'm having a hard time deciding with a couple things. For instance, should I put:

1. National Merit?
2. Clinically-related experience (that was NOT continued in college)?
3. Leadership roles and/or awards?

I made my decision to become a doctor based on experiences I had in high school and chose to largely hold off on activities during college in order to focus on my weak points, notably, academics. I haven't decided what to do about the essay(s) yet, but I know that I'll definitely be discussing my high school experiences during any interviews I get since they played a large role in shaping my decision to become a doctor. Given all that, should I include it in the primary app or is that silly?

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[FlowLimited]

Hey,

Would you guys put ANY high school stuff in your work/activities section? I'm having a hard time deciding with a couple things. For instance, should I put:

1. National Merit?
2. Clinically-related experience (that was NOT continued in college)?
3. Leadership roles and/or awards?

I made my decision to become a doctor based on experiences I had in high school and chose to largely hold off on activities during college in order to focus on my weak points, notably, academics. I haven't decided what to do about the essay(s) yet, but I know that I'll definitely be discussing my high school experiences during any interviews I get since they played a large role in shaping my decision to become a doctor. Given all that, should I include it in the primary app or is that silly?

I don't want to tell you what you should or shouldn't list on your AMCAS. The general consensus seems to be though, that you should only list high school activities if you've continued them into college.

If your high school experiences are what led you into medicine, consider talking about them in your personal statement and fill in your ECs with college activities and experiences.

 

[TheRealMD]

Hey,

Would you guys put ANY high school stuff in your work/activities section? I'm having a hard time deciding with a couple things. For instance, should I put:

1. National Merit?
2. Clinically-related experience (that was NOT continued in college)?
3. Leadership roles and/or awards?

I made my decision to become a doctor based on experiences I had in high school and chose to largely hold off on activities during college in order to focus on my weak points, notably, academics. I haven't decided what to do about the essay(s) yet, but I know that I'll definitely be discussing my high school experiences during any interviews I get since they played a large role in shaping my decision to become a doctor. Given all that, should I include it in the primary app or is that silly?

1) Leave National Merit off. Test doesn't apply to your knowledge today (that's waht the MCAT is for).

2) It's rather tough if you haven't continued any clinical experience in college. Usually you only say it if you did it in high school and continued in college and not if it was stopped, but if that's your only experience, you must put it. Better to have an experience 4 years old than none at all.

3) Need a better description of these roles. Organizing food for poor people is different from leading a high school club. The former is ok, the latter fills space.

Biggest worry I see for you is showing that you've had interest recently, because often entering college freshman are gung-ho about being pre-med, actually discover what medicine REALLY is, and switch to something else. Not testing yourself and basing your reason to go to medicine on relatively old experiences is room for trouble. Make sure you explain it well!

 

[wjin06]

Thanks for the quick replies.

To clarify, the majority of my "clinical" experience during the past 3 years has taken place over the summers, when I didn't have to focus on tests. I've done mostly research and I worked at a camp for kids with autism and ADHD and shadowed a few docs, volunteered as a nurse for a bit, and worked at a nursing home for a month.

Given this, should I still put my HS stuff down?

Also, does working at the camp count as "clinical" experience since the children had psychological disorders?

And I read in some book that you should try to refrain from writing (essays) referring to high school experiences. Know anything?


Oh, and by leadership positions, I mean I was Captain of this and that. At the risk of sounding full of myself, I feel that leadership is a quality that I possess and I think it's an important quality in a doctor. Again, since I didn't really participate in extracurricular activities at my college, I don't have any leadership roles in them. I do, however, have a crap load from high school, including winning an award and attending a conference.

Overall, it's incredibly important to me that med schools get to see all these attributes I feel like I have that's led me to wanting to be a doctor, but they're mostly reflected by activities I did in high school. I.e., my story for becoming a doctor is one that starts in high school and continues into college. I figured out what I was passionate about back then, and worked on my weaker points so that I'd have to confidence to pursue my dream of being a doctor.

 

[badasshairday]

Also, does working at the camp count as "clinical" experience since the children had psychological disorders?

I too want to know this because I volunteered at a developmental center that takes care of the mentally ill but I don't know if I can put that as clinical. I had contact with the clients there but I didn't do anything hands on medical. With that being said, I still might be able to do clinical because don't a lot of people who volunteer at the ER just end up folding linens and wheelchairing people around anyways? I didn't fold linens, but I wheelchaired ppl and did other things...

 

[BigRedPremed]

I wouldn't put any of that stuff down in the EC section. It's perfectly okay to refer to something that happened long ago (in high school, when you were six, whatever) in your personal statement if it pushed you towards medicine.

 

[FlowLimited]

my story for becoming a doctor is one that starts in high school and continues into college. I figured out what I was passionate about back then, and worked on my weaker points so that I'd have to confidence to pursue my dream of being a doctor.

This sounds like an excellent foundation on which to build your personal statement.

 

[LizzyM]

Unless the time frame includes a period after H.S. graduation, leave it out of the experience section but, if necessary to the story, add it into your personal statement.

If the tasks you completed at a camp or similar non-clinical facility were what all kids need (food, supervision, encouragement, ointment & bandaids) then it is non-clinical. If you were providing clinical services (blood testing, monitoring and recording signs and symptoms, administering medication) then I'd call it "clinical".

If the setting is a clinical one (for lack of a better definition, a place where you are supervised or directed by a physician or registered nurse) then you could call it "clinical".

Disabled people go about their lives and not every interaction in which they engage is clinical. If I coach wheelchair basketball, is that clinical because the athletes are amputees? If I'm playing bridge at a senior center with someone who is being treated for mental illness, is that "clinical"?

 

[Law2Doc]

I wouldn't put any of that stuff down in the EC section. It's perfectly okay to refer to something that happened long ago (in high school, when you were six, whatever) in your personal statement if it pushed you towards medicine.

Agree. It shouldn't go in EC. If it gets at your early interest in medicine then mention it in your PS. Otherwise it's just a nice life experience and hopefully you had better ones in college.

 

[Husky85]

I agree. I did a lot of cool things in high school that I would have liked to have put down (marched in the rose bowl parade, varsity football/baseball, sports editor of hs paper, etc.) but it says specifically "experiences in college and beyond" so if you put down those things 1. you're just filling space and 2. you're showing adcoms that you have trouble following directions

but your college exps sound solid enough that you shouldn't have to worry about not having those high school ones on the app

best of luck to you

 

[ssquared]

Oh, and by leadership positions, I mean I was Captain of this and that. At the risk of sounding full of myself, I feel that leadership is a quality that I possess and I think it's an important quality in a doctor. Again, since I didn't really participate in extracurricular activities at my college, I don't have any leadership roles in them. I do, however, have a crap load from high school, including winning an award and attending a conference.

AMCAS says, very specifically, that you should only put down experiences that are post-highschool. The reality is, it's far easier to be an exceptional high school student than it is to be an exceptional college student. I may have been captain of a varsity team in high school, but I certainly couldn't make my college's D1 team. Hence, if you do put down stuff from high school, you may be doing yourself a disservice.

I'm not saying that those experiences aren't important to you, but they don't belong in your EC section.

 

[Severus]

I only added stuff from high school that I continued into college for a bit. Some things I continued doing throughout all four years, some I stopped after first or second year so that I could do something else. The important thing is that you continue your activity in college.