High School EC's

[cavalier329]

In high school I founded one of New Yorks few Red Cross Youth Chapters. Since I left, the members have come to me for advice on a few issues so I suppose there is a small connection there still. The club has grown tremendously and has even been recognized by the Red Cross of Greater New York.

I also have been doing on the ambulance since I was 14 and have really rose through the ranks at my agency back home. I received a county recognition award while in high school and college and have had numerous leadership positions in the youth division and then in the senior division (18 and older)

my question is: since these activities were/are really important to me and there is still involvement especially with EMS...I give about 40 hours a week when Im home...is this something that I can put on my MD applications? I know HS EC's are sort of iffy.

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[LucidSplash]

If you are still doing the EMS after high school, even if it is just on breaks, yes, that goes on your AMCAS application.

If you are not significantly involved in the Red Cross Youth Chapter post-high school (and your description does not meet my personal definition of "significant involvement post-high school") then it would be better to find a non-obnoxious way to work it into your personal statement in a couple of sentences. It is appropriate to be proud of starting something like that and it would work well to tie into your "story" of being interested in medicine. But it doesn't really fit as an activity.

 

[SAvoodoo]

If you are still doing the EMS after high school, even if it is just on breaks, yes, that goes on your AMCAS application.

If you are not significantly involved in the Red Cross Youth Chapter post-high school (and your description does not meet my personal definition of "significant involvement post-high school") then it would be better to find a non-obnoxious way to work it into your personal statement in a couple of sentences. It is appropriate to be proud of starting something like that and it would work well to tie into your "story" of being interested in medicine. But it doesn't really fit as an activity.

QFT.

this doesn't mean it doesn't count (that's for another poster...you know who you are ), you just can't put it on your application as an activity. still impressive though

 

[ACSurgeon]

In high school I founded one of New Yorks few Red Cross Youth Chapters. Since I left, the members have come to me for advice on a few issues so I suppose there is a small connection there still. The club has grown tremendously and has even been recognized by the Red Cross of Greater New York.

I also have been doing on the ambulance since I was 14 and have really rose through the ranks at my agency back home. I received a county recognition award while in high school and college and have had numerous leadership positions in the youth division and then in the senior division (18 and older)

my question is: since these activities were/are really important to me and there is still involvement especially with EMS...I give about 40 hours a week when Im home...is this something that I can put on my MD applications? I know HS EC's are sort of iffy.

If you truly founded the chapter, I would list it. However, make sure that your college activities are MUCH more than your HS activities overall. Also, anything you did in high school can be used in your PS in telling the story of what make you want to do medicine (that is if you take the approach of telling a story that starts with when you became interested in medicine and progresses to today).

 

[cavalier329]

i have one activity in college which has been a 3 year project but it has materialized and its pretty big, so i think it will be ok

i just dont know how it looks to have high school stuff on the application

 

[LucidSplash]

i have one activity in college which has been a 3 year project but it has materialized and its pretty big, so i think it will be ok

i just dont know how it looks to have high school stuff on the application

It looks like you are trying to pad your application.

 

[cavalier329]

why does it look like that? I don't have one EC that I have been in for anything less than 3 years. In a few cases, my EC's are going to be 7-8 years with around 2,000 hours of service.

Each of my activities required my full attention and I am proud of what they have developed into. So again, why does it look like Im padding? Because I asked about a HS EC? That organization became a model for many others in my county and a few others in the state. I felt as though it was important to me.

 

[cavalier329]

thank you for the productive response, too

 

[LucidSplash]

why does it look like that? I don't have one EC that I have been in for anything less than 3 years. In a few cases, my EC's are going to be 7-8 years with around 2,000 hours of service.

Each of my activities required my full attention and I am proud of what they have developed into. So again, why does it look like Im padding? Because I asked about a HS EC? That organization became a model for many others in my county and a few others in the state. I felt as though it was important to me.

I was not being derogatory. My answer was a direct response to your statement "I just don't know how it looks to have high school stuff on the application." If I were reviewing your application and I saw only a few college activities and then I saw a high school activity that had no significant participation in the last few years, I would consider it an attempt to pad. I wasn't trying to say that your college activities were insignificant or insufficient, just that the addition of this particular high school activity would be a bit odd if your other activities are significant.