Hobbies as a meaningful Work Activity?

[7331poas]

Anyone here had any success having their hobby as their meaningful activity?

I have plenty enough ECs to fill any expectations, however I have an academic interest outside of science I've been reading for a few years now. 4+ textbooks and other text.


As anyone else out there had this kind of situation? If it seems weak I'd roll with something else at the top.

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[Moko]

Anyone here had any success having their hobby as their meaningful activity?

Yes. I listed cooking & exercising as one of my most meaningful activities and tied it into my struggle with weight loss and subsequent adoption of positive lifestyle changes. Didn't hurt me one bit, and I'm sure that plenty of other people have similar success stories of listing their hobbies as 'most meaningful'.

I have an academic interest outside of science I've been reading for a few years now. 4+ textbooks and other text. As anyone else out there had this kind of situation? If it seems weak I'd roll with something else at the top.

This seems rather weak to me unless there's something I'm missing. Doesn't this amount to just one or two extra textbooks per year that's being read for 'leisure'? What story does this convey and what strengths are being highlighted?

 

[7331poas]

This seems rather weak to me unless there's something I'm missing. Doesn't this amount to just one or two extra textbooks per year that's being read for 'leisure'? What story does this convey and what strengths are being highlighted?

I suppose it would just speak to general curiosity. It's mostly legal casebooks and SCOTUS arguments and decisions. The 4 books are just now and I'll probably be able to get through 3 more by next summer.

What do you suggest I do with it? I can't exactly provide legal services. It's just a hobby. No different than playing an intramural sport or otherwise.

Maybe it will be more interesting if I spent a lot of time on healthcare writings and rationales in that field?

 

[Moko]

I suppose it would just speak to general curiosity. It's mostly legal casebooks and SCOTUS arguments and decisions. The 4 books are just now and I'll probably be able to get through 3 more by next summer.

What do you suggest I do with it? I can't exactly provide legal services. It's just a hobby. No different than playing an intramural sport or otherwise.

Maybe it will be more interesting if I spent a lot of time on healthcare writings and rationales in that field?

To clarify: I definitely think you should list this as a hobby -- it's interesting and I would ask you about it if I was your interviewer.

However, this doesn't sound worthy of a 'most meaningful' activity unless you can make it more relevant to your story / journey. General curiosity could also be shown through the shorter description of this activity, and through your personal statement, any potential research experiences, LORs, and many other activities, etc. Would you significantly benefit by having an extra ~1350 words to write about this? If not, I would choose something else to highlight.

 

[7331poas]

To clarify: I definitely think you should list this as a hobby -- it's interesting and I would ask you about it if I was your interviewer.

However, this doesn't sound worthy of a 'most meaningful' activity unless you can make it more relevant to your story / journey. General curiosity could also be shown through the shorter description of this activity, and through your personal statement, any potential research experiences, LORs, and many other activities, etc. Would you significantly benefit by having an extra ~1350 words to write about this? If not, I would choose something else to highlight.

Interesting. Yea I think I get what you are saying.

 

[Cookiess]

It sounds like an interesting hobby and I would list it as one of your AMCAS activities. I would not list this hobby as one of your "most meaningful activities." For your most meaningful activities, I would pick activities that are more relevant to why you are deciding to pursue a career in medicine and the impact those activities had on you.

 

[Turambar]

Wait, you mean medical schools care about what I like outside of their immediate concern within the field? That's so messed up, I dropped all that garbage when I declared premed at university. I should probably sign up for a civil war reenactment, or something. I'm legitimately troubled by this and not sure why.

 

[mistafab]

Classic premed! Spot on @Turambar

Wait, you mean medical schools care about what I like outside of their immediate concern within the field? That's so messed up, I dropped all that garbage when I declared premed at university. I should probably sign up for a civil war reenactment, or something. I'm legitimately troubled by this and not sure why.

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

Anyone here had any success having their hobby as their meaningful activity?

I have plenty enough ECs to fill any expectations, however I have an academic interest outside of science I've been reading for a few years now. 4+ textbooks and other text.


As anyone else out there had this kind of situation? If it seems weak I'd roll with something else at the top.

Yup, I listed "woodworking" as most meaningful. Came up in a bunch of interviews and was a great conversation starter!

 

[DingoPingo]

I plan on listing singing as one of my most meaningful. Because it is.