How Is Working Looked Upon By Schools?

[Espadaleader]

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Hey I'm a rising sophomore and circumstances require me to work 20 hours a week at a retail store. Do medical schools look favorably upon this? Its certainly more than doing nothing.

 

[chemgeek62]

From what I've heard, it's not looked upon poorly. A friend of mine worked as a server for four years during college and she said the adcoms told her during her interviews that it shows you're able to handle more than just studying. I don't know how it stacks up against volunteer/clinical/research experience, but I don't believe it's necessarily a bad thing.

 

[amakhosidlo]

It also proves that you have 'people skills' and can deal with difficult situations and individuals from different walks of life. Also counts as "experience in the real world", which I'd say a good percentage of pre-meds don't have (That is, experience outside of the GPA/research/volunteering bubble).

Excellent E.C to have, particularly if you spin it well in your PS/AMCAS activities. Is any of the money going towards your educational expenses? If so I'd definitely cast it in the "helping put yourself through school" light too. 👍

 

[pavlovb]

Hey I'm a rising sophomore and circumstances require me to work 20 hours a week at a retail store. Do medical schools look favorably upon this? Its certainly more than doing nothing.

it shows that you are able to balance academics with work (only if you have good grades of course, otherwise NO)

 

[mspeedwagon]

👍. I worked all 4 yrs of college. It will definitely help as long as you have a high GPA/MCAT. It will not compensate for lower grades or a lower MCAT score.

it shows that you are able to balance academics with work (only if you have good grades of course, otherwise NO)

 

[chemgeek62]

👍. I worked all 4 yrs of college. It will definitely help as long as you have a high GPA/MCAT. It will not compensate for lower grades or a lower MCAT score.

👍

 

[Web MD]

Definitely a plus - how would holding down a paying job consistently for several years "look bad"? I mean, even if you're a gun runner or a coke mule it at least shows that you're reliable

 

[LossForWords]

I think it wouldn't look bad in an of itself, but if your grades suffer some committee members may not take that as a very viable excuse.

 

[illegallysmooth]

If you're working that much, try to get into something medical. I have a ton of work experience in the healthcare field (MA, NA, ITA, unit clerk, etc) and this seemed to help me. My interviewers all wanted to chat about it and see what I learned.

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

I think it wouldn't look bad in an of itself, but if your grades suffer some committee members may not take that as a very viable excuse.

Agree with this.

In general, working is looked upon as a good thing. It is not however an acceptable excuse for bad grades.

 

[metallica81788]

It also proves that you have 'people skills' and can deal with difficult situations and individuals from different walks of life. Also counts as "experience in the real world", which I'd say a good percentage of pre-meds don't have (That is, experience outside of the GPA/research/volunteering bubble).

Excellent E.C to have, particularly if you spin it well in your PS/AMCAS activities. Is any of the money going towards your educational expenses? If so I'd definitely cast it in the "helping put yourself through school" light too. 👍

👍 Good post, especially the bolded part. I think everyone should experience working some crappy "lower-tier" job in retail or customer service or something just for the life experience.

If you're working that much, try to get into something medical. I have a ton of work experience in the healthcare field (MA, NA, ITA, unit clerk, etc) and this seemed to help me. My interviewers all wanted to chat about it and see what I learned.

Sometimes it's not possible to get a medical job. I tried for 4 years to get a medical job but since I was not licensed in anything and had to work during the summers, making me unable to get licensed, nowhere medical would even call me back. It also depends on the location and region of the country.

 

[ThaliaNox]

I personally think it isn't taken enough into account. Folks here and in the admissions world won't hesitate to tell you to drop a job to get your grades up, but out here in the real world sometimes it just isn't possible to not work because of financial reasons. I always had a job in undergrad, just to make ends meet and while my grades were good, it was certainly not time I could put towards research or volunteering. I did eventually get a paid job doing research, but I'd say I actually got paid for one out of every two hours I was in the lab.

 

[illegallysmooth]

Sometimes it's not possible to get a medical job. I tried for 4 years to get a medical job but since I was not licensed in anything and had to work during the summers, making me unable to get licensed, nowhere medical would even call me back. It also depends on the location and region of the country.

Yeah, that sucks. I just think the OP should try.

 

[NickNaylor]

I would think it would be a positive. It says something to have worked in a job where your supervisor really doesn't give a **** that you want to go to medical school. It's an entirely different dynamic that people who haven't worked in a "real" (i.e., crappy hourly) job probably won't have.

 

[ruiner]

Hey I'm a rising sophomore and circumstances require me to work 20 hours a week at a retail store. Do medical schools look favorably upon this? Its certainly more than doing nothing.

Med schools like to have classes full of privileged kids that don't have to work. Unfortunately, it looks bad to them if you need to work to pay for your school. It's a sign of a poor upbringing.

Just kidding, worked half/full time through college, some in retail, some in manufacturing, some public works, and most recently in health care. It came up in multiple interviews. The nice thing about working at a retail store are the hours probably arn't that bad and they are used to having college kids work for them. Do what ya gotta do.