Its a great EC, but it def does not compensate for a lack of clinical or research experience. It shows you are well rounded and not a book worm, but it does not really demonstrate any dedication to medicine.
It's a very nice EC; I even got some questions in my interviews about some taekwondo that I listed on my application and that's not nearly as time consuming. However, as others have said, you will still be expected to have some clinical experience (a few hours/week for a couple of semesters) and a competitive GPA and MCAT.
There are all kinds of great EC's. But what matters is how you tie it together with medicine. So to know how good an EC is, the school would really be asking you, "And how has this affected or will affect your career/decision on medicine?"
As long as you have a good answer to this, then it's a good EC
As a student athlete in d1, I feel that being an athlete doesn't give you much edge as an EC. But you can make it as a unique experience if you can relate it to you as a person and how it has matured you. Other than that, I don't think there is significant merit in being a college athlete.
As a student athlete in d1, I feel that being an athlete doesn't give you much edge as an EC. But you can make it as a unique experience if you can relate it to you as a person and how it has matured you. Other than that, I don't think there is significant merit in being a college athlete.
I don't entirely agree with this. Being a D1 athlete shows you can juggle a really hectic workload, which is a lot of what med school is about. There's always merit in that, it just won't excuse you from the other pre-med requirements. If you can pull off being an a student athlete AND get in the usual pre-med requirements, you'll look very good.