Including undergrad research & mock trial as a nontraditional student (2014)

[alw44]

Hi all!

I'm a nontraditional applicant. I graduated with my B.S. in 2014 and master's degree in 2016. Here's my dilemma:

I have more than 15 activities to include in my application so I'm trying to decide what to include/exclude.

1. Would you include or exclude the following:
In college, I did 2 semesters of computational physical chemistry research. I presented my poster at 3 small events (2 at my college and 1 at another college). My professor / research advisor will most likely be writing me a LOR and will include that I did research for him.. but I don't think I want to include this experience in my activities list. It wasn't one of the most meaningful experiences for me and I think I'll better be able to reflect on other experiences I've had. Again, this research was only 2 semesters 7 years ago. I also did 2 years of biochemistry research in graduate school to earn my master's degree and I'll definitely be including this, most likely as a MME.

2. Would you include or exclude the following:
I competed on my college's national mock trial team for 2 years. I want to include this (this professor / coach will be writing me a LOR too). I have so much I can say about this. I learned a lot about myself and improved many skills through this activity.. but I'm not sure I should exclude other activities in order to include this.

Thank you!

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[lumya]

I did mock trial and it was a great experience so I had it one of my activities, but mainly because I did 4 years and I was a captain for one and the president for another. I actually ended up putting my undergrad research & mock trial in the same activity titled "significant collegiate activities" along with some other extra-curriculars and had a separate one for "significant posters/presentations" that included more on my research. My method was if I had a letter of rec for the activity, I left it as a stand alone thing.

 

[Orangekiwi]

Are there any activities that you can combine so you can include both of them? Excluding an activity from which you’re getting a LOR sounds a little strange to me. If you have multiple spaces dedicated to non clinical work experiences or minor awards, I would recommend combining those into one entry, as the value from them to your app is the same. You could also combine your research experiences into one entry, using the activity description to explain that it’s from two different labs at two different times, and then use the extra most meaningful designation space to explore how the time you spent in one or both of these labs shaped you and prepared you for med school.

 

[DarklingThrush]

I was a nontrad applicant as well. I included all of my activities from undergrad (I graduated in 2014 too). You’re going to have to get a little creative in regards to combining activities. I had a lot of activities since I applied to medical school 5 years after graduating undergrad. Include everything, especially things that make you unique. You just need to combine multiple activities for each spot if you’re running out of space.