Is it necessary to memorize your whole AMCAS?

[CenteredDoc]

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Do you need to memorize all the details on your AMCAS app? I have a pretty high gpa, so I have a long list of awards and honors. If an interviewer asks me a question about one of my awards, I don't want to tell him/her "Well, I don't know, I won it with a high gpa." That makes it sound like you don't know a lot about yourself.

 

[BaylorGuy]

You dont need to memorize your AMCAS....however, if it was significant enough for you to put it on your AMCAS, you should hopefully know something about it.

 

[DoctorPardi]

Yeh I would think if you took the time to put in on your application you would know something about it. How many awards could you have won? It isn't like there are 200 trophies and ribbons sitting in your room, it is probably 5-15 things, which probably should be no problem remembering why you got them and their significance.

 

[Telemachus]

If it is on your app, then someone might ask about it. But nobody will ask you about everything on your app. I would estimate that the average interviewer picked 2-4 things about my app to ask about.

That being said, if it is on you app you should know about it, and I mean you should have it down cold. If I were interviewing someone and they couldn't tell me about something, I would think that they were full of s--t, and maybe their app was bogus.

 

[omgwtfbbq?]

You'd think that if you wrote your AMCAS, which is all about YOU, that you'd already know everything on it. So don't worry about it. You already should know everything on there unless you wrote down obscure awards from third grade or fabricated stuff. Just relax. you know why you want to be a doctor, you know your activities, and you know what you studied in school. If you don't know the answers to any of these questions without a thirty minute brainstorm, then you may have a slight problem

 

[Law2Doc]

Do you need to memorize all the details on your AMCAS app? I have a pretty high gpa, so I have a long list of awards and honors. If an interviewer asks me a question about one of my awards, I don't want to tell him/her "Well, I don't know, I won it with a high gpa." That makes it sound like you don't know a lot about yourself.

Anything in AMCAS is fair game for an interview. Know enough that if something is asked about, you aren't staring blankly, and can tell an interviewer what it is. There is nothing wrong with indicating that an academic honor is just that. Say something that sounds good and has adjectives like that it "was an honor awarded to me for excellence in academic performance" rather than high GPA. More likely you will be put on the spot about unusual things, like your research, or hobbies. There simply isn't that much they can ask about an award.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

You'd think that if you wrote your AMCAS, which is all about YOU, that you'd already know everything on it. So don't worry about it. You already should know everything on there unless you wrote down obscure awards from third grade or fabricated stuff. Just relax. you know why you want to be a doctor, you know your activities, and you know what you studied in school. If you don't know the answers to any of these questions without a thirty minute brainstorm, then you may have a slight problem

Exactly!

 

[deuist]

You don't have to know it word for word, but given that you wrote it, I would expect you to at least be able to elaborate on anything that an interviewer asks you.

 

[RustNeverSleeps]

Do you need to memorize all the details on your AMCAS app? I have a pretty high gpa, so I have a long list of awards and honors. If an interviewer asks me a question about one of my awards, I don't want to tell him/her "Well, I don't know, I won it with a high gpa." That makes it sound like you don't know a lot about yourself.

Your AMCAS is essentially a summary of what you think are the highlights of your life as a prospective medical student. You should know it. It's sort of pompous to say that because of your high GPA and large number of awards, you don't know what a particular one is. Either learn what your awards are or think of a more graceful excuse. When I ask applicants to describe an award or honor to me and they are very vague about it, I am generally quite unimpressed.

 

[45408]

Rust makes a good point - if you can't say something meaningful about something that you deemed worthy to put on your AMCAS, how is your interviewer gonna view that?