Is it prudent to list religious activities on the AMCAS primary application?

[misteratoz]

Hi, I was just wondering if I could list religious activities on the AMCAS if I can talk about how they have caused me to develop and grow as a person...

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[LaughingMan]

Hi, I was just wondering if I could list religious activities on the AMCAS if I can talk about how they have caused me to develop and grow as a person...

I definitely would say so. Though it would have to be within limitations.

If meditation for hours a day is what you're saying---I would find that a bad idea to list.
If a church sponsored mission to Haiti or church tutoring led you to grow---I think thats great.

 

[Catalystik]

Hi, I was just wondering if I could list religious activities on the AMCAS if I can talk about how they have caused me to develop and grow as a person...

It depends on the activity. Can you be more specific?

 

[Sephiroth]

as long as its not something obnoxious like going around knocking on people's doors, shouting on street corners, or some other kind of proselytization, it's probably ok.

 

[semicharmed]

I was worried about this when listing my political involvement (and on top of that, making it a "most meaningful experience"). When you submit, you should feel that your application is literally yourself personified on paper. I promise you that if you're honest about who you are, you won't have any regrets in the cycle.

I agree that delicate phrasing should be used; you might not even want to cite the name of your religion/denomination (i.e. "Youth Group" as opposed to "St. Peters Episcopal Youth Group"). I made my description focus on the "non-partisan" aspects of my political involvement. If your service was mostly evangelical in nature, I would not put it. The service should be more direct (i.e. cleaning up parks, soup kitchens, etc) not recruitment for your church.

 

[NickNaylor]

My concern would be less about the fact that it's a "religious" activity and more about whether or not it was a substantial, meaningful activity. As Sephiroth mentioned, unless you were doing something pretty extreme/unusual, the fact that an EC is "religious" isn't a huge problem IMO.

 

[tiedyeddog]

as long as its not something obnoxious like going around knocking on people's doors, shouting on street corners, or some other kind of proselytization, it's probably ok.

Eh, I think most medical schools look favorably on this kind of stuff, situationally dependent. The mormon 2 year mission looks nice, from what I have heard (I am not a mormon but have mormon friends in medical school.)

 

[NickNaylor]

Eh, I think most medical schools look favorably on this kind of stuff, situationally dependent. The mormon 2 year mission looks nice, from what I have heard (I am not a mormon but have mormon friends in medical school.)

IMO the Mormon mission experience is way different than taking your box of bibles around the local neighborhood. Anyone that knows anything about the mission knows it's a pretty intense (and character-building) experience.

 

[tiedyeddog]

IMO the Mormon mission experience is way different than taking your box of bibles around the local neighborhood. Anyone that knows anything about the mission knows it's a pretty intense (and character-building) experience.

I agree, I was just saying that some EC's involving proselytizing are not bad.

 

[semicharmed]

My concern would be less about the fact that it's a "religious" activity and more about whether or not it was a substantial, meaningful activity. As Sephiroth mentioned, unless you were doing something pretty extreme/unusual, the fact that an EC is "religious" isn't a huge problem IMO.

I agree. The tiny details of your service aren't extremely important; what is important is the impact that you made, the qualities you exemplified (leadership, dedication, etc), and what you took away from the experience. Keep in mind, too, that unless you put it as a most meaningful, there will not be a lot of space for a description. Eliminating specifics of your religious sect and focusing on the meaningful (like nick said) aspects will save space and make it a better summary. No one's going to eliminate your app because you spent the summer working in New Orleans with a youth group.

In fact, if this activity covered a significant amount of time and effort, it would do you a disservice to not include it. IMO, admissions like to see an evolving story over your collegiate/post-collegiate years devoid of large gaps. If you spent a whole summer/year(s) doing this, than I would make sure you fill in that hole so they don't think you spent that time period on vacation.

 

[xXIDaShizIXx]

I definitely would say so. Though it would have to be within limitations.

If meditation for hours a day is what you're saying---I would find that a bad idea to list.
If a church sponsored mission to Haiti or church tutoring led you to grow---I think thats great.

OR even secular stuff. Like SSA or just a group of atheists volunteering for different places like habitat for humanity. It doesn't have to be one religion in particular either.