Okay..I left high school at 17 to enlist in the Coast Guard. I served 4 years, wen't to Antarctica for two years (science research), helped run a Search and Rescue station on the S.C. coast for the other two. I also had EMT, life saver training and participated in incredible life-saving missions all over the world (even Kiribati!). Later I got out honorably and went to college. Can I count on my service as a serious booster injection to the ec card or not? I know volunteering in a hospital and reading to the blind are great, and I've done those too, but what are med schools looking for with these ec's...real world experience and a sense of responsibility or how many hot dogs you can shove into a homeless persons mouth? If anyone has used the Military experience as a positive highlight of their resume please let me know the results...thank you
Is Military Service the ultimate EC??
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I was a Navy Corpsman for six years and I used that as the cornerstone of my application. I incorporated some experiences I had with other misc items in my PS. In addition to listing my service under the employment section, I listed deployments or anything I did beyond my normal job as EC's. I don't see how it could anything but a good thing to have on your application, especially those humanitarian missions. I know I saw many things that have made me see the big picture of medicine. As far as military being the ultimate EC is debatable, but I feel it is near the top of the list.
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njbmd
You can use prior military service as prior experience but as the "ultimate" extracurricular activity, I would say that you are stretching a bit. Sure, the military is a great thing to have on your resume but be sure that you are well-rounded and competitive in other ways too.
As a member of two admissions committees and someone throughly familiar with military service, I promise you that prior military service is taken into consideration within the context of your complete application. If you are competitive, you are competitive. If not, prior military service is not going to bridge the gap.
Prior military experience is a definite postive but as the previous poster stated, questionable as "ultimate".
As a member of two admissions committees and someone throughly familiar with military service, I promise you that prior military service is taken into consideration within the context of your complete application. If you are competitive, you are competitive. If not, prior military service is not going to bridge the gap.
Prior military experience is a definite postive but as the previous poster stated, questionable as "ultimate".
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Y'know, I was going to advise giving the OP a break, he's clearly just proud of what he's done in life. Then I reread the original post, and I'm kind of agreeing with LifetimeDoc now.
I'm sure military service is considered a strong EC, but it isn't the be all and end all. For one, it doesn't involve much initiative or creativity; you do cool things, sure, but you don't come up with them yourself. Many other "standard" ECs also don't involve initiative, agreed, but some do (starting foundations or programs, for instance).
"Helping the homeless" includes many levels of involvement as well, and does not just involve "shoving hot dogs into people's mouths". In my four years of working at a homeless shelter, I've learned a great deal about addiction, psychiatric conditions, the legal system, rape and sexual abuse, the effects of family violence, prostitution, GLBT issues, and how to relate to people widely considered "unrelatable". It also forces you to rethink and refine your values, and ponder the impact and functioning of many larger social structures (including the health care system).
OP, you probably should have posted this in the pre-allo forum, where the kids would have oohed and aahed. Non-trads are more likely to have a great deal of substance in their own histories, and are less likely to be impressed. (Especially when you implied that non-military ECs don't involve real world experience and a sense of responsibility. Try selling that to the EMTs - or the moms, for that matter.)
I'm sure military service is considered a strong EC, but it isn't the be all and end all. For one, it doesn't involve much initiative or creativity; you do cool things, sure, but you don't come up with them yourself. Many other "standard" ECs also don't involve initiative, agreed, but some do (starting foundations or programs, for instance).
"Helping the homeless" includes many levels of involvement as well, and does not just involve "shoving hot dogs into people's mouths". In my four years of working at a homeless shelter, I've learned a great deal about addiction, psychiatric conditions, the legal system, rape and sexual abuse, the effects of family violence, prostitution, GLBT issues, and how to relate to people widely considered "unrelatable". It also forces you to rethink and refine your values, and ponder the impact and functioning of many larger social structures (including the health care system).
OP, you probably should have posted this in the pre-allo forum, where the kids would have oohed and aahed. Non-trads are more likely to have a great deal of substance in their own histories, and are less likely to be impressed. (Especially when you implied that non-military ECs don't involve real world experience and a sense of responsibility. Try selling that to the EMTs - or the moms, for that matter.)
I don't think the Military is always better than the other experiences I know people in this forum have (or it is the ultimate ec)..I'm sorry if I came across that way. However, I often see students at my U simply doing things for the sake of another line on their EC profile and nothing else. It makes we wonder if Med schools didn't ask for them how many would really do them? I think the military and other types of career based jobs hold a higher level of commitment because the people doing them are not just looking to bolster their applications.
As for Military men and women not being creative is just absurd...we are not mindless drones as some believe.
Oh what is "OP". Thanks for all the advice also.
As for Military men and women not being creative is just absurd...we are not mindless drones as some believe.
Oh what is "OP". Thanks for all the advice also.
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There are definitely many students who do "ECs" only because they are "ECs". We probably share an opinion about those types.awk said:
I agree that career-type jobs are more committed, and this does include the military. I'm sorry if I came across as military-bashing, I am an army brat myself and that wasn't my intent. Of course military people can be creative! It's just that having a job (be it yours in the military or mine in the shelter) does not intrinsically display initiative (I hereby retract "creativity") in the way that starting a program does. (Of course, very few applicants actually start something, most just participate in something established - which can still be quite impressive depending on the level of involvement.)
Best of luck in your path, awk. We need more non-trads in med school.
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njbmd
Prior military service is a definite "positive" but not exactly the "ultimate" extracurricular activity. I don't believe that there is an "ultimate" extracurricular activity but you want to be sure that you present everything that has shaped your life and makes you a uniques individual. You want to present yourself in the most positive and competitive manner. Try to explain how your military service helps you to deal with life or helps you to put your life into perspective. I am sure that your experiences in Iraq shaped something in your life that you can relate in your personal statement. Good luck!
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To reiterate....military experiece is good and *some* schools do "say" on their websites that they give "preferance" to vets (no, I do not remember which ones) *but* it is NOT by far the ultimate EC. You guys/gals would be surprised at just how many wonderful people with extraordinary EC's actually apply to medical school! so to say that one thing is better than others is just plain ridiculous. Now, military experience does prove some things to adcoms: a) you can follow orders and perform under high stress
b) you are used to working within a team
c) you probably have leadership experience
All the above are great elements for any medical school applicant and hence will be a major plus for you BUT you still need ALL other elements. You need to have a good RECENT GPA/MCAT, you need excellent LOR's that can provide meaningful and honest feedback about your academic potential as well as your altruism, you still need health exposure that proves that you know what you may be getting into. If you have ALL those PLUS military experience then you are set.
I am also prior military and a military brat, and currently married to a servicemember so I speak from experience.
b) you are used to working within a team
c) you probably have leadership experience
All the above are great elements for any medical school applicant and hence will be a major plus for you BUT you still need ALL other elements. You need to have a good RECENT GPA/MCAT, you need excellent LOR's that can provide meaningful and honest feedback about your academic potential as well as your altruism, you still need health exposure that proves that you know what you may be getting into. If you have ALL those PLUS military experience then you are set.
I am also prior military and a military brat, and currently married to a servicemember so I speak from experience.
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I agree that there are multiple ways in which one learn how work as a member of a team, gain disciple, and follow and submit to a chain of command. Military service is NOT comparable to ANY other experience. Outside of police work, (and other security type jobs) no other civillian based career field carries such a high need for the bone deep trust that you must place in your team members and leaders. Unless you have experienced the rigorous demands, physical and mental pressures, lonely nights, weeks, and months in a foreign country, away from your family, you cannot compare.
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It may not be the "ultimate" to some (is there an ultimate?), but I can think of none other in which the participant could die by volunteering to participate.
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Really? Have you worked in an urban ER? Red Cross? Prison service? HIV outreach? Urban youth outreach? Search and rescue?
Usually fewer bullets and car bombs (those a**holes) but violence is incredibly easy to find around here.
And everywhere. A bunch of MSF doctors got killed in Darfur before they pulled out, what, a year ago now? Our docs are there but not our military (afaik).
Usually fewer bullets and car bombs (those a**holes) but violence is incredibly easy to find around here.
And everywhere. A bunch of MSF doctors got killed in Darfur before they pulled out, what, a year ago now? Our docs are there but not our military (afaik).
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I see your point; however, were any of those people you cite 17 when they volunteered? Additionally, would that same group be listing EC's on med school apps? I guess a small percentage could...very small.
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Military is also a choice that yes, often will come at a very large price but again, you choose that route and get paid to do a job.
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Well, I think military folks are VERY special and do have the most unique EC's. Of course I say this as 3 time reject to the Navy, daugher of a Marine, and wife of a retired Naval Officer.
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I respect the military, and have always viewed it as a job/career...more than an EC activity.
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when looking through mdapps for people with similar stats for acceptances/interviews/etc. I consider military service almost like an URM label... a huge plus that can't be numerically accounted for
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I am hoping that my prior service in the Marines will help some. I even volunteered and went back to active duty right after the 9-11 attacks, I withdrew from school, left my job, and pretty much everything I had to go back. Right now I commute to school an hour each way everyday, studying my butt off, and finding time to work here and there for food and gas money, it's rough. I don't really have any time for volunteer work honestly, I volunteered in the Marines and went on humanitarian missions in other countries that I did not have to go on. I'm just taking it one step at a time, knocking out my school, taking the mcat and then start applying. Hopefully all works out well, I will not give up though.
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It seems to me the various responses in this little microcosm should answer your question. It depends on the individual's particular perception of the military. Some people are impressed with the military. Some people are ambivalent and know little about it. Some people ascribe to Sen Kerry's statement (translated: if you're a mindless drone, the military is for you), but like him will never publicly admit their derisive feelings because "I support the troops" or "I have friends, relatives, etc in the military, but...". Ultimate, no. Helpful, maybe. Instead of worrying about perceptions you can't control, take the skills I know you learned in the military (initiative, time management, judgement) and translate them into "ultimate" factors like GPA and MCAT. Cheers.
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Common now, gimme a break. Kerry is a Vietnam VET, and we all KNOW those of us willing to be open minded, what he really meant.
I think it's pretty ignorant for people to be ambivalent about military service and reeks of a lack of patriotism.
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Common now, gimme a break. Kerry is a Vietnam VET, and we all KNOW those of us willing to be open minded, what he really meant.
I think it's pretty ignorant for people to be ambivalent about military service and reeks of a lack of patriotism.
Yet that is how people on the left many times feel about the military.
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Of course the problem with that assumption is that I'm a Republican.
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njbmd
Thread is not off topic, hijacked and will be closed. The OP has had his question about the value of service in the armed forces as an extracurricular answered many times. If you wish to continue the conversation on the merits of the miliatary, you may start another thread elsewhere.
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