Is the AMCAS really that trusting?

[Lacipart]

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I'm filling out my "15 activities" and I wonder on how to put this one down, or if I even can put it down.

Last December I organized a fund raiser for Malaria entirely on my own, it raised ~$2,800. I had no intention to "use it" to my advantage for application's sake, but on reflection I suppose I can list it. The thing is, there is no real record of it :|

I did it on an internet forum I frequently post on. I wrote long posts about how Malaria is an underrepresented problem and how medications are so cheap. I posted a receipt of me donated $100 and encouraged other to do the same to a list of charities that deal with it. The response was startling with hundreds of people replying and tons of screen shots showing donations ranging from $5 to $200. Some people even posted stories about how they started their own fundraisers in the their schools. I suppose some of them could have been lying and posting photoshops pictures but I really doubt anyone would have.

Is this something I could/should put on the app? Who is the contact for this event, myself? Would the AAMC really trust me? 😕

 

[LikeClockWork]

Sounds like it would be pretty hard to explain adequately in the limited space they give you, so consider that. Plenty of applicants embellish and overblow the things they did in undergrad, but at least yours is semi-grounded. Just beware of how you explain it if it comes up in an interview since there's no real way to substantiate the monetary amount in any way.

 

[dd128]

Your amcas application is pretty much all on the honor system. They want contacts and stuff, but I doubt if they're contacted. Unless it's something utterly ridicules, no one is likely to check. And aamc isn't going to verify anything, they just ship your info off to schools, it would be the individual schools that would follow up with any info you listed. It sounds like a volunteer activity to me, I say go for it, definitely shows leadership ability to put together your own fundraiser 👍

 

[MilkmanAl]

You might want to confer with the administration of the forum to see if they'd let you use their names as contacts. I'd avoid listing yourself, if at all possible.

 

[nu2004]

i think it's okay to put it. it's a nice thing you did, and believable. it isn't mind-blowing, like you single-handedly built a hospital in Botswana.

it probably won't make a huge difference in your app either way, unless you happen to get an interviewer that is very interested in malaria. then it could be great -- just be prepared to answer questions about how you organized the fundraiser and where the money went.

 

[Lacipart]

You might want to confer with the administration of the forum to see if they'd let you use their names as contacts. I'd avoid listing yourself, if at all possible.

What a fantastic idea, thank you.

 

[OldFolkDoc]

Just a random thought... don't go to lengths describing the "posting receipts, encouraging others, long posts, blah blah blah". Instead, mention that you used technology and social networking to raise this money and reflect about the promise that these techniques have for future service endeavors. Liken it to a political campaign (they'll be reading these in the heat of the general election). Or not.