Leadership Experience

[blackbear369]

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In regards to secondaries that ask about leadership experience, would a good experience be that I was the founder and president of a club that teaches the under-served population key skills? I just feel like most individuals put down an experience similar to this. Or would tutoring/TA'ing be a better option? Thanks

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Is there a reason you can’t do both?

 

[Catalystik]

1) In regards to secondaries that ask about leadership experience, would a good experience be that I was the founder and president of a club that teaches the under-served population key skills? I just feel like most individuals put down an experience similar to this.
2) Or would tutoring/TA'ing be a better option? Thanks

1) Yes, as you did more than just lead meetings. How many members do you have? How often does the group do community outreach? Do you coordinate committees?

2) Tutor or TA would not be considered peer leadership unless you were the one in charge of recruitment, training, scheduling, ongoing monitoring, etc. for other TAs and tutors.

 

[blackbear369]

Is there a reason you can’t do both?

Yes, I have been doing both, but I was just curious as to which would be a better "leadership" response

TA/Tutoring is really not leadership; it is its own category of teaching

That makes sense, thanks for the clarification! Does that mean that most students discuss leadership experiences in the primary rather than secondary?

1) Yes, as you did more than just lead meetings. How many members do you have? How often does the group do community outreach? Do you coordinate committees?

2) Tutor or TA would not be considered peer leadership unless you were the one in charge of recruitment, training, scheduling, ongoing monitoring, etc. for other TAs and tutors.

Yes, I've organized/lead meetings, worked on recruitment, coordinated with shelters, made schedules, teach the homeless, and gave members specific tasks. Right now my member count is rather low, how many members should I strive to have? At the moment, the group does outreach about 1-2x a month, and for this specific organization I have not yet made committees, though I have made specific positions for individuals as I mentioned earlier. Would you recommend anything to better my leadership experience in this organization?

 

[Catalystik]

Yes, I have been doing both, but I was just curious as to which would be a better "leadership" response

That makes sense, thanks for the clarification! Does that mean that most students discuss leadership experiences in the primary rather than secondary?

Yes, I've organized/lead meetings, worked on recruitment, coordinated with shelters, made schedules, teach the homeless, and gave members specific tasks. Right now my member count is rather low, how many members should I strive to have? At the moment, the group does outreach about 1-2x a month, and for this specific organization I have not yet made committees, though I have made specific positions for individuals as I mentioned earlier. Would you recommend anything to better my leadership experience in this organization?

Can you be specific about your membership count now, and what it was a year ago? It looks good if your numbers rise under your leadership.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Yes, I have been doing both, but I was just curious as to which would be a better "leadership" response

Gotcha. Yeah the tutoring is tutoring unless you also supervised other tutors. But it’s good to have both leadership and tutoring on your app.

 

[blackbear369]

Can you be specific about your membership count now, and what it was a year ago? It looks good if your numbers rise under your leadership.

The organization is still relatively new so I only have about 10 members that play an active role at the moment. Should I aim for at least 50? Though I'm not sure that more than 20 will be playing an active role if I do have 50

 

[Catalystik]

The organization is still relatively new so I only have about 10 members that play an active role at the moment. Should I aim for at least 50? Though I'm not sure that more than 20 will be playing an active role if I do have 50

The point is to aim for growth. Don't focus on specific numbers. If you run out of things members can do, then you can broaden the mission of the group. Mention all the things that are viewed as "leadership" that comprise your role, when you write your description. Delegating is important, as opposed to doing all the work yourself.

 

[Catalystik]

Does that mean that most students discuss leadership experiences in the primary rather than secondary?

Yes. Ditto with Teaching experiences. You don't want adcomms to miss that you've had these important experiences, both of which are relevant to a career in medicine.

Did you fail to include these on your Primary application?

 

[blackbear369]

The point is to aim for growth. Don't focus on specific numbers. If you run out of things members can do, then you can broaden the mission of the group. Mention all the things that are viewed as "leadership" that comprise your role, when you write your description. Delegating is important, as opposed to doing all the work yourself.

That's great. Honestly your post about broadening my mission actually sparked a light-bulb moment for me, so I'd like to thank you for your post and for helping me add a new topic in my organization. Also, I am applying next year or the year after so I'm just trying to prepare myself for app season! Thanks once again Catalystik!

 

[Catalystik]

That's great. Honestly your post about broadening my mission actually sparked a light-bulb moment for me, so I'd like to thank you for your post and for helping me add a new topic in my organization. Also, I am applying next year or the year after so I'm just trying to prepare myself for app season! Thanks once again Catalystik!

Thanks for the feedback. You made my day.