Leadership In an applicant

[yrodri15]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hey guys,

I was wondering how much 'leadership experience' you guys had and what you had done in your respective campuses, I am from the University of Miami and plan on applying this summer (just took the MCAT - lots of fun 😉 Do you guys have any specific examples of your extracurricular activities?

I cannot wait till this pre-med period is over!

 

[tank you]

i dont know about others, but the only leadership i have had is tutoring and very small independent research project.

 

[AlaskaGirl]

I had a ton of leadership experience, but was definitely more lacking in the clinical experience part of my application. I was a member of sorority (numerous leadership positions) and coordinated a freshman seminar program on my campus. It was the coordinator position that gave me the most of my leadership experience because I actually got to teach a Leadership class to my undergraduate peers. It was lots of fun and a great experience!

 

[shuzee]

I had a ton of leadership experience, but was definitely more lacking in the clinical experience part of my application. I was a member of sorority (numerous leadership positions) and coordinated a freshman seminar program on my campus. It was the coordinator position that gave me the most of my leadership experience because I actually got to teach a Leadership class to my undergraduate peers. It was lots of fun and a great experience!

I will be cooridnating a Cancer Immunotherapy Research trial on behalf of UCLA, amongst Harvard, UCLA, MDanderson, U Washington, U penn and a few other bio tech companies....thats my only leadership position

 

[Thundrstorm]

With the exception of research, I think all of my other ECs would be considered "leadership" positions:

-founded an AIDS Awareness group on campus (1 year)
-Served as president of the community service organization at my college (1 year)
-served as a multicultural advisor (ran workshops about diversity issues for other students) (1 year)
-served as Children's rights coordinator for our chapter of Amnesty International (1 semester)
-co-facilitated a freshman seminar (not a course, more an intro to college life/Boston thing) (1 semester)
-was an orientation leader (3 years)


I don't know if tutoring counts as leadership experience, but I've done that for 3 years as well (gotta make the $$).

wow, I sound good on paper. 😛

 

[Thundrstorm]

I will be cooridnating a Cancer Immunotherapy Research trial on behalf of UCLA, amongst Harvard, UCLA, MDanderson, U Washington, U penn and a few other bio tech companies....thats my only leadership position

That sounds like an amazing experience. Good luck; I'm sure it will be a lot of work. 😀

 

[45408]

- President of the school's branch of AMSA for a year (VP for a year and webmaster for the year before that)
- Project manager for a neuroscience research lab
- Leader for a boys' hiking trip (more than once, along with other camps for several years)

 

[shuzee]

That sounds like an amazing experience. Good luck; I'm sure it will be a lot of work. 😀

yeh its alot of work, mostly paper,,,,and also alot of travelling required, but in the end,,..,.i will learn alot and hope i stand out for the ADCOMS cos i really do not have amazing stats. gud luck!@!! 😀

 

[yrodri15]

Wow you guys really sound prepared! Thats all really impressive.. leadership is a key requirement, especially in 'elite' schools. What undergraduate universities do you guys go to?

 

[MoosePilot]

I've got this one licked

 

[masterMood]

are a lot of these "leadership" positions through connections? How does one get the support from others when everyone is cutthroat and knows that most of this stuff is to look good. What i mean is how do you get support to create these clubs/groups or become a president of something when everyone thinks that you're doing this for yourself only...

Thundrstorm:
With the exception of research, I think all of my other ECs would be considered "leadership" positions:

-founded an AIDS Awareness group on campus (1 year)
-Served as president of the community service organization at my college (1 year)
-served as a multicultural advisor (ran workshops about diversity issues for other students) (1 year)
-served as Children's rights coordinator for our chapter of Amnesty International (1 semester)
-co-facilitated a freshman seminar (not a course, more an intro to college life/Boston thing) (1 semester)
-was an orientation leader (3 years)

like i could see being an orientation leader or hosting a freshman seminar as readily available and easy to do, but its the more special things like an AIDS awareness group (how did you did you go about to create it?), becoming president, and serve as a multicultural advisor. It just seems all like high school when the positions for president, vice president, treasurer, and secretary were all reserved for the "popular" people (not suprisingly all but one are going to community college). More credits to those who did these out of philanthropy and altruism, but realistically most of us do this stuff to look good.

Secondly, how do you find the time to do all this stuff when being a pre-med takes up a significant chunk of time in the first place.

Thanks 🙂

 

[yrodri15]

Its definitely a challenge to divide up your time.. its gets real stressful, especially the MCAT semester (this spring). In any case, assuming a leadership position is definitely crucial for personal maturation and to make yourself an attractice 'commodity.'

Starting a club in your campus is actually much easier then it sounds... I started one about a year ago with a bunch of friends of mine.. pumped a lot of work into our website (which served as our recruiting tool) and the club caught on.. became real popular. It just takes some personal initiative and some drive.. having a good cast of friends also doesn't hurt 😀

In my case, the driving motive was how messed up our public education system is.. my club tutors/mentors local high school kids. Our club consists of excellent honor students.. and we just decided to help these kids out (the level these kids start college at is extremely sad...especially here in south Florida). In any case, as a by-product, you do make yourself 'look good.' But other people will not follow someone with such weak intentions.. you must have passion about a cause, and 'go with it.'

 

[Thundrstorm]

are a lot of these "leadership" positions through connections? How does one get the support from others when everyone is cutthroat and knows that most of this stuff is to look good.

Okay, first of all, I didn't do this stuff just to "look good." I got out of that mentality years ago. These are all things that I was genuinely interested in at the time, so I made the effort to include them in my life. If they were no longer worthwhile, I stopped doing them (thus, my short stint in Amnesty). Secondly, the few cutthroat individuals that I do encounter at my small, relatively noncompetitive college are the very same individuals that I avoid. Thus, why you do not see pre-med liaison on my list of activities.

What I mean is how do you get support to create these clubs/groups or become a president of something when everyone thinks that you're doing this for yourself only...like i could see being an orientation leader or hosting a freshman seminar as readily available and easy to do, but its the more special things like an AIDS awareness group (how did you did you go about to create it?), becoming president, and serve as a multicultural advisor. It just seems all like high school when the positions for president, vice president, treasurer, and secretary were all reserved for the "popular" people (not suprisingly all but one are going to community college). More credits to those who did these out of philanthropy and altruism, but realistically most of us do this stuff to look good.

The group I founded (the AIDS group) was created as a sub-committee within the larger community service organization. I saw a need in an area that interested me, so I decided to fill it. With every effort, I collaborated with other organizations (like with the Women's Center, and health educators for World AIDS Day) and, like any good leader, I recruited good volunteers and thanked them profusely for their hard work. All you have to do is show people that you're putting in the work without getting recognition and be consistent and demonstrate that it's about the work, not your title. I ended up being community service president b/c no one else wanted the job. It takes alot of work, it's one of the few big presidential positions that doesn't involve a stipend, and it's very, very difficult to get volunteers to help w/your events. I was up for the challenge, so I took on the role. Trust me, there are many easier opportunities to pad one's resume than coordinating community service for an entire college, so this kind of job naturally weeded out the people who just do things to look good. For the orientation position, the freshman seminar, and the multiculturalism thing, I applied through a general leadership selection process.

Secondly, how do you find the time to do all this stuff when being a pre-med takes up a significant chunk of time in the first place.

Thanks 🙂

Well, my grades are good, but not stellar. I'm perfectly happy trading a tiny jump in GPA for real experiences. I also took fewer classes the last 3 semesters because I have more than enough credits to graduate, and I'd rather do more research and volunteering than sit in class five billion hours/week. I work, but only part-time. A few of the positions involved small stipends (like $1-200), which helped pay for books without taking up a huge amount of time. I only LEAD one thing at a time. This year, I dedicated alot of time to the community service position because it was a huge responsibility; I also cut back on my work hours. The OL position is a summer thing. Besides, this was all spread out over 4 years. I currently only do 13 class credits (including research/thesis -- which actually takes up the most time in my schedule), tutoring, the multicultural thing, and the community service position. I'm busy, but that's the way I like to be. My college experience would've been quite dull w/o these things.

 

[riceman04]

Hey guys,

I was wondering how much 'leadership experience' you guys had and what you had done in your respective campuses, I am from the University of Miami and plan on applying this summer (just took the MCAT - lots of fun 😉 Do you guys have any specific examples of your extracurricular activities?

I cannot wait till this pre-med period is over!

NAACP founding member/treasurer
Started own volunteer tutoring organization (in Los Angeles)
indep research
Affirmative Action Committee Student Body Rep
ESL tutorer
Health Rep
etc............................

 

[SonicHedgehog]

Wow you guys really sound prepared! Thats all really impressive.. leadership is a key requirement, especially in 'elite' schools.

I agree that leadership is important for getting into med school because the admissions committees look for people that "stand out". It's unfortunate that a lot of perfectly qualified people get rejected because they don't catch the attention of the committees...and they may very well be more hard working or more intelligent than those that buffed their resumes. That's not to say you can't have a decent resume and stand out too.

For my part, I had a few leadership positions with my frat, participated in some committees with high-ranking school officials (really not hard to do), did two summers of clinical research in cardiology (no publications unfortunately), and volunteered at a local children's learning center. I don't consider my ECs to be all that impressive (for instance, I wasn't "president" or "chairman" of anything), although I did have a couple of less common items like winning first place with my group at the annual musical showcase, and playing piano background music at two induction ceremonies. I wonder if that played a role in my acceptance, but I guess I'll never know.

Here's what I advise about ECs: do things you enjoy. Maybe take a hobby of yours and do something cool with it. For me, that was taking my hobby of musical arrangement and volunteering to play at the induction ceremonies.

You'll be really frustrated if you bust your behind trying to get involved in ten clubs you don't like but that you think will look good, and the med schools still don't notice. I know of a guy who started a number of clubs and gathered numerous leadership positions while he was pre-med, then later on dropped out of pre-med. I don't know why, but I'd bet he burned himself out, as he left the track rather late in the game.

Obviously you want to get into med school, I know. I'll give you a few pointers that'll be short unlike what I've been saying so far. i hope they're accurate.

1) Apply early. Oh, please apply early...I'm talking June, July, maybe August but not later. I wish I had done this. By the time people were finishing secondaries, I hadn't submitted my primaries yet.

2) Don't be too scared by the people who have higher MCAT scores or GPAs than you. There will almost always be someone who does, but there will also almost always be someone with lower numbers than you who gets into med school.

3) Don't believe everything you hear, especially about "geniuses". There are some really smart people, sure, but a lot of people exaggerate how little they study, to make themselves look smarter. They're also remarkably good at fooling even their own roommates. I know because I've seen it happen multiple times.

4) Get enough sleep. 5-6 hours probably isn't enough; very few people need that little, but too many people unfortunately get used to it.

 

[yrodri15]

That is very very good advice... it really boils down to 'do what you love,' what you feel a spark for, and the rest will follow. Do not do something to simply 'pad' your resume.. because sooner or later, things will surely unravel.
In any case, does anyone feel like they would enjoy assuming a leadership position?

 

[masterMood]

i like working out, playing ultimate frisbee, and table tennis. i don't think med. schools would like that ha ha

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Hey guys,

I was wondering how much 'leadership experience' you guys had and what you had done in your respective campuses, I am from the University of Miami and plan on applying this summer (just took the MCAT - lots of fun 😉 Do you guys have any specific examples of your extracurricular activities?

I cannot wait till this pre-med period is over!

I think leadership experiences are very important.

During college, I organized the Red Cross blood drives. I was a counselor for MDA camps.

Good luck!

 

[wendywellesley]

i was on exec board for a two organizations and wrote for the newspaper (although i'm not sure that counts as leadership). one of the organizations i was really active in and had lots of responsibilities. i'm not sure how much of that will help me but it will send the message that i was an active participant on campus, which can't hurt.
i agree with what people have said. pick a club (or two) that has the kind of people you want to hang out with and you want to do things for. even if my job in the organizaiton won't knock the socks off of any admin person, i can't imagine going through college without it.
good luck!

 

[45408]

Secondly, how do you find the time to do all this stuff when being a pre-med takes up a significant chunk of time in the first place.

The above poster who said you need lots of sleep was kidding. If you want to succeed, then sleep is rather optional.

 

[g3pro]

The reason why med schools want to know what kind of leadership experiences you have had is to find out how cutthroat you are in competition. It's actually a bad thing to have a lot of "leadership" experience, just FYI. 👍

(And I think that most people who know other students in "leadership" can attest to this. Just check out the leadership for a pre-med club!)

 

[Tre Cool]

what about gaining leadership experience once you're out of school? what kinds of things can you do then? i've got a year to do something (not sure what) while i apply. please help. i'm clueless as to what to do this coming year.

 

[masterMood]

The reason why med schools want to know what kind of leadership experiences you have had is to find out how cutthroat you are in competition. It's actually a bad thing to have a lot of "leadership" experience, just FYI. 👍

(And I think that most people who know other students in "leadership" can attest to this. Just check out the leadership for a pre-med club!)

do you mean too much leadership experience looks bad because you're trying stand out or bad because you can't study as much?

 

[Quynh2007]

.

 

[g3pro]

do you mean too much leadership experience looks bad because you're trying stand out or bad because you can't study as much?

It looks like you're trying to compensate for something, and you're willing to go to some extreme ends to make it seem like you're a better applicant. People who are in the pre-med club and frantically do everything they can for that so that they can get elected for leadership just shows ADCOMs how far they will go to mask their application with meaningless details. It sounds nice, doesn't it? "I am president of my pre-med club." That must mean I'm one of the best pre-meds at my school!

Unfortunately for those individuals, it just reflects negatively upon them. Anybody who knows anything about the politics of these pre-professional clubs will attest to what I'm writing.

Does that mean other kinds of "leadership" are bad? By no means! Tutoring, being an RA, leading a research project group, etc, are examples of real leadership. If you are a leader in what you do, it'll show when you speak with ADCOMs. Any of the faux-leadership that some students come up with is nothing more than meaningless competition amongst pre-meds.

 

[tinkerbelle]

I really don't have that much medically related leadership, and I know how bad teachers/other professions have it in the admissions process, and am worried especially since my GPA is subpar.

Really? How are we (teachers) at a disadvantage in the admissions process?

If you're smart, you'll figure out a way to connect your tutoring/leadership to medicine. That's what I did, and I didn't do too badly in the process. For example, I remember one school talking about how students give presentations/teach a topic during small group/pbl. Well, as a tutor, you're probably good at breaking down difficult concepts into easily comprehendable language. That's a great skill. You're probably patient with people.. great... that'll help on the wards. You're probably good at listening and observing your students so that you can figure out what they are doing wrong.. well, that's a great skill to have when interacting with patients and trying to diagnose the problem.

Don't worry so much. Tutoring is great. Try to get involed in a medically-realted activity (volunteer at a hospital or something), but otherwise, you're experiences are good and you just need to be smart about how you write about them on your application.

 

[Quynh2007]

.

 

[americanangel]

Well this really isn't about leadership, but the thread got me thinking. I was never any good at group sports like softball or tennis, so I haven't participated in any school sports. Most of my hobbies are independent in nature. How would the application committee view dirt bike riding and a student pilot? I mean you don't hear of many girls who ride ATVs and dirt bikes and probably less who are student pilots. Do you think its okay I'm not that active in school sports?

 

[MoosePilot]

Well this really isn't about leadership, but the thread got me thinking. I was never any good at group sports like softball or tennis, so I haven't participated in any school sports. Most of my hobbies are independent in nature. How would the application committee view dirt bike riding and a student pilot? I mean you don't hear of many girls who ride ATVs and dirt bikes and probably less who are student pilots. Do you think its okay I'm not that active in school sports?

Yes, I think it's ok. Finish up the student pilot thing if you can. Something finished is always more impressive than something in progress. All you need to be a student pilot is about $100 dollars and a phone book. Getting your license is more impressive.

 

[SanDiegoSOD]

\

Does that mean other kinds of "leadership" are bad? By no means! Tutoring, being an RA, leading a research project group, etc, are examples of real leadership. If you are a leader in what you do, it'll show when you speak with ADCOMs. Any of the faux-leadership that some students come up with is nothing more than meaningless competition amongst pre-meds.

I would hardly call tutoring or being an RA "leadership" experience. Teaching experience and babysitting experience, respectively, would be more like it. Not that being paid to babysit is a bad thing, it just doesnt take a leader to do it, and doesnt make a leader out of participants (for the most part)

 

[45408]

It looks like you're trying to compensate for something, and you're willing to go to some extreme ends to make it seem like you're a better applicant. People who are in the pre-med club and frantically do everything they can for that so that they can get elected for leadership just shows ADCOMs how far they will go to mask their application with meaningless details. It sounds nice, doesn't it? "I am president of my pre-med club." That must mean I'm one of the best pre-meds at my school!

Unfortunately for those individuals, it just reflects negatively upon them. Anybody who knows anything about the politics of these pre-professional clubs will attest to what I'm writing.

Somebody lost an election.

seriously, what's with you and bashing every experience except the stuff you did?

 

[g3pro]

Somebody lost an election.

seriously, what's with you and bashing every experience except the stuff you did?

I don't do pre-med clubs at all. I went to one meeting and I noticed the hatred people had for each other because everyone was in competition. Lots of backstabbing, and I was there only once! 😱

I'm not bashing the pre-med club leadership, I'm just saying that it shows how competitive, or even gunnerish, you are with other pre-meds.

I would hardly call tutoring or being an RA "leadership" experience. Teaching experience and babysitting experience, respectively, would be more like it. Not that being paid to babysit is a bad thing, it just doesnt take a leader to do it, and doesnt make a leader out of participants (for the most part)

Being an RA is definitely leadership! You maintain a whole floor of residents and keep everything moving smoothly. You lead by example. 👍

I'm not sure what tutoring people have in mind, but I relate to the tutoring where you mentor inner-city children and help them realize their dreams. Tutoring for classmates is not really leadership, so if you are referring to that, you are right.

 

[45408]

I don't do pre-med clubs at all. I went to one meeting and I noticed the hatred people had for each other because everyone was in competition. Lots of backstabbing, and I was there only once! 😱

I'm not bashing the pre-med club leadership, I'm just saying that it shows how competitive, or even gunnerish, you are with other pre-meds.

So since the one club was like that, they all must be, right? I agree that simply joining a pre-med student organization (and not doing anything) is about the fluffiest way to pad your resume, but having been active in one for three years, I've had lots of fun. I've gone to two national conventions, listened to plenty of good guest speakers, toured two med schools, volunteered in different events, etc. And I'm pretty good friends with all of the officers. I always try to help other people out in their application process - I don't even see why I would have to try to be competitive with them.

 

[SanDiegoSOD]

Being an RA is definitely leadership! You maintain a whole floor of residents and keep everything moving smoothly. You lead by example. 👍

I'm not sure what tutoring people have in mind, but I relate to the tutoring where you mentor inner-city children and help them realize their dreams. Tutoring for classmates is not really leadership, so if you are referring to that, you are right.

Gotcha 👍 Tutoring/mentoring children is a different ballgame than helping some dude with O-chem.

 

[humuhumu]

Really? How are we (teachers) at a disadvantage in the admissions process?

If you're smart, you'll figure out a way to connect your tutoring/leadership to medicine. That's what I did, and I didn't do too badly in the process. For example, I remember one school talking about how students give presentations/teach a topic during small group/pbl. Well, as a tutor, you're probably good at breaking down difficult concepts into easily comprehendable language. That's a great skill. You're probably patient with people.. great... that'll help on the wards. You're probably good at listening and observing your students so that you can figure out what they are doing wrong.. well, that's a great skill to have when interacting with patients and trying to diagnose the problem.

Don't worry so much. Tutoring is great. Try to get involed in a medically-realted activity (volunteer at a hospital or something), but otherwise, you're experiences are good and you just need to be smart about how you write about them on your application.

I agree. I can't imagine why teachers would be at a disadvantage. Doctors teach medical students, doctors teach colleagues, doctors teach their patients. Good doctors are usually good teachers. "Doctor" comes from the Latin docere, "to teach", for crying out loud! If admissions committees really do frown on teachers, something is seriously wrong with the system...

 

[yrodri15]

Academic medicine is an area that is often not considered by the majority of the candidates (since it generally tends to pay less then private practice, etc). A strong student who has the ability to teach is definitely very appealing for the reasons mentioned earlier (excellent observation by the way). Aside from that, the student that said 'leadership' is not integral to being competitive at an 'elite' school is very mistaken. Leadership is what sets well-rounded strong applicants from average or simply 'number' candidates. I know, from first-hand experience that schools such as Stanford require some leadership, initiative, from their students.

 

[yrodri15]

bump