Leadership?

[SupremeDoc]

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Hey guys, I'm a freshman right now, so for the most part, my main focus is maintaining my GPA and getting used to the college environment/opportunities available to me. However, there are several clubs that I was interested in serving on board. How many board positions would you say is going "over board"?? (Sorry for bad pun) I have a wide variety of interests, so if it was up to me, I'd probably serve on like 5 boards, but obviously I know that's not possible due to time constraints and all. Would you say like 2 board positions is reasonable, and focus on developing those, maybe rising to a higher rank in those boards in subsequent years? I'm worried about not being able to demonstrate the "leadership" aspect of med school admissions. I also plan on becoming a TA next year and maybe also an orientation leader cause they seem like fun opportunities that also happen to fit the "leadership" gig. Any advice/guidance would be greatly appreciated 🙂.

 

[Tom&Jerry]

I don't know how exactly true it holds, but I was told that quality over quantity over so I'd focus on 1-2 clubs and try to climb to the top. Which honestly makes sense, if I saw someone in five clubs I'd assume they had a very small role in all five compared to someone who was the president of one.

Also are you sure you will be a TA next year? At least at my university it's reserved for upperclassman and mostly graduate students. I honestly had a blast being a TA so I do highly recommend.

 

[Gilakend]

It depends greatly on the club. You should focus on quality over quantity. It' better to say "I was president of this club, and we accomplished/organized a, b, c, d,..." instead of "I was president of 3 clubs" and then not being able to discuss what you actually did to get leadership experience.

Also, I'm sure others will have better insight on this but I was a TA as well and I've heard people say they consider that "teaching" experience not "leadership" experience.

 

[•Syzygy•]

agreed with above posters.

i was only part of two clubs and one of them i eventually became president of. when it comes to activities for a pre med, it is in your best interest to show commitment (especially to a cause). this also goes for volunteering. i would try and volunteer somewhere now and continue that over your undergrad years. it looks better than just scrambling for something to do right before you apply, since this is pretty obvious to adcoms

 

[SupremeDoc]

@Tom&Jerry Yeah, I think you're right about "quality over quantity" when it comes to medical school admissions. It's funny because in high school, I think there's definitely more respect given to the kid who was "president of 5 clubs", but for premeds more emphasis is given on clinical/nonclinical volunteering, grades, MCAT score, etc. As for being a TA, one of my professors told us that if we got an A+ all quarters in the class, we could be a TA sophomore year. I'm doing pretty well, but either way it's fine if I become a TA junior year or even senior year, as long as I end up being a TA at some point. Thank you for the recommendation, I've heard a lot of good things about TAing, which is partly why I'm so excited to become one 🙂.

@Gilakend I was going off of WedgeDawg's Applicant Rating System when I equated being a TA to demonstrating leadership. If that's not leadership, then would becoming a Resident Assistant/Orientation Leader/Subcommittee Board member demonstrate leadership? And right now, I'm particularly interested in 1 service-oriented club (focused on feeding homeless), 1 pre-health club (biggest one on campus, and pre-health advisor is also the club advisor), and 1 undergrad biology journal organization (applying to become an editor because writing might take too might time).

@syzygy So, for example, volunteering at the same hospital for 3-4 years would show commitment/be OK? I know that there are 15 different spots on the AMCAS, but I suppose it would be a case of quality over quantity? Also kind of unrelated, but I was wondering if you could share any tips about how you moved up to become president of your club. I would eventually like to be given a bigger role and more responsibility in the organizations I'm interested in, but I don't know how to go about this. Is there a sort of internal application process for board members near the end of the year, or does the current president of the organization choose who moves up to what position?

 

[aldol16]

Don't do it just because you want to check off boxes for med school. Do it because you want to do it and are passionate about it. So choose the ones you are really passionate about and really try to make a positive change in/improve the organization. Then you'll really have something to talk about during your interviews and you'll have accomplishments to show for it.

 

[mcatjelly]

You will not make meaningful contributions to these organizations if you try to lead all 5 of them. Come interview time, when I ask applicants about their activities, I expect them to be able to tell me what they did in their roles and what they learned from them, and it's SO obvious when those roles were just application pad-ers.

I was president of one organization for 2 years and devoted so much time to it that it and related experiences ended up in 4 AMCAS activity slots. That was never my intention, of course, but it showed that I was genuinely passionate about the organization which served me well in my interviews.

 

[SupremeDoc]

@aldol16 @mcatjelly Thank you guys for the great advice, I'll definitely hone in on 1-2 organizations that I'm really passionate about and want to invest my time in. Tbh though, it looks like I'm only going to be offered a board position on 1-2 out of the 8 or so orgs I applied to 😛. I guess its pretty tough to slip into these board positions as a freshman :/.

 

[chappikachu]

Each organization runs their elections differently, but usually there's an application process and the current executive board and/or the general body vote (rather than the president just choosing the positions, it's more of a democratic process).

Don't worry if you can't get onto board in your first year. There are plenty of opportunities in the years to come. As long as you show your commitment to your organizations in your first year (be active by going to meetings, volunteering to help out at events, etc.), the current executive boards will notice and it'll be more likely for you to get on in your subsequent years!

edit: I agree with the above posters that you should focus on 1 or 2 organizations. At one point, I was on e-board with 3 clubs and it was a little overwhelming since I was doing other things too like TAing and volunteering at the hospital on top of taking a heavy course load. Might take a little bit of time but you will find your balance!