Let's talk some more about EC's

[deleted36260]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Yeah Yeah, everyone is tired of the standard "Is this enough?? " threads. But I have searched and searched, and am having trouble distingishing just how much, and what can/should be included for application. I get a thread of some golden child that is published, saved some orphans, and cured some rare disease as an undergrad, and my radar for what is normal is WAY off.

I'll be moving on the MCAT and application process next spring, so I'm trying to figure out what else I will need to do before then. No, this isn't some gunner thread, this is me just checking 🙂


Possibly relevant expereince I will have by then:

100+ hours shadowing a variety of doctors

10 months volunteering in the ER for 8 hours a week alternating Friday and Saturday nights (just started 🙁 Yes, I know I should have done this sooner, but omg it's awesome anyways!)

2 years donating free computer services to those in financial need via coupons that I create and dispense to local stores, for customers to pick up, in the bad side of town(I'm an IT guy, and it's the only way my services can help others 🙂 )

I was Secretary of the local Republican Party for 2004(is a political role bad? because of how polarized people seem? )



Besides studying, I have a million hobbies/interests to list. I promise, I really AM a well rounded person and not just putting on a show 😉

Besides research (dunno how I can attain that just yet), what else can I strengthen? More of what? What do I need to be doing that I'm not?

 

[RokChalkJayhawk]

Yeah Yeah, everyone is tired of the standard "Is this enough?? " threads. But I have searched and searched, and am having trouble distingishing just how much, and what can/should be included for application. I get a thread of some golden child that is published, saved some orphans, and cured some rare disease as an undergrad, and my radar for what is normal is WAY off.

I'll be moving on the MCAT and application process next spring, so I'm trying to figure out what else I will need to do before then. No, this isn't some gunner thread, this is me just checking 🙂


Possibly relevant expereince I will have by then:

100+ hours shadowing a variety of doctors

10 months volunteering in the ER for 8 hours a week alternating Friday and Saturday nights (just started 🙁 Yes, I know I should have done this sooner, but omg it's awesome anyways!)

2 years donating free computer services to those in financial need via coupons that I create and dispense to local stores, for customers to pick up, in the bad side of town(I'm an IT guy, and it's the only way my services can help others 🙂 )

I was Secretary of the local Republican Party for 2004(is a political role bad? because of how polarized people seem? )



Besides studying, I have a million hobbies/interests to list. I promise, I really AM a well rounded person and not just putting on a show 😉

Besides research (dunno how I can attain that just yet), what else can I strengthen? More of what? What do I need to be doing that I'm not?

Get it done. That's the first step. But if you cdo a clinical, research, and another unrelated experience (like the computers or Republican party) I think you should be good. Obviously you can do more, but I would consider these average for SDN.

As far as the Republican party thing goes, I dunno. I think maybe you should just list that you volunteered in a local political organization. As long as the name doesn't say something like REPUBLICANS in the title, I think you can get away with leaving it somewhat ambiguous.

I don't think an affiliation with either party would hurt you as long as you demonstrated that you were open to varied view points.

 

[nekrogg]

I think people fail to realize that its not quantity but quality. Who cares if someone has 1000 hours+ working at a hospital. They may be pushing wheel chairs and eating pastries the whole time in the staff room. Its all about what you take away from the experiences. If you think you know what its like to be a doctor, then yes you have accomplished enough extracurricular activities.

As LizzyM says, "If you are close enough to "smell patients", it is a clinical experience."

(BTW: the computer thing is a great idea and is probably a great selling point on your app!)

 

[deleted36260]

I think people fail to realize that its not quantity but quality. Who cares if someone has 1000 hours+ working at a hospital. They may be pushing wheel chairs and eating pastries the whole time in the staff room. Its all about what you take away from the experiences. If you think you know what its like to be a doctor, then yes you have accomplished enough extracurricular activities.

As LizzyM says, "If you are close enough to "smell patients", it is a clinical experience."

(BTW: the computer thing is a great idea and is probably a great selling point on your app!)

I understand where you are coming from. I also, am/will keep that in mind 🙂 Of course all of this is for naught if I take nothing away from it, and were just doing it to fill out slots in an app. I didn't really know how to ask the question without sounding like I was trying to 'cookie cutter' a list for the app process only.

I guess, that I do feel like all of this is giving me a great idea of what it's like to be a doctor, but since I'm not one, I was just looking to see if there was more I could be doing. This is just as much a "help me choose things that will give me the experience I need" as it is for the med school app itself.

Thanks for the input (and anymore), and I love that quote 🙂

 

[dittozip]

RESEARCH. Lots of it. Boooooooo you republican. booo you. booo you. dont write you are a republican. do you really want an adcom to respond htre way i did when i read that?

TIME FOR CHANGE, NOV 2006. Coming soon to a capital near you beatch!

 

[deleted36260]

RESEARCH. Lots of it. Boooooooo you republican. booo you. booo you. dont write you are a republican. do you really want an adcom to respond htre way i did when i read that?

TIME FOR CHANGE, NOV 2006. Coming soon to a capital near you beatch!

I was worried about that. I guess it wouldn't save me if I mentioned I was no longer affiliated because of a difference of opinion? 🙂 haha True story btw.

 

[ADeadLois]

RESEARCH. Lots of it. Boooooooo you republican. booo you. booo you. dont write you are a republican. do you really want an adcom to respond htre way i did when i read that?

TIME FOR CHANGE, NOV 2006. Coming soon to a capital near you beatch!

If a medical school rejects you based on your political beliefs, that's probably not a medical school you would want to go to in the first place.

 

[deleted36260]

Hrrmmmm, can we get some consensus here maybe?

I thought that something I had actually done without the influence of med school attendance just happened to have an awesome leadership quality to it. So which is it?

Am I a slimy right wing nutjub if I put it? Or does it show activitiy in the community and leadershp?

Also, I'm no longer active in the party, due to the pretty hadrline my local chapter has taken (was particularly set off my a staunch stance against homosexuals). Does that factor in good or bad, or don't mention it? 🙂

 

[ADeadLois]

Hrrmmmm, can we get some consensus here maybe?

I thought that something I had actually done without the influence of med school attendance just happened to have an awesome leadership quality to it. So which is it?

Am I a slimy right wing nutjub if I put it? Or does it show activitiy in the community and leadershp?

Also, I'm no longer active in the party, due to the pretty hadrline my local chapter has taken. Does that factor in good or bad, or don't mention it? 🙂

Put the republican thing down. Adcoms don't choose medical school applicants based on their political beliefs.

 

[CTtarheel]

its enough when you feel confident in your decision to be a doctor and have enough experiences in medicine to talk about in your PS and interviews.

 

[deleted36260]

its enough when you feel confident in your decision to be a doctor and have enough experiences in medicine to talk about in your PS and interviews.

Point taken.

 

[dittozip]

Point taken.

there is no way of knowning whether or not an adcom would care. if they dont great. on the off chance that they would, then youve got a problem.

 

[mmmkay121]

Do whatever you enjoy doing and ignore what adcoms think.

 

[somemaybedoc]

RESEARCH. Lots of it. Boooooooo you republican. booo you. booo you. dont write you are a republican. do you really want an adcom to respond htre way i did when i read that?

TIME FOR CHANGE, NOV 2006. Coming soon to a capital near you beatch!

I disagree, maybe a bit of research for top ten schools, but if other schools will do, don't do research unless you enjoy it.