Life Experience???

[FutureSurg2019]

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I recently went to the movies and saw 21, and it got me thinking about med schools and their emphasis on applicants with "life experience." The life experience that the character in the movie gets is a little extreme, but it still makes me wonder, what kind of life experience do med schools really want? You can volunteer in a hospital, do reserach in a lab, and other various extra curriculurs, but where does the real life experience come in? For me, talking about my research/ volunteering experiences thus far would not set me apart from other applicants.

I guess what I'm trying to ask is, what have you done to get these amazing life experiences?

 

[XerxesMD]

I think some of the life experiences there are referring to aren't terribly amazing or anything you can (or would want to) seek out. When I think of 'life experience' in relation to medschool admissions I think of stuff like the applicant dealing with/overcoming serious illness or perhaps dealing with the serious illness of a loved one that has some how affected their motivation to pursue medicine.

That's my $0.02

 

[notdeadyet]

what kind of life experience do med schools really want? You can volunteer in a hospital, do reserach in a lab, and other various extra curriculurs, but where does the real life experience come in?

Real llife experience ususally comes in the years after college. You can do some amazine things while in school with the volunteering and research you're referring to, but the "life experience" they're referring to comes mostly from not being in college.

The life experience that stands out tends to come post graduation. Folks who teach for a few years in an inner city school. Peace Corps volunteers who do AIDS relief for a tour. Military vets who serve their country for a spell.

Aside from these kinds of opportunities, there is just some life experience you mostly get from working full time, struggling to make rent, and not having any yardstick like academic progress to mark time. There are some notable exceptions, but it's usually pretty easy to spot who is applying straight from college and who has been working for a couple of years just by the perspective they show.

 

[Law2Doc]

I recently went to the movies and saw 21, and it got me thinking about med schools and their emphasis on applicants with "life experience."

In that movie, the life experience was required for a scholarship he was seeking, not med school admission.
But I agree with notdeadyet that the folks who get big points for the life experience tend to be nontrads who have had prior careers, done military service, done peace corps, or otherwise have had atypical and unique lives. The folks coming straight from college rarely can compete on this level because frankly what you can do in your spare time in college will always pale in comparison to what you can do over the course of years out of college.

 

[notdeadyet]

Premedcoach:

I'm pretty sure that giving advice while plugging your own business venture is a violation of TOS. I'd recommend removing a link and references to your for-profit buisness on SDN unless you're in the Sales/Advertisements section.

If any of the other mods disagree, I'm sure they can chime in....

 

[rowerlauren]

I mean anyone can stumble upon life experience while being in college as well. But that is just more random chance than anything else. There is always the story of the person who saved someone's life or who had some other "life experience" but that is the exception and not the norm. Yes these people do have life experience but so do the people who do teach for america, etc... and so do the people in college. The key is realizing what sort of life experience you have had. You have to see what makes your life interesting and what has made you able to handle the stresses of medicine etc...

You do have life experience you just have to find what it is and not look to other people and say that just because your experience is different that it is lesser.

 

[Law2Doc]

I mean anyone can stumble upon life experience while being in college as well. But that is just more random chance than anything else. There is always the story of the person who saved someone's life or who had some other "life experience" but that is the exception and not the norm. Yes these people do have life experience but so do the people who do teach for america, etc... and so do the people in college. The key is realizing what sort of life experience you have had. You have to see what makes your life interesting and what has made you able to handle the stresses of medicine etc...

You do have life experience you just have to find what it is and not look to other people and say that just because your experience is different that it is lesser.

Well, everyone has experiences that can be polished up and make a good PS. But generally, when med schools talk of "life experience", they aren't talking about the random chance experiences. They are talking about folks who have had extensive out of classroom living. Which means that the dude who was in the army before college, or the person with the prior interesting career, or the person with years of overseas experience with the ill or poverty stricken is probably going to beat out any college kid who volunteers once or twice a week.

 

[HudP]

I mean anyone can stumble upon life experience while being in college as well. But that is just more random chance than anything else. There is always the story of the person who saved someone's life or who had some other "life experience" but that is the exception and not the norm. Yes these people do have life experience but so do the people who do teach for america, etc... and so do the people in college. The key is realizing what sort of life experience you have had. You have to see what makes your life interesting and what has made you able to handle the stresses of medicine etc...

You do have life experience you just have to find what it is and not look to other people and say that just because your experience is different that it is lesser.

There is no fixed formula of "life experience". If you have to be responsible for someone else, whether it is work/financial/health-related, either temporarily or long-term, etc., then that's a "life experience". If you have to fit in with people that are vastly different from you, that's also a "life experience". If you have to pay the bills on your own and you barely pull in enough money, that's a classic "life experience" 😀. While these can all happen in your college life without having to go to some exotic locales, chances of getting these "life experience" is much higher when you are post-college.

But I agree with you. You have to look into yourself to realize that you have lived your life and learned something, whether you are in college or not. The difference is: if you are post-college and living on your own for a while, it may be much easier to figure out things.

 

[fireflygirl]

I agree with everyone here - for me, I am so grateful that my parents encouraged me to stay with my IB job after graduation even though I hated it. I finished my analyst program and then left but the things that I learned from working and being on my own for the first real time were really helpful. I know what it feels like to pay all my bills and manage my money, and my myself, and live outside the buble that is so much what UG ends up being.

I could get on a soapbox about how I totally don't agree with those BS/MD combined programs because it doesn't give people the chance to see if medicine is what they really want. And then you have some of the friends that I have that did something like that and are now miserable because they have been in school for the last 30 years and can't manage their money or themselves for that matter, or realise that they didn't want to do medicine in the first place.

I know I essentially had to repeat my UG to apply to medical school and I certainly wish it hadn't taken that long but it's given me a really good chance to juggle work and school, and develop interests and hobbies outside of school and learn what a normal life is like. I think those are the life experiences that make you a better candidate for medical school.

 

[BlitzSleep]

Real llife experience ususally comes in the years after college.

I've had well over a dozen surgeries by the time I was 18. And for each one I have it seems I get even more terrified of the next. I honestly think it has helped me mature much more quickly than my classmates I graduated with. If that's not life experience, I don't know what is.

 

[Blade28]

I've had well over a dozen surgeries by the time I was 18. And for each one I have it seems I get even more terrified of the next. I honestly think it has helped me mature much more quickly than my classmates I graduated with. If that's not life experience, I don't know what is.

👍 Good for you for maintaining a positive attitude! Many would be much more jaded.

 

[LizzyM]

I've had well over a dozen surgeries by the time I was 18. And for each one I have it seems I get even more terrified of the next. I honestly think it has helped me mature much more quickly than my classmates I graduated with. If that's not life experience, I don't know what is.

No, that is not life experience as defined by most adcom members I know.


Also, keep in mind that you are not applying for admission as a patient. 😉

Be sure that you have some clinical experience of giving attention to the sick and not just being the patient.

 

[werd]

I recently went to the movies and saw 21, and it got me thinking about med schools and their emphasis on applicants with "life experience." The life experience that the character in the movie gets is a little extreme, but it still makes me wonder, what kind of life experience do med schools really want? You can volunteer in a hospital, do reserach in a lab, and other various extra curriculurs, but where does the real life experience come in? For me, talking about my research/ volunteering experiences thus far would not set me apart from other applicants.

I guess what I'm trying to ask is, what have you done to get these amazing life experiences?

i wouldn't try to come up with or create "life experiences" for the purpose of applying to med school. lots of people start a career before changing to medicine, or go to some other country for a semester, or take a year off to [insert here]. while i think ad coms appreciate this stuff, most don't seek it. i think it's sometimes fodder for interview talk or just makes you seem more well-rounded.. but there's lots of other ways to acheive both of those things (volunteer at college, play a sport, coach a sport, be some sort of officer for a club, start a club, campaign for something). keep in mind that 40-50% of med students have entered med school straight from college (like me)... i don't have any missions to africa, former careers, or other life adventures, and had 6 acceptances out of 15 applications.
unique life experiences help you if you've got 'em but aren't critical, and a lack of them likely won't hurt you.. what does hurt is if you have gpa/research/chemistry club as the bulk of your resume.

 

[copperfrog09]

You know, I went out to the movies and saw 21 on a Friday night as an escape from the stress of classes, MCAT studying, and getting ready to apply.. It was really great when the first few scenes of the movie were a med school interview for a guy with a "4.0 GPA and 44 MCATS, Just like all the other applicants."

 

[notdeadyet]

You know, I went out to the movies and saw 21 on a Friday night as an escape from the stress of classes, MCAT studying, and getting ready to apply..

Sorry. That doesn't count as a life experience. You can lump it under hobbies, though...

 

[copperfrog09]

Sorry. That doesn't count as a life experience. You can lump it under hobbies, though...

Darn... my advisor must have really misinformed me.