Listing future hours on amcas...a broken system?

[Jaigantic]

I've listed future hours for several of my activities on my primary application. Some of the activities have a few dozen more hours in the future while others have more than double the current number of hours listed in the future with the end date of med school matriculation. Now, unforeseen circumstances are preventing me from fulfilling all of the hours listed on amcas and I can only imagine that this is a common occurrence in general.

Do adcomms not place much weight on future hours since they probably know that students won't be doing all of those hours. If they take it at face value, this seems like a broken system as anyone can add another 100 or so hours to boost their activity. I feel like there's no accurate way to verify the hours with the listed contact either since the hours are listed until matriculation.

So my question: how are future hours looked at by an adcomm in general.

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[Catalystik]

I've listed future hours for several of my activities on my primary application. Some of the activities have a few dozen more hours in the future while others have more than double the current number of hours listed in the future with the end date of med school matriculation. Now, unforeseen circumstances are preventing me from fulfilling all of the hours listed on amcas and I can only imagine that this is a common occurrence in general.

1) Do adcomms not place much weight on future hours since they probably know that students won't be doing all of those hours. If they take it at face value, this seems like a broken system as anyone can add another 100 or so hours to boost their activity.
2) I feel like there's no accurate way to verify the hours with the listed contact either since the hours are listed until matriculation.

So my question: how are future hours looked at by an adcomm in general.

1) It's my opinion that adcomms don't/shouldn't place much , if any, weight on future activities. Did you distinguish between current and future hours in some way when you filled out the application?

2) It wouldn't be uncommon for schools to verify activities after matriculation (as opposed to prior to interviews, or prior to an offer of admission). Why waste resources until you know a student is committed to your school?

How important were the planned activities to filling holes in your application? Can you substitute other similar activities? Can you mention the change in plans on some of the Secondaries? What happened that you are forced to change your commitment?

 

[Dox4lyfe]

This is why you're not supposed to list future hours unless you're a 10000% sure you're going to fulfill them, as they can be verified later on.

 

[Jaigantic]

1) It's my opinion that adcomms don't/shouldn't place much , if any, weight on future activities. Did you distinguish between current and future hours in some way when you filled out the application?

2) It wouldn't be uncommon for schools to verify activities after matriculation (as opposed to prior to interviews, or prior to an offer of admission). Why waste resources until you know a student is committed to your school?

How important were the planned activities to filling holes in your application? Can you substitute other similar activities? Can you mention the change in plans on some of the Secondaries? What happened that you are forced to change your commitment?

I did distinguish between current and future hours for each activity in the descriptions. They weren't necessary to fill holes in my app. Some activities I earlier in the year with ~50 hours at the time of AMCAS submission and then another ~100-150 hours listed as future hours since thats what I anticipated to do within a year. Others I already have a lot of hours (200-300) and added an additional 100 or so hours as future hours.

I've already submitted basically all of my secondaries so I can't really mention it to the schools anymore. The reason I may not be able to fulfill all of my hours is because I moved recently. It's not that I need to completely stop a certain activity but I just may not be able to do it as frequently as I made it seem on my primary.

If they verify hours after matriculation as you say they could, would it spell trouble for me if they see a discrepancy of like 50-75 hours for an activity I already have several hundred hours for?

 

[Catalystik]

1) I did distinguish between current and future hours for each activity in the descriptions.

They weren't necessary to fill holes in my app. Some activities I earlier in the year with ~50 hours at the time of AMCAS submission and then another ~100-150 hours listed as future hours since thats what I anticipated to do within a year. Others I already have a lot of hours (200-300) and added an additional 100 or so hours as future hours.

I've already submitted basically all of my secondaries so I can't really mention it to the schools anymore. The reason I may not be able to fulfill all of my hours is because I moved recently.

2) It's not that I need to completely stop a certain activity but I just may not be able to do it as frequently as I made it seem on my primary.

3) If they verify hours after matriculation as you say they could, would it spell trouble for me if they see a discrepancy of like 50-75 hours for an activity I already have several hundred hours for?

1) Well done. That removes some of the concern, from my point of view.

2) Maybe for some activities you could increase hours per date but go less often.

3) It depends on the school. Some are quite rigid. I expect most would be less concerned about 75 missing hours if hundreds of hours were completed already than they would be about 75 hours when only 20 were finished.

Have you checked into how many of your schools are open to fall update letters, either before or after interviews? That would be another venue for setting the record straight. Don't rush into anything now, though, as further events, roadblocks, and opportunities may still come into play.

I feel that complete transparency is best. And you'll sleep better, rather than stressing out, waiting for Damocles sword to drop.

 

[Jaigantic]

1) Well done. That removes some of the concern, from my point of view.

2) Maybe for some activities you could increase hours per date but go less often.

3) It depends on the school. Some are quite rigid. I expect most would be less concerned about 75 missing hours if hundreds of hours were completed already than they would be about 75 hours when only 20 were finished.

Have you checked into how many of your schools are open to fall update letters, either before or after interviews? That would be another venue for setting the record straight. Don't rush into anything now, though, as further events, roadblocks, and opportunities may still come into play.

I feel that complete transparency is best. And you'll sleep better, rather than stressing out, waiting for Damocles sword to drop.

Thanks for the great advice! I'll look into which ones I can update and do my best to get as many hours in with my limited time. I can't even imagine getting an acceptance and having it snatched away last minute. Thanks for your help!

 

[Catalystik]

I can't even imagine getting an acceptance and having it snatched away last minute.

Even worse would be a dismissal from med school 1-3 years after matriculation, after years of incurred debt. Yes, it's happened. Investigations of this type are not rushed.

 

[Jaigantic]

Even worse would be a dismissal from med school 1-3 years after matriculation, after years of incurred debt. Yes, it's happened. Investigations of this type are not rushed.

Oh god, this is nightmare fuel.

 

[stupidquestions2257]

Even worse would be a dismissal from med school 1-3 years after matriculation, after years of incurred debt. Yes, it's happened. Investigations of this type are not rushed.

A little off topic, but when applying this year, I listed a couple places where I worked that had closed recently or had people I had worked with leave, and just put the contact info of my supervisors when I volunteered/worked there. When a school checks up on ECs after matriculation (if I'm accepted), what would happen if they can't get in contact with these people? Does that happen often? I don't want to get kicked out if I get accepted because of a misunderstanding.

(you've made me scared )

 

[Catalystik]

A little off topic, but when applying this year, I listed a couple places where I worked that had closed recently or had people I had worked with leave, and just put the contact info of my supervisors when I volunteered/worked there. When a school checks up on ECs after matriculation (if I'm accepted), what would happen if they can't get in contact with these people? Does that happen often? I don't want to get kicked out if I get accepted because of a misunderstanding.

They would email you for new contact information or look up a general phone number for the hiring or volunteer office. Keep in mind that it isn't necessary that the person knows you, as they won't be asked for a reference. They would just be asked to confirm the timeframe and level of your involvement.