Maybe strange question?

[HappyG0Lucky]

Hi everyone, I'm new at this game, I'm applying for 2008 and just started filling out AMCAS. My question is about an extracurricular. For the past 3 years I have been an avid breeder of leopard geckos. I have 6 breeding pairs and turn out over 50 babies each season. I feel that it's been a good experience because not only have I gotten a lot of experience in playing with phenotypes and recessive genes through careful breeding, but I also have run my own business and have gained a lot of real world experience that way.

However, when I try to write it out it sounds pretty stupid and I'm just not sure if I should actually put it or not. I don't want them to think that I'm full of crap or that I am just trying to make up extracurriculars to fill in the blanks. I guess I don't NEED to put it because I am a healthcare professional and have other things to list, but as I said above, I do think it's been a valuable experience. What do you think?

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[jochi1543]

I think that's pretty freaking cool. List it.

 

[Doc Henry]

LIST IT!!! They love unique applicants.

 

[gorey1]

Your hobby sounds really interesting and may help make you more memorable--you should definitely list it!

 

[apnea]

those are the cutest things EVER. absolutely list it

 

[speedyE]

Very cool. It's something that will make you unique (in a good way) and I think there are plenty of skills that can be useful from such an experience, especially the business side. Hey, if you apply to Mayo, you can answer "yes" to the phone interview question about starting a business.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Very cool. It's something that will make you unique (in a good way) and I think there are plenty of skills that can be useful from such an experience, especially the business side. Hey, if you apply to Mayo, you can answer "yes" to the phone interview question about starting a business.

Slightly off topic: how much does a leopard gecko cost?

 

[HappyG0Lucky]

Slightly off topic: how much does a leopard gecko cost?

Depends on your morph and the size. If you get a small baby, normal morph, it would be around $30-ish although I have seen pet stores sell them for $50! (don't pay that much!) As they get bigger the price goes up but normals should still be under $50, imo. If you get into the rare morphs they're more expensive, some in the thousands. I sell my normal babies for $15 and had my first hatchling of the season this morning! If you're interested now is the season to buy!

 

[HappyG0Lucky]

Thanks guys - I'll definately list it then

 

[jochi1543]

I've always wanted to breed cats - my mother and I had a Persian who did quite well at exhibits (we ended up having to give her away when my mother married my stepdad, who has allergies and asthma). However, I would feel guilty both buying a pedigree cat and breeding it because of cat overpopulation. I ended up adopting/buying 3 domestic shorthairs and fixed all of them!

I get my kitten fix by volunteering at a kitten adoption center.

 

[Raihan Mirza]

Hi everyone, I'm new at this game, I'm applying for 2008 and just started filling out AMCAS. My question is about an extracurricular. For the past 3 years I have been an avid breeder of leopard geckos. I have 6 breeding pairs and turn out over 50 babies each season. I feel that it's been a good experience because not only have I gotten a lot of experience in playing with phenotypes and recessive genes through careful breeding, but I also have run my own business and have gained a lot of real world experience that way.

However, when I try to write it out it sounds pretty stupid and I'm just not sure if I should actually put it or not. I don't want them to think that I'm full of crap or that I am just trying to make up extracurriculars to fill in the blanks. I guess I don't NEED to put it because I am a healthcare professional and have other things to list, but as I said above, I do think it's been a valuable experience. What do you think?

Sounds like a really cool hobby! Mind telling me how I can breed geckos or other organisms like the way you did?

 

[GuzzyRon]

Unique experience...list it all the way. If you ever get to the interview stage, just be prepared to answer questions about what motivated you to take up such a hobby (Hint: "So I can be a unique applicant" will usually get you a thin-envelope, as opposed to a thick-envelope, post-interview response).

 

[DoctaJay]

Hi everyone, I'm new at this game, I'm applying for 2008 and just started filling out AMCAS. My question is about an extracurricular. For the past 3 years I have been an avid breeder of leopard geckos. I have 6 breeding pairs and turn out over 50 babies each season. I feel that it's been a good experience because not only have I gotten a lot of experience in playing with phenotypes and recessive genes through careful breeding, but I also have run my own business and have gained a lot of real world experience that way.

However, when I try to write it out it sounds pretty stupid and I'm just not sure if I should actually put it or not. I don't want them to think that I'm full of crap or that I am just trying to make up extracurriculars to fill in the blanks. I guess I don't NEED to put it because I am a healthcare professional and have other things to list, but as I said above, I do think it's been a valuable experience. What do you think?

Yeah...its unique stuff like that that will cause your interviewer to completely bypass your research at Yale and your nice doctor shadowing, just to talk about leopard geckos for the whole interview! That may seem bad to you, but at the end of that interview, your interviewer will know more about leopard geckos, you, and the kind of great medical student that you will be. Definetly list it!

 

[HappyG0Lucky]

Unique experience...list it all the way. If you ever get to the interview stage, just be prepared to answer questions about what motivated you to take up such a hobby (Hint: "So I can be a unique applicant" will usually get you a thin-envelope, as opposed to a thick-envelope, post-interview response).

Well I never planned to do it. I rescued my first pair of geckos from a girl I knew (who called herself a 'herpetologist') who was tired of them and decided to just stop feeding them. So I took them home, fed them a lot, and one day came home to find two eggs in the water dish. i did a lot of research after that and the rest is history, I guess

 

[HappyG0Lucky]

I've always wanted to breed cats - my mother and I had a Persian who did quite well at exhibits (we ended up having to give her away when my mother married my stepdad, who has allergies and asthma). However, I would feel guilty both buying a pedigree cat and breeding it because of cat overpopulation. I ended up adopting/buying 3 domestic shorthairs and fixed all of them!

I get my kitten fix by volunteering at a kitten adoption center.

Aw, I love cats too. I rescued a kitten literally off the street last winter. He was tiny and skinny and weighed less than two pounds when I got him, now he's a 13 pound giant ball of orange fur!

 

[Dr JPH]

List it