need advice on ECs

[luke587]

Okay so please dont kill me for asking because im not here to boast whatsoever..
I met with my pre-med advisor today and she asked about my EC's

So far I have
1 year volunteer experience in SICU (surgical intensive care unit)--->75hrs

Member of Pre-med society 1 year

STAT member--students today alumni tomorrow (help take a child who is terminally ill to meet all football players and have a really cool football game experience)

Students to assist recruiting--help football coaches show perspective recruits around campus to give them life as a student from a students perspective.

Work as a pharm-tech for a semester

Job shadowing--50 hours with a family physician, and 20 within specialities

Applying to study abroad in london for fall 2011

So anyways my advisor told me this isn't enough and is very inferior?
Any advice on how to improve, research, more shadowing, etc?

Thanks so much!

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[DM3]

I'm honestly not qualified what you need more/less of in terms of hours. Looks like you could benefit from some research and more clinical, patient related clinical exposure (the only kind they seem to care about).

What I will say though is you should have 1-3 things on your application that really stand out and serve to define you for the interviewer. The things you listed are all sort of generic, and really don't serve to help you stand out from everyone else he/she will talk to.

It doesn't necessarily need to be medically related either. For example, I am a big reader/writer, and participated in National Novel Writing Month one year (its in November), completing a 50k word novel in 30 days. Nothing science-y about it, just something I wanted to do. The interviewers have eaten it up, and I have a good feeling later when they are writing their reports and are struggling to remember who they all are, they remember me as 'that kid who wrote a book'. I have all the other 'bread and butter' stuff, solid GPA, great MCAT, volunteering, research publication, shadowing, ect ect; that stuff is essential. But I would add something that uniquely represents *you*.

Obviously not conventional advice, but it seems to be working: 4 acceptances and 13 interviews so far.

 

[OrangeandMaroon]

Leadership!
Non-medical volunteering
research

Only things I see missing.

I had less shadowing than you and did fine. IMHO to a certain extent it's not how much shadowing you have but its how well you can talk about it (what you learned and how that relates to you and your goals).

 

[Catalystik]

Your shadowing looks fine, but I'd suggest more clinical experience; with another 6 months worth, you'd have about an average experience for applicants. Some weekly nonmedical, noncampus community service would be nice to see, for a cause you care about. Also seek out a leadership experience. Teaching/TA/coaching/mentoring also strengthens an application as do hobbies, sports, and artistic endeavors. About 60% of applicants list research. Even a summer's worth makes your application better, though about a year is average.

 

[4ksibe]

Your shadowing looks fine, but I'd suggest more clinical experience; with another 6 months worth, you'd have about an average experience for applicants. Some weekly nonmedical, noncampus community service would be nice to see, for a cause you care about. Also seek out a leadership experience. Teaching/TA/coaching/mentoring also strengthens an application as do hobbies, sports, and artistic endeavors. About 60% of applicants list research. Even a summer's worth makes your application better, though about a year is average.

she has plenty of clinical/shadowing... I only had 40 hours total. I think LEADERSHIP is lacking but your advisor is exaggerating you are doing fine

 

[no beans]

Sorry to hijack the thread. Catalystik, I have seen you mention non-medical, non-campus community service several times. My main community service activity that I love and spend at least 4-5 hours a week doing is through an on-campus organization, but the community service is off campus, although some of the fundraising is on-campus. I'm not sure why this wouldn't be as well-regarded. I can't imagine anything I would rather do, so this non-campus description concerns me when you say it. I assume there are exceptions?

 

[Catalystik]

Sorry to hijack the thread. Catalystik, I have seen you mention non-medical, non-campus community service several times. My main community service activity that I love and spend at least 4-5 hours a week doing is through an on-campus organization, but the community service is off campus, although some of the fundraising is on-campus. I'm not sure why this wouldn't be as well-regarded. I can't imagine anything I would rather do, so this non-campus description concerns me when you say it. I assume there are exceptions?

Any volunteerism is terrific and sometimes there is no larger community near a campus that one can give one's time too. But helping those with poor economic resources when possible (whether the sponsoring organization is on campus or not), rather than other students on campus in your normal comfort zone, seems to be more satisfying to adcomms, per specific feedback that applicants have received and told us about.

 

[no beans]

Thanks.

 

[mtbtx]

I'll just echo what others have said. Looks like you could benefit from more shadowing and/or clinical experience. I would contact some doctors in your area that practice in something you may be interested in and pursuing that.

See if you can get into a research class at your university or partake in an undergraduate thesis project. Another option would be to get a job as a student worker in a lab.

Lastly, I would suggest getting more involved in a student organization, especially one that reflects your personal interests or qualities. Becoming an officer in one of these organizations or clubs would not only be easy, but would provide you with an opportunity for "leadership". Hope this helps.