number of post-secondary experiences on AMCAS

i started out with 23, and felt it was too many. so i narrowed down to 17 really good things.

it sucks that they dont give us guidelines, but here is interesting info from the AAMC website (this is from the FAQ section regarding the new 2002 web application. med school adcomms asked the questions and AAMC answered back):

1. The 2002 section on Post-Secondary Experiences is too complicated. There's too much detail. It's way too cumbersome.

"The project Advisory Committee and others believe that asking for the additional detail about each experience (e.g., who was your supervisor and so forth) will help to minimize the "inflation" that might result from the ease of entering experiences in the new web app."


2. How about adding intramural sports to the drop down list?

When the Advisory Committee first discussed adding athletic endeavors to the list of experience types, there was some concern that too open a category would lead applicants to enter their weekend pickup rugby game. So, we limited it to "intercollegiate athletics" recognizing the time commitment that intercollegiate activities represent. This decision was reconfirmed at the June 2000 Advisory Committee meeting."


3. I suggest that the AAMC instruct applicants to list only those activities in which they have been most active. Limit to perhaps five.

"This was discussed at one or more of the Advisory Committee meetings. Instead of limiting the list, the decision was to include very specific instructions to list only those that the applicant deems "significant." In addition, the assumption is that what and how many activities the applicant lists is telling to the admissions committee."


4. Please get rid of the following: contact name, title, address, e-mail address, phone number.

"Only Experience Type, Name/Title of the Experience, and Dates are required. All other fields in this area are optional, which will be clearly explained to applicants in the instructions. Many schools requested contact information to cut down on the "inflation" they see now in applicants' experiences."

 

I don't know how strict the space limits are this year for these types of questions, but last year they were pretty strict. If you can't fit in all your "significant" activities on AMCAS, you will probably have the chance to list more of them on 80% of the secondaries you receive.