number of post-secondary experiences on AMCAS

[Hopkins2010]

I'm curious as to the average number of post-secondary experiences other people are listing on the AMCAS for 2002.

So, I will start off: I have 28 listed right now.

I'm actually thinking of reducing this list by taking off some organizations that I havent been involved with long-term (i.e. 2 years or more).

I'll also place a bet that the maximum number of experiences is around 40 or so.

Just post sheer quantity, since anything else gets too complicated to sort out.

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[synite]

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."

 

[lilycat]

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.

 

[Hopkins2010]

lilycat,

As far as I can tell, there is no limit imposed by AMCAS on the post secondary experiences. The way the web-based app works, you just keep filling out the same form over and over again for each experience and it lists them as a summary.

Well, reading that FAQ that synite posted was very helpful. You know it would have been even more helpful if they would have posted that info in the Help section where it belongs. They were entirely too vague about this issue.

I was very conscious about making all of these experiences different and unique so that they will have maximum impact on the adcomms. Maybe I should just drop some things off the list even though I thought they were significant. Perhaps they want only significant activities that occurred in the last year or so.

Not all of the items listed in this section are "significant activities" as the AAMC describes it. For example, all honors/awards are entered into this section and I would hardly refer to an honor/award as a "significant experience." They should have made honors/awards a separate section on the app because that is what is really inflating my list.

Oh well, hopefully they will live and learn this year and change it up for the next application cycle. At least the web app runs faster now. I'm still predicting a site crash on June 18th when everybody tries to upload their app however.