*~*~*~*Official AMCAS "Work/Activities" Tips Thread 2014-2015*~*~*~*

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what do I do about a volunteer experience that started VERY recently? It is possible that my first day will be within a week of sending out my primary. Assuming I have space for it, should I include it or not?
 
HappyFeet14 said:
How should I go about putting contacts for some of my non-clinical volunteer work where I am the actual contact? I was an officer for a club at my university for over a year and directed/collaborated on planning volunteering
events. Each officer had equal responsibility in the planning and would trade off organizing/setting up dates. All of my non-clinical volunteering (about 150+ hours) was done with this club and we really didn't have any
faculty supervisor or anything.
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Isn't there anyone in charge of your University organizations?
A faculty adviser for approved clubs?
 
gyngyn said:
Isn't there anyone in charge of your University organizations?
A faculty adviser for approved clubs?
Click to expand...

Yes, I believe there was, but they are certainly not someone that could vouch entirely for every single event and every single volunteer hour. It seemed like we were kinda on our own. Additionally, this was over a year and a half ago at a different school than the one that I attend now (transferred my junior semester).
 
HappyFeet14 said:
Yes, I believe there was, but they are certainly not someone that could vouch entirely for every single event and every single volunteer hour. It seemed like we were kinda on our own. Additionally, this was over a year and a half ago at a different school than the one that I attend now (transferred my junior semester).
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If you can possibly assign a faculty or administrator, it is preferable to listing "self" as the contact. Perhaps you could contact the faculty adviser and let them know that you are planning to list them as the contact for your activity. That way you can get some feedback on how comfortable they are in verifying your hours.
 
jonhamm said:
what do I do about a volunteer experience that started VERY recently? It is possible that my first day will be within a week of sending out my primary. Assuming I have space for it, should I include it or not?
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That's a little sketchy for the AMCAS primary.
 
gyngyn said:
If you can possibly assign a faculty or administrator, it is preferable to listing "self" as the contact. Perhaps you could contact the faculty adviser and let them know that you are planning to list them as the contact for your activity. That way you can get some feedback on how comfortable they are in verifying your hours.
Click to expand...

The club did have a faculty advisor, though in the 1yr+ that I was involved as an officer of the club, I believe I saw her and spoke to her once. Let's just say that she didn't do a whole lot for the club, but I will contact her in hopes that she is willing to vouch for my involvement. Is there a second option that might be acceptable as well? Maybe the club president? Or does it have to be a faculty member?
 
Two quick questions:

1) Is it appropriate to list a case study presentation under "Posters/Presentations?"

2) Can a capstone project be included under Work/Activities?

Thank you!
 
HappyFeet14 said:
The club did have a faculty advisor, though in the 1yr+ that I was involved as an officer of the club, I believe I saw her and spoke to her once. Let's just say that she didn't do a whole lot for the club, but I will contact her in hopes that she is willing to vouch for my involvement. Is there a second option that might be acceptable as well? Maybe the club president? Or does it have to be a faculty member?
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Either the club president or anybody that can vouch for you would be fine.
 
AndyQC said:
Two quick questions:

1) Is it appropriate to list a case study presentation under "Posters/Presentations?"

2) Can a capstone project be included under Work/Activities?

Thank you!
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1. yes
2. depends, was it research, work, service?
 
gyngyn said:
1. yes
2. depends, was it research, work, service?
Click to expand...

Thanks, gyngyn.

With respect to #2, it was primarily research (though it could also fall under clinical volunteering).
 
gyngyn said:
Either the club president or anybody that can vouch for you would be fine.
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Funny thing, my involvement with the club as an officer was actually longer than some of the presidents in the club. I served under 2 (though a 3rd came in right at the end) presidents and both were undergraduate students. Does it matter that they were undergrads (in relevance to serving as a contact)?
 
HappyFeet14 said:
Funny thing, my involvement with the club as an officer was actually longer than some of the presidents in the club. I served under 2 (though a 3rd came in right at the end) presidents and both were undergraduate students. Does it matter that they were undergrads (in relevance to serving as a contact)?
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It's still better than "self."
 
Hey everyone,

I have a question regarding the "most meaningful" experience tips.
I have 2 experiences, one of which I have extensively talked about in the PS.
If I just list the other one as the most meaningful experience( without listing the experience listed in the PS as the most meaningful) . .. . isn't that kind of contradictory?
 
Jay2910 said:
Hey everyone,

I have a question regarding the "most meaningful" experience tips.
I have 2 experiences, one of which I have extensively talked about in the PS.
If I just list the other one as the most meaningful experience( without listing the experience listed in the PS as the most meaningful) . .. . isn't that kind of contradictory?
Click to expand...
No.
 
For something like "University Seasonal Employment" where I list multiple jobs, I can only have one verifier. How do I go about doing this? Do I need to use characters within my entry to detail verifiers for each one?

Also, is listing the start and end date encompassing all positions and 1 total hour time allowable?

My description is as follows:

1) XXX (08-09; 160 hours): Blah blah blah.

2) YY (08-09; 840 hours - full-time and part-time): Blah blah blah.

3) ZZZ (11; 110 hours): Blah blah blah.

Etc. etc.
 
kazin said:
For something like "University Seasonal Employment" where I list multiple jobs, I can only have one verifier. How do I go about doing this? Do I need to use characters within my entry to detail verifiers for each one?

Also, is listing the start and end date encompassing all positions and 1 total hour time allowable?

My description is as follows:

1) XXX (08-09; 160 hours): Blah blah blah.

2) YY (08-09; 840 hours - full-time and part-time): Blah blah blah.

3) ZZZ (11; 110 hours): Blah blah blah.

Etc. etc.
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If there is one person who would reasonably verify your hours, yes. Otherwise list the most reliable person for the largest number of hours.
 
For a volunteer position that I have been working at on and off for a number of years, is it okay to put the projected hours I will do for the summer and next school year in the total hours? Or should I just put the hours up until this point? I was going to include the projected future hours in the total and then just specify in the description the hours within each time frame, but I don't know if that looks like padding..
 
virginiayankee said:
For a volunteer position that I have been working at on and off for a number of years, is it okay to put the projected hours I will do for the summer and next school year in the total hours? Or should I just put the hours up until this point? I was going to include the projected future hours in the total and then just specify in the description the hours within each time frame, but I don't know if that looks like padding..
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You can put projected hours until school starts (early August).
 
In general, is that how the projected hours thing works? So, for continued activities for the school year such as clubs, research etc. should I not include the hours starting next fall?
 
virginiayankee said:
In general, is that how the projected hours thing works? So, for continued activities for the school year such as clubs, research etc. should I not include the hours starting next fall?
Click to expand...
You can list activities that have started by the time you submit your primary. You cannot list a start date after your submission date
 
two questions:

1) is denoting shadowing as one of my most meaningful activities ok? it truly is...

2) i have an activity i have been involved with since 2006. it is technically a repeated activity. however, with only 4 date ranges, i'm not sure how to handle it... would it be ok to not mark it as repeated, but explain it's repeated nature in description box?
 
Vaseline said:
two questions:

1) is denoting shadowing as one of my most meaningful activities ok? it truly is...

2) i have an activity i have been involved with since 2006. it is technically a repeated activity. however, with only 4 date ranges, i'm not sure how to handle it... would it be ok to not mark it as repeated, but explain it's repeated nature in description box?
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1. It would be unusual but acceptable.
2. yes.
 
If I worked with multiple organizations( all during 1 experience), would it suffice to just state their names in the experience box( considering the word limit)? Or do I specifically have to point out that "they are organizations that specialize in . . .. "?
 
Last edited:
Thanks for answering my last question. I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this, let me know if it isn't. If I'm writing about experiences listed as my most meaningful in my PS, should I not list them as most meaningful in my work/activities? Should I be designating other activities as most meaningful instead so I can expound on these topics? Would it be clear that the ones written in my PS are also meaningful?
 
Jay2910 said:
If I worked with multiple organizations( all during 1 experience), would it suffice to just state their names in the experience box( considering the word limit)? Or do I specifically have to point out that "they are organizations that specialize in . . .. "?
Click to expand...
As long as the names are self-explanatory there is no need to describe.
 
WalWat said:
Thanks for answering my last question. I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this, let me know if it isn't. If I'm writing about experiences listed as my most meaningful in my PS, should I not list them as most meaningful in my work/activities? Should I be designating other activities as most meaningful instead so I can expound on these topics? Would it be clear that the ones written in my PS are also meaningful?
Click to expand...
You can do it either way. The only thing to avoid is using the identical language in both sections. You might be surprised how often I see the most meaningful activty lifted directly out of the PS. Sometimes the writer even seems annoyed that they had to cut and paste. They start with an introduction like: "this is already discussed in my PS, please refer there"!
 
gyngyn said:
If there is one person who would reasonably verify your hours, yes. Otherwise list the most reliable person for the largest number of hours.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply.

It's a giant waste of characters, sure, but for experiences with simple descriptions I've listed verifiers for each experience underneath them as "Name email". I don't think it makes sense for one person to verify 2 other positions that they have no clue I've ever done. Won't schools think the same?
 
WalWat said:
Thanks for answering my last question. I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this, let me know if it isn't. If I'm writing about experiences listed as my most meaningful in my PS, should I not list them as most meaningful in my work/activities? Should I be designating other activities as most meaningful instead so I can expound on these topics? Would it be clear that the ones written in my PS are also meaningful?
Click to expand...

I'm having some difficulties with this as well. I want to describe my most meaningful experiences fully and speak to the transformative nature of them in my PS, but the second box that pops up when I designate an experience as most meaningful asks specifically about it. Am I able to just continue my description? Another poster mentioned to discuss the transformative nature of it in the Work/Activity section, but speak to a specific anecdote or two that impacted me in the PS.
 
What do we do about "unofficial" activities? I tutored a group of veterans (one is a family friend) for a total of maybe 60 hours over a 2 month period in a small group setting. It started as a favor to one friend, but I also tutored other veterans in the department. None of this was official, however - it was at a community college, but none of the staff at the college would know me. Is it still okay to list this, and maybe list the family friend as a contact?
 
Is it better to maximize the # of categories of our work experiences? What if an experience could be counted under leadership, extracurricular activities, or community service (non-medical/clinical) for example?
 
I just got the opportunity to be involved with a doctor two days a week . One day will be clinical and one will be research. The clinical work will be the most hands-on work with patients I have done so far, and I do not have any medically related research experience (I have other research, though). I will be starting at the beginning of June and also want to submit my application then as well. Should I list this as an activity on my Primary application at all? Should I list the future hours and then explain that in the description? Or, should I save it for secondaries, update letters, interviews, etc? Thank you!
 
kazin said:
Can I abbreviate an organization name in the "Organization" box and then use the abbreviation in my description? For example, "National Hockey League (NHL)" in the "Organization" box and then in my description, "I played in the NHL..."
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Did you really play in the NHL
 
I have a question about how I should enter a continuing activity for hours. Let's say I started activity X in January 2014 and I will be continuing it until June 2015. For the number of hours, should I:

A) Put a single date range; January 2014 - June 2015 and sum up my completed + Expected hours (e.g. 2000 hours)
B) Separate them by making this activity Repeated with two dates: January 2014 - June 2014 (Completed hours), and June 2014 - June 2015 (Tentative Hours)

Thanks.
 
Quick question.. I haven't had the time to look through the thread yet but was wondering what you guys are doing for one time volunteering activities? Like volunteering at an event at school or something like that.
 
K1NG said:
Quick question.. I haven't had the time to look through the thread yet but was wondering what you guys are doing for one time volunteering activities? Like volunteering at an event at school or something like that.
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You can create a catch-all entry where you list multiple items such as you mentioned.
 
What is everyone's/ @gyngyn 's thought on using my last slot on a hobby? As of now it's Dean's List but this is noted on my transcript already- is it okay to list some sort of hobby that I enjoy in my free time (like running or biking) instead of listing Dean's List? I do want the Adcoms to know I'm a person, not a pre-med robot!
 
I have a question regarding an activity I will be continuing through the cycle. I'm currently volunteering at my local hospital and plan to do so through Aug 2015, which I've indicated in the activity description. However, it's somewhat likely that I will be relocating for employment purposes in that time. If that happens I plan to find a hospital at my new location to volunteer at ASAP. Should I make note of that in my activity description now, and indicate that I will send updated correspondence with new contacts, etc. if that does indeed happen?
 
stickshifthonda said:
What is everyone's/ @gyngyn 's thought on using my last slot on a hobby? As of now it's Dean's List but this is noted on my transcript already- is it okay to list some sort of hobby that I enjoy in my free time (like running or biking) instead of listing Dean's List? I do want the Adcoms to know I'm a person, not a pre-med robot!
Click to expand...

I list all my hobbies in one entry.
 
Adding to the hobby questions, is it worth listing hobbies if you've never really done anything with them? For example, I love skiing and weightlifting, but I only do them for fun in my free time.
 
Hi, I have a case where my volunteering is tracked by the volunteering dept in my hospital. Should I list my contact as a volunteer office admin that can verify my hours or one of the people I actually worked with in the position so that they may attest to the position's description?
 
I understand that future activities cannot be included. But I am listed as a 2nd author of a paper that was just submitted. My PI said that we will not find out if the paper was accepted or not until end of June, which is way after primary app submission. If it does get accepted, should I just send an update letter to the schools?

Also, I am planning to attend NIH postbac IRTA program for my gap year activity this July. Do I just say that I got accepted as part of honors/awards since I cannot include future activities?
 
I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed this: when you hit "enter" to skip a line while typing into the Work / Activities description, it uses up 2 characters instead of one.
Try typing into the 700 character limit description section and you'll see hitting Enter adds on 2 characters to the character total.

I'm not sure if it's supposed to be this way, or if this is a mistake on the AMCAS application. After all, every character counts.
 
Are there any categories it would be important to include? I have a lot of experience as someone who is 5 years out of college and I have filled up the 15 activities but did not have one for hobbies or extracurriculars. My main ones are research, presentations, clinical work and non-clinical volunteer. I can combine some of my clinical entries into one entry (although the work was a different hospital sites) if it is important to have breadth over depth. Any advice?
 
gard2013 said:
Are there any categories it would be important to include? I have a lot of experience as someone who is 5 years out of college and I have filled up the 15 activities but did not have one for hobbies or extracurriculars. My main ones are research, presentations, clinical work and non-clinical volunteer. I can combine some of my clinical entries into one entry (although the work was a different hospital sites) if it is important to have breadth over depth. Any advice?
Click to expand...

Keep things the way they are. There's definitely no obligation to include an activity for every single category.
 
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