*~*~*~*Official AMCAS Work/Activities Tips Thread 2017-2018*~*~*~*

[lexington251]

2) I'd omit the Conference entry. One generally mentions the conference anyway when discussing where posters were presented and that's sufficient.

Would it matter that the conference was national and peer-reviewed?

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[salamander343]

You might combine some or all of 11, 12, and 15 under non-clinical community service.

Sorry, working with animals is not clinical in the context of an AMCAS application (not even drawing blood, putting in IVs, or operating on them), so call it nonclinical and make clear what your role was.

I'm assuming you meant 10, 11, and 15. Sounds good to me! Thank you!

I also have two more questions:
1. How do I fill in a number of hours for hobbies? I haven't exactly kept track. I saw some people say to put 999 since that used to be the maximum but now it's 99999.

2. If I'm combining activities into one entry, do I put the COMBINED number of hours for the activities in the "Total Hours" box or just the total number of hours for the first activity? The FAQ seems to say that you should use combined hours for physician shadowing (Q10) but just the first activity's hours in Q4. Does it really matter?

 

[csanc5556]

I have a question pertaining to Honors/Awards/Recognitions:

Is it silly to include dean's list and another recognition for being 90% percentile in the American Chemical Society's Biochemistry Core Exam?

If not, how would I go about posting these? I wanted to include them under one space but they won't be the same contact.

Thank you

 

[Catalystik]

Would it matter that the conference was national and peer-reviewed?

Nope. Not unless you were an organizer and took on a leadership role.

 

[yuw057]

Thank you for all the responses thus far, Catalystik! Really appreciate it.

One more quick question: Is it really necessary to list a contact for every sub-entries in an entry if things are clumped together? Especially for awards? What is the penalty if I leave some sub-entries without a contact?

Thanks!

 

[sunny234]

Thank you for all the responses thus far, Catalystik! Really appreciate it.

One more quick question: Is it really necessary to list a contact for every sub-entries in an entry if things are clumped together? Especially for awards? What is the penalty if I leave some sub-entries without a contact?

Thanks!

Based on what I saw in the original guidelines (first page), listing contacts for the first entry should be fine.

 

[sunny234]

Hello! Two short questions if anyone has advice:

1) I received a merit-based fellowship from my school that covered my travel and tuition for a summer language program I went on to attend. Should I list the fellowship under the same entry as the language program or split them into two separate entries?

2) I was accepted into the Sloan Kettering SURP program that same summer and declined it for the language program. Should I still mentioned my acceptance into the program given that it is competitive, or is it not worth it since I did not attend?

Thanks!

 

[Catalystik]

I'm assuming you meant 10, 11, and 15. Sounds good to me! Thank you!

I also have two more questions:
1. How do I fill in a number of hours for hobbies? I haven't exactly kept track. I saw some people say to put 999 since that used to be the maximum but now it's 99999.

2. If I'm combining activities into one entry, do I put the COMBINED number of hours for the activities in the "Total Hours" box or just the total number of hours for the first activity? The FAQ seems to say that you should use combined hours for physician shadowing (Q10) but just the first activity's hours in Q4. Does it really matter?

0) Sorry, these two: 10. Non-Clinical Volunteering (Temple/Cultural Center - 50 hours and ongoing) 11. Non-Clinical Volunteering (Food Bank - 12 hours and ongoing)

1) Pick the 9, 99, 999, or 999 that is closest to a conservative estimate that you might have spent on the hobby. I doubt 99999 pertains to anyone.

2) Either way works, but I feel applicants prefer to have the total hours for the space right up front, so I lean in that direction more when two activities are close together in time and one date span covers both. Perhaps I made an incorrect assumption on your part. You'd enter subtotals for activities in the space regardless.

 

[Catalystik]

I have a question pertaining to Honors/Awards/Recognitions:

Is it silly to include dean's list and another recognition for being 90% percentile in the American Chemical Society's Biochemistry Core Exam? If not, how would I go about posting these? I wanted to include them under one space but they won't be the same contact.

Generally, one's academic excellence is apparent from the transcript, but include them if you like. The contact and date for the second recognition would go in the narrative.

 

[Catalystik]

Is it really necessary to list a contact for every sub-entries in an entry if things are clumped together? Especially for awards? What is the penalty if I leave some sub-entries without a contact?

For Awards/Honors, just use the College Registrar who should have the records for them. If you aren't going to include them for all sub-entries, then just summarize those activities with brevity. Like, "earlier collegiate jobs were waitperson-3 months summer 2015 and grocery cashier-3 months summer 2014," or somesuch. Same can go for shadowing if you have too many to list. "Also shadowed an office OBGYN (8 hr), radiologist (20 hr), and GI Endoscopist (6 hr)-summer 2016."

 

[Catalystik]

1) I received a merit-based fellowship from my school that covered my travel and tuition for a summer language program I went on to attend. Should I list the fellowship under the same entry as the language program or split them into two separate entries?

2) I was accepted into the Sloan Kettering SURP program that same summer and declined it for the language program. Should I still mentioned my acceptance into the program given that it is competitive, or is it not worth it since I did not attend?

Thanks!

1) Either way works fine. You might decide based on space available. Or if the context of the related activity is important for understanding.

2) I don't think it's worth mentioning.

 

[morejedi]

I was told that it's a bad idea to include hours for a job that are from before high school through college.

Ex. I worked somewhere starting June '07 and continued to June '16 but was told by a friend that it's best to include only hours after high school. Is this true/any input is appreciated!

 

[enchantediris]

Speaking of contact info, would it be strange to have the same PI listed as the contact for several different activities? Currently he is the contact for (1) my main research activity, (2) posters and presentations (I wasn't quite sure what to put for this one), (3) fellowships and scholarships (all of them were awarded for my research in this lab), and (4) TA for a class he taught.

Also, would you recommend citing posters with a truncated author list? I followed the advice given in the first post in this thread and formatted mine like this:

(1) Poster Title
1st author presentation at (Conference), (Location), (Date).

(2) Oral Presentation Title
1st author oral presentation at (Conference), (Location), (Date).

I can play with the characters but the most I would probably be able to do is (My Name), et al. for all of them. I'm not sure if it matters at all... all of these questions are just making me rethink everything I wrote! Maybe I should unsubscribe to this thread. Thanks!

 

[zasxd]

Should I enter a poster I presented at an undergraduate research forum as its own activity or should I lump it in with my research entry?

 

[Catalystik]

I was told that it's a bad idea to include hours for a job that are from before high school through college.

Ex. I worked somewhere starting June '07 and continued to June '16 but was told by a friend that it's best to include only hours after high school. Is this true/any input is appreciated!

While adcomms are more focused on what you've done recently, when you've had an activity that started earlier but continued through the college years, it's OK to list it on an AMCAS application. It's felt that it reflects well when you have marked longevity in an activity, demonstrating that you've been (for a job) reliable and a have qualities of a good employee. It's reasonable to break down the hours you claim with the Repeated feature, with one being HS years and the other College+ years. Some with lifelong sports or Arts involvement even have hours from the pre-HS years.

 

[Catalystik]

Should I enter a poster I presented at an undergraduate research forum as its own activity or should I lump it in with my research entry?

Add it to your Research entry.

 

[Catalystik]

A) Speaking of contact info, would it be strange to have the same PI listed as the contact for several different activities? Currently he is the contact for (1) my main research activity, (2) posters and presentations (I wasn't quite sure what to put for this one), (3) fellowships and scholarships (all of them were awarded for my research in this lab), and (4) TA for a class he taught.

B) Also, would you recommend citing posters with a truncated author list? I followed the advice given in the first post in this thread and formatted mine like this:

(1) Poster Title
1st author presentation at (Conference), (Location), (Date).

(2) Oral Presentation Title
1st author oral presentation at (Conference), (Location), (Date).

I can play with the characters but the most I would probably be able to do is (My Name), et al. for all of them. I'm not sure if it matters at all... all of these questions are just making me rethink everything I wrote! Maybe I should unsubscribe to this thread. Thanks!

A) For 1, 2, and 4, I don't see that you have much choice. For 3, you might instead use the College Registrar, assuming that the money wasn't paid directly to you in a check.

B) If you have no more space, the way you've done it is perfectly fine. If you can fit more in, keep squeezing.

 

[Gauss44]

Do you think any of these would make good Most Meaningful Experiences?:
1. Company Diversity Committee and what I learned form it
2. Helping my counsin after he got hit by a train (nearly prohibitively difficult disability application, too little food stamps <$200 for a full grown 6' man, etc. couldn't find doctors that would take medicaid... etc.) -- FYI - my application is already full of sad stories.
3. Finding Intellectual Equals for the first time in college (and why they are important to me)

It would be great if you would let me know if you think any of these are bad ideas or if you have cautions. No big deal if they are bad. I'll just think of something else.

 

[yogitee]

i spent time assisting (100hrs) in a sports med clinic under the title "research assistant" but really the role had very little research involved. my only responsibility involving "research" was distributing patient surveys. instead, what i gained from the experience was mostly from sitting in on patient pre-op and post-op visits with the physicians, PTs and athletic trainers. i also helped with patient turnover, room cleanup, chart filing, etc. Would it be wrong to classify this as a shadowing experience? i dont want to be misleading in classifying the experience but i think it would make my application stronger since i have way more research hours than shadowing hours

 

[Catalystik]

Do you think any of these would make good Most Meaningful Experiences?:
1. Company Diversity Committee and what I learned form it
2. Helping my counsin after he got hit by a train (nearly prohibitively difficult disability application, too little food stamps <$200 for a full grown 6' man, etc. couldn't find doctors that would take medicaid... etc.) -- FYI - my application is already full of sad stories.
3. Finding Intellectual Equals for the first time in college (and why they are important to me)

It would be great if you would let me know if you think any of these are bad ideas or if you have cautions. No big deal if they are bad. I'll just think of something else.

#1 or #3 could work, but what is the activity tag for #3? What would you use for #2? (I'm sure you noticed that SDN adcomms raise eyebrows about claiming "Volunteerism" for care of friends or relatives.)

 

[Catalystik]

i spent time assisting (100hrs) in a sports med clinic under the title "research assistant" but really the role had very little research involved. my only responsibility involving "research" was distributing patient surveys. instead, what i gained from the experience was mostly from sitting in on patient pre-op and post-op visits with the physicians, PTs and athletic trainers. i also helped with patient turnover, room cleanup, chart filing, etc. Would it be wrong to classify this as a shadowing experience? i dont want to be misleading in classifying the experience but i think it would make my application stronger since i have way more research hours than shadowing hours

Calling it shadowing is reasonable so long as you de-emphasize the parts where you helped out or a health worker wasn't present. If you eliminated that portion, how many hours would you have, most particularly with the physicians? Since you don't know those hours, you might think of the percent time observing (even if you helped a little) to help you do the calculation.

 

[yogitee]

Calling it shadowing is reasonable so long as you de-emphasize the parts where you helped out or a health worker wasn't present. If you eliminated that portion, how many hours would you have, most particularly with the physicians? Since you don't know those hours, you might think of the percent time observing (even if you helped a little) to help you do the calculation.

I would say 80% of the hours were spent just observing- usually waiting until the doc finished their work to hand out the survey. Should i separate the hours in the narrative or into two different experiences? i dont think the "research" hours are significant to stand on their own.

thanks!

 

[Gauss44]

#1 or #3 could work, but what is the activity tag for #3? What would you use for #2? (I'm sure you noticed that SDN adcomms raise eyebrows about claiming "Volunteerism" for care of friends or relatives.)

Isn't there an other option or maybe an education option? Which tag are you thinking I should use if I do that one?

 

[yogitee]

also, what is the general consensus on including hobbies- important or not? i think my hobbies come across pretty clearly in my other activities (yoga instructor for 3 years, ballet minor, many volunteer activities involving yoga and exercise, hiking/outdoor rec club officer). i dont want adcoms to think i dont do anything for fun just because i dont have this category listed but it seems fluffy to list yoga, dance and hiking as hobbies...

 

[Catalystik]

I would say 80% of the hours were spent just observing- usually waiting until the doc finished their work to hand out the survey. Should i separate the hours in the narrative or into two different experiences? i dont think the "research" hours are significant to stand on their own.

Can you divide the 80 hours into physician, PA, PT, athletic trainers, etc.? It's fine to mention other healthcare shadowing, but the MD portion should be specified.

I don't think that 20 hours of research is worth mentioning.

 

[Catalystik]

Isn't there an other option or maybe an education option? Which tag are you thinking I should use if I do that one?

You'd have to use Other, as Teaching refers to you educating other people. Another option would be Awards/Honors where you list Academic Recognitions and use that as a springboard to the joys of academic enrichment.

 

[Catalystik]

also, what is the general consensus on including hobbies- important or not? i think my hobbies come across pretty clearly in my other activities (yoga instructor for 3 years, ballet minor, many volunteer activities involving yoga and exercise, hiking/outdoor rec club officer). i dont want adcoms to think i dont do anything for fun just because i dont have this category listed but it seems fluffy to list yoga, dance and hiking as hobbies...

I agree that your leisuretime or stress-relief activities will come across clearly as you are.

 

[DaWeasel]

I volunteered with Habitat for Humanity while in college and then later resumed in my hometown after college. Since this was with two different chapters, and I can only list one state/city, should this be split into to two entries or should I just clarify this in my description of the activity? I have done the same type of work at both locations.

 

[Catalystik]

I volunteered with Habitat for Humanity while in college and then later resumed in my hometown after college. Since this was with two different chapters, and I can only list one state/city, should this be split into to two entries or should I just clarify this in my description of the activity? I have done the same type of work at both locations.

Clarify in the description, giving similar details, like what you provided in the header for site #1.

 

[hebrewBAMmer]

Two small questions:

1) I'm at 14 activities, one of which is my PhD research but I have no activities talking about all the undergrad research I did. Is it worth including my undergrad research or is it not really necessary with a section all about PhD research? (The undergrad research experiences I technically got credit for that appear in the courses I've taken on AMCAS)

2) I don't have room in my research description (including the most meaningful space) to talk about the papers I have submitted or preparing to submit. Is it ok to have a section for "Publications" and list the paper that was published, the one that's been under review since March, and note that we're preparing 1 more for submission if it's all clearly labeled and it explained?

 

[OGLoc23]

Is it acceptable to put myself as the contact for 3 or 4 activities I did in college? I'm a few years out of college and I've been out of touch with most of my college peers.

 

[paran0idandr0id42]

Is it ok to abbreviate a club name, etc. in the Experience Description if you acknowledge the abbreviation in the Organization Name? For example, I have an Organization Name listed as "Undergraduate Neuroscience Society (UNS)" and refer to the organization exclusively as UNS in the Experience Description.

 

[DaWeasel]

I have an activity for which I literally do not have a contact I can list. I work as an independent contractor for an online company and I get jobs from representatives of the company - I don't ever speak with any specific representative and I have no relationship with anyone from this company. How can I handle this situation of having no one to list as a contact?

 

[fingerscrossed14]

If I participated in a student group for all 4 years of undergrad, can I just list August 2013-May 2017 and the cumulative hours, or do you think I should separate it so that it doesn't include summers (as I did not do anything for the student group over the summers)? It would be so much easier to just lump the semesters together...

 

[freshprinceMD]

I apologize before hand if this has been asked before. How do I list the hours for a hobby that I've been doing my whole life (playing piano)
Also, I worked ~15 hrs a week at a retail store for 2 and a half years. This would equal around 1350 hours. Do I put that?


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[Catalystik]

1) I'm at 14 activities, one of which is my PhD research but I have no activities talking about all the undergrad research I did. Is it worth including my undergrad research or is it not really necessary with a section all about PhD research? (The undergrad research experiences I technically got credit for that appear in the courses I've taken on AMCAS)

2) I don't have room in my research description (including the most meaningful space) to talk about the papers I have submitted or preparing to submit. Is it ok to have a section for "Publications" and list the paper that was published, the one that's been under review since March, and note that we're preparing 1 more for submission if it's all clearly labeled and it explained?

1) It is up to you to decide which 14 activities are best worth mentioning on the appication. Considering the PhD research is the more recent and that the college-level involvement appears on your transcript, I don't feel it's essential for you to give long-ago details. Perhaps you could lightly touch on the general field in your PS as part of your path to medicine, unless it was unrelated to the tale you want to tell.

2) I could live with that (though only because you're a proven performer), though understand that it isn't encouraged to mention manuscripts in progress on a med school application. Consider saving that one for an update letter if it's accepted during the cycle. Perhaps you've seen the current discussion about this on the main forum page: Where to List Publication In Progress

 

[Catalystik]

Is it acceptable to put myself as the contact for 3 or 4 activities I did in college? I'm a few years out of college and I've been out of touch with most of my college peers.

Depends on the activities. Can you specify?

 

[Catalystik]

Is it ok to abbreviate a club name, etc. in the Experience Description if you acknowledge the abbreviation in the Organization Name? For example, I have an Organization Name listed as "Undergraduate Neuroscience Society (UNS)" and refer to the organization exclusively as UNS in the Experience Description.

Yes.

 

[Catalystik]

I have an activity for which I literally do not have a contact I can list. I work as an independent contractor for an online company and I get jobs from representatives of the company - I don't ever speak with any specific representative and I have no relationship with anyone from this company. How can I handle this situation of having no one to list as a contact?

Who hired you? Who sends a paycheck? Can you send one of these sources an email and inquire if they'd provide verification of employment (which is all the info they'd be asked to provide, with dates? If you wanted to rent a new apartment, you'd need to do the same.

If this isn't possible, list yourself, and for your title put "Independent Contractor."

 

[Catalystik]

If I participated in a student group for all 4 years of undergrad, can I just list August 2013-May 2017 and the cumulative hours, or do you think I should separate it so that it doesn't include summers (as I did not do anything for the student group over the summers)? It would be so much easier to just lump the semesters together...

If you title the activity something that suggests intermittency, like adding Academic Year to the title, you'd be fine to use one date span.

 

[Catalystik]

1) How do I list the hours for a hobby that I've been doing my whole life (playing piano)
2) Also, I worked ~15 hrs a week at a retail store for 2 and a half years. This would equal around 1350 hours. Do I put that?

1) Use 99, 999, 9999, or 99999 (whichever is in the ballpark) for each timespan. Break down the hours into pre-HS, HS, college years, (and after if you're nontrad), using the Repeated feature. Adcomms will be most interested in recent involvement, but including the earlier years shows your dedication.

Alternatively, you can just refer to your early years more vaguely in the narrative and concentrate on recent years. "Since age three, I have taken piano lessons, which continued through high school. In college . . ."

2) Only include it if it continued after HS graduation into the college years. If so, you'd put all the hours, and explain in the title and or narrative if the job was intermittent (school breaks), or constant, or during the academic year only.

 

[Catalystik]

if an abstract is peer-reviewed and published an online supplement to a very reputable journal---should I list it under publication or poster/presentation or both?

You would not enter it in two spaces. Best might be to enter it as a poster/presentation (assuming it was) and then after that state that it was later published on-line in a conference proceedings or a journal supplement (you weren't specific). I did some looking to see what might be different about citing an on-line abstract publication and found various approaches. Easiest if you have the space would be to include a URL. Other ways of citing on-line materials can be found here, in case you feel a hybrid approach is best: http://med.fsu.edu/userFiles/file/AmericanMedicalAssociationStyleJAMA.pdf So, yeah, it's complicated.

 

[UnassumingToad]

Two Questions:

Which date should I put down if I have an activity with all my awards from various organizations? Should I put down the date for the most recent award? Most significant?

I am also in a paid clinical research job currently (with lots of patient face time). Should I list this as "paid employment - clinical" or "research/lab." It's both to be honest but I worry if I put the latter it'll look unpaid or less significant.

Thank you so much in advance!

 

[Overthink]

For an organization where I held multiple roles, can I name the activity "Various Positions"? I held two leadership roles in that organization so would it instead be beneficial to try to include both names in the title?

 

[enchantediris]

This should be my final question (knock on wood!): Should we be including our contacts' degrees within the Contact Name and Title? For example, First Name Last Name, Ph.D., Principal Investigator. I noticed that a couple of people were doing that earlier in this thread and wasn't sure if it was necessary.

 

[SheraSkn]

I shadowed multiple doctors at a non profit clinic 2 years ago. Usually, I never saw the same doctor more than once (and quite frankly I dont remember their names). The only viable contact that I have is of the director of the clinic who knows me well. How would I go about listing this?

I was thinking about putting the director as the contact and then in the 700 characters just explaining that I shadowed multiple doctors.

 

[salamander343]

I'm not sure how to approach a Presentations/Posters entry..
1. Experience Name: "Oral Presentation"?
2. Total Hours: is 0 fine? Or should I estimate the time it took to put the presentation together?
3. Organization Name: the conference name, or my school name?
4. Description: Orally presented (title) at (conference) on (date), and a citation?

 

[Catalystik]

1) Which date should I put down if I have an activity with all my awards from various organizations? Should I put down the date for the most recent award? Most significant?

2) I am also in a paid clinical research job currently (with lots of patient face time). Should I list this as "paid employment - clinical" or "research/lab." It's both to be honest but I worry if I put the latter it'll look unpaid or less significant.

1) Most recent, by which time you'd have all the awards listed.

2) Whether it's "clinical" for AMCAS purposes depends on whether the subjects you work with are current patients for whom your work will give some benefit. Which category you'd list it in would depend on whether you have something else in that category and/or what sort of schools you feel you're a good candidate for: highly-selective and research focused, or less-selective with more of a clinical focus. Whichever you choose, you can make the other category apparent in the name you pick for the activity.

 

[Catalystik]

For an organization where I held multiple roles, can I name the activity "Various Positions"? I held two leadership roles in that organization so would it instead be beneficial to try to include both names in the title?

If you have space, (I think you get about 65 characters for a title), you can list the titles in the name, otherwise add, "and Officer Positions."

 

[Catalystik]

This should be my final question (knock on wood!): Should we be including our contacts' degrees within the Contact Name and Title? For example, First Name Last Name, Ph.D., Principal Investigator. I noticed that a couple of people were doing that earlier in this thread and wasn't sure if it was necessary.

You don't have to if it isn't important. Some, for example, might not care to specify MD vs DO for shadowing ('cause it doesn't matter), and instead put Gynecologist or Attending Physician in that space.