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

[medic408]

Question regarding activities section:

I don't have any non-clinical volunteering, but my clinical volunteering is over 1,000 hours. I volunteer as an EMT at home and I am really dedicated to this job. I haven't done it just to "get clinical experience" but rather because it's something I truly enjoy. Is it likely that ADCOMs will have a problem with my not having clinical volunteering?

The other thing I'm thinking about doing is splitting my extracurricular activity of photo editor for my student newspaper into two sections, one being extracurricular (focus on the photo editor portion of the job) and the other as non-clinical volunteering (focus on the aspect that involves telling stories and working to preserve memories for the campus community).

In my mind, this is stretching it a bit, and so if ADCOMs likely won't mind that I don't have any non-clinical volunteering listed, I think it would make more sense to just keep this listed as an extracurricular activity. Thanks for the help.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Catalystik]

I don't have any non-clinical volunteering, but my clinical volunteering is over 1,000 hours. I volunteer as an EMT at home and I am really dedicated to this job. I haven't done it just to "get clinical experience" but rather because it's something I truly enjoy. Is it likely that ADCOMs will have a problem with my not having clinical volunteering?

The other thing I'm thinking about doing is splitting my extracurricular activity of photo editor for my student newspaper into two sections, one being extracurricular (focus on the photo editor portion of the job) and the other as non-clinical volunteering (focus on the aspect that involves telling stories and working to preserve memories for the campus community).

In my mind, this is stretching it a bit, and so if ADCOMs likely won't mind that I don't have any non-clinical volunteering listed, I think it would make more sense to just keep this listed as an extracurricular activity. Thanks for the help.

It depends on the institution. Some schools won't care if nonmedical community service is lacking, especially if you have other volunteerism. Most will care. And a double handful will consider it critical to their consideration that you have done something to help those in need in your local area. I suggest you follow your plan in paragraph 2, so you will, at least, have checked the box, so you get past initial screening.

BTW, what percent of those >1000 EMT hours involve going on a call? It will be assumed that you have some downtime. be sure to portray the activity accurately. You'll still be well above the average among those who claim clinical volunteerism.

 

[medic408]

It depends on the institution. Some schools won't care if nonmedical community service is lacking, especially if you have other volunteerism. Most will care. And a double handful will consider it critical to their consideration that you have done something to help those in need in your local area. I suggest you follow your plan in paragraph 2, so you will, at least, have checked the box, so you get past initial screening.

BTW, what percent of those >1000 EMT hours involve going on a call? It will be assumed that you have some downtime. be sure to portray the activity accurately. You'll still be well above the average among those who claim clinical volunteerism.

90% of these EMT hours involve going on a call. My fire department doesn't have duty crews; rather, we respond whenever the pager goes off. So, unlike a lot of people who probably claim hundreds of hours of "on-duty" time, my time is almost all running calls. The other 10% involves training and weekly maintenance. Do you think this is important to explicitly communicate in my activity description?

 

[Catalystik]

90% of these EMT hours involve going on a call. My fire department doesn't have duty crews; rather, we respond whenever the pager goes off. So, unlike a lot of people who probably claim hundreds of hours of "on-duty" time, my time is almost all running calls. The other 10% involves training and weekly maintenance. Do you think this is important to explicitly communicate in my activity description?

Yes, lest inaccurate assumptions be made.

 

[markovchn123]

I volunteered to play games with autistic children for a program my school ran every semester. I did this activity for 4 semesters so does that mean this activity would count as being repeated? I also tutored at my school for 6 semesters, so would that be a repeat as well?

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

BTW, what percent of those >1000 EMT hours involve going on a call? It will be assumed that you have some downtime. be sure to portray the activity accurately. You'll still be well above the average among those who claim clinical volunteerism.

Is this something unique to EMT?

 

[medic408]

Is this something unique to EMT?

I think a lot of EMTs mark their "on-duty" time as volunteer hours. For example, my campus EMT squad has three EMTs on-duty at any given point, but these EMTs go to class and stay on campus doing work most of the day. I'd imagine about 10% of their on-duty time is actually spent running calls. So if one of them were to put down that they logged 1,000 hours as an EMT on campus, I'd guess they spent about 100 hours doing actual patient care.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I think a lot of EMTs mark their "on-duty" time as volunteer hours. For example, my campus EMT squad has three EMTs on-duty at any given point, but these EMTs go to class and stay on campus doing work most of the day. I'd imagine about 10% of their on-duty time is actually spent running calls. So if one of them were to put down that they logged 1,000 hours as an EMT on campus, I'd guess they spent about 100 hours doing actual patient care.

Makes sense. There are times in the OR where I wasn't directly caring for or touching a patient, but that's probably like 10% of the time tops, and it's stuff directly related to patient care.

 

[Catalystik]

I volunteered to play games with autistic children for a program my school ran every semester. I did this activity for 4 semesters so does that mean this activity would count as being repeated? I also tutored at my school for 6 semesters, so would that be a repeat as well?

The Repeated feature can be used up to four times per activity. You can get around this limitation (and the laborsome effort of entering data multiple times) by titling an activity Academic Year Involvement with Autism Support Group or Intermittent Biology Tutoring, or somesuch, so long as the title suggests that the activity not year-round. Then you can insert more inclusive dates of involvement.

 

[Youngm2194]

Comments are made on items in red:

A. No.

B. Leave the pending coach position with the rest of the activity to keep it in context.

3. Could alternatively use Leadership for this entry.

6&7. If you have at least 50 hours each, it's fine to keep them separate.

9. Not unless they will appear in a print, widely distributed journal (not just a brochure meant only for conference attendees). Presentations/Posters is more commonly a better designation, if that's how the abstract's data will be made known.

14. Yes.

15. It is better mentioned along with whatever position you use it for. If you don't use it, don't mention it.

Thanks for the response- I just don't know how to categorize the lab manager/tech position. I feel like it could either go as research (which I have 2 of already), leadership (as you mentioned), or medical/clinical employment? or is this technically nonclinical?

The lab I work in focuses on the beneficial effects of exercise on the brain-specifically neurogenesis in the hippocampus so it is all basic lab research etc. I am in a unique situation though as when I joined the lab in June 2016 I was the first member. I work one on one with my PI and 2 more people are joining this summer, but that means I would have ran the lab by myself for a full year. That is why I'm not sure if leadership is applicable since yes I will be managing people this summer onwards but for the past year it has been just me and I have been designated lab manager as default since I was the first. I most definitely do lab manager duties so the title is accurate, its just the lack of "managing other people" I guess that makes it hard t categorize. This is my most meaningful experience however so I can explain in detail

 

[enchantediris]

I would love any advice on my activities list, especially in terms of grouping activities together. I'm leaving one spot open in case my paper actually gets submitted and accepted before the application opens for submission, otherwise I will probably ungroup the organizations in #6.

Research
1. Basic Science Research
2. Clinical Research

Presentations/Posters
3. Various Poster Presentations – Do conference proceedings go here as well?

Clinical Volunteering
4. Patient Transport
5. One-on-One Patient Interaction

Nonclinical Volunteering
6. Mentoring with Female Empowerment Organizations – Is it okay to group these together? Both have similar missions, but I stopped volunteering with one of them halfway through my sophomore year (not enough time). The second one is one of my most meaningful experiences as well.

7. Other Volunteering

Shadowing
8. Shadowing Various Physicians – Should I list planned shadowing as well?

Paid Employment (Non-medical)
9. Research & Development Internship
10. Resident Assistant

Teaching/Tutoring
11. TA

Awards
12. Academic Awards + Research Grants

Leadership
13. Member & E-board for Student Major Group (e.g. Biology Club) – How do you approach being in multiple leadership positions (e.g. treasurer, vice president, etc.)? I know that many people will list their positions in the activity title, but it seems unwieldly with multiple positions?

Hobbies
14. Various Hobbies

 

[Catalystik]

I just don't know how to categorize the lab manager/tech position. I feel like it could either go as research (which I have 2 of already), leadership (as you mentioned), or medical/clinical employment? or is this technically nonclinical?

The lab I work in focuses on the beneficial effects of exercise on the brain-specifically neurogenesis in the hippocampus so it is all basic lab research etc. I am in a unique situation though as when I joined the lab in June 2016 I was the first member. I work one on one with my PI and 2 more people are joining this summer, but that means I would have ran the lab by myself for a full year. That is why I'm not sure if leadership is applicable since yes I will be managing people this summer onwards but for the past year it has been just me and I have been designated lab manager as default since I was the first. I most definitely do lab manager duties so the title is accurate, its just the lack of "managing other people" I guess that makes it hard t categorize. This is my most meaningful experience however so I can explain in detail

Considering the new info provided, I agree that Leadership wouldn't be appropriate, since it's still pending. Since you have two other Research gigs you'll list, why not go with Employment. Whether it is clinical or not depends on whether subjects you interact with face-to-face already have a neurologic diagnosis. If there are no patients, which you imply by saying it's "all basic lab research," then it's not clinical.

 

[Catalystik]

I would love any advice on my activities list, especially in terms of grouping activities together. I'm leaving one spot open in case my paper actually gets submitted and accepted before the application opens for submission, otherwise I will probably ungroup the organizations in #6.

Research
1. Basic Science Research (~4 yrs + gap year)
2. Clinical Research Internship (600 hr)

Presentations/Posters
3. Various Poster Presentations – Do conference proceedings go here as well? (e.g. IEEE conference proceedings, which are published on their website but not searchable on PubMed)

Clinical Volunteering
4. Patient Transport (300 hr, stopped last year)
5. One-on-One Patient Interaction (~50 hr so far, will continue during gap year)

Nonclinical Volunteering
6. Mentoring with Female Empowerment Organizations (100 hr in one, 500 hr in another) – Is it okay to group these together? Both have similar missions, but I stopped volunteering with one of them halfway through my sophomore year (not enough time). The second one is one of my most meaningful experiences as well.

7. Swim Coach & SAT Tutor (100 hr)

Shadowing
8. Shadowing Various Physicians (~70 hr) – Should I list planned shadowing as well? For example, I will be shadowing a PCP in June.

Paid Employment (Non-medical)
9. Research & Development Internship w/ Defense Contractor (600 hr)
10. Resident Assistant (3 years)

Teaching/Tutoring
11. TA for a Research Class (1 yr)

Awards
12. Academic Awards + Research Grants

Leadership
13. Member & E-board for Student Major Group (e.g. Biology Club) – How do you approach being in multiple leadership positions (e.g. treasurer, vice president, etc.)? I know that many people will list their positions in the activity title, but it seems unwieldly with multiple positions?

Hobbies
14. Various Hobbies

Comments on red:

3. I'm not clear on what you mean by including "conference proceedings." Are you thinking to provide a link which legitimizes the posters? If you had presentations/posters, you can just cite them, even if you must use abbreviated authorship lists and title. Such a link to a website might take up too much space and navigation/searching.

5. Be sure to distinguish between current and future hours. See strategy in post 32, item 19.

6. Yes.

8. You may, but differentiate completed vs future planned hours. The latter are not much regarded as plans often go awry. Don't even list them if the plan isn't rock solid.

13. You can cover all the leadership positions for the club by including in the title, ...with Various Officerships.

 

[enchantediris]

Comments on red:

3. I'm not clear on what you mean by including "conference proceedings." Are you thinking to provide a link which legitimizes the posters? If you had presentations/posters, you can just cite them, even if you must use abbreviated authorship lists and title. Such a link to a website might take up too much space and navigation/searching.

5. Be sure to distinguish between current and future hours. See strategy in post 32, item 19.

6. Yes.

8. You may, but differentiate completed vs future planned hours. The latter are not much regarded as plans often go awry. Don't even list them if the plan isn't rock solid.

13. You can cover all the leadership positions for the club by including in the title, ...with Various Officerships.

Thanks for your help! Conference proceedings are like published conference abstracts, except they're 1-2 pages long. I don't think they quite count as publications, so I wasn't sure where to stick that in.

 

[Catalystik]

Conference proceedings are like published conference abstracts, except they're 1-2 pages long. I don't think they quite count as publications, so I wasn't sure where to stick that in.

As essentially the abstract covers the same data as the poster presented at same event, you might mention (if you have space) that a summary of the poster research can be found at . . . . If you don't have space, don't worry about it.

 

[cke11]

I did a summer research program at my college, presented a poster, then the following academic year continued my research for credit. Just after I graduated, my research partner and I presented two posters and had two abstracts accepted at a national conference where I received an award for the same research. That following summer, I became a research affiliate through the SULI program at LBNL continuing my college research. I am now in my gap year working as a research associate studying something completely different that what I did in college. I had a question on how I should list all this. Should I include my college research under one slot and add that I was in a summer program, that lead to continuing research for credit, and finished at LBNL? I know I can add the posters and abstracts in another slot, as well as the awards and funding in its separate location, but I'm not sure I want to take up 4 whole slots for all the research I've done. Should I also have my current job as it's own slot for research? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Catalystik]

I did a summer research program at my college, presented a poster, then the following academic year continued my research for credit. Just after I graduated, my research partner and I presented two posters and had two abstracts accepted at a national conference where I received an award for the same research. That following summer, I became a research affiliate through the SULI program at LBNL continuing my college research. I am now in my gap year working as a research associate studying something completely different that what I did in college. I had a question on how I should list all this. Should I include my college research under one slot and add that I was in a summer program, that lead to continuing research for credit, and finished at LBNL? I know I can add the posters and abstracts in another slot, as well as the awards and funding in its separate location, but I'm not sure I want to take up 4 whole slots for all the research I've done. Should I also have my current job as it's own slot for research? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

The minimum I can see you listing all that in would be two spaces, Research, named College Research in [Field], including award winning poster and funding (probably creatively using a Most Meaningful space to get it all in). And Employment, naming the space Research Associate in {Field}. You needn't differentiate research for credit as the transcript makes it apparent. If you have more space at your disposal, you should spread it out into more spaces, particularly if you aim to appeal to highly-selective, research-strong institutions. If your real goal is a med school emphasizing primary care, you might wish to strategically de-emphasize your involvement by using a minimal number of spaces.

Read my comments about listing research in post #2, item 20 on page 1 of this thread, as they might help you to condense further, especially if posters and abstracts were based on the same data.

 

[begoood95]

Hey @Catalystik thank you so much for responding to all our questions! Here's a new one I have:

I presented a philosophy paper at an undergraduate conference at another university; the submissions were apparently "very competitive" (that's what they said) and out of ~80 five were selected and mine was one of them. I'd like to include this under the "presentations" header. However, I currently also have a "presentation" listed, of which is connected to a significant research experience; in addition to that, I have 3 poster presentations (same research).

Question is: after describing the first presentation (not a poster, and was more of a competition) and the 3 posters, I don't have much room for the phil paper conference. I've managed to squeeze it in, but I essentially have only the title of my paper and a contact. Should I make a separate entry for this? Thanks for the advice!

 

[Catalystik]

Hey @CatalystikI presented a philosophy paper at an undergraduate conference at another university; the submissions were apparently "very competitive" (that's what they said) and out of ~80 five were selected and mine was one of them. I'd like to include this under the "presentations" header. However, I currently also have a "presentation" listed, of which is connected to a significant research experience; in addition to that, I have 3 poster presentations (same research).

Question is: after describing the first presentation (not a poster, and was more of a competition) and the 3 posters, I don't have much room for the phil paper conference. I've managed to squeeze it in, but I essentially have only the title of my paper and a contact. Should I make a separate entry for this? Thanks for the advice!

I suggest giving the Philosophy paper presentation its own space to help it stand out. To distinguish it from the science research presentations, you might consider listing it under "Other" or "Teaching" instead of "Presentations/Posters" and then giving it a title that includes the words "Presentation" and "Philosophy". In the description make clear exactly how competitive the selection process was, using the same stats you provided here, the name of the conference, location, date, and title of the presentation. You should have enough space to add background, insights, or impact if you wish. JMO.

 

[begoood95]

I suggest giving the Philosophy paper presentation its own space to help it stand out. To distinguish it from the science research presentations, you might consider listing it under "Other" or "Teaching" instead of "Presentations/Posters" and then giving it a title that includes the words "Presentation" and "Philosophy". In the description make clear exactly how competitive the selection process was, using the same stats you provided here, the name of the conference, location, date, and title of the presentation. You should have enough space to add background, insights, or impact if you wish. JMO.

This sounds good. It'd also allow me to expand a bit on the other poster presentations and competition.

Another question: when I was president of our secular organization on campus, I created (i.e., lead the creation of the entire event) and participated in a Creation vs. Evolution "debate" we held on campus (sponsored by my org and the org that confronted us about this). Would I put this under leadership, presentations, or other? Note that I have other leadership experiences I'm thinking about listing (vp to pres of phil/ethics org).

I was also an instructor in martial arts for 7 years, student for 15, and this continued through college and during summers. I included this under the "extracurricular activities" section however, even though there were obviously leadership roles as well. Yea or nay?

 

[Catalystik]

1) when I was president of our secular organization on campus, I created (i.e., lead the creation of the entire event) and participated in a Creation vs. Evolution "debate" we held on campus (sponsored by my org and the org that confronted us about this). Would I put this under leadership, presentations, or other? Note that I have other leadership experiences I'm thinking about listing (vp to pres of phil/ethics org).

2) I was also an instructor in martial arts for 7 years, student for 15, and this continued through college and during summers. I included this under the "extracurricular activities" section however, even though there were obviously leadership roles as well. Yea or nay?

1) Might you consider including your creation of this event in the description of the organizational involvement? You could add to the title of the space ". . . and Event Organizer".

2) Extracurricular sounds good. Keep in mind that it is mainly the participation during the college years in which Adcomms will have an interest. You might consider using the Repeated tab to separate out the Early Years, HS Years, and College Involvement, giving hourly subtotals for each.

Your title can include, " Martial Arts Student, Instructor, and XXXXX (?Organizer)."

 

[DrDwayneJohnson]

Removed

 

[Catalystik]

.

5. I feel Other is a better designation. I don't think it's clinical.

Otherwise, I think it's fine with 15 slots filled.

 

[CaffeineJunkie]

Hi @Catalystik ! Hoping I could please pick your brain about a couple questions.

1) In terms of describing a research experience, I'm thinking of using the following format. What do you think? Which parts do you think deserve more attention and which may be unnecessary? These will not be designated most significant.

-goal of project in layman's terms
-what techniques I used
-major findings
-future directions
-takeaways/where this experience stands in the story of my personal scientific development

2) I'm planning to group up some activities into a single entry, such as hospital volunteering (four cases) and shadowing. I was hoping to describe each individual experience with bullet points to save room (especially for including logistical stuff like contact info). But I just heard that some med schools might print the AMCAS in HTML format, which means all the bullet point formatting would get messed up.

Would you recommend just describing all the experiences together in paragraph format and forgetting about spaces/bullet points? If so, how would you recommend I incorporate the logistical info like contact details, dates, etc.?

Thank you!

 

[Catalystik]

Hi @Catalystik ! Hoping I could please pick your brain about a couple questions.

1) In terms of describing a research experience, I'm thinking of using the following format. What do you think? Which parts do you think deserve more attention and which may be unnecessary? These will not be designated most significant.

-goal of project in layman's terms
-what techniques I used
-major findings
-future directions
-takeaways/where this experience stands in the story of my personal scientific development

2) I'm planning to group up some activities into a single entry, such as hospital volunteering (four cases) and shadowing. I was hoping to describe each individual experience with bullet points to save room (especially for including logistical stuff like contact info). But I just heard that some med schools might print the AMCAS in HTML format, which means all the bullet point formatting would get messed up.

Would you recommend just describing all the experiences together in paragraph format and forgetting about spaces/bullet points? If so, how would you recommend I incorporate the logistical info like contact details, dates, etc.?

Thank you!

1) Any of these is fine, but the first two, then the last one might deserve more priority, along with your role in the lab.

2) You can still use bullet point format, but sustitute a dash (-) for a dark round spot.

 

[Catalystik]

@efle who will be helping out with this thread during my upcoming travels.

 

[CaffeineJunkie]

1) Any of these is fine, but the first two, then the last one might deserve more priority, along with your role in the lab.

2) You can still use bullet point format, but sustitute a dash (-) for a dark round spot.

1) Thank you so much!

2) To be clear, could I combine the uses of dashes spaces? It would look something like this:

XXXXXXX Hospital ER, Location
-30 hours, Oct '12-Dec'13
-Contact, Location
-Description

XXX Hospital Oncology Wing, Location
-80 hours, Jun'12 - Aug '12
-Contact
-Description

Or would it be more helpful to just not include spaces between entries?

Thanks again!

 

[efle]

Just pulled up my final AMCAS in HTML format. You are correct that returns are lost. So the above would end up being viewed as:

XXXXXXX Hospital ER, Location -30 hours, Oct '12-Dec'13 -Contact, Location -Description XXX Hospital Oncology Wing, Location -80 hours, Jun'12 - Aug '12 -Contact -Description.

It is still fairly easy to see what is going on, you could add numbers if there are several entries and/or just change the information to short sentences. For example:

1) XXXXXXX Hospital ER at Location. 30 hours from Oct '12 to Dec'13. Contact: Person. Description. 2) XXX Hospital Oncology Wing at Location...

Be warned though, it is going to get very tough to fit four entries into 700 characters unless the descriptions are only a few words each!

 

[CaffeineJunkie]

Just pulled up my final AMCAS in HTML format. You are correct that returns are lost. So the above would end up being viewed as:

XXXXXXX Hospital ER, Location -30 hours, Oct '12-Dec'13 -Contact, Location -Description XXX Hospital Oncology Wing, Location -80 hours, Jun'12 - Aug '12 -Contact -Description.

It is still fairly easy to see what is going on, you could add numbers if there are several entries and/or just change the information to short sentences. For example:

1) XXXXXXX Hospital ER at Location. 30 hours from Oct '12 to Dec'13. Contact: Person. Description. 2) XXX Hospital Oncology Wing at Location...

Be warned though, it is going to get very tough to fit four entries into 700 characters unless the descriptions are only a few words each!

Thanks for the advice! I'm going to go with the numbering format you suggested. I'm listing the volunteering as most significant so I think I will probably let some of the description "leak" into most significant box so as to cover all bases. How's that sound?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[efle]

Thanks for the advice! I'm going to go with the numbering format you suggested. I'm listing the volunteering as most significant so I think I will probably let some of the description "leak" into most significant box so as to cover all bases. How's that sound?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

Sounds reasonable. I wouldn't have the divide cutting a sentence in half or anything like that, but using the extended area to give the details of what you did in addition to what the experience meant for you is a good approach.

 

[begoood95]

Just pulled up my final AMCAS in HTML format. You are correct that returns are lost. So the above would end up being viewed as:

XXXXXXX Hospital ER, Location -30 hours, Oct '12-Dec'13 -Contact, Location -Description XXX Hospital Oncology Wing, Location -80 hours, Jun'12 - Aug '12 -Contact -Description.

It is still fairly easy to see what is going on, you could add numbers if there are several entries and/or just change the information to short sentences. For example:

1) XXXXXXX Hospital ER at Location. 30 hours from Oct '12 to Dec'13. Contact: Person. Description. 2) XXX Hospital Oncology Wing at Location...

Be warned though, it is going to get very tough to fit four entries into 700 characters unless the descriptions are only a few words each!

Are you sure that adcoms view the app in the same format as HTML? I mean I think we're being a little neurotic here worrying about the way 'enters' are formatted, but still, it'd be nice to know!

 

[efle]

Ar

Are you sure that adcoms view the app in the same format as HTML? I mean I think we're being a little neurotic here worrying about the way 'enters' are formatted, but still, it'd be nice to know!

Many definitely do. After you finish your AMCAS, the two ways you can view it are PDF and HTML. In fact many secondaries will be the same, asking you not to try and insert any returns in your essay boxes because they are lost.

Others might view it with full formatting however. You could always leave the returns in, just making sure it is still easily read if the returns are lost.

 

[DrDwayneJohnson]

So after speaking with admissions offices from schools that rejected me last cycle, they all seemed to hint (one explicitly said) to write my W&A section in paragraph format. One also said they really like to see a couple of sentences in each section talking about what I learned and ostensibly how it was transformative.

Should I take their word as gospel or lean towards the brevity this thread alludes to?

 

[efle]

So after speaking with admissions offices from schools that rejected me last cycle, they all seemed to hint (one explicitly said) to write my W&A section in paragraph format. One also said they really like to see a couple of sentences in each section talking about what I learned and ostensibly how it was transformative.

Should I take their word as gospel or lean towards the brevity this thread alludes to?

How was it written the first time, bullet points? I think you can have both brevity and the reflective sentences they are talking about. Most of my entries were only a few sentences, there really isn't much room for more in 700 characters.

For example, an entry on a volunteering gig:

Volunteered X amount of time per week at Y hospital. The primary goal of the volunteer organization was Z. A shift usually consisted of A, B and C. I was usually able to work with the same inpatients across several weeks of their stay, [statement about what this meant to me / what I gained from this].

PM me if you'd like a more detailed example.

 

[sw2014]

A few questions that I have run into...

Is it okay to put my research separate from a poster that I have from research?
Is it okay to put semester research separate from a separately-funded summer research program, even if they involved the same research?
Is it worth putting a scholarship on there as an award?

Is it okay to not have 15?!

 

[efle]

Is it okay to put my research separate from a poster that I have from research?

Yes, you can put a poster under a "Posters/Presentations" entry and the actual research activity description as a separate "Research/Lab" entry.

Is it okay to put semester research separate from a separately-funded summer research program, even if they involved the same research?

If it is all one project, I'd list it under one entry, and just mention that it was a combination of full-time funded summer work as well as work for credits during the semesters.

Is it worth putting a scholarship on there as an award?

Was it a merit scholarship? Was it significant in terms of covering your education expenses, or was it just a few hundred dollars?

Is it okay to not have 15?!

Yes! Don't add fluff to just to hit the max!

 

[begoood95]

A few questions that I have run into...

Is it okay to put my research separate from a poster that I have from research?
Is it okay to put semester research separate from a separately-funded summer research program, even if they involved the same research?
Is it worth putting a scholarship on there as an award?

Is it okay to not have 15?!

The answer to your last question is definitely yes: it is more than okay to not have 15 activities.

The answers to your other questions, I'll defer to someone more knowledgable.

Edit: lol at me and @efle on the same brainwave posting at the same time.

 

[CyrusHabs7695]

If I were to group all my shadowing into 1 entry, would it be acceptable to mark this category as one of the 'most meaningfuls'? In the most meaningful essay I refer to all the experiences and why they have taught me the importance of communication, empathy, etc.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[efle]

would it be acceptable to mark this category as one of the 'most meaningfuls'

I don't think whether the activity is a related group or single one should matter for selecting or writing about your most meaningfuls.

 

[Mrd7889]

I was the president of a service organization and contributed a lot of community service hours being a part of the club. Should I list these under one entry or two separate entries since it is leadership and volunteering?

 

[efle]

I was the president of a service organization and contributed a lot of community service hours being a part of the club. Should I list these under one entry or two separate entries since it is leadership and volunteering?

List it as one entry, under community service, and simply include in the description that you were president.

 

[Mrd7889]

List it as one entry, under community service, and simply include in the description that you were president.

For the total hours, should I include hours doing service and presidential duties? Or just hours doing service since the category is service?

 

[Mrd7889]

One more question: For one entry, I have "Teaching Assistant for Science Courses". I was a TA in Fall 2014 and Fall 2016 for different courses. Should I use the repeat button and enter date ranges for each TA position? Or should I enter a continous range (August 2014 - December 2016) and specify the positions and date ranges in the description?

 

[efle]

For the total hours, should I include hours doing service and presidential duties? Or just hours doing service since the category is service?

I'm actually not sure on this one. How many hours were involved with running the club? I took a leadership position for my sports team senior year, but only estimated the actual practice and game hours, because the hours involved in running the club were relatively very few. I also only entered it once, as an athletics entry, and then just spoke about the leadership role in the description.

One more question: For one entry, I have "Teaching Assistant for Science Courses". I was a TA in Fall 2014 and Fall 2016 for different courses. Should I use the repeat button and enter date ranges for each TA position? Or should I enter a continous range (August 2014 - December 2016) and specify the positions and date ranges in the description?

Use the repeat function.

 

[lorian99]

I'm a non-trad and I plan to write about a few of the clubs I was in during college, but I don't know who to list as contacts for these activities as I haven't stayed in touch with any of the club members after graduating. Should I just not list any contacts for these activities?

 

[Youngm2194]

Does being certified in "Mental Health First Aid" mean anything? Like can I put it as a certification (it's valid from 2015-2018)? It's a legit thing I just feel like many people don't have it in comparison to "physical" first aid, and I took a class to get it. It's like first aid but in response behaviors related to suicide, depression, substance abuse disorders, things of that nature.

Mental Health First Aid USA

 

[brabaroni]

If I have activities where the contact would be my parent/family member, is that bad? My mom ran a dog training company that I helped train search and rescue dogs for, and my sister runs a non-profit that I worked with.

I was a private nutrition/diet coach for students at my school and in my hometown between years in college, but I obviously didn't have a certification to be doing this 'officially' but I also didn't claim to be official/certified. How am I supposed to count hours for an activity like this, and who am I supposed to list as a contact for something I ran on my own? A specific client..?

Thanks!

 

[efle]

I'm a non-trad and I plan to write about a few of the clubs I was in during college, but I don't know who to list as contacts for these activities as I haven't stayed in touch with any of the club members after graduating. Should I just not list any contacts for these activities?

You will be required to put something in the contact field, iirc. You can put yourself if you do not have the contact info of the old leadership, or you could put the info of the current leadership if the club is still running. Odds that whoever you put gets contacted for a run of the mill college club entry are extremely, extremely low.

1) I understand its okay to not have 15 activities, but what # would be considered "too low" or "inadequate"? I feel like I don't have enough.

2) Would it be okay to list shadowing experiences separately or do I have to lump it into one box?

3) If 2 of my most meaningful experiences were discussed in my PS (as in, I took a significant event from each one and used it to explain "why medicine") how should I talk about it for the activities?

4) Do you guys list Dean's list in awards? And if so, what should I write in the description? Just the dates/semesters awarded?

5) Would it be okay to list the EMT class I'm in right now? Its a big time commitment so I didn't really want it to go ignored
5a)If I am planning on volunteering at a rescue squad during my gap year, can I still list it in my activities? What if I don't get voted into the squad before submission?

6) How do you guys list your hobbies?

1) How many do you have?

2) People often combine smaller shadowing experiences into a single entry. I had two bigger, more longitudinal shadowing experiences in different specialties and I put each as its own entry.

3) I'd imagine just give a more full description and reflection on the activities, if in your PS you only mention a specific example and only talk about pushing you towards medicine.

4) Dean's list, PBK and Latins are all normal to list. You can just say something like "Dean's List (FL '13, SP '14, ...)"

5) You can indeed list activities that you have recently started, and it will allow you to put down future expected dates.
5a) You can list a future activity, but only do it if you are certain it's going to happen. You could also wait and use this in an update letter.

6) You just list them, as a "Hobbies" entry (Hobbies is one of the dropdown menu experience types).

Does being certified in "Mental Health First Aid" mean anything? Like can I put it as a certification (it's valid from 2015-2018)? It's a legit thing I just feel like many people don't have it in comparison to "physical" first aid, and I took a class to get it. It's like first aid but in response behaviors related to suicide, depression, substance abuse disorders, things of that nature.

Mental Health First Aid USA

Have you been using the certification for an activity?

If I have activities where the contact would be my parent/family member, is that bad? My mom ran a dog training company that I helped train search and rescue dogs for, and my sister runs a non-profit that I worked with.

Many people work for their family's business, shouldn't cause you any problems.

I was a private nutrition/diet coach for students at my school and in my hometown between years in college, but I obviously didn't have a certification to be doing this 'officially' but I also didn't claim to be official/certified. How am I supposed to count hours for an activity like this, and who am I supposed to list as a contact for something I ran on my own? A specific client..?

This one is tricky, I'd maybe wait and ask Cat when they're back in a week or so. I have no idea how admissions would view someone self-employing in the fitness/diet realm with no credentials. If you were 100% certain about including it, you'd just have to list yourself as contact.

 

[efle]

1) 10-12 is fine lol, I thought you'd say like 5 or something. Don't sweat it.

2) Did what you got out of the experience depend on the fact that the provider was a family friend? I'd probably not comment on how you got the shadowing opportunity, personally.

5) Ah gotcha, yeah that poses an issue because AMCAS requires that the start date at least be in the present. So if something was going to occur, say, August-Sept 2017 you'd need to leave it off right now and just send it as an update (or mention in secondaries).

6) Shouldn't be a problem.

 

[efle]

you think its still okay to list the EMT class right?

Definitely, since you said it's something you've already started. This is how I listed my gap year job, I was only a couple weeks into it but I put it down from summer 2017 - summer 2018, and 2000 hours. You can just put your best estimates.