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

[itsalwayssunny96]

@Catalystik I went through the entire Work/Activities Section now and I have quite a few questions that I've gathered:
1. I organized a trip to a medical school various times w/ a club. Do I mention the name of the med school or leave it out?
2. Do I need to break down ALL hours per week? I don't have room in the description for my ECs/Research
3. I founded a club on campus. Wondering if I need to put the impact I made (if it's not a MM)? Had to include description of what it is because it's not obvious and roles and duties involved in chartering club and afterward
4. Do I need to include impact for research experience even tho it's not a MM? I combined 2 research positions at my school so it's hard to fit everything in the description
5. Should I try to also combine another research experience that was an actual class about research at my school? I presented a poster at the end, but no wet lab/experiments were done, it was more so creating a poster from experiments already done...part of a freshman research immersion experience
6. Do I mention specific people's names (doctors/individuals) in descriptions or just say Dr. M and J.O. etc.?
7. I know I've seen this before but not sure what to label 2 paid tutoring jobs as whether paid/nonclinical or tutoring/TA/teacher..... I know it's supposed to be what best fits your application but I want adcomms to know that I worked for the entirety of college. Maybe I can put Employed Academic Tutor and put it under the tutoring/TA/teacher category?

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[freedoctor17]

@Catalystik I went through the entire Work/Activities Section now and I have quite a few questions that I've gathered:
1. I organized a trip to a medical school various times w/ a club. Do I mention the name of the med school or leave it out?
2. Do I need to break down ALL hours per week? I don't have room in the description for my ECs/Research
3. I founded a club on campus. Wondering if I need to put the impact I made (if it's not a MM)? Had to include description of what it is because it's not obvious and roles and duties involved in chartering club and afterward
4. Do I need to include impact for research experience even tho it's not a MM? I combined 2 research positions at my school so it's hard to fit everything in the description
5. Should I try to also combine another research experience that was an actual class about research at my school? I presented a poster at the end, but no wet lab/experiments were done, it was more so creating a poster from experiments already done...part of a freshman research immersion experience
6. Do I mention specific people's names (doctors/individuals) in descriptions or just say Dr. M and J.O. etc.?
7. I know I've seen this before but not sure what to label 2 paid tutoring jobs as whether paid/nonclinical or tutoring/TA/teacher..... I know it's supposed to be what best fits your application but I want adcomms to know that I worked for the entirety of college. Maybe I can put Employed Academic Tutor and put it under the tutoring/TA/teacher category?

I can't answer all these but for TA'ing I'd say Put as tutoring/TA and if you really want put in the description that it was paid. Most already know that these positions are usually paid though. Also for the doctor thing you can just use first letter of their name. That's what people suggested when I asked the same question.

 

[Catalystik]

@Catalystik I went through the entire Work/Activities Section now and I have quite a few questions that I've gathered:
1. I organized a trip to a medical school various times w/ a club. Do I mention the name of the med school or leave it out?
2. Do I need to break down ALL hours per week? I don't have room in the description for my ECs/Research
3. I founded a club on campus. Wondering if I need to put the impact I made (if it's not a MM)? Had to include description of what it is because it's not obvious and roles and duties involved in chartering club and afterward
4. Do I need to include impact for research experience even tho it's not a MM? I combined 2 research positions at my school so it's hard to fit everything in the description
5. Should I try to also combine another research experience that was an actual class about research at my school? I presented a poster at the end, but no wet lab/experiments were done, it was more so creating a poster from experiments already done...part of a freshman research immersion experience
6. Do I mention specific people's names (doctors/individuals) in descriptions or just say Dr. M and J.O. etc.?
7. I know I've seen this before but not sure what to label 2 paid tutoring jobs as whether paid/nonclinical or tutoring/TA/teacher..... I know it's supposed to be what best fits your application but I want adcomms to know that I worked for the entirety of college. Maybe I can put Employed Academic Tutor and put it under the tutoring/TA/teacher category?

1) Why did you go? Are any med schools closer to you than this one?
2) It isn't required to list hours per week, so I suggest you save it for when it helps explain a complex situation.
3) Including impact you made on campus would be desirable, if you have the space.
4) No.
5) No. No one will care about a poster unrelated to YOUR research..
6) Unless they are a Contact for an activity, best to anonymize the name.
7) You should have at least one listing under Teaching for a balanced application. Including the fact that you were paid in the title of the space is a good work-around to be sure the reader is aware it was a job, too. Many tutor, coach, or mentor as a volunteer, and you don't want that assumption to be made if it's not true.

 

[itsalwayssunny96]

1) Why did you go? Are any med schools closer to you than this one?
2) It isn't required to list hours per week, so I suggest you save it for when it helps explain a complex situation.
3) Including impact you made on campus would be desirable, if you have the space.
4) No.
5) No. No one will care about a poster unrelated to YOUR research..
6) Unless they are a Contact for an activity, best to anonymize the name.
7) You should have at least one listing under Teaching for a balanced application. Including the fact that you were paid in the title of the space is a good work-around to be sure the reader is aware it was a job, too. Many tutor, coach, or mentor as a volunteer, and you don't want that assumption to be made if it's not true.

1. I went because I was an officer of the pre med club at my school and thought it would be a good idea to organized a trip to a medical school within an hour of my undergrad institution.
6. He's not a contact since it was a shadowing internship, but wrote one of my LOR.
7. I have 3 tutor/TA experiences and put all of my combined TA experience under the tutor/TA category. I can put my paid experience as a tutor while going to school under the tutor category, but the last tutoring opportunity is for a web-site and I'm working as an independent contractor currently....just wondering how many is too many tutoring spaces? That would be 3 out of my 14 activities if I labeled them all under the tutoring category.

 

[Catalystik]

1. I went because I was an officer of the pre med club at my school and thought it would be a good idea to organized a trip to a medical school within an hour of my undergrad institution.
6. He's not a contact since it was a shadowing internship, but wrote one of my LOR.
7. I have 3 tutor/TA experiences and put all of my combined TA experience under the tutor/TA category. I can put my paid experience as a tutor while going to school under the tutor category, but the last tutoring opportunity is for a web-site and I'm working as an independent contractor currently....just wondering how many is too many tutoring spaces? That would be 3 out of my 14 activities if I labeled them all under the tutoring category.

1) I think you'd be fine to refer to it as "a local med school".

6) It would be fine to call him by name, in this case. Or not, as you wish.

7) While you could use three Teaching spaces (if the hours for each are strong enough to stand alone), or you could combine all three in one space, I'd look at in-person vs tele-tutoring differently, making it a reasonable choice to put two in-person experiences together and having the tele-tutoring stand alone (hopefully you have a Contact who can attest to those hours), while labeling one as Teaching and the other as Employment (or vv).

 

[itsalwayssunny96]

1) I think you'd be fine to refer to it as "a local med school".

6) It would be fine to call him by name, in this case. Or not, as you wish.

7) While you could use three Teaching spaces (if the hours for each are strong enough to stand alone), or you could combine all three in one space, I'd look at in-person vs tele-tutoring differently, making it a reasonable choice to put two in-person experiences together and having the tele-tutoring stand alone (hopefully you have a Contact who can attest to those hours), while labeling one as Teaching and the other as Employment (or vv).

Awesome, thank you. And they're strong enough to stand on their own... one is 430 hours, another is 150, and the one I'm doing currently will amount to ~ 90 by June 1st. Sorry, I should've added that the online opportunity involves both online and in-person tutoring, depending on the student.

I have more of a department than a personal contact (email and number included), but I could likely call them to get the name of a person in charge of the department, if you think that would be favorable.

 

[Catalystik]

Awesome, thank you. And they're strong enough to stand on their own... one is 430 hours, another is 150, and the one I'm doing currently will amount to ~ 90 by June 1st. Sorry, I should've added that the online opportunity involves both online and in-person tutoring, depending on the student.

I have more of a department than a personal contact (email and number included), but I could likely call them to get the name of a person in charge of the department, if you think that would be favorable.

If anyone answering the phone can attest to the timeframe of your involvement and total hours, you don't necessarily need a name. Instead you can fill in Tutor Coordinator, Payroll Office, or Personnel Department, or somesuch (in place of a name).

 

[sc0rs]

Hi,
Thanks for all this great information everyone. I was reading through the FAQ and I'm a little confused/conflicted.
I wanted to include being a mom as one of my activities. I read in this thread that it's not a good idea to do that. However, in the FAQ it mentioned demonstrating that working while attending school is a good trait to demonstrate. I want to emphasize that I'm a mom, full time student and have two part time jobs. It's also the biggest time commitment 'activity'/responsibility I have going on in my life. Not sure how to talk about it or address it.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Catalystik]

Hi,
Thanks for all this great information everyone. I was reading through the FAQ and I'm a little confused/conflicted.
I wanted to include being a mom as one of my activities. I read in this thread that it's not a good idea to do that. However, in the FAQ it mentioned demonstrating that working while attending school is a good trait to demonstrate. I want to emphasize that I'm a mom, full time student and have two part time jobs. It's also the biggest time commitment 'activity'/responsibility I have going on in my life. Not sure how to talk about it or address it.

Some mention it in the PS, some in the Activities Section, and others save it for Secondary essays. Many don't mention it at all. You might review some threads on the issue to consider the positives and negatives of including parenting on your med school capplication:

Listing being a father as an activity on AMCAS app

Mention child on AMCAS?

Is family an EC? (lol)

Anyone listing their kids as an EC?

 

[Prometheus123]

Hello @Catalystik, I would love your help with some tricky activities questions, if you're willing. It's not urgent, so it can wait until the weekend or after if you prefer.

I recently found a really great non-clinical community service opportunity. It's unusual, it matches several of the most important criteria, and it's literally a verifiable version of what I wrote my diversity secondary about last cycle, so I think it's a natural fit for me.

However, it requires 32 hours of training. The training costs $250. To attend the training, I would have to miss my current non-clinical volunteer gig two weeks in a row, costing me about 4 hours of volunteering (the impact on the people I serve should be minimal as there's someone who can cover for me). On top of that, the volunteer position is competitive, so I might not even wind up getting it. After the training, if I'm selected, I would get 2 volunteer hours a week.

The supervisor has told me that they would verify the hours but as training hours only, not as volunteer hours.

1. My question is, is it OK to count those 32 hours as part of the total hours that I list for the organization while listing the activity in the category "non-clinical community service"? If so, I should specify in the description that 32 of the hours were training, right?

2. If I do that, will those 32 hours count in the mind of a savvy adcomm member towards my non-clinical community service contribution? Or not really?


On a (hopefully) simpler note, I've spent about ~50 hours training new volunteers at the hospital and continue to do so.

3. Does this count as a leadership experience in your view? Should I list it as a leadership activity separately from my hospital volunteer listing so that it's clear that it adds to my leadership bucket? If so, should I subtract the listed training hours from my total hospital volunteer hours so I'm not double-dipping? Or should I just leave it as one listing and highlight the training hours as best I can? I should have ~325 total hospital volunteer hours by the time I apply.

 

[Catalystik]

Hello @Catalystik, I would love your help with some tricky activities questions, if you're willing. It's not urgent, so it can wait until the weekend or after if you prefer.

I recently found a really great non-clinical community service opportunity. It's unusual, it matches several of the most important criteria, and it's literally a verifiable version of what I wrote my diversity secondary about last cycle, so I think it's a natural fit for me.

However, it requires 32 hours of training. The training costs $250. To attend the training, I would have to miss my current non-clinical volunteer gig two weeks in a row, costing me about 4 hours of volunteering (the impact on the people I serve should be minimal as there's someone who can cover for me). On top of that, the volunteer position is competitive, so I might not even wind up getting it. After the training, if I'm selected, I would get 2 volunteer hours a week.

The supervisor has told me that they would verify the hours but as training hours only, not as volunteer hours.

1. My question is, is it OK to count those 32 hours as part of the total hours that I list for the organization while listing the activity in the category "non-clinical community service"? If so, I should specify in the description that 32 of the hours were training, right?

2. If I do that, will those 32 hours count in the mind of a savvy adcomm member towards my non-clinical community service contribution? Or not really?


On a (hopefully) simpler note, I've spent about ~50 hours training new volunteers at the hospital and continue to do so.

3. Does this count as a leadership experience in your view?
4. Should I list it as a leadership activity separately from my hospital volunteer listing so that it's clear that it adds to my leadership bucket?
5. If so, should I subtract the listed training hours from my total hospital volunteer hours so I'm not double-dipping? Or should I just leave it as one listing and highlight the training hours as best I can?
6. I should have ~325 total hospital volunteer hours by the time I apply.

1) IMO, you should not include the training hours (even if they are free of charge) in the total hours. You might mention them in the narrative, though. And at $250 a whack that is hardly "volunteer" time. Sorry.

2) No, they won't count.

3) Yes, this is a leadership experience.

4) You may, but only if the total hours allow the activity to stand on its own.

5) Absolutely do not double count the hours. If you leave them in one space, it would be fine to say, "50 of the above total hours involved training . . . ." You can further highlight the leadership component by adding that role to the title you give the activity.

6) Well done. How many training hours might you have?

 

[Prometheus123]

1) IMO, you should not include the training hours (even if they are free of charge) in the total hours. You might mention them in the narrative, though. And at $250 a whack that is hardly "volunteer" time. Sorry.

2) No, they won't count.

3) Yes, this is a leadership experience.

4) You may, but only if the total hours allow the activity to stand on its own.

5) Absolutely do not double count the hours. If you leave them in one space, it would be fine to say, "50 of the above total hours involved training . . . ." You can further highlight the leadership component by adding that role to the title you give the activity.

6) Well done. How many training hours might you have?

Thank you. Sometimes I need someone else to tell me the hard truths. I don't like the cost and risk of it, but the potential benefit is too significant for me to turn down. Also, it sounds fun and satisfying. As my friend the great mountaineer, artist, and writer Dasán might have said in this situation, sometimes, the only way out of a crevasse is to climb further down.

6. I'm not sure, but I've got trainings scheduled currently that will get me to ~64 hours I think. We seem to get a new influx of volunteers every quarter, so my guess would be that I'd get to at least 80 hours by next cycle, hopefully more.

 

[Catalystik]

Thank you. Sometimes I need someone else to tell me the hard truths. I don't like the cost and risk of it, but the potential benefit is too significant for me to turn down. Also, it sounds fun and satisfying. As my friend the great mountaineer, artist, and writer Dasán might have said in this situation, sometimes, the only way out of a crevasse is to climb further down.

6. I'm not sure, but I've got trainings scheduled currently that will get me to ~64 hours I think. We seem to get a new influx of volunteers every quarter, so my guess would be that I'd get to at least 80 hours by next cycle, hopefully more.

Is the two volunteer hours per week (after training) going to be included on an application in June 2018 or in June 2019?

6) Sounds solid enough.

 

[Prometheus123]

Is the two volunteer hours per week (after training) going to be included on an application in June 2018 or in June 2019?

6) Sounds solid enough.

Good point. June 2018, I'm afraid. I'd almost prefer to wait another year because there's so little time, but other stakeholders I'm responsible to would not be OK with that. So somewhere between 32 and 40 hours at best. Do you think that's too little to make it worth it?

6. Do you think it would be better to keep all the hours lumped together in one listing? Given that longevity and quantity of hours are some of the worst flaws in my application, maybe it would be better to have at least one verifiable, principal activity with reasonable levels of both?

325 - 80 = 245 hours. My only other leadership activity was Occupy Wall st community organizing. I'm hoping to get another one in March, but that's very tentative.

 

[Catalystik]

Good point. June 2018, I'm afraid. I'd almost prefer to wait another year because there's so little time, but other stakeholders I'm responsible to would not be OK with that. So somewhere between 32 and 40 hours at best. Do you think that's too little to make it worth it?

6. Do you think it would be better to keep all the hours lumped together in one listing? Given that longevity and quantity of hours are some of the worst flaws in my application, maybe it would be better to have at least one verifiable, principal activity with reasonable levels of both?

325 - 80 = 245 hours. My only other leadership activity was Occupy Wall st community organizing. I'm hoping to get another one in March, but that's very tentative.

-At the least, consider bumping your hours of involvement up to three per week, if you can.

6) As long as you have another leadership activity (designated as Leadership), that would be fine.

 

[Prometheus123]

-At the least, consider bumping your hours of involvement up to three per week, if you can.

6) As long as you have another leadership activity (designated as Leadership), that would be fine.

I will ask them after the training if I could do 3 or 4 hours instead of 2.

I will probably keep the clinical volunteer hours together and highlight the leadership aspect as you said.

As always, thank you so much for the invaluable advice.

 

[jconnell82760]

For my MME so far I have a supplemental instruction position for A+P and my job as an ED tech. I have a few options for my last one and I'm struggling with what to pick. Honestly they were both equally meaningful to me in different ways.
#1: Volunteering for Special Olympics and founding a Special Olympics club on campus to get other students involved. In this role I organized multiple theme nights at campus sporting events, having SO athletes come and playing a short unified game during halftime (where SO athletes play with non SO athletes), organized awareness campaigns that reached over 1,000 students, and spent time volunteering at SO activities. While I personally loved the experience, I'm not sure how much of it really solidified my decision to pursue medicine. I thought of it more as a way to give back through sports which had given me a lot in life. (only 100-200 hrs)

#2: 2 summer research internships and undergraduate research: undergrad production: 3 posters and 1 poster presentation at an international conference, 1st summer internship: only internal poster and presentation; 2nd summer internship: much more self directed, 1st author poster and solo poster presentation at international conference (getting LOR from PI). I loved the science behind the research and looking at the clinical applications, but I learned right away that research wasn't what I wanted to do because I was always more interested in the clinical application and how it would affect patients rather than the basic research aspect of it. This was more influential in my decision to pursue medicine, but I'm unsure how to best discuss that. (1,100 hrs)

Also: I'm struggling to combine the research into 1 activity character-wise and would rather not use up multiple spaces for it.

Thanks!

 

[Catalystik]

A. For my MME so far I have a supplemental instruction position for A+P and my job as an ED tech. I have a few options for my last one and I'm struggling with what to pick. Honestly they were both equally meaningful to me in different ways.
#1: Volunteering for Special Olympics and founding a Special Olympics club on campus to get other students involved. In this role I organized multiple theme nights at campus sporting events, having SO athletes come and playing a short unified game during halftime (where SO athletes play with non SO athletes), organized awareness campaigns that reached over 1,000 students, and spent time volunteering at SO activities. While I personally loved the experience, I'm not sure how much of it really solidified my decision to pursue medicine. I thought of it more as a way to give back through sports which had given me a lot in life. (only 100-200 hrs)

#2: 2 summer research internships and undergraduate research: undergrad production: 3 posters and 1 poster presentation at an international conference, 1st summer internship: only internal poster and presentation; 2nd summer internship: much more self directed, 1st author poster and solo poster presentation at international conference (getting LOR from PI). I loved the science behind the research and looking at the clinical applications, but I learned right away that research wasn't what I wanted to do because I was always more interested in the clinical application and how it would affect patients rather than the basic research aspect of it. This was more influential in my decision to pursue medicine, but I'm unsure how to best discuss that. (1,100 hrs)

B. Also: I'm struggling to combine the research into 1 activity character-wise and would rather not use up multiple spaces for it.

Thanks!

A. If your stats and/or application are more primary care focused, pick #1. If you are a good candidate for highly-selective research-oriented schools, pick #2. If you're still in the middle, pick the one for which you need the extra 1325 characters for description.

B. You are not obliged to include every research activity. Omit any campus poster presentations to save more space. Do use a Posters/Presentations space for the rest. Read post #2, item 20 of this thread.

 

[PressPforPi]

I spent about 20 hours helping tutor low income 3rd graders for a month in 2011. Is it ok to mention this? Or were the hours too low?

 

[Catalystik]

I spent about 20 hours helping tutor low income 3rd graders for a month in 2011. Is it ok to mention this? Or were the hours too low?

Considering how long ago it happened and the low hours of involvement, unless you can group this activity with some other short-term volunteering, I suggest you omit it.

 

[PressPforPi]

Considering how long ago it happened and the low hours of involvement, unless you can group this activity with some other short-term volunteering, I suggest you omit it.

I also volunteered with a nursing home for about 7 months along that same time as well for about 50 hours. Completely unrelated I suppose, but could I group the two together to save space?

 

[Catalystik]

I also volunteered with a nursing home for about 7 months along that same time as well for about 50 hours. Completely unrelated I suppose, but could I group the two together to save space?

One generally groups activities with the same category, meaning that Clinical and NonClinical activities don't generally belong together. You could still do it, but then you'd want to use the Other category.

Do you have some other, stronger experience of being helpful to patients for a Clinical activity? In that case, it wouldn't matter.

 

[freedoctor17]

If I'm part of an organization (with an officer position) and the organization won an award from the University should I list that with my awards/honors section or is that only for individual awards?

 

[PressPforPi]

One generally groups activities with the same category, meaning that Clinical and NonClinical activities don't generally belong together. You could still do it, but then you'd want to use the Other category.

Do you have some other, stronger experience of being helpful to patients for a Clinical activity? In that case, it wouldn't matter.

I do. Thousands of hours of direct patient contact/care.

 

[Catalystik]

If I'm part of an organization (with an officer position) and the organization won an award from the University should I list that with my awards/honors section or is that only for individual awards?

Mention it with the activity description.

 

[Catalystik]

I do. Thousands of hours of direct patient contact/care.

Excellent! Then "group" away.

 

[hopefulv3]

Hi everyone I have 2 questions:

1) I did a 1year clinical research gig senior year of high school. I was listed as a co-PI , filled out IRB work, and had patient contact, collected data, gave a report to my PI. Would this be worth mentioning?

2) I was heavily involved with prehealth organization at school. It had two components. One was leadership, leading weekly meetings etc. 2nd was community service where I organized and participated with various organizations such as vets home and head start. I have accumulated a lot of hours through this. Would it be better to mention these as separate ecs or put them into one section? Thank you.

 

[Catalystik]

1) I did a 1 year clinical research gig senior year of high school. I was listed as a co-PI , filled out IRB work, and had patient contact, collected data, gave a report to my PI. Would this be worth mentioning?

2) I was heavily involved with prehealth organization at school. It had two components. One was leadership, leading weekly meetings etc. 2nd was community service where I organized and participated with various organizations such as vets home and head start. I have accumulated a lot of hours through this. Would it be better to mention these as separate ecs or put them into one section? Thank you.

1) If you also did research during the college years that you plan to list, then it's worth mentioning in its own space.

2) If you have no stronger leadership role to list, and if the hours for each subcomponent are strong enough to stand on their own, then split the leadership and the service into their own spaces. Don't double count the hours. If you are tight on spaces, and/or decide to leave them together, then be sure to mention the service and leadership roles in the name you give the activity, but categorize it as a community service.

 

[ShinySephiroth]

When putting my application together, how do I categorize a pending patent? Is it under "other"?

 

[Catalystik]

When putting my application together, how do I categorize a pending patent? Is it under "other"?

Be sure to be specific about where in the process the pending patent is, eg, if it is submitted for consideration vs patent pending.

If you have a patent or patent pending, which is rare among applicants, it deserves its own space. You can use the Other tag. Some put it under Honors/Awards. And some might group it with other Honors.

 

[ShinySephiroth]

Be sure to be specific about where in the process the pending patent is, eg, if it is submitted for consideration vs patent pending.

If you have a patent or patent pending, which is rare among applicants, it deserves its own space. You can use the Other tag. Some put it under Honors/Awards. And some might group it with other Honors.

Thank you! It is pending as of right now and I hope to have it finalized by the time I apply to med school (I'm going to be applying the 19-20 cycle). It is for a medical device and I hope it'll help boost my app a bit!

 

[Erickem]

Is it acceptable to have 2 most meaningful activities instead of 3, with both being entirely unrelated to medicine? I attempted to write a third one, but it felt like embellishment.

 

[Catalystik]

Is it acceptable to have 2 most meaningful activities instead of 3, with both being entirely unrelated to medicine? I attempted to write a third one, but it felt like embellishment.

Absolutely fine for AMCAS schools.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Be sure to be specific about where in the process the pending patent is, eg, if it is submitted for consideration vs patent pending.

If you have a patent or patent pending, which is rare among applicants, it deserves its own space. You can use the Other tag. Some put it under Honors/Awards. And some might group it with other Honors.

So having a patent pending is worth putting on your app? That’s good to know.

 

[Catalystik]

So having a patent pending is worth putting on your app? That’s good to know.

I'd suggest entering it on the ERAS (residency) application, too.

 

[Valtun]

I'm a part of the honors college at my school which requires us to take extra classes, attend their events every year, volunteer every year, and complete a thesis our senior year. This thesis will be on the research I'm partaking in currently.

Will "honors college" be an activity on its own? Do I add it onto the "awards" section because I also have things like Dean's List I want to add as part of that category? Do I not list it at all?

Also, if I were to list Honors College, would the thesis be under the same category or completely separate (considering it'll be about 25-30 pages on research that I'm doing that has to be approved by a panel at my university)

 

[Catalystik]

1) I'm a part of the honors college at my school which requires us to take extra classes, attend their events every year, volunteer every year, and complete a thesis our senior year. This thesis will be on the research I'm partaking in currently.

Will "honors college" be an activity on its own? Do I add it onto the "awards" section because I also have things like Dean's List I want to add as part of that category? Do I not list it at all?

2) Also, if I were to list Honors College, would the thesis be under the same category or completely separate (considering it'll be about 25-30 pages on research that I'm doing that has to be approved by a panel at my university)

1) If you are a named member if an honors program each year so far, you can list it under Awards/Honors, eg, "Smith Scholar Honors Program Designee (or whatever), Freshman through Junior year." If, OTOH, the honor doesn't accrue until you complete all the requirements or at graduation, then you wouldn't list it as an honor (though individual subcomponents like community service can still be listed). You can include it with Dean's List, or not, as space allows.

2) Some list the experience of completing a thesis under the Other category. It can also be mentioned as an aside in a Research space about the same project.

 

[Valtun]

1) If you are a named member if an honors program each year so far, you can list it under Awards/Honors, eg, "Smith Scholar Honors Program Designee (or whatever), Freshman through Junior year." If, OTOH, the honor doesn't accrue until you complete all the requirements or at graduation, then you wouldn't list it as an honor (though individual subcomponents like community service can still be listed). You can include it with Dean's List, or not, as space allows.

2) Some list the experience of completing a thesis under the Other category. It can also be mentioned as an aside in a Research space about the same project.

Thank you for the response!

Another quick question I forgot to mention: I will be applying my junior year summer going into senior year (traditional) however will not be completing my honors thesis until near the end of senior year. Am I still allowed to include this in my activities and list it as being completed later on (i'll still be doing the research for it from now up until then but will not formally be completing the thesis until end of my senior year and depending on when my interviews are will have none/some/half/majority of it done)?

 

[Catalystik]

Thank you for the response!

Another quick question I forgot to mention: I will be applying my junior year summer going into senior year (traditional) however will not be completing my honors thesis until near the end of senior year. Am I still allowed to include this in my activities and list it as being completed later on (i'll still be doing the research for it from now up until then but will not formally be completing the thesis until end of my senior year and depending on when my interviews are will have none/some/half/majority of it done)?

If you're going to bring it up, since it won't be done or maybe even started at the time you submit the application, I suggest you mention it as a criteria for the honors college in your Awards/ Honors entry, rather than give it its own space. Also note that future start dates won't be allowed by the AMCAS application.

Instead mention it on Secondaries that provide an appropriate prompt.

Honestly, an uncompleted, not-yet-approved thesis is of little value to your application. The research it's based on is what will enhance your appeal.

 

[Dancing247]

Hello!

I apologize if these are redundant:

1. Capstone (like a thesis) required for graduation from a clinical doctorate program - Research?

2. Multiple professional licenses/certifications - Worth adding and under which designation?
A description is not necessary, I'm assuming?

 

[Catalystik]

1. Capstone (like a thesis) required for graduation from a clinical doctorate program - Research?

2. Multiple professional licenses/certifications - Worth adding and under which designation?
A description is not necessary, I'm assuming?

1) Is this hypothesis-based, scholarly, original research based on the scientific method?

2) They can be mentioned in the same space as the job for which they were used. If they can be presumed based on your profession, you can omit them, eg CPR for a clinician.

 

[LiftingMed]

For the volunteer contact information, what have people put when the contact isn't working there anymore or you don't have a way of getting their contact info? IIRC, you can just put your own and explain why?

 

[buckoh24]

1. Is it bad to leave off low commitment activities if reapplying and they were on the first app? Stuff that was 1-2 times and not many hours (less than 20)
2. Work experience that were short term also? I had 1 job that was during fall semester but It lasted 2 months. The rest lasted either 1 semester or longer.
3. I did post secondary for 2 years during high school (full time 14 hours each semester). Should I include activities from that time too (like sports, groups, awards, etc) even though its still *technically* high school?
4. When reapplying, should MMEs stay consistent? I have 2 new experiences that I have learned a lot from and want to make MMEs but they have only been over this gap year so far.
5. General question: is it best to merely describe the activity or should it be a mix of description and what I learned/grew from it? Even for non MMEs.

 

[Catalystik]

For the volunteer contact information, what have people put when the contact isn't working there anymore or you don't have a way of getting their contact info? IIRC, you can just put your own and explain why?

You always have the option of listing yourself, but keep in mind that your Contact won't be asked to provide a reference, just to confirm your timeframe and hours. So anyone in the volunteer office, a covolunteer, or someone from the site where you gave service is a better choice.

 

[Catalystik]

1. Is it bad to leave off low commitment activities if reapplying and they were on the first app? Stuff that was 1-2 times and not many hours (less than 20)
2. Work experience that were short term also? I had 1 job that was during fall semester but It lasted 2 months. The rest lasted either 1 semester or longer.
3. I did post secondary for 2 years during high school (full time 14 hours each semester). Should I include activities from that time too (like sports, groups, awards, etc) even though its still *technically* high school?
4. When reapplying, should MMEs stay consistent? I have 2 new experiences that I have learned a lot from and want to make MMEs but they have only been over this gap year so far.
5. General question: is it best to merely describe the activity or should it be a mix of description and what I learned/grew from it? Even for non MMEs.

1) It's fine to leave it off or to group it with other short-term similar activities.

2) Ditto.

3) Technically, there is no rule against listing HS activities, but any of them you include should make your application stronger. Feel free to ask if you are in doubt.

4) It's fine to change them.

5) Approach each activity individually. It fine for you to include any mix of information (description, role, impact, insights, future directions), and even to omit a description if it's commonly known. The limiting factor is space, so keeping it succinct generally prevents inclusion of all those elements unless you use MM designation.

 

[buckoh24]

1) It's fine to leave it off or to group it with other short-term similar activities.

2) Ditto.

3) Technically, there is no rule against listing HS activities, but any of them you include should make your application stronger. Feel free to ask if you are in doubt.

4) It's fine to change them.

5) Approach each activity individually. It fine for you to include any mix of information (description, role, impact, insights, future directions), and even to omit a description if it's commonly known. The limiting factor is space, so keeping it succinct generally prevents inclusion of all those elements unless you use MM designation.

So the HS activities I was going to include was: team captain/top runner of my cross country/track team, varsity soccer in the fall and club+olympic development team in the spring. Also got a cross country scholarship from my school, some honors group from the post secondary school, deans list all 4 semester+graduated with honors+National Honors Society while doing 3 varsity sports and working 20-30 hours/week.

So mostly sports related activities. Also volunteered at the local ski resort 8 hours a week helping the crew set up and maintain the terrain parks. I was really involved in sports in high school which is why most of my activities revolve around them. I figured they may count because I was technically a full time duel enrolled student at the time. Didnt do any outside academic groups besides some random math competitions here and there.

 

[Catalystik]

So the HS activities I was going to include was: team captain/top runner of my cross country/track team, varsity soccer in the fall and club+olympic development team in the spring. Also got a cross country scholarship from my school, some honors group from the post secondary school, deans list all 4 semester+graduated with honors+National Honors Society while doing 3 varsity sports and working 20-30 hours/week.

So mostly sports related activities. Also volunteered at the local ski resort 8 hours a week helping the crew set up and maintain the terrain parks. I was really involved in sports in high school which is why most of my activities revolve around them. I figured they may count because I was technically a full time duel enrolled student at the time. Didnt do any outside academic groups besides some random math competitions here and there.

Did you continue any sport involvement in the four-year school? Any of the other activities you mentioned? How many spaces do you anticipate filling with recent university-period activities?

 

[LiftingMed]

You always have the option of listing yourself, but keep in mind that your Contact won't be asked to provide a reference, just to confirm your timeframe and hours. So anyone in the volunteer office, a covolunteer, or someone from the site where you gave service is a better choice.

Thank you. Does volunteering for clinical studies have any place in the application? I did a postbac at NIH and participated in several since it was so convenient to do.

 

[Catalystik]

Does volunteering for clinical studies have any place in the application? I did a postbac at NIH and participated in several since it was so convenient to do.

If you mean you volunteered as a study subject, then no.

 

[buckoh24]

Did you continue any sport involvement in the four-year school? Any of the other activities you mentioned? How many spaces do you anticipate filling with recent university-period activities?

Well I was planning on grouping a lot of the post secondary experiences together. I have probably about 9-11 experiences from my 4 year but will probably consolidate 2 of them as the short commitment activities, put all my work experience as one. I continued snowboarding and run occasionally but transitioned to bodybuilding instead of running but I do running club from time to time but do bodybuilding about 5-6 days/week.