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

[Catalystik]

1) 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.

2) 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.

1) Sounds good.

2) So, the running is a fairly meaty activity that is ongoing (though occasional) and deserves its own space. Snowboarding can be grouped with other hobbies (unless you're referring to the resort volunteering), maybe with bodybuilding if you are short on space.

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[buckoh24]

1) Sounds good.

2) So, the running is a fairly meaty activity that is ongoing (though occasional) and deserves its own space. Snowboarding can be grouped with other hobbies (unless you're referring to the resort volunteering), maybe with bodybuilding if you are short on space.

I was actually on our college snowboard team all 4 years so I was thinking putting that as its own because of that so that and also mix that with skateboarding for the past 7 years. I did soccer for 14 years and play on our local team back home when Im there so I was thinking of mixing that and running to show they ere both ongoing varsity activities in college that I still partake in but at a much less serious level. And bodybuilding I may mix with yoga (took a yoga course one year and and practiced 2 years prior to keep myself injury free and help with flexibility). Sports have been a major role in my life but I also dont want to look like im trying to fill up space with it when I have stuff like clinical volunteering, research, and school groups. Idk if it will show that I was focused too much on hobbies+sports and not enough on clinical volunteering (cuz Ill have like 250-300 hours of that while having a ton if you count the multiple sports for multiple years).

EDIT: So for time breakdown I did cross-country/track since middle school. Varsity soccer+varsity cross country in the same season. Soccer for 14 years with playing on the state champ club team and regional runner up (decided to not play competitively in college). Ended school with 4 varsity letters in track, 4 in cross country+team captain+scholarship, 4 varsity letters in soccer, 4 academic letters. So lots of hours with those. Yoga for 3 years. Bodybuilding for 4 years. Skateboarding for 7 years. Snowboarding for 12 years+school team that competed in USASA competitions all 4 years. BUT the advice i was given was to condense all of this because it will make my app have a large emphasis on sports and to not have more than 1-2 hobbies in the activity section. Thinking that didnt really paint the full picture.

 

[Catalystik]

I was actually on our college snowboard team all 4 years so I was thinking putting that as its own because of that so that and also mix that with skateboarding for the past 7 years. I did soccer for 14 years and play on our local team back home when Im there so I was thinking of mixing that and running to show they ere both ongoing varsity activities in college that I still partake in but at a much less serious level. And bodybuilding I may mix with yoga (took a yoga course one year and and practiced 2 years prior to keep myself injury free and help with flexibility). Sports have been a major role in my life but I also dont want to look like im trying to fill up space with it when I have stuff like clinical volunteering, research, and school groups. Idk if it will show that I was focused too much on hobbies+sports and not enough on clinical volunteering (cuz Ill have like 250-300 hours of that while having a ton if you count the multiple sports for multiple years).

EDIT: So for time breakdown I did cross-country/track since middle school. Varsity soccer+varsity cross country in the same season. Soccer for 14 years with playing on the state champ club team and regional runner up (decided to not play competitively in college). Ended school with 4 varsity letters in track, 4 in cross country+team captain+scholarship, 4 varsity letters in soccer, 4 academic letters. So lots of hours with those. Yoga for 3 years. Bodybuilding for 4 years. Skateboarding for 7 years. Snowboarding for 12 years+school team that competed in USASA competitions all 4 years. BUT the advice i was given was to condense all of this because it will make my app have a large emphasis on sports and to not have more than 1-2 hobbies in the activity section. Thinking that didnt really paint the full picture.

Sorry I misinterpreted the depth of the snowboard involvement.

I agree it's wise to condense some of the sport involvement so it won't overwhelm the typical premed ECs too much. You'll want to emphasize somewhere the aspects of sport involvement that translate well into being a good med school candidate: teamwork, dedication, working toward goals, etc. As well as how they played into your choice of medicine as a career (if they did) perhaps in the PS or where you have a Most Meaningful essay space to expand into.

For time breakdown, you might consider use of the Repeated feature to have several timeframes in the same space, like before HS, HS, and college years.

Keep in mind, you don't have to list everything. Emphasis should be on most recent sport involvement.

 

[Dancing247]

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.

The capstone was a feasibility assessment regarding utilization of a certain service within the largest health system in an underserved county. Qualitative using the Snowball Method and Content Analysis.

 

[Catalystik]

The capstone was a feasibility assessment regarding utilization of a certain service within the largest health system in an underserved county. Qualitative using the Snowball Method and Content Analysis.

The experience of completing special projects, feasibility studies, or thesis-like papers is generally listed under the "Other" tag.

 

[Dancing247]

The experience of completing special projects, feasibility studies, or thesis-like papers is generally listed under the "Other" tag.

Thank you!

 

[Alohabeachgirl]

Should I list my Girl Scout Gold Award project in my activities list? I was a girl scout for 10+ years, and for my Gold Award project I built a children's library in Tijuana, Mexico. I also set up a small technology center with computers in the library.

The project took over 300 hours of planning and implementing. I feel like this is a huge accomplishment, but I did this during the summer before my senior year of high school, before I started college.

 

[Catalystik]

Should I list my Girl Scout Gold Award project in my activities list? I was a girl scout for 10+ years, and for my Gold Award project I built a children's library in Tijuana, Mexico. I also set up a small technology center with computers in the library.

The project took over 300 hours of planning and implementing. I feel like this is a huge accomplishment, but I did this during the summer before my senior year of high school, before I started college.

In general, listing an activity from the HS years that did not continue into college is discouraged, but as it's not uncommon to see Eagle Scout listed regardless of this guideline, I think it's reasonable for you to list this experience (though you will need to do more explaining). It would be stronger, though, if you have continued any level of involvement with the Scouts as an adult (which is something I say to Eagle Scouts who ask a similar question).

 

[Gilakend]

As the job began in HS, but continued into the college years, use the HS start date.

I had a quick question similar to this, I worked all through high school, then after senior year of high school I took summer college classes while working, then left shortly after fall semester freshman year started due to getting a job on campus. Would this job be worth adding? I wanted to add it because it showed commitment I feel (2.5 years) and many of my work experiences in undergrad were shorter as they were usually 1-2 semester gigs for the University.

 

[Catalystik]

I had a quick question similar to this, I worked all through high school, then after senior year of high school I took summer college classes while working, then left shortly after fall semester freshman year started due to getting a job on campus. Would this job be worth adding? I wanted to add it because it showed commitment I feel (2.5 years) and many of my work experiences in undergrad were shorter as they were usually 1-2 semester gigs for the University.

What was the job? What was your role? Did you have any similar job at the college location?

 

[Gilakend]

What was the job? What was your role? Did you have any similar job at the college location?

It was just an entry level job at a pharmacy, essentially a janitor with some maintenance work. I haven't had a similar job sense, it's not that it was an impressive role but I thought it might add perspective to my app and my background/SES situation, I probably accumulated around ~1500 hours over the 2.5 years. I started at 16 and continued until I got the other job on campus at 18 during the fall semester (my 2nd semester if you count summer).

I also didn't want my other jobs to look like I was fickle with my employment since most were either on campus jobs for a limited timeframe or summer gigs.

Thanks for the response!

 

[Catalystik]

It was just an entry level job at a pharmacy, essentially a janitor with some maintenance work. I haven't had a similar job sense, it's not that it was an impressive role but I thought it might add perspective to my app and my background/SES situation, I probably accumulated around ~1500 hours over the 2.5 years. I started at 16 and continued until I got the other job on campus at 18 during the fall semester (my 2nd semester if you count summer).

I also didn't want my other jobs to look like I was fickle with my employment since most were either on campus jobs for a limited timeframe or summer gigs.

Was there some level of trust required, related to proximity to medication and records? Were you a key holder?

 

[Gilakend]

Was there some level of trust required, related to proximity to medication and records? Were you a key holder?

I was responsible for disposing/destroying documents with medical information on them if that counts?

 

[Catalystik]

I was responsible for disposing/destroying documents with medical information on them if that counts?

Yep.

I think this will add to your application, even though you only worked there for ~three months or so after HS graduation. Be sure to mention the medical document destruction responsibility, which implies a position of trust maintained for a period of time.

 

[Gilakend]

Yep.

I think this will add to your application, even though you only worked there for ~three months or so after HS graduation. Be sure to mention the medical document destruction responsibility, which implies a position of trust maintained for a period of time.

Thank you!

 

[Catalystik]

Thank you!

Happy to help.

 

[Catalystik]

This is a wrap for the 2017-2018 Tips thread. For the 2018-2019 season, questions can be posted here: *~*~*~*Official AMCAS Work/Activities Tips Thread 2018-2019*~*~*~*