*~*~*~*Official AMCAS Work/Activities Tips Thread 2018-2019*~*~*~*

[Gilakend]

I have non-clinical volunteering at 2 places, a homeless shelter and at a nursing home through a club I have a leadership position in. I was wondering which of these options you thought was best.

1. List them together at 1 activity under "non-clinical volunteering" and talk about both experiences and my leadership position
2. List them as 2 activities with one being "non-clinical volunteering" that contains both volunteering descriptions and hours and another activity under "leadership experience" detailing my role in the volunteering organization
3. List them as 2 activities but separate "non-clinical volunteering" for the homeless shelter and a club/EC for the nursing home one

Thanks!

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[Catalystik]

I have non-clinical volunteering at 2 places, a homeless shelter and at a nursing home through a club I have a leadership position in. I was wondering which of these options you thought was best.

1. List them together at 1 activity under "non-clinical volunteering" and talk about both experiences and my leadership position
2. List them as 2 activities with one being "non-clinical volunteering" that contains both volunteering descriptions and hours and another activity under "leadership experience" detailing my role in the volunteering organization
3. List them as 2 activities but separate "non-clinical volunteering" for the homeless shelter and a club/EC for the nursing home one

Thanks!

To help me better answer your questions:
-How many hours do you have for volunteering at each of the two organizations and also for the separate leadership hours (without double counting them)?
-What was your role in the nursing home?
-Would one Contact be able to attest to your involvement at both sites?

 

[Gilakend]

To help me better answer your questions:
-How many hours do you have for volunteering at each of the two organizations and also for the separate leadership hours (without double counting them)?
-What was your role in the nursing home?
-Would one Contact be able to attest to your involvement at both sites?

Through the organization I'm VP of we put on events where college students can interact and provide companionship to nursing home residents (i.e. "senior" prom, speed dating, bingo/board game nights, carnival night, etc.). As far as pure volunteering hours goes through the organization I would say I have around 100-150 I've been in it for a few years and would have to tally up the events. My role in the organization was essentially to fill out forms required by the university/nursing home, help plan events, ensure the events ran smoothly, coordinate transportation, and pretty much any other general thing. When we actually were at the nursing homes I would interact with the residents just like anyone else but also have some leadership duties. I have probably ~100 hours over the course of the year as VP coordinating things, doing required tasks, or attending meetings (not volunteering that was previously listed).

At the homeless shelter I probably will have about 50 hours by the time I apply.

They would be different contacts for each.

 

[Catalystik]

Through the organization I'm VP of we put on events where college students can interact and provide companionship to nursing home residents (i.e. "senior" prom, speed dating, bingo/board game nights, carnival night, etc.). As far as pure volunteering hours goes through the organization I would say I have around 100-150 I've been in it for a few years and would have to tally up the events. My role in the organization was essentially to fill out forms required by the university/nursing home, help plan events, ensure the events ran smoothly, coordinate transportation, and pretty much any other general thing. When we actually were at the nursing homes I would interact with the residents just like anyone else but also have some leadership duties. I have probably ~100 hours over the course of the year as VP coordinating things, doing required tasks, or attending meetings (not volunteering that was previously listed).

At the homeless shelter I probably will have about 50 hours by the time I apply.

They would be different contacts for each.

I'd suggest you go with #2. List them as 2 activities with one being "non-clinical volunteering" that contains both volunteering descriptions and hours and another activity under "leadership experience" detailing your role in the volunteering organization

 

[arizonapls]

I have a blog on which I write posts about and review skincare products. I am sometimes paid to review/share photos of certain products. I spend a few hours a week working on this blog. Should I list it on my Activities? If so, should I list it as Hobbies or Paid Employment non clinical? Thanks!!

 

[Catalystik]

I have a blog on which I write posts about and review skincare products. I am sometimes paid to review/share photos of certain products. I spend a few hours a week working on this blog. Should I list it on my Activities? If so, should I list it as Hobbies or Paid Employment non clinical? Thanks!!

How much money per week does it generate for you? Would you do it if you didn't get paid, because you think it's fun? Would you continue in med school?

 

[arizonapls]

How much money per week does it generate for you? Would you do it if you didn't get paid, because you think it's fun? Would you continue in med school?

The pay honestly depends on the company/product, but it doesn’t amount to a living wage (I have another, full time job). I would do it if I wasnt paid, which is how it began and would still continue into med school. So I’m guessing I should list as hobby?

 

[Catalystik]

The pay honestly depends on the company/product, but it doesn’t amount to a living wage (I have another, full time job). I would do it if I wasnt paid, which is how it began and would still continue into med school. So I’m guessing I should list as hobby?

Hobbies sounds good, and it doesn't require a Contact who can attest to your hours of involvement.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Hobbies sounds good, and it doesn't require a Contact who can attest to your hours of involvement.

Out of curiosity, do artistic endeavors require a contact? I have people I can list, but I haven’t spoken to any of them in a while and would have to try to reconnect.

 

[Catalystik]

Out of curiosity, do artistic endeavors require a contact? I have people I can list, but I haven’t spoken to any of them in a while and would have to try to reconnect.

Artistic endeavors are generally shared with a wider audience. You can always use yourself, if no one else is involved. Or a wife.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Artistic endeavors are generally shared with a wider audience. You can always use yourself, if no one else is involved. Or a wife.

Yeah, it was more than a hobby. I performed for audiences/money for about a year and a half, including recording two albums.

 

[Catalystik]

Yeah, it was more than a hobby. I performed for audiences/money for about a year and a half, including recording two albums.

Who represented you for the albumn? That would be a good Contact.

If you feel it would be too long ago to invoke that person, but you still engage in the musical activity for fun, you could still use Hobbies as a tag, since adcomms are more interested in recent events, but cite the backstory in the narrative.

 

[Lazy Surgeon]

Hey everyone!
I would really appreciate if someone could help me. I worked in the hospital X for more than 3500 hours. In different periods, I was a Surgeon assistant, neuroanatomy TA, research assistant, volunteer, nurse assistant, and a janitor there. Should I include all these activities under one large section in my application, or should I break that section down into the individual activities?
Thank you!

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Who represented you for the albumn? That would be a good Contact.

If you feel it would be too long ago to invoke that person, but you still engage in the musical activity for fun, you could still use Hobbies as a tag, since adcomms are more interested in recent events, but cite the backstory in the narrative.

I’m not on good terms with one of the acts I recorded with, and I represented myself on both. I haven’t spoken to any of them in a decade. It was definitely more than a hobby, but maybe that’s the best tag for it.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Oh, @Catalystik another quick question wrt artistic endeavors/hobbies: I write fiction and have had several pieces published. Should I put this as an artistic endeavor? Not sure who I would list as a contact. I could list one of the publishers I guess.

 

[Catalystik]

I worked in the hospital X for more than 3500 hours. In different periods, I was a Surgeon assistant, neuroanatomy TA, research assistant, volunteer, nurse assistant, and a janitor there. Should I include all these activities under one large section in my application, or should I break that section down into the individual activities?

It looks like you could fill multiple categories, ie, Employment-Clinical, Employment-Non Clinical, Teaching (why is a neuroanatomy TA employed by a hospital?), Volunteer- ?Clinical or Non Clinical, and Research. Unless you have something stronger in some of those categories, lumping them together would be a mistake. Nursing Assistant and Surgical Assistant could be grouped together.

 

[Catalystik]

Oh, @Catalystik another quick question wrt artistic endeavors/hobbies: I write fiction and have had several pieces published. Should I put this as an artistic endeavor? Not sure who I would list as a contact. I could list one of the publishers I guess.

The publisher would be an excellent choice as Contact. I'd agree with Artistic Endeavor. If you are running out of spaces you'd have the option of putting the music in the same space, but omitting a Contact since the publisher would fill that space.

 

[Lazy Surgeon]

It looks like you could fill multiple categories, ie, Employment-Clinical, Employment-Non Clinical, Teaching (why is a neuroanatomy TA employed by a hospital?), Volunteer- ?Clinical or Non Clinical, and Research. Unless you have something stronger in some of those categories, lumping them together would be a mistake. Nursing Assistant and Surgical Assistant could be grouped together.

Thank you! The hospital where (it is in Europe) I work is an Educational Surgery Center and belongs to a Medical University. I was TAing the Neuroanatomy seminars for MBBS students.

 

[buckoh24]

Would work experience where I was a trainer and trained members ranging from new store employees to new regional managers (I was just a crew member) be better off as just work experience or leadership? I held 3 jobs in college but only 2 had leadership. And should some jobs even be included if they were pretty short term (less then 2 months)?

 

[Catalystik]

1) Would work experience where I was a trainer and trained members ranging from new store employees to new regional managers (I was just a crew member) be better off as just work experience or leadership? I held 3 jobs in college but only 2 had leadership.

2) And should some jobs even be included if they were pretty short term (less then 2 months)?

1) You'd want to have one dedicated Leadership space if possible. It should be for the strongest of the leadership experiences, assuming it had a decent number of hours. But if you call it Leadership, the dates and hours should be for leadership only, not the preceding (or ongoing) related work experience (which could be entered into another space with its own dates, or grouped with another job, or just referred to in the narrative of the Leadership space).

2) Many students have short-term or seasonal work which is frequently grouped together to save space. Any that included a leadership role can be alluded to in the description and/or the name you give the space.

 

[buckoh24]

1) You'd want to have one dedicated Leadership space if possible. It should be for the strongest of the leadership experiences, assuming it had a decent number of hours. But if you call it Leadership, the dates and hours should be for leadership only, not the preceding (or ongoing) related work experience (which could be entered into another space with its own dates, or grouped with another job, or just referred to in the narrative of the Leadership space).

2) Many students have short-term or seasonal work which is frequently grouped together to save space. Any that included a leadership role can be alluded to in the description and/or the name you give the space.

Ok thanks. I did a mentorship for about 20 hours and then 3 jobs with leadership (one of them is my current research lab so Im listing that as research). Even though the mentorship was the shortest term but it was working 1 on 1 with helping them develop overall (life, academics, etc), would that be best to list as a leadership or just put it as teaching and group the 2 strong work strong work training positions as leadership? I feel that listing my positions as leadership instead of just paid work experience and describing the leadership in the description would be seen more positively.

 

[Catalystik]

1) I did a mentorship for about 20 hours and then 3 jobs with leadership (one of them is my current research lab so Im listing that as research). Even though the mentorship was the shortest term but it was working 1 on 1 with helping them develop overall (life, academics, etc), would that be best to list as a leadership or just put it as teaching and group the 2 strong work strong work training positions as leadership?

2) I feel that listing my positions as leadership instead of just paid work experience and describing the leadership in the description would be seen more positively.

1) Mentorship is considered to be closer to Teaching.

2) Go for it.

 

[realitysickness]

Hi everyone! I was wondering if someone could review and help me edit my ECs down to 15 activities as well as help me categorize my ECs... I am having a lot of trouble figuring out what would be the best way to highlight my activities especially since I believe I am lacking in explicit nonclinical volunteer hours and leadership.

1. Clinical Research Associate (2017 - current): Paid Employment - Medical/Clinical, Leadership, or Research/Lab?
- full-time job coordinating clinical trials (work with patients and providers.. this is the bulk of my clinical experience)
- trained new staff & in the process of designing new program within department (leadership component)
- since I am coordinating research activities for patients (scheduling appts, administering questionnaires, adverse events assessments, blood draws and lab processing, EKGs, etc.), it could also be labeled as clinical research but my role is strictly data collection (no data analysis or manuscript writing)

2. Terminal Cancer Support Group Co-Facilitator (60 hrs): Clinical volunteering

3. Steering group member (50 hrs without including time spent writing paper - current) - Other, Research/Lab, or Nonclinical volunteering?
- working with hospital staff from multiple departments and disciplines to implement trauma-informed care
- collaborating with team on editing hospital's ACEs (adverse childhood experiences) screening tool and ACEs screening workflow
- volunteering at hospital events to raise public awareness about ACEs
- conducting ACEs research with one member on team.. namely many hours spent writing review paper, now submitted for publication

4. Hospice volunteering (50 hrs so far - current): Clinical volunteering

5. Research Coordinator (4 years) at school: Research/Lab
- collaborated with professor in designing experiments
- created surveys, navigated IRB process
- recruited subjects, collected data via survey administration + biomarker collection
- led data analysis (stats + elisa assays)
- facilitated diverse student group involvement with project; mentored other research coordinators (should I split this part into leadership?)
- authored 2 abstracts

6. Research Intern at school (6 mos): Research/Lab
- survey programming and design, data analysis, epidemiology research
- authored 1 abstract

7. Medical Ethics Intern (1 year): Shadowing or Clinical volunteering?
- shadowed clinical providers in different hospital systems and departments
- participated in bimonthly reflections on medical ethics
- since we received course credit for this internship, even if I spent some time volunteering with patients (i.e. providing blankets, water, listening), I should keep it as strictly shadowing/clinical observation, correct?

8. Student Health Magazine Manager (2.5 years): Paid Employment Nonmedical/Clinical or Leadership?
- created and edited monthly content for digital health magazine
- mentored and trained next manager

9. Teacher's Assistant (1 semester of bio): Tutoring/Teaching or Paid Employment Nonmedical/Clinical?

10. Paid Summer Research Intern (10 weeks): Paid Employment Nonmedical/Clinical or Research/Lab?
- epi research, qualitative research, etc
- authored 1 abstract

11. Quality Improvement Intern (1 school year): Clinical volunteering
- conducted quality improvement projects in clinic
- served as volunteer clinic receptionist

12. Paid Health Care Administration Intern (10 weeks): Paid Employment Nonmedical/Clinical
- conducted data analysis for county hospital system
- worked with providers from multiple disciplines to formalize workflow of clinics

13. Public Health Researcher/Community Volunteer (50 hours): Research/Lab or Nonclinical volunteering?
- collaborated in creating walking group for low-income moms in local neighborhood near school
- spent time with moms and solicited their feedback
- developed evaluation measures (i.e. surveys)

14. Tutor for Student with Autism (3 years): Tutor/Teaching or Nonclinical volunteering?
- tutored student with autism in reading comprehension, writing, and social studies
- practiced communication skills with student

15: Physician Shadowing at local community hospital (50 hrs)

16. Student government senator (1 year): Leadership

17. Education conference organizer and workshop coordinator (80 hours): Nonclinical volunteering or leadership?
- collaborated in organizing educational justice conference for low-income students (conference topics included criminalization of brown & black children in schools (school to prison pipeline system), high stakes testing, budget cuts, preserving co-curricular programs, how to advocate and petition school board members)
- led workshop

18. New Students Program Coordinator (100 hrs): Paid Employment Nonmedical or Leadership?
- planned and executed several outreach events for incoming freshmen
- focused on outreach to nontraditional students

19. Posters
- 1 presented at local conference by PI
- 1 presented at international conference by PI
- 1 presented at national conference by PI
- 1 presented by me at national conference

20. Publications
- 1 published
- 1 solicited review submitted for publication

21. Honors & Awards
- Received 4 scholarships
- 1 conference award

22. Hobbies - Important to include or no?
- hobbies for myself (not done for larger audiences) including cooking and gardening

 

[Lazy Surgeon]

Hi, everyone! I would be really happy if you could, please, go over my experiences list and tell me whether it is done properly.

1. Clinical paid employment (I don't know how to tell the readers that this experience automatically also included shadowing). Clinical Undergraduate Intern at the Neurosurgery Department. Abroad. 1700 hours. I worked overnights and 24 hours in a row, sometimes, but don't know how to prove it except by asking my Supervisor to mention that in the recommendation.
-Assisting Nurses and Neurosurgeons as instructed. Changing bandages, recording biometrical parameters of the patients. Junior surgical assistant (participated in the surgeries as a junior assistant): permitted by the regulations of the respective University (in Eastern Europe).
Preparing the presentations for the patients. The presentations included awareness information about the type of the surgery that they were going to undergo, post-op coping strategies.

2. Research. Independent research project in using HIV Tat cell penetrating protein to deliver age-1 into the C. elegans worms. 200 hours.
Canadian University. 1 semester. Results are not published yet. The project presentation,

3. Research. Research Assistant at the Medical University in Eastern Europe. 500 hours. Roles included: translating written materials into English, analyzing statistical data for the papers on SPSS. Writing an independent project on comparison of high and low cement viscosities used for vertebral vertebroplasty. The paper is under review (Journal of Young Investigators). Now, I am starting another project on using Arduino-based triaxial inclinometer to optimize lumbar fixation.

4.Leadership. Journal of Young Investigators Lead Editor. 1.5 years. 2 hours/week. Edited more than 70 submissions, of which 10 were published. I lead a team of 8 copy editors and coordinate their communication with the paper Authors.

5.Leadership. Canadian University. 2 years, 2 hours/week. Organizing networking events for students so that they could find a 4th-year thesis supervisor. We are about to publish a second issue of the Journal.

6. Medical Volunteering. Kingston General Hospital. 1 semester. 2 hours/week. Providing company to elderly patients. Throughout the semester, I was assigned to help 4 patients.

7. Medical Volunteering. Eastern European Hospital. 3 summers, 300 hours. Supporting post-op patients Feeding them and providing mental support. I served to more than 100 patients.

8. Leadership, Unpaid. Canadian University Anatomy Undergraduate TA. 50 hours. The roles included explaining human morphology to 40 students using cadavers, anatomical specimens.

9. Medical Volunteering/Shadowing (don't know which one to choose). A private clinic (Eastern Europe). 1000 hours. Escorting the patients to the wards, examination rooms, providing food and water. At the same time, shadowing a GI specialist.

10.Volunteering, leadership. Canadian University, English Department. English language tutor for the group of 5 Japanese students. 1 semester, 1 hour/week.

11.Leadership. Medical University, Eastern Europe. Neuroanatomy TA. 10 weeks, 2 hours/week. Leading Neuroanatomy seminars for MBBS students (10-12 people in each group). Position gained after an oral examination by the Head of the Neurosurgery department.

12.Volunteering. Science co-op community. 1 year, 3 hours/week. Served in the Co-op kitchen.

13. Leadership. Canadian Undergraduate Conference on Healthcare Research Coordinator. I have just started working there (2 hours/week). The responsibilities include selecting abstracts for the conference, coordinating with URNCST journal to publish the conference abstracts.

14. Leadership. Neurogeneration conference case competition coordinator. 2 years, 1 hour/week. Preparing and running the case comp for the delegates.

15. Scholarship. -the full scholarship covering all Unversity Fees, by my home country
-Dean's list with distinction (3% top of the faculty)
-Principal's scholarship ($8000)
-Queen's Agora Public Speaing club in-promtu competition 2nd place

16. Sports. 3 years 1 hour/week. Intramural indoor soccer. Won nothing, but had a lot of good time.

Please, please, let me know which ones to fuse/eliminate/change. Just telling whether the overall structure is ok or not is also valuable.
I would really appreciate any suggestions.
I would be very thankful if @Catalystik could very briefly go through the list.

Sincerely,
LazySurgeon.

 

[Eagleye2]

hey i had a quick question regarding a job i accepted for the fall. I am going to be applying this cycle and have been tutoring at my college for 4+ semesters. Just this past month i have been promoted to be a supervisor for the tutors and will no longer be tutoring. As a traditional student i feel like it would definitely highlight some of my positive qualities but i dont officially start the job until the fall even though i have accepted it and it has been announced i will be the supervisor. Do you think i could still put this on EC's or leave it out?

 

[Catalystik]

hey i had a quick question regarding a job i accepted for the fall. I am going to be applying this cycle and have been tutoring at my college for 4+ semesters. Just this past month i have been promoted to be a supervisor for the tutors and will no longer be tutoring. As a traditional student i feel like it would definitely highlight some of my positive qualities but i dont officially start the job until the fall even though i have accepted it and it has been announced i will be the supervisor. Do you think i could still put this on EC's or leave it out?

Since you've already gotten the promotion, though the job has yet to start, you can mention the supervisor-elect position at the end of the description of the Teaching entry. It would not be appropriate to give the new job its own space.

 

[buckoh24]

Should I list my awards during my post secondary enrollment years (Junior/Senior Year of high school) all together. All of these apply to high school events (I did not run cross country, track, or soccer in college) So far I have the following (did not include the school names):

Post-Secondary Academic and Athletic Awards:


The following are awards and achievements that occurred during my Junior/Senior year of high school. During this time, I was enrolled full time (13+ hours) at the University of X as a duel enrollment student:


X Trustee Merit Scholarship

-Aug 2013-May 2017


X Cross Country Scholarship

-awarded May 2013 for leadership in academics, athletics, and extra curriculars


University of X Distinguished Student Program Award

-May 2013


University of X Deans List

-Aug 2011-May 2013, awarded 4x


Cross country/Track Team Captain


Top 50 fastest cross country runners in X school history

-Nov 2012

Academic/Sports Letter

-Academics 2x, Cross Country 2x, Track 2x, Soccer 1x

 

[Catalystik]

Should I list my awards during my post secondary enrollment years (Junior/Senior Year of high school) all together. All of these apply to high school events (I did not run cross country, track, or soccer in college) So far I have the following (did not include the school names):

Post-Secondary Academic and Athletic Awards:


The following are awards and achievements that occurred during my Junior/Senior year of high school. During this time, I was enrolled full time (13+ hours) at the University of X as a duel enrollment student:


X Trustee Merit Scholarship

-Aug 2013-May 2017


X Cross Country Scholarship

-awarded May 2013 for leadership in academics, athletics, and extra curriculars


University of X Distinguished Student Program Award

-May 2013


University of X Deans List

-Aug 2011-May 2013, awarded 4x


Cross country/Track Team Captain


Top 50 fastest cross country runners in X school history

-Nov 2012

Academic/Sports Letter

-Academics 2x, Cross Country 2x, Track 2x, Soccer 1x

Consider the following as suggestions made because I have no idea how much you are struggling with space limitations; they are not pronouncements.

If you are short on space, you can exclude Deans List, as your transcript speaks for itself.

You can consider excluding any award that was related to a HS team, unless it tells part of "your story". You could consider mentioning them in the same space where you discuss your sport involvement. Take out "top 50 fastest".

Consider excluding the scholarships if they did not require college-related (ongoing) efforts, and be sure to mention what the requirement for maintaining them was if you keep them in. (There is another part of the application where you can say what percent of your college education was covered by grant money).

 

[buckoh24]

Consider the following as suggestions made because I have no idea how much you are struggling with space limitations; they are not pronouncements.

If you are short on space, you can exclude Deans List, as your transcript speaks for itself.

You can consider excluding any award that was related to a HS team, unless it tells part of "your story". You could consider mentioning them in the same space where you discuss your sport involvement. Take out "top 50 fastest".

Consider excluding the scholarships if they did not require college-related (ongoing) efforts, and be sure to mention what the requirement for maintaining them was if you keep them in. (There is another part of the application where you can say what percent of your college education was covered by grant money).

Thanks for the suggestions. It comes out to 696 characters but this its just the quick draft so I will probably refine it a bit before submitting.

 

[diene_daily]

If I’ve been scribing for 2 years, but have been a Chief Scribe since January this year, would I put this under just scribing experience and talk about becoming Chief Scribe in the description? Or should I separate into Leadership and Clinical Experience?

Thanks!

 

[Catalystik]

If I’ve been scribing for 2 years, but have been a Chief Scribe since January this year, would I put this under just scribing experience and talk about becoming Chief Scribe in the description? Or should I separate into Leadership and Clinical Experience?

Thanks!

If you were to divide them into two activities, how many hours would you have for each, without double counting any of the time? Do you have another leadership activity to list?

 

[MissPi]

Hi there!

My question is geared toward the activity/ work section.

I have worked with AmeriCorps for 2 years. The program is community based at a Charter school. My position is an assistant teacher. Although we received a small monthly living stipend, a lot of the work we do is volunteer and community service. Which category would this experience most likely go under?

Thanks!

 

[Catalystik]

I have worked with AmeriCorps for 2 years. The program is community based at a Charter school. My position is an assistant teacher. Although we received a small monthly living stipend, a lot of the work we do is volunteer and community service. Which category would this experience most likely go under?

You may call it Community Service, as I believe it is stipended without SS, income tax, or Medicare deducted (tho eventually you have to claim the income). Even if you label it Teaching or Employment or whatever, AmeriCorps is widely understood by Adcomms to be a community service.

 

[Zharp]

For repeated activities... I've volunteered at the same place every summer for the past 8 years, AMCAS only gives 4 "start dates" for repeated activities, how should I go about listing this?

Explain my involvement as an annual summer position, or just fill the repeat section with various years/start dates?

 

[diene_daily]

If you were to divide them into two activities, how many hours would you have for each, without double counting any of the time? Do you have another leadership activity to list?

Chief Scribe: maybe at least 80+ hours
Scribing in general I have like 1000+ hours lol
And yes I have a few other leadership experiences

 

[MotherofDragonflies]

I tried looking through last years but didn't find an answer. This has to have come up before. Hoping to get clarification:

I was a nursing assistant (CNA/NAC) for about ten years. I worked with a couple of different companies. How do I categorize that? Paid Clinical, yes, but it's not repeating technically since it's different companies. Sometimes I worked for more than one employer at the same time. Should I list it as the full time range and then state "multiple employers over the span of 10 years, including while going to school" or something like that?

Thanks!

 

[Catalystik]

For repeated activities... I've volunteered at the same place every summer for the past 8 years, AMCAS only gives 4 "start dates" for repeated activities, how should I go about listing this?

Explain my involvement as an annual summer position, or just fill the repeat section with various years/start dates?

When you name the activity, make clear it was an annual summer position, then just list one Start and End Date.

 

[Catalystik]

Chief Scribe: maybe at least 80+ hours
Scribing in general I have like 1000+ hours lol
And yes I have a few other leadership experiences

Provided you have another dedicated Leadership space, I think you could go either way in how you list it, with the decision based on activity spots at your disposal and/or narrative space needed to describe the two roles. If you decide to use one slot, be sure the name of the activity mentions both roles.

 

[Catalystik]

I was a nursing assistant (CNA/NAC) for about ten years. I worked with a couple of different companies. How do I categorize that? Paid Clinical, yes, but it's not repeating technically since it's different companies. Sometimes I worked for more than one employer at the same time. Should I list it as the full time range and then state "multiple employers over the span of 10 years, including while going to school" or something like that?

Since you have multiple locations and contacts to list, don't use the Repeated feature. Title it something that suggests various Nursing Assistant jobs. I agree with using one timespan and Total Hours, with the most recent position in the Location and Contact spaces, then in the narrative listing the multiple locations and Contacts (can be the hiring office or pay office), with dates in reverse order, and subtotals of hours. You'll be forced to make your description brief (unless this activity is Most Meaningful), but fortunately adcomms will have a fair idea of what your job could entail.

 

[JugglesMed]

Hello my friend and I created an app and it basically helps people call taxis and preset designated drivers for when they have too much to drink. It also has some other features. Basically we made it for public safety and awareness to help stop drunk driving.
The app has over 80k downloads.
Should I include this in my app?
If so, just put it under "Others" and describe it? Or is it a "Community service" type of thing since it's helping the public.
Also, what category should a Mission Trip go under? Other or Community Service.
Thanks.

 

[Catalystik]

1) Hello my friend and I created an app and it basically helps people call taxis and preset designated drivers for when they have too much to drink. It also has some other features. Basically we made it for public safety and awareness to help stop drunk driving.
The app has over 80k downloads.
Should I include this in my app?
If so, just put it under "Others" and describe it? Or is it a "Community service" type of thing since it's helping the public.

2) Also, what category should a Mission Trip go under? Other or Community Service.
Thanks.

Does it earn you money? It could be Employment. Is it an offshoot of a computer coding hobby? Could be under Hobbies. Probably it's best under Other, where special projects and inventions belong, but if another category helps balance your application better, you can have a choice.

2) It's Community Service, either Clinical or not, depending on your role.

 

[JugglesMed]

Does it earn you money? It could be Employment. Is it an offshoot of a computer coding hobby? Could be under Hobbies. Probably it's best under Other, where special projects and inventions belong, but if another category helps balance your application better, you can have a choice.

2) It's Community Service, either Clinical or not, depending on your role.

Thanks.

Also for awards, should I just put May 2018 as the date since I am grouping multiple awards into one category and they were received within the past 4 years of college.
Should I describe any awards or just list it like

Presidents Honor Roll
Summa Cum Laude
Etc

 

[Catalystik]

1) Also for awards, should I just put May 2018 as the date since I am grouping multiple awards into one category and they were received within the past 4 years of college.

2) Should I describe any awards or just list it like

Presidents Honor Roll
Summa Cum Laude
Etc

1) By May 2018, you should have earned all the awards mentioned in the space, so that's a good date to use (if true). If you won't graduate before June 1, you won't have earned a diploma with Summa Cum Laude yet.

2) Many awards are self explanatory and need no description. If one of them is school-specific, explain it.

 

[mariposas905]

If we are using bullet point descriptions, is it better to write it in past or present tense? For example, I am currently volunteering at a soup kitchen and am putting this as ongoing on AMCAS. My description is currently like this:

• Help serve food to ....
• Assist participants with...
• Interact with...

I can't tell if this sounds weird or not...should I say it all I past tense even if the activity is ongoing?

 

[Catalystik]

If we are using bullet point descriptions, is it better to write it in past or present tense? For example, I am currently volunteering at a soup kitchen and am putting this as ongoing on AMCAS. My description is currently like this:

• Help serve food to ....
• Assist participants with...
• Interact with...

I can't tell if this sounds weird or not...should I say it all I past tense even if the activity is ongoing?

Since the activity is ongoing, present tense is fine. Just don't switch tenses back and forth within the same activity description.

 

[mariposas905]

Since the activity is ongoing, present tense is fine. Just don't switch tenses back and forth within the same activity description.

Alright thank you. Also, I am combining my teaching experience into one activity although I TA'ed for two different subjects and depts. Each has a different contact. Is it necessary for me to list both contacts - one in the main section and one in the narrative? Or can I choose one contact and go with it? I don't have much room left in my description, so I'm wondering if it is absolutely needed for me to list both names.

 

[Catalystik]

I am combining my teaching experience into one activity although I TA'ed for two different subjects and depts. Each has a different contact. Is it necessary for me to list both contacts - one in the main section and one in the narrative? Or can I choose one contact and go with it? I don't have much room left in my description, so I'm wondering if it is absolutely needed for me to list both names.

It is best to list both, so both have maximum legitimization. An alternative would be to list an advisor or faculty member aware of both gigs and willing to be your Contact for the two.

 

[mariposas905]

It is best to list both, so both have maximum legitimization. An alternative would be to list an advisor or faculty member aware of both gigs and willing to be your Contact for the two.

Okay...so I can inform one of the contacts of my other tutoring gig, so that then I wouldn't have to list the second contact?

 

[Catalystik]

Okay...so I can inform one of the contacts of my other tutoring gig, so that then I wouldn't have to list the second contact?

Yes, so long as this is an objective person (ideally, not your best friend or mom) willing to verify both your timeframes and hours.

 

[pbsdrinkingwhale]

So I have a dilemma... I have more than 15 activities and I need help trimming them down. While maintaining anonymity, they are:

1. Medical office assistant - full time 1 year
2. Awards at University X - range from academic to service to graduation ceremony
3. Study Abroad in Europe - 1 semester
4. Conference I attended
5. Research at University X - 2 years
6. translator at hospital
7. free clinic volunteer
8. shadowing physicians - 80 hours
9. leadership in frat (doesnt include gen membership) - 2 years
10. leadership in club a (doesnt include gen membership)- 2 years
11. leadership in club b - (doesn't include gen membership) - 1 year
12. tutor for freshman biology - 2 years
13. TA for psych
14. hospital volunteer (2 hospitals) - 200 hours
15. summer job - tennis instructor
16. summer job (differnet summer) - waiter and delivery guy
17. work-study jobs at info desk, gym

Two solutions I see, help me choose one:

• Scrap #3 (awards) and just explain them in the other descriptions.
• Consolidate all my summer jobs (don't want to do this b/c one is my most meaningful).
• Just omit stuff