*~*~*~* Official AMCAS "Work/Activities" Tips Thread 2019-2020 *~*~*~*

[torontojagmd]

Hi Catalystik, thanks for helping out with all the questions in the forum. I had a few points that I was wondering if I could get some clarification...

1) I am a non-traditional applicant, and have 6 published papers and a textbook chapter, along with 3 conferences attended. I'm finding that I'm having to use 3 of the 15 spaces for this (2 for publications, 1 for conferences attended), not to mention 2 other spaces for the two research experiences that I've been part of. Do you have any suggestions to squeeze everything together? For example, for non-first author papers, would you include the phrase "nth Author" as opposed to the first few authors until your name? 2nd Author (2019). Does a history of violence predict higher antipsychotic dosage. Gen Hosp Psychiat [In press]. PMID: ######

2) Under the awards section, I need to group three awards together. Would it be okay to list the award and value, along with a one sentence description of the award criteria (merit based) and purpose?

3) Also, would memberships in professional societies be included under awards/ recognitions section as well? i.e. student member of the Society of Biological Psychiatry.

Sorry for the long post. I really appreciate your help!

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[Catalystik]

Hi Catalystik, thanks for helping out with all the questions in the forum. I had a few points that I was wondering if I could get some clarification...

1) I am a non-traditional applicant, and have 6 published papers and a textbook chapter, along with 3 conferences attended. I'm finding that I'm having to use 3 of the 15 spaces for this (2 for publications, 1 for conferences attended), not to mention 2 other spaces for the two research experiences that I've been part of. Do you have any suggestions to squeeze everything together? For example, for non-first author papers, would you include the phrase "nth Author" as opposed to the first few authors until your name? 2nd Author (2019). Does a history of violence predict higher antipsychotic dosage. Gen Hosp Psychiat [In press]. PMID: ######

2) Under the awards section, I need to group three awards together. Would it be okay to list the award and value, along with a one sentence description of the award criteria (merit based) and purpose?

3) Also, would memberships in professional societies be included under awards/ recognitions section as well? i.e. student member of the Society of Biological Psychiatry.

Sorry for the long post. I really appreciate your help!

1a) All the pubs should fit in one space. Here is an example of a super condensed format using PMID#. I encourage you to use PMID whenever possible as everyone doesn't have access via DOI. See if you can make this work for you, keeping in mind that you don't have to list everything. (Though I generally disagree with including submitted manuscripts, there might be a place for it when one wants to demonstrate super-productive involvement and has a proven pattern of acceptance).

Abridged bibliography in the following format:
Shortened Title; Shortened Journal/Book; Pubmed ID/Location/Status.

1st Author:
TSUP; BBA; PMID 22192777
Rhodopsin Superfamily; Nature; Submitted
Efflux Proteins: Microbial Efflux Pumps; Horizon Scientific Press; Accepted (date)
Lead and Mercury Transporters (2 articles); Encycl. of Metalloproteins; ISBN 978-1-4614-1532-9 Jan. '13
MFS; FEBS J; PMID 22458847

2nd Author:
PTS; ELS; Search PTS on www.els.net
Transp. Protein Evol.; Protein Families; Accepted (date).

Co-author:
Phylogenetic char.; JMMB; PMID 22286036
APC; JMMB; PMID 22627175
Transposons; Mutagenesis; Accepted (date)
Mer; WASP; Accepted (date).

b) Conferences Attended: You probably won't need this unless you were a keynote speaker, received major recognition, were an organizer, or held some other leadership role. If the conference gave you an opportunity to do a poster or podium presentation, that should be listed elsewhere tagged with a label where application screeners can easily find it (Presentations/Posters), with the name of the conference included.

c) Another suggestion would be to make Research a MM space and put both research experiences together in one slot.

2) Yes. Try to give some suggestion of how competitive the award was.

3) Consider omitting it, unless you provide leadership within the organization, in which case it goes under Leadership. If you are active in an affiliated organization on campus and feel it adds to your candidacy, you'd discuss it as an Extracurricular. Feel free to give me another reason why it should be included. Phi Beta Kappa would be an exception as it's universally recognizable.

 

[torontojagmd]

1a) All the pubs should fit in one space. Here is an example of a super condensed format using PMID#. I encourage you to use PMID whenever possible as everyone doesn't have access via DOI. See if you can make this work for you, keeping in mind that you don't have to list everything. (Though I generally disagree with including submitted manuscripts, there might be a place for it when one wants to demonstrate super-productive involvement and has a proven pattern of acceptance).

b) Conferences Attended: You probably won't need this unless you were a keynote speaker, received major recognition, were an organizer, or held some other leadership role. If the conference gave you an opportunity to do a poster or podium presentation, that should be listed elsewhere tagged with a label where application screeners can easily find it (Presentations/Posters), with the name of the conference included.

c) Another suggestion would be to make Research a MM space and put both research experiences together in one slot.

2) Yes. Try to give some suggestion of how competitive the award was.

3) Consider omitting it, unless you provide leadership within the organization, in which it goes under Leadership. If you are active in an affiliated organization on campus and feel it adds to your candidacy, you'd discuss it as an Extracurricular. Feel free to give me another reason why it should be included. Phi Beta Kappa would be an exception as it's universally recognizable.

Thank you for the clarifications!!!

 

[Catalystik]

I'm an ROTC student, so I'll be commissioning as an officer in a year, and I want to be a military physician.
This summer I'm an AMEDD intern and was assigned to the clinical psych unit for an infantry brigade.

My question is whether to include this on apps since it didn't begin until this summer, and also because while I have shadowed the MD, I am also following around those with PsyD and the chief on his admin duties. If I can't put it under shadowing I'll list it as something else though because its been super interesting.

While you could mention PsyD shadowing in a Shadowing entry, it shouldn't dominate over the physician shadowing you include on your application. An alternative would be to list the entire multi-component Internship under the "Other" tag and list all the included activities there.

 

[Catalystik]

A year ago, I did an internship with my state rep. I did some clerical work, but also spent a lof of time directing constituents to services (for health, housing, employment, etc) since I live in a disadvantaged district.

It was a really amazing experience and it ties into the story I’m telling in my app, so I would like to include it - although I’m open to feedback about this since the ‘’political’’ nature of the job may be a turnoff.

Should I include it and categorize this as non-clinical volunteering? It was unpaid, and definitely not clinical, but it also wasn’t really leadership.

Most Internships are listed under the "Other" category, as they tend to include components across multiple categories. If you want to list all the hours in which you participated in the Internship, use that category. I'm sure you could downtone the political rhetoric so you don't annoy half the folks reading your application.

If you want to list the "directing constituents to needed services" component on its own under Volunteer-Not Medical/Clinical, you'd need to carve out (or estimate) those hours and list them on their own. If you are short on volunteer hours, this would be the better category to pick, so the community service aspect isn't overlooked.

 

[Catalystik]

Every Sunday, some friends and I went and sung for a rehab center and nursing home. Afterward, we would sit and visit with them. We spent at least an hour at each location. It wasn’t through any particular organization. At the beginning, we had just heard of people going and started going as well and then we kept the tradition alive.

I can put the names of the facilities on there, but I wouldn’t know what to put for contact names.

Use one of the co-vocalist friends with whom you sang. They would have a more global view of your involvement compared to a single facility administrator.

 

[Meticulouslykiwi]

I’m in the same position as the user in the link below, except that my family owns a different type of ethnic restaurant. I’ve worked as a waitress, packer, and front desk since 14 years old. I was considered as the assistant manager from 17 years old.

During college, I still work Fridays and Saturdays (sometimes Sundays) for about 20-30 hours for no pay. Any suggestions on how to list this experience please?

Also, would adcoms look negatively or neutrally at this particular experience?

@LizzyM @Goro

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[Goro]

I’m in the same position as the user in the link below, except that my family owns a different type of ethnic restaurant. I’ve worked as a waitress, packer, and front desk since 14 years old. I was considered as the assistant manager from 17 years old.

During college, I still work Fridays and Saturdays (sometimes Sundays) for about 20-30 hours for no pay. Any suggestions on how to list this experience please?

Also, would adcoms look negatively or neutrally at this particular experience?

@LizzyM @Goro

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Employment is always positive

 

[LizzyM]

I’m in the same position as the user in the link below, except that my family owns a different type of ethnic restaurant. I’ve worked as a waitress, packer, and front desk since 14 years old. I was considered as the assistant manager from 17 years old.

During college, I still work Fridays and Saturdays (sometimes Sundays) for about 20-30 hours for no pay. Any suggestions on how to list this experience please?

Also, would adcoms look negatively or neutrally at this particular experience?

@LizzyM @Goro

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Call it "other". Describe it as "worked in my family's restaurant as a waitress, packer, receptionist, working my way up to the role of assistant manager. for dates go with 2012 (or whatever year you were 14) to whenever you stopped working there.

I worked in my parents' retail business from a very young age and I served on the adcom with two others who had experience with parents' retail establishments. Service industry jobs helps to build people skills that are very valuable in medicine. The restaurant business (which I have worked in as well) does help one build teamwork skills.

 

[Meticulouslykiwi]

Employment is always positive

Thank you!!

 

[Meticulouslykiwi]

Call it "other". Describe it as "worked in my family's restaurant as a waitress, packer, receptionist, working my way up to the role of assistant manager. for dates go with 2012 (or whatever year you were 14) to whenever you stopped working there.

I worked in my parents' retail business from a very young age and I served on the adcom with two others who had experience with parents' retail establishments. Service industry jobs helps to build people skills that are very valuable in medicine. The restaurant business (which I have worked in as well) does help one build teamwork skills.

Thank you so much!

 

[Catalystik]

I’m in the same position as the user in the link below, except that my family owns a different type of ethnic restaurant. I’ve worked as a waitress, packer, and front desk since 14 years old. I was considered as the assistant manager from 17 years old.

During college, I still work Fridays and Saturdays (sometimes Sundays) for about 20-30 hours for no pay. Any suggestions on how to list this experience please?

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Consider breaking the activity into multiple timeframes using the Repeated feature that AMCAS offers, using dates from age 14 to HS graduation and then dates during the college years. Add a third timeframe for future hours that you're sure of, if you like. Adcomms will be more interested in the total hours spent working during the college years, but all time spans will appear at the top of the entry where it's easy to see. You could include the Assistant Manager position in the name you give the activity so it's not missed. Explain the changes in work hours per week or time of year in the narrative, as well as when you got the promotion.

Even though you received no salary, you may have gotten other compensation, like a place to live, food, and help with college expenses, so IMO, you also have the option of using Employment - Not Medical/Clinical as the tag you give the space.

 

[Catalystik]

So to be clear, this is not a clinical/medical experience aboard. I am in a European country for two months and have been working in a food kitchen. I think I have escaped to woes of voluntourism because I am here for a long time and it is work I am qualified to do. In total, I will have worked 120 hours. I am also taking a psychology class so it is not just volunteering.

My point is studying abroad will not be the highlight of my application by any means. I have other things to showcase. However, I really think this has been a unique and valuable experience and I want to know how to showcase that to adcoms.

For the AMCAS application, you might enter the food kitchen experience under Volunteer/Community Service - Not Medical Clinical with its dates and total hours. Be sure to save the Contact information (email) for someone who can vouch for your timeframe and hours.

For the Study Abroad experience of living internationally, you can use an "Other" space to describe it and the value/impact you'd like to communicate. For total hours, include the time you were out in the community (not class time, which is accounted for on your transcript). Don't double count the volunteer hours. Your college registrar can be your Contact, assuming the college credit will transfer to your US institution.

 

[penicillinman]

Hello, I am a non traditional applicant and have been out of school for about 10 years now. I have two questions:

1) I am a pharmacist and have had several jobs over the last 10 years ( about 6, two of which where just part time side jobs where I would fill in shifts at other hospitals on my days off). With the limited entries available, do i list all these jobs? I also had at least three different jobs while in college. Would it hurt to leave those out?

2) I have very few extracurriculars after I finished school but I have quite a few from when I was in school. So these activities were done at least, 10-15 years ago. They helped me quite a lot to be who I am now so I feel like I should include these, the problem is that I have no contact details for these other than one of my friends who had done at least a few of these activities with me. For context, these where activities such as volunteering at a nursing home, being involved in student pharmaceutical associations where we organized several community events, participating in local health fairs etc. So would it look bad if I least the same friend for many of these activities ?
Thank you for taking the time to read my post.

 

[Catalystik]

Hello, I am a non traditional applicant and have been out of school for about 10 years now. I have two questions:

1) I am a pharmacist and have had several jobs over the last 10 years ( about 6, two of which where just part time side jobs where I would fill in shifts at other hospitals on my days off). With the limited entries available, do i list all these jobs? I also had at least three different jobs while in college. Would it hurt to leave those out?

2) I have very few extracurriculars after I finished school but I have quite a few from when I was in school. So these activities were done at least, 10-15 years ago. They helped me quite a lot to be who I am now so I feel like I should include these, the problem is that I have no contact details for these other than one of my friends who had done at least a few of these activities with me. For context, these where activities such as volunteering at a nursing home, being involved in student pharmaceutical associations where we organized several community events, participating in local health fairs etc. So would it look bad if I least the same friend for many of these activities ?

1) It isn't necessary to list every job. You can possibly condense your pharmacy positions to 1-2 spaces, if you like, emphasizing what has happened most recently.

2) Many nontrads will use as little as one space to summarize in bullet points their most important collegiate activities, (which can include jobs in a highly-compacted one-sentence summary, if you like). Providing one Contact for this space, which could be yourself, would be fine.

 

[Meticulouslykiwi]

Consider breaking the activity into multiple timeframes using the Repeated feature that AMCAS offers, using dates from age 14 to HS graduation and then dates during the college years. Add a third timeframe for future hours that you're sure of, if you like. Adcomms will be more interested in the total hours spent working during the college years, but all time spans will appear at the top of the entry where it's easy to see. You could include the Assistant Manager position in the name you give the activity so it's not missed. Explain the changes in work hours per week or time of year in the narrative, as well as when you got the promotion.

Even though you received no salary, you may have gotten other compensation, like a place to live, food, and help with college expenses, so IMO, you also have the option of using Employment - Not Medical/Clinical as the tag you give the space.

Thank you for the thorough answer. I appreciate it!

 

[PreDPTnovice]

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[Catalystik]

In 2017 I worked for a small SAT tutoring company and completed 30 hours of certification time and taught a 10 hour course for them. They had limited opportunities and I couldn't secure more work, so in 2018 I was hired and certified by a popular national company to teach SAT (38 hour training). At the same time I accepted a new job that took up a large part of my schedule and have not been able to teach a course for them, though still have option to.

Should I include this and total training time in total hours (roughly 78)...or leave out since hours in front of a class are 10. Does it seem flakey or does it elude to teaching skills that companies have recognized and validated?

While I don't suggest including the training hours in the header, I think it's fair to include relevant classroom prep time (which usually doubles the "Total Hours" for teaching). I do think it would be reasonable to mention the certification training hours in your description. Be sure to mention the breakdown of hours for prep time as otherwise your Contact's validation won't match your reported hours.

That said, this activity doesn't make a very substantial entry. You might consider grouping it with another Teaching experience.

 

[PreDPTnovice]

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[Catalystik]

@Catalystik Thank you so much for your insight! I have maxed out my character count for another academic tutoring position. Would it be strange to include this with my experience as an aerobics instructor under "Teaching".

It would be fine to put those two together. Be sure to give a subtotal of hours for each in the narrative.

 

[Catalystik]

1) If I have volunteered at a hospital since I was a freshman, but it three different departments, how should I include this in my description? Should I do it like shadowing, where you list the different departments? Or should I describe it like a narrative?

2) Also, if I plan to continue volunteering, can I just make my end date in 2020 and include this hours?

1) If your duties were similar, just list each department in on sentence then go on to describe your role in narrative format. If your duties varied, then a bulleted list with more description after each heading would be appropriate.

2) You need to make clear the difference between completed and projected hours.

 

[Catalystik]

Follow Up: If I am teaching a course next semester that I came up with the idea for, wrote the syllabus for, and will be teaching and grading myself, is this leadership or teaching? Also, what would be an appropriate experience name for this?

AMCAS doesn't allow the inclusion of future activities. The program won't accept a future date and you won't begin to teach until the fall term. But you have begun the organizational process. Was it competitive to be chosen? Maybe you could list it under Awards, Honors, Recognitions that your idea was selected?

 

[Catalystik]

Yah, I have been working with a professor to plan the course for a year now. It was not something one could apply for, I had to directly bring the idea to the director and will be one of the first few undergrads to do this. I have like zero awards so if that would work it would be great

Maybe call it Educational Innovation? Describe what gave you the idea, selling it to the Director, etc, and go from there.

 

[Catalystik]

Also, how can we list multiple awards under one? What should we put for the contact info and date?

Yes. Use the Registrar as the Contact.

 

[Catalystik]

how would you make the difference between completed and projected hours clear? I have been kind of lumping all my hours together rather than doing repeated, is this a problem?

Either a) use the Repeated feature to divide the completed vs projected hours by using the current month for both the end date for timeframe #1 and the start date for time frame #2 (both timeframes appear in the header with their separate total hours), or
b) add to the narrative the number of completed vs projected hours, or
c) enter only the completed dates and hours in the header and mention your plan for continuing the activity in the narrative for X hours per week until ??? (best to use if you are not certain when you'll quit).

It's best to be as transparent about your completed hours as possible.

 

[Catalystik]

1) I am grouping together all my psych research experience, and I worked at the labs during overlapping times and plan to continue working in both. Do I have to include contact info for both PIs?
2) Is it ok just to do a combined amount of hours? I am going to be struggling for space as it is

1) Yes, it's important that you do, or you devalue the experience. Alternatively, you can omit one of the labs completely (maybe mention the second one in a Secondary essay). You aren't obliged to include everything.

2) In the header you can put the combined total completed hours. Use an end date of this month. At the beginning of each lab description put a subtotal of completed hours, like (120 hr).

 

[Catalystik]

Thank you. Does designing a methodology for a study that will take place in the Fall constitute its own space or should it be combined under psychology research?

As the study is a future event, and as you are already space-impaired, I suggest saving it for fall update letters after you have the project going.

 

[Catalystik]

i was also going to combine all my biology/basic science research. I just started a research internship at a pretty prestigious place that i really want to include, and it is also more computer science research... can i include this as its own or should i lump it with another category? I will have a project by the end of the summer

You can put it in its own space if you like, but having just started there's not much you can say that will benefit your application. Maybe it would be best to tack it onto another research entry if you can fit it in. You get to decide.

 

[Catalystik]

how much do you recommend writing for each research experience?

It depends on how much space is at your disposal, especially if you enter more than one lab/project in a space. Start with a lay person's explanation of the project purpose (so the adcomm with a PhD in Bioethics can understand it). Add your role, what you learned, then either branch off into professional jargon, or alternatively add an impact/insights statement. You might include something about teamwork in there and motivation for involvement. Campus presentations can be added. Some include submitted manuscripts (which I don't recommend). If you make it a MM space, obviously you can include a lot more detail.

Applicants often go into far too much detail about research, way over the level needed for evaluators to understand it. More importantly, the content, the data, the actual work you did is almost meaningless to the decision both whether you should be admitted to medical school or be a physician. What Adcoms need to see from any activity is what does it say about you as a person and characteristics that would be applied as a physician. Are you intellectually curious? Do you have motivation and commitment to a project? Can you both work in a team and be a leader? Can you understand, integrate, synthesize, and ultimately apply information?

 

[Catalystik]

1) if I am doing an awards section and am just listing all awards, could I include significant high school achievements, like valedictorian or highest grade on an AP exam in the country? I know high school is not very significant, but if I am already listing awards, would this hurt me?

2) Also, if I don't have fantastic awards (deans list, finalist in speaking/essay comps, honor societies, presidential honor roll,etc...) is this even worth being a section? I feel weird without including any awards at all. Can I include tuition scholarships, such as Florida Bright Futures or a merit-based scholarship I got for college?

1) Don't add HS recognitions. It's noncontributory fluff and will work against you.

2) You don't need an Awards space. Tuition scholarships should only be included if based on college merit, or require college-based benchmarks to renew it from year to year (in which case you need to say what those are).

 

[Catalystik]

In terms of a hobby space, is something like having a very very large book collection worth including?

You would need to make it into more of a story. What started this interest? Do you collect any specific genres? Why do you collect them? How do you find them? The point is to make it sound so interesting that I'd want to invite you to an interview to hear more.

 

[Catalystik]

I have a full time job that I committed to but was also accepted to a professional symphony orchestra. I assumed that it will be part time(they never specified and most orchestra groups that I know of rehearse 1-2 times a week) and it conflicts with my other job. As a result, I have to turn the symphony job down. I am wondering if it is still worth including this in my AMCAS even though I cannot participate in it as audition took months and months of practice and was very very lucky to get picked. Thanks

You might mention it in the same Artistic Endeavors entry relating your other musical involvement, but in one sentence that includes the outcome of being unable to accept the job offer.

 

[mwsapphire]

I'm about to submit my AMCAS/ACOMAS primaries at the end of this week for verification. For time ranges for activities- for my volunteer positions, I normally volunteered for 10-11 months out of the year, taking a month of for Ramadan or because of visiting family overseas.

Should I list that as separate time ranges?I'm inclined to think that because I did the activity for most of the year, separating them out will actually make it seem like I'm fluffing out my activities unnecessarily. I think if I indicate the right date range and the correct amount of hours, it should be fine?

If this was adressed in the thread, I apologize. I didn't think I saw it.

 

[Catalystik]

I'm about to submit my AMCAS/ACOMAS primaries at the end of this week for verification. For time ranges for activities- for my volunteer positions, I normally volunteered for 10-11 months out of the year, taking a month of for Ramadan or because of visiting family overseas.

Should I list that as separate time ranges?I'm inclined to think that because I did the activity for most of the year, separating them out will actually make it seem like I'm fluffing out my activities unnecessarily. I think if I indicate the right date range and the correct amount of hours, it should be fine?

If this was adressed in the thread, I apologize. I didn't think I saw it.

I agree you'll be fine without indicating separate timespans. If you were taking off an entire summer, I'd say differently.

 

[TexasPostBaccPreMed]

Hi, I'm a nontraditional applicant and I have a ton of work/activities as well as research publications, so I'm really pressed for space. I'm grouping almost everything except my three meaningful activities. For example, all of my hospital volunteering is under one slot, as well as all my community service. However, this leaves me with almost no room to really describe my activities except the meaningful ones, and unfortunately it pretty much looks like a resume. I basically only have room to provide the name of the activity, total hours, and contact information. I'm not sure what else to do, so I'm just hoping for some reassurance that this is okay?

Also, I'm thinking of doing an awards and honors section and listing all awards (including dean's list, etc.) as well as all scholarships (both academic and athletic). However, I have no idea who the contacts would be for some of the scholarships I received as they were from like 10 years ago. Is it okay to leave out contact info or is it absolutely necessary?

 

[Catalystik]

1) I'm a nontraditional applicant and I have a ton of work/activities as well as research publications, so I'm really pressed for space. I'm grouping almost everything except my three meaningful activities. For example, all of my hospital volunteering is under one slot, as well as all my community service. However, this leaves me with almost no room to really describe my activities except the meaningful ones, and unfortunately it pretty much looks like a resume. I basically only have room to provide the name of the activity, total hours, and contact information. I'm not sure what else to do, so I'm just hoping for some reassurance that this is okay?

2) Also, I'm thinking of doing an awards and honors section and listing all awards (including dean's list, etc.) as well as all scholarships (both academic and athletic). However, I have no idea who the contacts would be for some of the scholarships I received as they were from like 10 years ago. Is it okay to leave out contact info or is it absolutely necessary?

1) Keep in mind that you don't have to enter everything on an AMCAS application, just the experiences that will benefit your candidacy. Many nontrads will use just one space for Collegiate Activities, using themselves as the Contact. Your most recent activities are what adcomms will care about. For an example of a compact method of listing multiple pubs in one space, see page 4, post #180 of this thread.

2) For Awards, don't waste space on deans list and only mention scholarships based on college merit or that required you to meet certain benchmarks in the college years to maintain it. The Registrar is a good Contact for everything in the space.

 

[Catalystik]

If I wrote an extensive methodology for a study awaiting IRB approval, can I even mention it since it has not happened yet?

You could mention it after the IRB approves it (but only that it was approved, since the project won't yet have begun), but that won't make for a particularly meaty entry. Until then, you have no validation you can cite, though it would help if your PI mentions it in an LOR. Did you write for a grant for funding or will that come through PI or department funds? If you don't have funding, it doesn't matter what the IRB approves, as the research may never get off the ground.

 

[500807ag]

Hi @Catalystik. I have minimal research experience. The only research experience or extent of my research is from two class based labs I had to take. My group and I designed and conducted our own studies for the last 5 weeks of class. Given this was class based and there was no poster or publication is this worth adding to work/activity section as research. The first lab wa cell biology and we studied the role of kinases in endosomal membrane transport and formation of multivesicular bodies for release of exosomes in ovarian cancer metastasis. Second lab was a neuromolecular and genetics disease lab where we studied alcohol withdrawal in c.elegans. Given the only presentation given on these projects was to my class, I am concerned adcoms will view this as me trying to stretch this as research. Is it worth it adding this to my work/activity section as research?

 

[Catalystik]

PI is providing funding. Could I mention my experience in the lab

Isn't this the lab in which you just started this summer?

and include the projected study in the description?

No.

 

[Catalystik]

Noooo. This is a lab I have been an RA in for a year and now am doing this study next year. I have been in ~4 labs, and then the one for the summer internship, so figuring out how to include them in AMCAS has been difficult

Best to talk about what you have accomplished, not what you plan to accomplish, as projected experiences will not be considered in making interview or admissions decisions. So why waste the characters?

 

[Engrailed]

@Catalystik If I have a lot of research experience, starting in high school (which I of course could not include in my AMCAS 15 things), could I use it to build upon a theme for a secondary essay prompt? I also very briefly mentioned that I have been involved in lab research since high school in my PS but I would like to expand upon it in greater detail in the secondaary. Is that okay or am I better off picking something from my undergrad/postgrad life

 

[Catalystik]

@Catalystik If I have a lot of research experience, starting in high school (which I of course could not include in my AMCAS 15 things), could I use it to build upon a theme for a secondary essay prompt? I also very briefly mentioned that I have been involved in lab research since high school in my PS but I would like to expand upon it in greater detail in the secondaary. Is that okay or am I better off picking something from my undergrad/postgrad life

Research is one of those activities which, if started in HS and continued into the college years, is OK to mention in the Work/Activities section, even though the experiences took place in different labs. So I think it's fair game to use in a Secondary prompt response as well.

 

[Catalystik]

I have a general formatting question when trying to combine activities. I do not have room to write all the lab names, emails, hours, PIs, etc. Am I ok writing Lab 1 (x hours) , Lab 2 and then writing Lab 1: Name of Lab in organization name and for the contact write Lab 1: email, Lab 2: email in the email section?

Entering double information for every blank in the header won't work, but see how much you can make this approach work for you. For example: See if you can make it work with some of the info for both labs in the header. For Organization, you could put 1. Smith Lab, 2. Li Lab (if names are short enough, you might add first initial, or first name, too.) You can maybe use one title: Principle Investigator, but can't put two first and last names in, as it will look terrible. You cannot enter two emails in the header, so second contact email must be in the narrative with their name. Total hours in the header will have to be the combined total. Both subtotals and individual date ranges need to be in the narrative, too (tho an inclusive range can be in the header).

 

[Catalystik]

is it ok to include abbreviations such as 'hrs' 'chem' 'psych' 'orgo'?

It is preferred that your writing be as formal as possible. Using "hrs" isn't a problem, but if you can spell course names out, do so. If you can't, maybe change "orgo" to "Ochem."

 

[Catalystik]

Thank you! Would it be weird to make an activity for Teacher's Assistant and instead do TA: Subject 1, Subject 2 so I can write the course names out?

It is laborsome to keep #1 and #2 distinct in one's mind while reading through an entry. Doing it this way once or twice is tolerable, but if you do it with more entries, it gets trying.

An applicant is supposed to pick the 15 most important activities. Instead, applicants are cramming more and more into each space. Don't overdo it. If you take too many shortcuts to fit it all in, soon no one will have the patience to keep wading through it all. Just sayin'.

 

[Catalystik]

What's the difference between Leadership – Not listed elsewhere vs Extracurricular? what would president of a women's stem group be?

An Extracurricular space can include general membership in a group as well as the associated leadership roles. Leadership Not Listed Elsewhere would include only the dates and total hours of leadership in the header. You could choose either tag, depending on what you have to say about the activity.

 

[deleted981412]

HI Catalystik, thanks for sharing your wisdom! I'm a non-trad a few years out of college. I did a lot of my medical/healthcare activities in college. I graduated 3 years ago. I do have recent relevant experiences, but they are a lot of hours of 4 specific activities, and I am still using the rest of the 11 slots to talk about my collegiate experiences. As such, I have a few questions for you regarding how to club my activities:

1. I did 3 research labs, different PI's, topics, and two different departments. I would like to include them all as they cover disease biology. Do you think it's a bad idea to include all 3?

2. I won two research grants in the social sciences. I already have significant research experience, so should I list this in the awards section?

3. I have significant leadership activities but they are all from college, 4 years ago at the most recent. Should I make 2-3 separate incidents for them or do you recommend clubbing them into one?

4. Is mentoring leadership, non-clinical volunteering, or tutoring/TA? I have seen so much conflicting information regarding this.

5. Do you think it looks bad that all my non clinical volunteering hours (a significant amount) come from 1 experience? I have volunteered before, but that was in college and I prioritized doing meaningful work in one place versus shopping around to make it look good to adcoms, but that might have not been an wise choice. I could include the older experience too.

6. Is it true that they mostly look at experiences in the past 5 years, and the stuff before that is kinda not that important? Not sure if this is something that you/or really anyone can speak to but just wanted to ask.

Thank you!

 

[Catalystik]

HI Catalystik, thanks for sharing your wisdom! I'm a non-trad a few years out of college. I did a lot of my medical/healthcare activities in college. I graduated 3 years ago. I do have recent relevant experiences, but they are a lot of hours of 4 specific activities, and I am still using the rest of the 11 slots to talk about my collegiate experiences. As such, I have a few questions for you regarding how to club my activities:

1. I did 3 research labs, different PI's, topics, and two different departments. I would like to include them all as they cover disease biology. Do you think it's a bad idea to include all 3?

2. I won two research grants in the social sciences. I already have significant research experience, so should I list this in the awards section?

3. I have significant leadership activities but they are all from college, 4 years ago at the most recent. Should I make 2-3 separate incidents for them or do you recommend clubbing them into one?

4. Is mentoring leadership, non-clinical volunteering, or tutoring/TA? I have seen so much conflicting information regarding this.

5. Do you think it looks bad that all my non clinical volunteering hours (a significant amount) come from 1 experience? I have volunteered before, but that was in college and I prioritized doing meaningful work in one place versus shopping around to make it look good to adcoms, but that might have not been an wise choice. I could include the older experience too.

6. Is it true that they mostly look at experiences in the past 5 years, and the stuff before that is kinda not that important? Not sure if this is something that you/or really anyone can speak to but just wanted to ask.

Thank you!

1) Did you make significant contributions in all three labs? Are you a reasonable candidate for research-focused MD school? Then include them all in 1, 2, or 3 spaces, depending on what you have to say.

2) Did you write the proposals? How much money were you awarded for each?

3) Consider creating one space named Collegiate Leadership Roles and listing them together.

4) IMO, it belongs under Teaching or Nonclinical Volunteering.

5) No, it's fine.

6) As a generalization, I suspect it's true.

 

[deleted981412]

1) Did you make significant contributions in all three labs? Are you a reasonable candidate for research-focused MD school? Then include them all in 1, 2, or 3 spaces, depending on what you have to say.

2) Did you write the proposals? How much money were you awarded for each?

3) Consider creating one space named Collegiate Leadership Roles and listing them together.

4) IMO, it belongs under Teaching or Nonclinical Volunteering.

5) No, it's fine.

6) As a generalization, I suspect it's true.

Hi, in response to 1) I do not have any publications, so I am not sure if that means my contributions wouldn't be considered "significant". I did take point on my own research projects during the semester for 2/3 of them, and can talk about them well, so I think I should make them 3 separate entries. 2) yes I did write the proposals, and I was awarded between 1500-2000 for both. Would you say that is too insignificant?

 

[Catalystik]

Hi, in response to
1) I do not have any publications, so I am not sure if that means my contributions wouldn't be considered "significant". I did take point on my own research projects during the semester for 2/3 of them, and can talk about them well, so I think I should make them 3 separate entries.
2) yes I did write the proposals, and I was awarded between 1500-2000 for both. Would you say that is too insignificant?

1) Publications are not the yardstick by which I'd measure the significance of one's lab contributions. Having one's own research project is significant. So separate entries seem indicated.

2) Mention you wrote the proposals, and the monetary award amounts.