*~*~*~* Official AMCAS "Work/Activities" Tips Thread 2020-2021 *~*~*~*

[Maybedoc1]

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That's fine, but I'd hope you have other dedicated shadowing to group it with. Listing four hours all by itself would be "weird."

Yes I have a dedicated shadowing activity with my other experiences. I was going to put it in there

 

[Bavestry]

Is it advisable to add my eagle award from the boy scouts in this section? Do you guys think it's worth it or just kind of like 'meh' this kid got some award in high school?

 

[Catalystik]

Yes I have a dedicated shadowing activity with my other experiences. I was going to put it in there

Good. 🙂

 

[Catalystik]

Is it advisable to add my eagle award from the boy scouts in this section? Do you guys think it's worth it or just kind of like 'meh' this kid got some award in high school?

Interestingly, though listing Eagle Scout breaks with the "common wisdom" not to list HS stuff, it's done, and adcomms don't seem to mind. My personal opinion is that it does not add to your candidacy unless you continued with Boy Scouts in some capacity after you started college, thereby acting as a role model/mentor etc.

 

[blueisthecolorof]

Hello! I'm trying to combine some of my similar activities because I'm over the 15 activities limit.

1) Conversation partner, 100 hrs. Made friends and conversed with international students to help with English language acquisition. Unsure how to categorize. Community service, EC? I already have 250 hours of nonclinical service, so I'm fine with putting this under another category if it fits.

2) 2 mentorship positions helping undergrads apply to research positions/scholarships (80 hrs from both activities). Also unsure how to categorize this.

3) 1 semester TAing for a research course, 45 hours. Honestly ambivalent about including this.

I also recently received a prestigious national fellowship that will be my gap year job, but I won't start until July/August. Should I list this as a separate activity and project my hours?

Thank you!

 

[Catalystik]

Hello! I'm trying to combine some of my similar activities because I'm over the 15 activities limit.

1) Conversation partner, 100 hrs. Made friends and conversed with international students to help with English language acquisition. Unsure how to categorize. Community service, EC? I already have 250 hours of nonclinical service, so I'm fine with putting this under another category if it fits.

2) 2 mentorship positions helping undergrads apply to research positions/scholarships (80 hrs from both activities). Also unsure how to categorize this.

3) 1 semester TAing for a research course, 45 hours. Honestly ambivalent about including this.

4) I also recently received a prestigious national fellowship that will be my gap year job, but I won't start until July/August. Should I list this as a separate activity and project my hours?

Thank you!

1) Teaching?

2) Mentorship is also considered Teaching.

3) Maybe all three of these could be grouped into one space: Miscellaneous Teaching and Mentoring.

4) Right now, all you can say is that you were accepted to the fellowship, so maybe list it under Awards/Honors/Recognitions, then you can describe it further in the narrative (including selectivity and future role, but not guessing about hours).

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Do you need to enter phone number for all the activity contacts or email is sufficient?

 

[Catalystik]

Do you need to enter phone number for all the activity contacts or email is sufficient?

Email is sufficient.

 

[Catalystik]

My main clinical experiences are volunteering at a hospital and at a clinic. I discussed my hospital volunteering in my PS, so would it be better to make the clinic volunteering a MME to avoid extensive overlap, even though my clinic volunteering hours are substantially less than my hospital volunteering hours?

Make an activity MM if
1) It's had a lot of impact on you (not necessarily related to medicine), or
2) If you need more space for description, or
3) if you think you can predict what adcomms want to see.

The number of hours is not a bar to making an experience MM nor is timing of the activity (recent or distant in time).

 

[eartharte]

What do you input for the start/end date and hours for hobbies?

 

[Catalystik]

What do you input for the start/end date and hours for hobbies?

It depends. Was it a lifelong hobby, or started more recently? Are you still engaged in it? Will you continue for the next 15 months?

The hours don't really matter for this entry. Note that no Contact is required for verification. If you have no idea, you can enter a 99, 999, or 9999, depending on what's closest. Or a zero.

 

[eartharte]

It started within the past three years or so. I'm definitely still engaged in it and I definitely plan on continuing it for the next 15 months. For further explanation, the hobby of interest is bullet journaling, which is something I did consistently throughout college to keep myself organized and use it as a means to express creativity.

 

[Catalystik]

What do you input for the start/end date . . . for hobbies?

It started within the past three years or so. I'm definitely still engaged in it and I definitely plan on continuing it for the next 15 months. For further explanation, the hobby of interest is bullet journaling, which is something I did consistently throughout college to keep myself organized and use it as a means to express creativity.

Make a reasonable guess as to when you began, if there are no dates on your older material. Put that as your start date and put the month of application submission as the end date. Enter the completed hours. Then use the Repeated feature for your future involvement, with the start date also the current month and the end date August 2021. Enter a estimated number of hours if you can for each timeframe. If you're not sure, use the strategy I mentioned in the last post. Both date ranges with their separate hours will appear at the top of the Hobbies entry.

 

[catsandscrubs]

Hi! Thank you in advance.

1) I received a full-ride scholarship to my undergrad as a part of their "honors college." Should I include this as an Honors/Award and list the beginning date of the program as the award date? Similarly, I was in a departmental honors program within the university, and was not sure how to classify this one either - Honors/Award? Other?

2) Should I include 12 hrs of an ambulance ride-along within my physician shadowing/clinical observation entry? I have 30 hours of physician shadowing and feel that it is not enough. I currently have 14 activities so I technically could make the ride-along its own category, but I'm wondering if its even relevant enough to be mentioned at all?

 

[Catalystik]

1a) I received a full-ride scholarship to my undergrad as a part of their "honors college." Should I include this as an Honors/Award and list the beginning date of the program as the award date?
1b) Similarly, I was in a departmental honors program within the university, and was not sure how to classify this one either - Honors/Award? Other?

2) Should I include 12 hrs of an ambulance ride-along within my physician shadowing/clinical observation entry? I have 30 hours of physician shadowing and feel that it is not enough. I currently have 14 activities so I technically could make the ride-along its own category, but I'm wondering if its even relevant enough to be mentioned at all?

1a) If it was a merit scholarship, list it. If it was needs-based, there's another part of the application where you can include that.
1b) Consider putting it the same Honors/Awards space as the above.

2) EMT shadowing/ride-alongs can be mentioned in the same space as the physician shadowing. Personally, I can't suggest including those hours in the Total Hours space. Rather, mention it as an aside to show you had experience with other members of the healthcare team.

 

[Catalystik]

I shadowed in an ER where I was assigned to a different doctor each time I visited. I have 42 hours total and shadowed 12 different doctors.
1) On my AMCAS application, do I need to put the name of each doctor I shadowed?
2) Will it look strange if I list out so many names for just 42 hours?

1) Since they were all from one location, you might refer to them collectively as Staff Physicians of XXX Hospital, and maybe list their specialties if any were not ED docs. It seems unlikely that any of them will recall your name; hopefully you have a Contact from the department to list or a coordinator who set up the experience for you.

2) In your situation, with few hours per doc and so many to list, a list of names will look strange. If there were one with whom you spent more time, you could mention that one (or a few others) more specifically. But don't list 12.

 

[catsandscrubs]

1a) If it was a merit scholarship, list it. If it was needs-based, there's another part of the application where you can include that.
1b) Consider putting it the same Honors/Awards space as the above.

2) EMT shadowing/ride-alongs can be mentioned in the same space as the physician shadowing. Personally, I can't suggest including those hours in the Total Hours space. Rather, mention it as an aside to show you had experience with other members of the healthcare team.

Thank you! Yes, it was a merit scholarship. As Honors/Awards only allow one "award date," would you recommend putting the start date of the honors program (beginning of freshman year) or the end date of the program (graduation)?

 

[Catalystik]

Yes, it was a merit scholarship. As Honors/Awards only allow one "award date," would you recommend putting the start date of the honors program (beginning of freshman year) or the end date of the program (graduation)?

Yes, that sounds fine. You can explain further in the space.

 

[Limelilly]

Hi, I'm wondering if there is value in entering in AMCAS that I have completed a 20-hour ED scribe training program. I'm planning to start working as a scribe, but hospital start date has been delayed to COVID19. My hospital volunteering got cut short at 80 hours due to COVID, so I want to demonstrate that I still have plans to get more clinical experience.

 

[Catalystik]

Hi, I'm wondering if there is value in entering in AMCAS that I have completed a 20-hour ED scribe training program. I'm planning to start working as a scribe, but hospital start date has been delayed to COVID19. My hospital volunteering got cut short at 80 hours due to COVID, so I want to demonstrate that I still have plans to get more clinical experience.

I suggest mentioning it at the end of your clinical volunteering description, "This experience inspired me to . . . I've completed training and await a start date when COVID restrictions are lifted," or somesuch.

 

[Limelilly]

Great idea, thank you!

 

[Hulk_MD]

Hello, I have a question about my work experience. I worked for two different hospitals as an MRI tech but they are both part of the same healthcare system and within 30 mins of each other. The job was the same for both so I wanted to just combine the two and list the contact as the healthcare system human resources and put the name of each manager with their contact info in the description. I was going to list this combined job as one of my MMI. Is this okay or do I need to split them?

 

[tanmal]

Hello,

I hope someone can help me with my confusion.

1. I just started online volunteering but its a one year commitment and will be a total of 200 hours. Should i put it on AMCAS? If yes, what should i write in the description? I just started and I dont have a significant story to talk about.

2. I was a graduate TA for a year where i was paid. Should i put it under TA or paid employment? (most meaningful)

3. During undergrad I didn't do much clinical volunteering because of some personal issues. During my masters it was impossible to do any kind of volunteering as I was heavily involved in research, being a TA and taking classes. I graduated December 2019 and was out of the country until march. I planned to join volunteering in march but couldn't because of the lockdown. Should I add these measly 7 hours and then say that I wanted to continue in march, but couldn't because of COVID? Or should I not include these 7 hours as it raises red flags.

3. For research this is how I am thinking of dividing it up.

Publication: first author. I will cite the pub then in the description talk about how i presented this project as a poster, an oral presentation, a thesis defense, a written thesis, and finally a publication. I also presented posters 2 times for a different project where I am first author, but I dont know If I should include this in here, since the manuscript is under preparation and hasn't yet been published. Should I then exclude this and put in under poster presentation because it is a different project, but I am still first author?

Publication: co-author. I will cite a review article where I am second author and cite several other posters that were presented by other people in my lab where I am co-author (the abstracts were published in conference website).

I dont know what description to put under the publications. Its only 700 characters and I feel like I can only put in citations.

Research lab: I will describe how I was part of several projects including my first author projects. I will describe what I learned from my research experience, as I was able to be a leader when it came to my own project, and I was able to be a team player when it came to co-authored projects. (most meaningful)

Overall I have 3 first author poster presentations.

6 co-author abstracts (presented by other people)

1 oral presentation and 1 thesis defense presentation

1 published thesis

1 first author publication

1 second author publication

1 submitted co-author publication

I am not sure how to divide all of these up. So sorry for so many questions but thank you in advance!

 

[Catalystik]

Hello, I have a question about my work experience. I worked for two different hospitals as an MRI tech but they are both part of the same healthcare system and within 30 mins of each other. The job was the same for both so
1) I wanted to just combine the two and
2) list the contact as the healthcare system human resources and put the name of each manager with their contact info in the description. I was going to list this combined job as one of my MMI.
3) Is this okay or do I need to split them?

It sounds like that will be a good strategy in this situation.
2) You only need one contact, and since a reference isn't going to be asked for, just the validation of your timeframe and hours, it sounds like Human Resources contact info alone will be all you need to provide.
3) No need to split them.

 

[Catalystik]

I hope someone can help me with my confusion.

1) I just started online volunteering but its a one year commitment and will be a total of 200 hours. Should i put it on AMCAS? If yes, what should i write in the description? I just started and I dont have a significant story to talk about.

2) I was a graduate TA for a year where i was paid. Should i put it under TA or paid employment? (most meaningful)

3) For research this is how I am thinking of dividing it up.

a) Publication: first author. I will cite the pub then in the description talk about how i presented this project as a poster, an oral presentation, a thesis defense, a written thesis, and finally a publication.
b) I also presented posters 2 times for a different project where I am first author, but I dont know If I should include this in here, since the manuscript is under preparation and hasn't yet been published.
c) Should I then exclude this and put in under poster presentation because it is a different project, but I am still first author?

4) Publication: co-author. I will cite a review article where I am second author and cite several other posters that were presented by other people in my lab where I am co-author (the abstracts were published in conference website).

5) I dont know what description to put under the publications. Its only 700 characters and I feel like I can only put in citations.

Research lab: I will describe how I was part of several projects including my first author projects. I will describe what I learned from my research experience, as I was able to be a leader when it came to my own project, and I was able to be a team player when it came to co-authored projects. (most meaningful)

Overall I have 3 first author poster presentations.

6 co-author abstracts (presented by other people)

1 oral presentation and 1 thesis defense presentation

1 published thesis

1 first author publication

1 second author publication

1 submitted co-author publication

6) I am not sure how to divide all of these up, please help!

1) Save it for Secondaries and update letters/portals.

2) If you have nothing else under Teaching, use that tag. If you do, use Employment.

3a) That sounds fine.
3b) Don't include a not-yet written, not-yet accepted manuscript.
3c) Where to list those posters depends on where they were presented. Read item 20 of Post #2 from this thread.

4) Conference abstracts published on a conference website are not considered publications for AMCAS purposes.

5) Just list the citation. Shorten them if necessary.

6) Again, read item 20 of Post #2 from this thread. Reorganize your thoughts and come back to ask more questions. I agree with your mentioning all the thesis-related items in the affiliated Research entry, as you described.

 

[tanmal]

1) Save it for Secondaries and update letters/portals.

2) If you have nothing else under Teaching, use that tag. If you do, use Employment.

I was on pay roll as a graduate teaching assistant, where i taught the lab, graded the lab submissions, went to weekly meetings with the instructor. Is that considered employment?

3a) That sounds fine.
3b) Don't include a not-yet written, not-yet accepted manuscript.
3c) Where to list those posters depends on where they were presented. Read item 20 of Post #2 from this thread.

4) Conference abstracts published on a conference website are not considered publications for AMCAS purposes.

Should I not list my abstracts then? Or should I put them under poster presentations and mention I was co-author?

5) Just list the citation. Shorten them if necessary.

6) Again, read item 20 of Post #2 from this thread. Reorganize your thoughts and come back to ask more questions. I agree with your mentioning all the thesis-related items in the affiliated Research entry, as you described.

Thank you for the fast reply!
During undergrad I didn't do much clinical volunteering because of some personal issues. During my masters it was impossible to do any kind of volunteering as I was heavily involved in research, being a TA and taking classes. I graduated December 2019 and was out of the country until march. I planned to join volunteering in march but couldn't because of the lockdown. Should I add these measly 7 hours and then say that I wanted to continue in march, but couldn't because of COVID? Or should I not include these 7 hours as it raises red flags.

 

[Catalystik]

2) I was on pay roll as a graduate teaching assistant, where i taught the lab, graded the lab submissions, went to weekly meetings with the instructor. Is that considered employment?

4) Conference abstracts published on a conference website are not considered publications for AMCAS purposes.
Should I not list my abstracts then? Or should I put them under poster presentations and mention I was co-author?

7) During undergrad I didn't do much clinical volunteering because of some personal issues. During my masters it was impossible to do any kind of volunteering as I was heavily involved in research, being a TA and taking classes. I graduated December 2019 and was out of the country until march. I planned to join volunteering in march but couldn't because of the lockdown. Should I add these measly 7 hours and then say that I wanted to continue in march, but couldn't because of COVID? Or should I not include these 7 hours as it raises red flags.

2) Yes, it was employment.

4) Were the posters presented on campus, or at a regional or national conference?

7) What are the 7 hours from? Is that your only clinical experience? What about shadowing?

 

[tanmal]

2) Yes, it was employment.

4) Were the posters presented on campus, or at a regional or national conference?

3 were presented at regional (state) conferences and 3 were presented at 3 different research events on campus.

7) What are the 7 hours from? Is that your only clinical experience? What about shadowing?

5 hours in the emergency department as emergency concierge

1 hour in radiology

1 hour in OB special care.

I have 150 hours of physician shadowing with 4 different doctors.

 

[Catalystik]

1. I just started online volunteering but its a one year commitment and will be a total of 200 hours. Should i put it on AMCAS? If yes, what should i write in the description? I just started and I dont have a significant story to talk about.

4) Were the posters presented on campus, or at a regional or national conference?
3 were presented at regional (state) conferences and 3 were presented at 3 different research events on campus.

7) Should I add these measly 7 hours and then say that I wanted to continue in march, but couldn't because of COVID? Or should I not include these 7 hours as it raises red flags. What are the 7 hours from? Is that your only clinical experience? What about shadowing?
a) -5 hours in the emergency department as emergency concierge
-1 hour in radiology
-1 hour in OB special care.

b) I have 150 hours of physician shadowing with 4 different doctors.

1) In light of your sparse clinical volunteering, I'm going to change my answer to this question and suggest you should include it on the AMCAS application. Describe the activity with one sentence and then add your role. Divide the completed hours and the future hours using the Repeated feature or by making the division clear in the narrative. Use Secondary prompts to communicate added hours, as well as update letters/portals where allowed.

4) Any poster where the data wasn't made public in a more prestigious format like a pub, should be in a Poster/Presentation, space unless it was presented on campus (like a campus Research Symposium). Those latter should be mentioned in the same space as the Research (but could safely be omitted if you're short on room). If the same data was later published and has a PMID#, you'd mention the poster after the publication citation in the Publications space and not in a Presentations/Posters space.

7a) Yes, enter this experience on AMCAS, along with your plan for future experience. Do not predict future dates or hours as you can't know what they might be. Yes the low number raises a red flag, but since active clinical experience is a general expectation, you have to list them. Use Secondary prompts to communicate added hours, as well as update letters/portals where allowed.
7b) Good.

 

[Catalystik]

I have shadowed four physicians individually and then a whole bunch of staff physicians in two hospital units who I don't really want to list all the names of. I've seen advice that I should just list their names, location, hours, and maybe phone number, but I have also gotten advice from my premed advisor that they don't really care who the physicians are and that my hours will be combined under the activity heading anyways, so I should just write a narrative that describes what I gained from shadowing these specialties without specifically mentioned any hours/doctor names/locations/contact. I'm a bit nervous that adcoms will look poorly on this, but is there any strong opinion either way? I did refer to a few of them in my other activities if the physician was related. Generally, my advisor is pushing me to rewrite my activities to a more narrative style rather than just resume listing things out.

I suggest listing just the docs from whom you got the highest number of shadowing hours and then referring to the rest collectively as staff physicians, perhaps mentioning some other specialties (especially if in primary care).

Keep in mind that any hours over 50 are more than you needed anyway.

For this space, there won't be space for a lot of reflection, and most applicants don't include any. "Just the facts, ma'am/sir" are all you need.

So my advice represents a blend of what you've done and what your advisor suggests.

 

[Catalystik]

I have over 200 shadowing hours in multiple disciplines, and I have 60 volunteer clinical hours. I have read that I need at least 50 hours of shadowing and at least 100 hours of clinical volunteering. Now that restrictions have loosened back up, my hours are supposed to begin again starting the 2nd week in June. I am hoping to get accepted at my state university. I believe the remainder of my application is competitive. Four questions:
(1) Do I need to wait until I have at least 100 clinical hours actually completed before I submit my AMCAS application? If so, I might need to delay submitting my application to AMCAS until mid to late July.
(2) I have not included any training hours for the clinical experience; do they count?
(3) Does the relatively high number of shadowing hours help to offset the lower number of clinical hours?
(4) Once my schedule starts in June, I am supposed to be on a regular schedule with 8 hours per week as a hospice volunteer. Am I able to include the future hours on my application so long as I designate them as future expected hours and separate them from the hours already earned?

1) It would be best, considering that future hours don't bear much weight. Perhaps you can ask for a heavier schedule for the next month?
2) Training is for you and is not volunteer time. You can mention those hours in the narrative, but don't include them in the Total Hours of the header (stating that those hours "are in addition to the above.").
3) Some schools add the clinical exposure hours all together, so for them yes.
4) Yes.

 

[tanmal]

1) In light of your sparse clinical volunteering, I'm going to change my answer to this question and suggest you should include it on the AMCAS application. Describe the activity with one sentence and then add your role. Divide the completed hours and the future hours using the Repeated feature or by making the division clear in the narrative. Use Secondary prompts to communicate added hours, as well as update letters/portals where allowed.

4) Any poster where the data wasn't made public in a more prestigious format like a pub, should be in a Poster/Presentation, space unless it was presented on campus (like a campus Research Symposium). Those latter should be mentioned in the same space as the Research (but could safely be omitted if you're short on room). If the same data was later published and has a PMID#, you'd mention the poster after the publication citation in the Publications space and not in a Presentations/Posters space.

7a) Yes, enter this experience on AMCAS, along with your plan for future experience. Do not predict future dates or hours as you can't know what they might be. Yes the low number raises a red flag, but since active clinical experience is a general expectation, you have to list them. Use Secondary prompts to communicate added hours, as well as update letters/portals where allowed.
7b) Good.

Your help is extremely appreciated!

 

[cat567]

I have a few accolades I am wondering if I can include somewhere because I believe they tie into my leadership experience, grit, and how I continue to relieve stress- the problem is they are from high school. I was a Max Preps All American Volley Ball Player my senior year, additionally I was the Track State Champion in two events for consecutive years.
I did include in the Hobby section several collegiate fitness/ sports activities I continue to enjoy, but I am considering listing the former as "Leadership in Athletics" with appropriate dates. Is this a bad idea??

 

[Catalystik]

I have a few accolades I am wondering if I can include somewhere because I believe they tie into my leadership experience, grit, and how I continue to relieve stress- the problem is they are from high school. I was a Max Preps All American Volley Ball Player my senior year, additionally I was the Track State Champion in two events for consecutive years.
I did include in the Hobby section several collegiate fitness/ sports activities I continue to enjoy, but I am considering listing the former as "Leadership in Athletics" with appropriate dates. Is this a bad idea??

There is no rule that you can't include a HS activity, just be very sure in your own mind that listing it will add to your candidacy rather than come off as standing on past laurels. If you can tie it into some type of similar college activity, that would be best. During recent years, have you played volleyball regularly or coached others? Then you'd be fine including a HS achievement as part of the backstory.

Unless you were a team captain, or otherwise managing other athletes, including the word "Leadership" in the space's name is misleading. Consider rephrasing.

 

[gavam08]

If i have too many activities that i feel are important to my application, can i group three things i did that were Community Service/Non Medical into one activity (through my sorority i was active in organizing a huge annual carnival for Court Appointed Special Advocates, as well as an annual raffle for the Flint water fund. I biweekly volunteered at a soup kitchen preparing and providing meals to underserved populations. Lastly, I tutored on saturdays for an afterschool program for really young (pre-k/K) children to develop their reading and fundamentals.)?

I reflect on each activity a tiny bit but I just have so many other things that would be in the 15 slots. However since community service is super important I worry adcoms would think grouping these mean these experiences were to check a box when they weren't all. For context I also have other activities that were community service oriented, but they were either medical or bigger aspects of my life so i gave them their own box.

 

[Catalystik]

If i have too many activities that i feel are important to my application,
1) can i group three things i did that were Community Service/Non Medical into one activity (through my sorority i was active in organizing a huge annual carnival for Court Appointed Special Advocates, as well as an annual raffle for the Flint water fund.
2) I biweekly volunteered at a soup kitchen preparing and providing meals to underserved populations. Lastly, I tutored on saturdays for an afterschool program for really young (pre-k/K) children to develop their reading and fundamentals.)?

I reflect on each activity a tiny bit but I just have so many other things that would be in the 15 slots. However since community service is super important I worry adcoms would think grouping these mean these experiences were to check a box when they weren't all. For context I also have other activities that were community service oriented, but they were either medical or bigger aspects of my life so i gave them their own box.

Do you have any other space related to the sorority activities? I'd rather see you add the things under #1 there. That would leave you free to list those under #2 on their own, which I suggest because I think they'll be more highly regarded as community service. Those in #1 seem more like leadership activities (though of course, they were also a community service, but didn't require regular interaction with those you served). Just a thought.

 

[cat567]

There is no rule that you can't include a HS activity, just be very sure in your own mind that listing it will add to your candidacy rather than come off as standing on past laurels. If you can tie it into some type of similar college activity, that would be best. During recent years, have you played volleyball regularly or coached others? Then you'd be fine including a HS achievement as part of the backstory.

Unless you were a team captain, or otherwise managing other athletes, including the word "Leadership" in the space's name is misleading. Consider rephrasing.

Got it. Thanks!

 

[retro2021]

.

 

[MJaM16]

This is probably too specific of a question, but I haven't been able to talk to anyone at the AAMC after calling the past 3 days so if you have any opinion on the matter I would greatly appreciate it.

My school does a Fall semester, a Winter semester (everyone else's Spring semester) and then has a Spring term (first half of summer) and a Summer term (last half of summer) that are both half as long as a normal semester, but classes taken during the terms are still as many credits as those same classes taken during semesters.

My issue is trying to match the Coursework section of AMCAS to my transcript. The option that my university instructed puts my classes out of chronological order so I'm not employing their advice. I have resorted to listing all of the classes I took in either the Spring or Summer term at my school under the Summer Semester tab on AMCAS to keep everything in chronological order, but there is one problem. I got credit for my research lab during both the Spring and Summer terms, 2 credits each term. Since the research credit is under the same course name for both Spring and Summer term, I don't know if I should just list them twice, separately, under the Summer Semester tab with 2 credits for each one, or if I should combine them into one class for the total of 4 credits (which isn't what my transcript says, but the math for my GPA and credits taken will not change due to combining the two). I am also considering using the Quarter System option from AMCAS to list Spring and Summer terms from my university as separate and quarters, but I don't know if that sets off a red flag in AMCAS that I switched between their Semester and Quarter classifications.

No worries if this is too niche of a question for a response, I just thought I'd give it a shot. I obviously do not want my application to get sent back once I submit it simply due to a misclassification of my courses.

 

[Catalystik]

Thanks in advance for your help!

I will be starting a new job w/ clinical exposure in June. Is it unwise to include this in my applications as an activity if the start date is a week or two in advance of the date of my application submission? It is clinically oriented, and I think will reflect positively, though the the vast majority of hours listed will be future projections. Is this something best saved for secondaries?

How many other active clinical hours do you have? How recently were you involved!?

 

[Catalystik]

This is probably too specific of a question, but I haven't been able to talk to anyone at the AAMC after calling the past 3 days so if you have any opinion on the matter I would greatly appreciate it.

My school does a Fall semester, a Winter semester (everyone else's Spring semester) and then has a Spring term (first half of summer) and a Summer term (last half of summer) that are both half as long as a normal semester, but classes taken during the terms are still as many credits as those same classes taken during semesters.

My issue is trying to match the Coursework section of AMCAS to my transcript. The option that my university instructed puts my classes out of chronological order so I'm not employing their advice. I have resorted to listing all of the classes I took in either the Spring or Summer term at my school under the Summer Semester tab on AMCAS to keep everything in chronological order, but there is one problem. I got credit for my research lab during both the Spring and Summer terms, 2 credits each term. Since the research credit is under the same course name for both Spring and Summer term, I don't know if I should just list them twice, separately, under the Summer Semester tab with 2 credits for each one, or if I should combine them into one class for the total of 4 credits (which isn't what my transcript says, but the math for my GPA and credits taken will not change due to combining the two). I am also considering using the Quarter System option from AMCAS to list Spring and Summer terms from my university as separate and quarters, but I don't know if that sets off a red flag in AMCAS that I switched between their Semester and Quarter classifications.

No worries if this is too niche of a question for a response, I just thought I'd give it a shot. I obviously do not want my application to get sent back once I submit it simply due to a misclassification of my courses.

Ask your question here: *~*~*~* Official AMCAS Questions Thread 2020-2021 *~*~*~*

This thread is for questions about the Activity section.

 

[retro2021]

How many other active clinical hours do you have? How recently were you involved!?

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[Catalystik]

I have around 1k hours, though they are 2 years old, with my only recent healthcare exposure being in a research environment.

I suggest including it on your application as a note at the end of your last clinical employment entry, but not entering it in its own activity space. Something like, [Insert segue, if you can think of one.] "In 6/2020 I'll start as a [job title] for XX hr/wk and plan to work until [y/yy]."

Alternatively, you could instead enter this note at the end of the more-recent clinical research, but it might be missed there.

Be sure to give updates via Secondaries and update letter/portals, as able.

 

[LiteralLungs]

In terms of how in depth to go for descriptions of activities, I see that in the FAQ, there are different theories on this. Some people think you shouldn't go into depth because that material should be saved for secondaries. Although, schools don't necessarily give reviewers all aspects of the application, right? Would it matter if I repeated themes/experiences in my personal statement, activities section, and secondary essays? I know that other people say you shouldn't repeat things. But is this going to be an issue? Would it make me look one dimensional? Honestly, I can only expand upon my activities so much. There was a theme and overall lesson learned. Further, if schools split these applications up for reviewers, any reviewer is only going to see parts of my application anyway right?

 

[Catalystik]

In terms of how in depth to go for descriptions of activities, I see that in the FAQ, there are different theories on this. Some people think you shouldn't go into depth because that material should be saved for secondaries. Although, schools don't necessarily give reviewers all aspects of the application, right?
1) Would it matter if I repeated themes/experiences in my personal statement, activities section, and secondary essays? I know that other people say you shouldn't repeat things.
2) But is this going to be an issue? Would it make me look one dimensional? Honestly, I can only expand upon my activities so much. There was a theme and overall lesson learned.
3) Further, if schools split these applications up for reviewers, any reviewer is only going to see parts of my application anyway right?

1) No. The types of experience, themes, and lessons learned can be the same. Those aren't the aspects that shouldn't be repeated.

2 & 3) Since some schools give readers access to the entire application, for them, you want each part of the application to seem fresh. You can do that by switching up the vocabulary, different sentence structure, and by using different anecdotes. For those schools that split the essays up, this won't matter.

 

[LiteralLungs]

1) No. The types of experience, themes, and lessons learned can be the same. Those aren't the aspects that shouldn't be repeated.

2 & 3) Since some schools give readers access to the entire application, for them, you want each part of the application to seem fresh. You can do that by switching up the vocabulary, different sentence structure, and by using different anecdotes. For those schools that split the essays up, this won't matter.

Great, thanks for your help.

I have one other question related to putting all research experiences in one slot, and all shadowing experiences in one slot.

I used to repeat feature to put each different activity:
For example:

March 2013-Dec 2014: Undergrad researcher

August 2015-July 2016: Research tech at Sigma

August 2017--July 2019: Research tech at clinical practice

When putting these different repeats in, the system only lets you put each subsequent repeat with a start date after the previous repeat, so I can only put the latest and most recent activity at the end of this list. However, I want my most recent experiences to be more emphasized. Is it okay if for the example using above I do this:


Start date: 2013 End date: 2014

Second start date: 2015 Second end date: 2016

Third start date: 2017 Third End date: 2019

And then in the section right below, where it says to list organization name, contact info, country, I put the info pertaining to the experience I want most emphasized and important? For example, put the information for the 3rd start date activity even though the third start date/end date is listed last?

And then I'll list them all again in the narrative section. When schools see that, is it going to seem confusing?

 

[Catalystik]

Great, thanks for your help.

I have one other question related to putting all research experiences in one slot, and all shadowing experiences in one slot.

I used to repeat feature to put each different activity:
For example:

March 2013-Dec 2014: Undergrad researcher

August 2015-July 2016: Research tech at Sigma

August 2017--July 2019: Research tech at clinical practice

When putting these different repeats in, the system only lets you put each subsequent repeat with a start date after the previous repeat, so I can only put the latest and most recent activity at the end of this list. However, I want my most recent experiences to be more emphasized. Is it okay if for the example using above I do this:


Start date: 2013 End date: 2014

Second start date: 2015 Second end date: 2016

Third start date: 2017 Third End date: 2019

And then in the section right below, where it says to list organization name, contact info, country, I put the info pertaining to the experience I want most emphasized and important? For example, put the information for the 3rd start date activity even though the third start date/end date is listed last?

And then I'll list them all again in the narrative section. When schools see that, is it going to seem confusing?

Very, very confusing! I suggest not using the Repeated feature.

List the research experiences in reverse chronological order. That way the most import one for which you'll enter info in the header is first on the list:
1) 8/2017-12/2019, subtotal hours, explain
2) 9/2015-5/2016, subtotal hours, location, contact, explain
3) 9/2013-5/2014, subtotal of hours, location, contact, explain

See an example of a Shadowing listing in Post #2, item 10 of this thread.

 

[GroundDigger]

I wasn't sure what to choose for the "Experience Type" for one of my activities.

The activity was the Scholars Program I was involved with at my college. We had meetings twice a week, did hundreds of community service hours, and were required to take honors courses.

I was at first going to choose "Honors/Awards/Recognition", but I don't think it's necessarily an award. And also it asks for an "award date", even though we did get a certificate in the last year of college.

I was thinking maybe it goes into "Other"? I'm not sure what to do.

 

[sunnyv]

If I volunteered at an animal shelter clinic and gave medical care to sick dogs and cats, would that count as clinical volunteering or nonclinical since its animals?

 

[astrolopothecis]

Hello, thank you for hard work in answering our questions.

I have one publication and one poster (with presentation) but only one activity slot left. Would it be okay to combine the publication and poster under the "Publications" category, but specify that one is a poster?