Oh, to be a non-trad...

[JimmyG]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Do any of you know how far back into your volunteer/extracurricular history schools will look at seriously? I have been out of school for 4 years and working full-time (in health care, I might add) and doing volunteer projects here and there. But, while in college I was much more involved in extracurricular activities and volunteer experiences that would sound better than what I have been doing in the past 4 years...

Any advice? Thanks..

 

[QofQuimica]

Do any of you know how far back into your volunteer/extracurricular history schools will look at seriously? I have been out of school for 4 years and working full-time (in health care, I might add) and doing volunteer projects here and there. But, while in college I was much more involved in extracurricular activities and volunteer experiences that would sound better than what I have been doing in the past 4 years...

Any advice? Thanks..

My understanding is that anything post-secondary is fair game. So, things you did in HS don't count unless you continue to do them afterward, but things you did in college do count, even for nontrads.

 

[blee]

To add to Q's post, if it was meaningful to you, then play it up. You naturally would have had less time during your career to devote to these things, but perhaps you can explain how you've kept with the spirit of some of your old activities -- taking a day one weekend to volunteer, or to run a charity race, or whatever it is that you've done.

 

[.edu-MD]

My understanding is that anything post-secondary is fair game. So, things you did in HS don't count unless you continue to do them afterward, but things you did in college do count, even for nontrads.

I think that would depend on how far removed you are from undergrad. 4 years is not very long. On the other hand, once you start going beyond 10 years, you'd hopefully have a lot more recent experiences to be filling in the spaces with. Otherwise people may start raising eyebrows. I'm 10 years out from undergrad so I didn't include anything from those years other than the coursework listing.

 

[JimmyG]

You naturally would have had less time during your career to devote to these things, but perhaps you can explain how you've kept with the spirit of some of your old activities -- taking a day one weekend to volunteer, or to run a charity race, or whatever it is that you've done.

Running charity races count?? Like Susan G Komen and the sort. I'll go find my running shoes right now....

Thanks for the advice guys. It helps.

 

[QofQuimica]

I think that would depend on how far removed you are from undergrad. 4 years is not very long. On the other hand, once you start going beyond 10 years, you'd hopefully have a lot more recent experiences to be filling in the spaces with. Otherwise people may start raising eyebrows. I'm 10 years out from undergrad so I didn't include anything from those years other than the coursework listing.

I included some things from over ten years ago if they gave me relevant clinical experience, like this summer job that I had during college. That was 12 years ago, but since it was health-related, I thought it was appropriate to use it.

 

[pingouin]

I had planned on including everything I'd done back through undergrad- the problem is remembering that far back. They may be old ECs, but they're still my experiences and I want the ad comms to know about them. I agree with Q- putting a time range on your ECs could exclude something important. If I went with a 5- or 10-year cutoff, I'd have to exclude everything from college as well as the year after when I did a stint as a full-time volunteer. Trust me- I'm going to make sure that year "counts"!

 

[All4MyDaughter]

I completed my undergraduate degree in 1997. When I applied to pharmacy school earlier in the fall, I did list some of my most significant undergraduate activities, along with some professional activities and volunteer activities that were more recent.

I talked briefly about my undergraduate involvement in my pharmacy school interview, but emphasized that while those activities were very important to me, I'm in a different place now because I'm a wife and mother.

For example, I was very involved in a leadership and service fraternity as an undergrad. Now, I don't have as much time for volunteer work, so I look for things that I can do with my family. We founded a playgroup that meets at a local nursing home. The kids play while we adults chat and visit with the residents. Last month we all decorated Christmas cookies together.

Feel free to PM me if you want more info.

 

[zek]

Personally, I would include the older ec's because I think it shows a history of community service. This way they'll know you didn't just do recent volunteering because you thought it was expected.

 

[.edu-MD]

I included some things from over ten years ago if they gave me relevant clinical experience, like this summer job that I had during college. That was 12 years ago, but since it was health-related, I thought it was appropriate to use it.

In my case, the main (medically-related) volunteer activity I did in undergrad, I continued doing afterwards, albeit with different organizations. So the activity itself was listed with the most recent organization I had been with (which went back 8+ years). I decided not to list all of the individual organizations I had volunteered for all the way back to undergrad because it just would've gotten too complicated.

So I guess I'd have to modify my statement. For someone ~10+ years out of undergrad, it may depend whether you have recent health-related experiences. If not, it may be wise to include an older activity to show that you have some idea. But if you do have a similar recent activity, you might want to include it within the same AMCAS experience spot to show your dedication, but not necessarily make a separate entry for it because that may come across as padding.

And here I was feeling bad about including stuff I'd stopped doing not even a year earlier.

 

[queenbee]

i think every applicant has a different story, particularly us non-trads. it's what makes us unique. 🙂

i'm 5 years out of undergrad, but i've been working in finance since graduation, very intensely. any free time i had was spent on helping my family in any way possible, particularly b/c both of my parents suffer from unfortunate health conditions.

i haven't had a chance to even think about anyone else beyond taking care of my family, not in a volunteering/extracurricular sense or even myself! so, don't take it to heart if you have had other things in life to take care of. i now plan on completely immersing myself in volunteering in any way that i can once i quit my job, at least to make sure medicine is what i want to pursue.

good luck to you - i'm sure if you have strong experiences, that must count for something.

 

[JimmyG]

Thanks to all. It is easier to complete in ec and volunteer activities when you are a single student and not a mom or a wife... My priorities are a little different now. 🙂

Queen Bee--I'm not on an adcom, but I feel you showing loyalty to your family, especially if they are sufferring from health conditions, shows a different type of "service". I, personally, feel that giving of your time to learn about medicine and to show empathy to people in need can be done without having to go to an "organized" volunteer gathering. (Or it should be allowed..) You are giving your time to your loved parents which in the big scheme is much more important to you than a couple of extra hours at the local soup kitchen. If I were an adcom member, I would accept that 😉

 

[big_smiles]

My experiences were from 4 years ago as well. I included some activities in high school on my AMCAS, but most in college. I didn't know about the "post-secondary" rule, but I do not have the same experiences that an average pre-medical student has because I only decided on medicine as a career path a year ago.

I wondered too, whether it was short-sighted, to apply after only a year of coursework and orienting myself to the entire process. However, I went with it. In high school I volunteered in the Respiratory Care department at a local hospital 4 days a week for 3 years and thought at the time that I would go to school to take pre-reqs and transfer to an upper-division transfer college for Respiratory therapy. I took these pre-reqs as a nursing major for hospital and clinical skills experience, and switched as a nursing major all together. But after awhile, I decided that what I liked was the biology behind human disease. I began to do research and was truly interested in the science behind medicine. Then I was hit with a dilemma - apply to med school or grad school? I wanted to work directly with patients, but still had a passion for research. So I applied MD-PhD. Am I inexperienced ? Probably, but I know that I fully explored other options in health care before making my decision.

I would list past activities, because the decision to go into medicine and the experiences along the way shape you. Don't look back, look forward and be happy for what you have seen and done along the way. Good luck

 

[ambaduchi]

i'm a reapp and this year, i left off some of the older stuff, subbed in a couple more recent non-health related volunteer things (that were fewer hours of involvment than the old stuff, and frankly way less meaningful) but with these changes, i've been much more successful this year.
everyone's app is different. my grades were solid, mcats were excellent and other than timing/lack of new recs, i'd say the lack of current/recent volunteer stuff was the third factor hindering me last year. i think a prevous poster's comment that a continuous history is important. i'm not saying to delete everything that's older than four years but do put just as much stuff within that time span as before it.
fyi a couple schools - ie uc davis -- won't even let you talk about activities in your secondary that are more than 4 yrs old.
also -- i came up w a couple tricks in my post secondary part of amcas that dated activities as recent, but then in the textual part of the app i used the space to describe the current activity and also how it related to something much older that i did 7 years ago...kind of two-for-one...it's all about the track record 😉
last point -- i consistently am asked about my more recent post secondary activities than my older ones in interviews.
getting into med school is not fair, and not easy, and it's rather disillusioning to have to think about "spinning" your application but i guess i'm just urging you to spin yourself silly and be strategic and aggressive in how you portray yourself.
good luck.