Older students with EC Contact Verification for AMCAS

[vtucci]

Hi. I was wondering if any other non-trads are running into a problem with ECs from their undergrad and contact people to verify their participation. I am fine for all the activities I did as a post-bac but my undergrad activities, which should diversity of background and interest are going to be a problem as we did not have faculty advisors and all the professors I knew well (but 1) have left the university. How are you guys handling this?

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[bigdan]

OP-
Me too. I did some work in Portugal and God only knows where those people are and if they are "contactable".
But I am putting down the name of the person that I knew to be in charge at the last point that I was there.
G'Luck.

dc

 

[medicomel]

What if you don't even remember the name of the person with whom you worked for in undergrad??? Two experiences were eight and ten years ago for me!

 

[kmjannie]

Yeah, my bio prof was...."asked" to leave, so I have no idea where she is and I did research one summer with her. I don't know that the contact info is that big of a deal...they don't even require a phone number or email, so how could they possibly contact these people? I wouldn't worry too much...

Gluck.

 

[efex101]

I may be wrong but I was under the impression that the EC's need to be more recent than 8 or 10 years ago...but maybe I am wrong. I would emphasize recent stuff because I am sure that as a non-trad you have enough to put on EC's that is more recent.

 

[911Med]

Oh yeah, this part really sucked.
I went to a HUGE state school - known for a great science program, but fairly impersonable. I found an English prof and emailed her a few times - referencing the titles of papers I had written for the class, etc. Then I sent her a hand written note and enclosed my personal statement and my CV. I thought this would update her on what I had been doing for oh, say the past 8 years.
She agreed to write a letter for me.
Keep your head up.
I was 1 for 6 in this process.
This is one of the many reasons I'm heading back post-bac style.

 

[medicomel]

I will definitely have some current ECs under my belt by the next application cycle, but the ones in college were very solid

 

[mdsadler]

Yesterday when I was filling out my ECs on AMCAS I realized that although they ask for a name they do not ask for a phone number or email address or any other way of contacting these people. They obviously aren't going to be calling people to verify you worked with them. This is an optional space that doesn't need to be filled out so if you can't find a contact don't worry about it.

 

[bjolly]

I may be wrong but I was under the impression that the EC's need to be more recent than 8 or 10 years ago...but maybe I am wrong. I would emphasize recent stuff because I am sure that as a non-trad you have enough to put on EC's that is more recent.

some of my ECs were over 10 years old. I wouldn't leave one out just because it's old, although I agree you'd better have some recent things to list as well. In my case I felt like I was able to show a track record of community service going back over many years and continuing into the present.

 

[efex101]

Right and that should for sure be reported if you have been involved in volunteering since HS heck yeah! what I meant (it is hard to convey thoughts on forums he he) is that if you did one thing 10 years ago...I myself would not include it but that is just me..and hopefully most non-trads will have so many things to put on there anyways..

 

[medicomel]

some of my ECs were over 10 years old. I wouldn't leave one out just because it's old, although I agree you'd better have some recent things to list as well. In my case I felt like I was able to show a track record of community service going back over many years and continuing into the present.

Right on...my thoughts exactly. If they see an interest in health and medicine from years ago and then a continued interest throughout the years, it can't hurt to mention it.

 

[CoverMe]

I agree with several points made here. I wanted to show that i have volunteered throughout my life, and that it isn't just some "so i can get into medical school" thing. While some of the EC's may be 8 years old, they are things that i did for a minimum of 2 years (search and rescue etc).

I put the name of the person who was the supervisor at the time... who knows if they've retired, moved, etc. If they were serious about contacting them, they'd get specific contact info. I have about 11 things listed, not trying to fill the list, but trying to put good things in there. I haven't put ANY academic awards in there yet... guess i should just put together all the semesters i've been on the dean's list??

 

[medicomel]

Ha! That's where they get you...check out the email from AMCAS I got in reference to this issue:

Enter only significant experiences, knowing that medical schools are more interested in quality than quantity. Enter each experience only once. Repeated experiences should also be entered only once. For example, an applicant who makes Dean list each term should enter this only once, and note in the explanation that the experience occurred multiple times.

 

[CoverMe]

Ha! That's where they get you.[/I]

 

[efex101]

Yes you want to condense all Dean's List into one experience, I put all my research under one experience, etc...

 

[SoCalOrBust]

So without any way to contact someone or otherwise verify what you have done, you could put whatever you wanted and could get away with it (easier than fabricating a resume). I wonder how frequently people lie on this app.

 

[mellantro]

I really don't think they check, but in many people's cases they have LORs from significant activities that can verify commitment/involvement. with 15 slots, most people are either a) not gonna fill them all up or b) not gonna have 15 MEANINGFUL activities, so there is probably some give n take with filler items.

However, I did read on SDN somewhere that some people's activities contact did get phone calls, but that was when you had to list the number and/or other contact method... (i believe they changed it a few yrs back)

 

[gaf]

I had some experiences for which I couldn't put a name of some who would confirm what I had written, e.g., a youth baseball league who knows who the current coahes are, but that's it. In that case I put the name of someone from the league who would give the most authoritative "Gee, I have no idea. He might have been a coach, but we don't keep records." I also put some titles in place of names a la Ms. Volunteer Director.

Got several interviews and am going to school next year, so it couldn't have bothered anyone too much.

 

[CoverMe]

I wonder how frequently people lie on this app.

One would think that if asked about their experiences in the interview, rats would be outed.

For instance, I was a technology and communications coordinator with a search and rescue. If they were to ask me about it, I would be able to fluently and confidently speak about GPS systems, UHF vs. VHF radio frequencies and what that means when you're talking about heavy terrain. I'd be able to talk about grids, maps, waypoints, triangulation and search methods. I'd be able to talk about search coordination and the importance of how a command center is run.

One would think that this would be the simplest way to out the liars.