One good extracurricular vs several mediocre ecs?

[MaenadsDance]

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This evening my school's AMSA chapter (for pre-meds) had an MD/PhD student from UCSF down to talk to us about the application process. She was very impressive and articulate, and she gave me a piece of advice I've been mulling over. Specifically, she said that if I'm trying to impress schools (and scholarship programs) with my commitment to rural/underserved primary care, I should ditch all extracurriculars except for research and volunteering specifically related to rural/underserved medicine.

This was a bit surprising to me, as I thought I was supposed to appear 'well-rounded' with a variety of hobbies, teaching experiences, leadership etc. However, I really see her point - if my personal statement is supposed to sell my commitment to a particular career path, a really well-demonstrated focus on that career path will help corroborate my personal statement. I have happily a few years to build my resume, and am looking forward to doing so (washing cat pans at the SPCA was getting old, anyway).

Thoughts?

 

[Aerus]

Ditch the ones that don't really apply much to your interests/passions.

Her advice about quality, not quantity applies, but it doesn't mean you should automatically ditch everything else.

Think of it this way: If you can proudly explain to an adcom member why a particular EC matters so much to you in depth, then keep it. If all you can pull out of your ass is "It's fun" or "I had a lot of free time, so why not?" then you might as well ditch it.

Only do EC's that are meaningful.

 

[TarHeelEMT]

Ditch the ones that don't really apply much to your interests/passions.

Her advice about quality, not quantity applies, but it doesn't mean you should automatically ditch everything else.

Think of it this way: If you can proudly explain to an adcom member why a particular EC matters so much to you in depth, then keep it. If all you can pull out of your ass is "It's fun" or "I had a lot of free time, so why not?" then you might as well ditch it.

Only do EC's that are meaningful.

Who needs fun, anyway?

 

[dextor2003]

Who needs fun, anyway?

Things can be meaningful and fun at the same time...

 

[1cor1311]

In any E.C. you have you want to try and go above and beyond other volunteers or participants to illustrate how you weren't just there for the ride but were truly involved.

Examples:
1. Did you obtain a leadership position in any of those EC's
2. Did you receive any special awards "hardest worker, most appearances" etc.
3. How did YOU make a difference in that particular EC program.

My advice is yes ditch those that your just a "member" of.

 

[Onebyone]

I've also heard that schools are looking for long-term involvement in ECs. So pick one you love, and become really involved in it. Depth over breadth, I think.

 

[mimelim]

Again, re-posting to save myself some time...

To summarize the SDN opinions, don't really have time to have the arguments again, so I'll just post both. Obviously I fall in support of the second group.

Prevailing Pre-med opinion: This is based on reading pre-meds posting in these kinds of threads:

ECs are a hoop to jump through, get as many hours as you can in as many things and exaggerate your involvement. Statistically, people with more do better, so maximize the number of things and hours. Many of them will say that adcoms may say one thing, but they either are lying or are simply practicing something different than they preach.

Vocalized opinion of adcoms: This is based on n=4 faculty adcoms that I am close to (family/friends) + LizzyM (SDN member and faculty adcom member) as well as my own experiences developing med school recruitment strategies:

ECs are not about the number of hours or even the number of experiences. They are about the experiences themselves. Grades and MCAT scores give a reasonable estimation of your studying and academic aptitude. ECs speak toward your growth as an individual over the peri-undergraduate period. Being a good student is not enough. There are plenty of students with good scores and grades to fill all of the US medical schools. Adcoms are looking for people who have done more with their time than study in undergrad. When adcoms talk about diversity, they aren't just talking about race and ethnicity. They are looking for interesting people who have had experiences that have made them better people and future physicians. There haven't been any randomized controlled trials that have shown that people who excel outside of the classroom tend to become better physcians, but that is the prevailing opinion of the adcoms that I know.

I had a dean tell me regarding admissions: every admitted medical student needs to be in our best estimation on the road to becoming a good physician, but they also need to have the capacity or the possibility to become a great physician or contribute something to medicine or society. Statistically, it is obvious that the vast majority of medical students will not go on to be tops of fields or Nobel prize winners. But that isn't the point. They are still looking for that potential.

Well rounded doesn't mean, "do a little bit of everything." Well rounded means your intellectual interests extend beyond academics and getting drunk on the weekend/playing video games with friends.

 

[pre med 2014]

Whether you are the jack of all trades or the master of your domain, either lifestyle can be sold to the adcomm I think