Only 6 activities on AMCAS?

[AnxiousGentleman55]

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Hey guys!

I’ve been told I have decent ECs (aside from my lack of research), with my hours, length of commitment, and types of experiences. Nonetheless, I’m concerned with how it looks on AMCAS, since I’ve grouped many of my activities together (because all of the experiences in each category were similar). After grouping all of my employment, all of my volunteer clubs, and all of my food bank experiences, I have a total of 6 entries… I know most applicants have more than that, so I’m concerned it might make me look lazy or that I didn’t do much. If not for COVID, I would have had research and additional clinical experiences, but alas, life isn't fair, so I shouldn't complain, since there's nothing I can do about that. Anyway, if I grouped more sparingly, I would have around 9, but I don’t see a point in listing similar activities separately if only the organization differs, you know? Here’s a synopsis of my 6 entries:

1) Awards/Recognitions (Phi Beta Kappa, Dean’s List, etc.)
2) Shadowing (40+ hours, 4 specialties including primary care)
3) Retail Employment (3 jobs, 500+ hours)
4) Hospital Volunteer (240+ hours, almost entirely patient contact)
5) Volunteer Club (50+ hours over 2 years (events were monthly))
6) Food Bank (200+ hours among 4 organizations)

So, do you guys think this is fine and that I shouldn’t worry, or should I have done a wider variety of things? I mean there’s not much I can do now, and I have a solid GPA and MCAT, but I don’t want something as silly as this to significantly affect me. I know that quality > quantity, and I certainly have great stories from all of these experiences, but 6 just seems like a joke lol.

 

[Gwynbleidd]

If you have 6 then you have 6. Not like you can pull out more activities so there’s no sense worrying about it. Like you said, quality > quantity. Do you think an applicant fluffing their list with a couple more “meh” activities will look any better than you? Probably not. So just focus on writing passionately about your own.

 

[Moko]

1) Awards/Recognitions (Phi Beta Kappa, Dean’s List, etc.)
2) Shadowing (40+ hours, 4 specialties including primary care)
3) Retail Employment (3 jobs, 500+ hours)
4) Hospital Volunteer (240+ hours, almost entirely patient contact)
5) Volunteer Club (50+ hours over 2 years (events were monthly))
6) Food Bank (200+ hours among 4 organizations)

Listing only 6 activities would be peculiar. There is no reason to consolidate everything into such a spartan application. I recommend unmerging some of these activities; not to 'fluff up' your application, but to give you enough space and opportunity to sell yourself. While these experiences may be similar, you can choose to highlight different facets with each essay.

I recommend unmerging activities that can stand on their own hours-wise. I also recommend adding in Hobbies as one of your experiences. Other things to consider adding (if applicable): teaching/tutoring experience (e.g. TA), leadership (e.g. resident assistant, leadership roles within organizations), research (e.g. undergrad thesis), study abroad, etc. This way, your application will look something like this:
1. Awards
2. Shadowing
3. Retail employment I
4. Retail employment II (perhaps consolidating two experiences)
5. Hospital Volunteer
6. Volunteer Club
7. Food bank I
8. Food bank II (perhaps consolidating two to three experiences)
9. Hobbies
(10+) additional experiences as mentioned above (new or unmerged)

Just my thoughts and best of luck.

 

[LizzyM]

Please tell us what you do for fun whether artistic, athletic, or hobby/advocation. It helps distinguish you from the thousands of others who have shadowing, hospital volutneering and community service.

I also agree that you should split the retail employment into separate slots.

 

[AnxiousGentleman55]

Thank you so much guys!! I guess I was being overly cautious of redundancy 😅😅