POOLING extracurriculars on AMCAS...quick question

[Transformers]

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Since we have only 15 slots for extracurriculars...I was wondering about pooling different experiences into a generic name.

1.) For example, I served as student body secretary for "student body government" and I also served as secretary for "senior class student government"
...Can I just describe the entire activity as Student Government and then describe each activity separated by a space in the experience description?

2.) Also, if I was involved in Africa students association AND Indian students association, can I list them under one experience name as "Multicultural Club Involvement" and once again describe my involvement in each club?

3.) For Awards, can I lump all my honors under 1 experience name such as "University-related awards"...i.e. - academic scholarships, community service scholarships...I was concerned about using a separate slot for each award because they're nothing special like the nobel prize, for example....

Thanks

 

[Hyperstudyosis]

That's sort of what I did...don't really know if I was supposed to or not. I definitely took advantage of that space for the description to let the medical schools know what I wanted them to know.

 

[sshashid87]

I wouldn't lump the two government positions together, as they probably both took some time and effort and warrant their own slots. As for the other stuff, definitely lump awards together (a large percentage of med school applicants have similar awards, so there's no point in stressing these). The multicultural club thing could probably be lumped together unless you had some insane hours or responsibilities with each one. I'm only taking up 9-11 spaces on my AMCAS, but I still grouped similar things together, rather than fill in a blank for each shadowing experience, award, intramural, cultural club, etc. Highlight the EC's that you want the Adcoms to pay close attention to, so leadership, community service, research, clinical experience, and then perhaps a very unique experience. Good luck!

 

[beyondbethany]

I did this on my app last year. I had "pooled" EC listings including: Honor Societies (I was in three), Student Government (various elected and appointed positions), University Awards, etc.

If you have a lot of ECs to list, I think is is a valid way to do it. I doubt any school would have problems with listing them this way, unless they ride the lame train.

 

[camaras2480]

If you have a lot of ECs to list, I think is is a valid way to do it. I doubt any school would have problems with listing them this way, unless they ride the lame train.

Pooling is perfectly legit. In fact, one of the adcoms I know loves it. Less reading. lol.

 

[Mattabet]

Pooling is perfectly legit. In fact, one of the adcoms I know loves it. Less reading. lol.

👍 Agree. Just make sure that your pooling is logical, and it can definitely be an asset - whatever makes your application easier to grok for the adcoms is a good thing.

 

[MaryLennox]

i did this too (for example had a category for all my shadowing, one for all my employment . . .) but then i only used like 12 or 13 slots so it wouldn't look like i was pooling in order to pad my application. ya know? i agree it's legit as long as you do it in a way that makes sense (again, pooling all my lame jobs together. it seemed like separating them would make it seem like i was trying to make them more significant than they were. but i didn't want to leave them off entirely either because it's important to let them know i was working.)

 

[camaras2480]

pooling all my lame jobs together.

lol 😀 cute