Primary Application Activities

[Beetles]

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I would greatly appreciate it if someone was able to provide tips for completing the descriptions for the primary application activities. I am unsure of how much in depth I should go and what they are interested in knowing. Also, for scholarship descriptions, what is important to state?

So confusing...🙂 Thanks!

 

[coral]

Check out Sailcrazy's thread for some tips that I thought were useful in writing/entering my AMCAS activities:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=202513&highlight=tips+AMCAS

From my experience, I doubt adcoms have a lot of time to wade through detailed descriptions. I had some interviewers reading my app in front of me during my interview searching for questions--disappointing maybe, but true. Keep it simple and relevant (what you did, learned, relevance to prep for medicine).

For scholarships, I entered the name of the award, what it was awarded for (community service, academics, leadership, etc.) and the amount.

 

[jochi1543]

I have a related question - how do you define "shadowing" in terms of it being worthy to be put on AMCAS? For example, if I contacted a physician in a field I was interested and asked to shadow him, but he refused due to some legal limitations associated with his field, and yet he still invited me to his office and we spent a good two hours talking about his work - does this still count as "shadowing"? Should I include it if this meeting helped me figure out whether I was interested in that particular specialty?

 

[DrBowtie]

I have a related question - how do you define "shadowing" in terms of it being worthy to be put on AMCAS? For example, if I contacted a physician in a field I was interested and asked to shadow him, but he refused due to some legal limitations associated with his field, and yet he still invited me to his office and we spent a good two hours talking about his work - does this still count as "shadowing"? Should I include it if this meeting helped me figure out whether I was interested in that particular specialty?

Its not shadowing IMO.

 

[MDapp06]

I have a related question - how do you define "shadowing" in terms of it being worthy to be put on AMCAS? For example, if I contacted a physician in a field I was interested and asked to shadow him, but he refused due to some legal limitations associated with his field, and yet he still invited me to his office and we spent a good two hours talking about his work - does this still count as "shadowing"? Should I include it if this meeting helped me figure out whether I was interested in that particular specialty?

It may not be considered shadowing, however, if this experience was critical in your decision to become a physician (or sparked your interest in a specific specialty), you can perhaps discuss it in your personal statement.

 

[jochi1543]

It may not be considered shadowing, however, if this experience was critical in your decision to become a physician (or sparked your interest in a specific specialty), you can perhaps discuss it in your personal statement.

I don't have ANY room in my PS, lol...My friends and I were editing commas and dashes out of it last night.

 

[emquiksilver]

I have a related question - how do you define "shadowing" in terms of it being worthy to be put on AMCAS? For example, if I contacted a physician in a field I was interested and asked to shadow him, but he refused due to some legal limitations associated with his field, and yet he still invited me to his office and we spent a good two hours talking about his work - does this still count as "shadowing"? Should I include it if this meeting helped me figure out whether I was interested in that particular specialty?

I agree with DrBowtie. Don't risk putting down anything you can't back up during the interview. What are you going to say when they ask about your shadowing experience?

 

[jochi1543]

I agree with DrBowtie. Don't risk putting down anything you can't back up during the interview. What are you going to say when they ask about your shadowing experience?

Sorry, maybe I wasn't clear - I wasn't asking about whether to list this as "shadowing," but whether to list it, period. If I'm listing this, it'd be under "other," of course.

 

[PBandJ]

Sorry, maybe I wasn't clear - I wasn't asking about whether to list this as "shadowing," but whether to list it, period. If I'm listing this, it'd be under "other," of course.

I'd say save that for something to talk about during interviews. There will be plenty of opportunity for you to include that discussion during your interviews, and it will show that you've taken an active interest in trying to understand what life as a physician is like.

 

[little pebble]

figured I'd post this here because I'd really like it answered!

So, say I've researched in two different labs on two completely different subjects. Can I lump them together under the Experience Name: "Research" and then decribe each research experience, or should I list them seperately. I'm running out of room on the Work and Activities section!

Also, I was in the college marching band (the flagline). Should I put it under Extracurricular or under Artistic Endeavors?

 

[PBandJ]

figured I'd post this here because I'd really like it answered!

So, say I've researched in two different labs on two completely different subjects. Can I lump them together under the Experience Name: "Research" and then decribe each research experience, or should I list them seperately. I'm running out of room on the Work and Activities section!

Also, I was in the college marching band (the flagline). Should I put it under Extracurricular or under Artistic Endeavors?

You could lump those two research activities together, but it would depend on how much you have to talk about. If you worked at one of the labs for 3 years and the other for 2 weeks, then you should probably just focus on the longer/more in-depth experience. However, if they were both short research experiences (e.g. one summer each), it may make more sense to combine them. What else are you including that you already have 14 other spots filled up?

As far as the marching band goes, I'd put that as Extracurricular. I don't think it will matter much what category you file it under, though.

 

[little pebble]

One was a summer deal where I worked 40 hours a week on C. jejuni, and the other one I'm just starting, but I'll continue until I leave my graduate program. Second one is a project on West Nile, possibly coming up with a rapid test.

As for my other stuff:

Dance Marathon, Relay for Life, Shadowing in Venezuela, Shadowing in US, Translating at free clinic, 2 jobs (one clerical, one lab related), flagline, sorority leadership, sorority philanthropy leadership, sailing (I have my keelboat licence!), combined BS / MPH program, and sorority scholarship (v. prestigious).

I'm skipping member of Honors program (b/c that's obvious by my class load), AED, DEI, SDPi (because those are just honor soc.), another of my jobs, my leadership in a political org, and Dean's List (b/c that's obvious by my grades).

Me = too busy.

 

[PBandJ]

One was a summer deal where I worked 40 hours a week on C. jejuni, and the other one I'm just starting, but I'll continue until I leave my graduate program. Second one is a project on West Nile, possibly coming up with a rapid test.

As for my other stuff:

Dance Marathon, Relay for Life, Shadowing in Venezuela, Shadowing in US, Translating at free clinic, 2 jobs (one clerical, one lab related), flagline, sorority leadership, sorority philanthropy leadership, sailing (I have my keelboat licence!), combined BS / MPH program, and sorority scholarship (v. prestigious).

I'm skipping member of Honors program (b/c that's obvious by my class load), AED, DEI, SDPi (because those are just honor soc.), another of my jobs, my leadership in a political org, and Dean's List (b/c that's obvious by my grades).

Me = too busy.

haha, i just looked at your mdapps profile and realized it's true. go busy premeds go! 🙂
in that case, go ahead and combine the research experiences. good that you're skipping dean's list/honors programs...it's usually evident by grades and course load anyway.

 

[little pebble]

haha, i just looked at your mdapps profile and realized it's true. go busy premeds go! 🙂
in that case, go ahead and combine the research experiences. good that you're skipping dean's list/honors programs...it's usually evident by grades and course load anyway.

I suppose I should leave the contact info blank then, since I researched in two different labs?

 

[Beetles]

Thanks for the help--I really appreciate it! This can be a little mind numbing at times 😳

 

[uhohspaghettio]

I'd say save that for something to talk about during interviews. There will be plenty of opportunity for you to include that discussion during your interviews, and it will show that you've taken an active interest in trying to understand what life as a physician is like.

so don't put too much on paper? why? because looking good on paper makes u look too great compare to real life? 😕

 

[PBandJ]

so don't put too much on paper? why? because looking good on paper makes u look too great compare to real life? 😕

No, I'm not trying to say not to put too much on paper. By all means, the activities section is the place to make yourself shine on paper to the AdComs. My comment was that a 2 hour experience shouldn't take up a whole spot in your section of activities on AMCAS, especially since most people are trying to cut down to 15 activities. It's definitely something good to talk about during interviews, and it might even be something to include in the PS if it shows how you came to your own answer to the question "why medicine?" Anyway, that's just my 2 cents.

 

[jochi1543]

No, I'm not trying to say not to put too much on paper. By all means, the activities section is the place to make yourself shine on paper to the AdComs. My comment was that a 2 hour experience shouldn't take up a whole spot in your section of activities on AMCAS, especially since most people are trying to cut down to 15 activities. It's definitely something good to talk about during interviews, and it might even be something to include in the PS if it shows how you came to your own answer to the question "why medicine?" Anyway, that's just my 2 cents.

My personal situation is that I do have 15+ activities, but many of them I grouped (e.g. scholarships/awards). Also, I worked part-time all through college and have been working since I graduated, but none of my jobs have been mind-blowing. So I don't know if I should take up 7 out of 15 sections with my boring jobs or group some of them together and introduce things that may not have taken up as much of my time but are more related to medicine.

 

[chickenlittle84]

isn't the wisdom that you do are supposed to put the 15 MOST meaningful things? Like I was a part of some clubs and stuff in college, I went to meetings, I did some stuff, but they didn't have a huge impact on who I am...I just put the onces that have really influenced me/are interesting?