Proof of experiences?!

[seanparsel]

I am not sure on the detail of the AMCAS applications, but when I am talking about my experiences (e.g.: shadowing, volunteer work, clinical experiences, etc) do I need proof of my hours? I have a general idea of how many hours I have shadowed each doc that I have shadowed but nothing 100% accurate. Should I be worried?

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[bonsaitree1]

All you have to do is provide contact information for your activities, or at least be able to give a name.

 

[Tiktaalik]

I have a general idea of how many hours I have shadowed each doc that I have shadowed but nothing 100% accurate. Should I be worried?

The VMCAS works the same way - just give contact info. Do what I did and contact all your volunteer supervisors to tell them what you're reporting. That way you can be sure that, in the unlikely event that they are contacted, your estimates mesh.

 

[eablackwell]

I have a question about this too. One of my main forms of community service comes from volunteer motivational speeches that I've done at hospitals, rehab centers, disabled sports events, schools, etc over the past 10 years. I have roughly 500+ hours of this, but every time I spoke it was at a different place (from Washington State to Florida). How in the world do I give proof of that, or even supply a name? I'm kinda stressing about this.

Also, I worked on a research program with NASA in 2001. We froze proteins and sent them up to the ISS in order to see if gravity affected the uniformity of protein crystallization (aka, trying to lower cost of medicine). This was at the end of my senior year of high school and I was one of about 8 students accepted to work on the project. This was a long time ago (as I'm a nontrad). Do I put down my old teacher who I sent my program application through, since he supervised my trip there? Do I try to contact NASA and ask them about a student research program from 10 years ago?

Any info would help, thanks.

 

[Tiktaalik]

I have a question about this too. One of my main forms of community service comes from volunteer motivational speeches that I've done at hospitals, rehab centers, disabled sports events, schools, etc over the past 10 years. I have roughly 500+ hours of this, but every time I spoke it was at a different place (from Washington State to Florida). How in the world do I give proof of that, or even supply a name? I'm kinda stressing about this.

Who booked you for this? Was there any middleman in this process?

 

[seanparsel]

I have a question about this too. One of my main forms of community service comes from volunteer motivational speeches that I've done at hospitals, rehab centers, disabled sports events, schools, etc over the past 10 years. I have roughly 500+ hours of this, but every time I spoke it was at a different place (from Washington State to Florida). How in the world do I give proof of that, or even supply a name? I'm kinda stressing about this.

Also, I worked on a research program with NASA in 2001. We froze proteins and sent them up to the ISS in order to see if gravity affected the uniformity of protein crystallization (aka, trying to lower cost of medicine). This was at the end of my senior year of high school and I was one of about 8 students accepted to work on the project. This was a long time ago (as I'm a nontrad). Do I put down my old teacher who I sent my program application through, since he supervised my trip there? Do I try to contact NASA and ask them about a student research program from 10 years ago?

Any info would help, thanks.

Does high school research count?

I am kind of in the same position you are with your volunteering. I voluntarily teach BLS at hospitals and in the community, I guess I sort of have records though :-/

 

[eablackwell]

Does high school research count?

I asked about high school things and one of the adcom people around here said if it's amazing enough, put it in. For instance, I competed in the olympic games before I was in college. No way I'm leaving that off.

I think the NASA program was really interesting. I mean, the proteins I worked with were launched into space for our research and the project is continuing to this day. So I think I'll likely put it on there, considering there is only a 2 month discrepancy between high school and college at that point.

 

[eablackwell]

Who booked you for this? Was there any middleman in this process?

I never had an agent. I was in the paper and on tv A LOT when I was younger. Places (McDonalds, Washington Potato Company, schools, hospitals, etc) always found my contact info (usually via my sponsors) and asked if I would do speeches.

I mean hell, I even met my husband via fan mail forwarded from my sponsors when I was 14.

 

[seanparsel]

I asked about high school things and one of the adcom people around here said if it's amazing enough, put it in. For instance, I competed in the olympic games before I was in college. No way I'm leaving that off.

I think the NASA program was really interesting. I mean, the proteins I worked with were launched into space for our research and the project is continuing to this day. So I think I'll likely put it on there, considering there is only a 2 month discrepancy between high school and college at that point.

Yeah, I wasn't saying what you did was not important, it seems pretty cool. I was just asking because someone just asked something about high school volunteer hours and the general consensus was not to put that in. But you are right, in your case I'm sure it will look good.

 

[eablackwell]

I think you can put it in if it was one big bunch that bled over through your ugrad, as they love to see that you're committed over a long period of time.

As for basic community service you did to get your NHS hours, I think that is stretching it.

From what I've learned talking to people around here, it's more of a "put what really matters down" than anything else.

For instance, you don't want to fill spaces with garbage. It's better to fill around 8 with amazing and leave 7 blank than fluff the last 7. It wastes adcom time reading and likely will make them question the importance of the REALLY important stuff you put on there.

 

[LizzyM]

AMCAS asks for start date (month/year) and end date (or present). It asks for average number of hours per week. So, 500 hours over 10 years would be 1 hour per week, easy-peasy.

Conventional wisdom is that stuff from HS shouldn't be included but it is not a black and white rule in the instruction manual. Don't list something plebian but something very unusual might be worth mentioning.

 

[Tiktaalik]

I never had an agent. I was in the paper and on tv A LOT when I was younger. Places (McDonalds, Washington Potato Company, schools, hospitals, etc) always found my contact info (usually via my sponsors) and asked if I would do speeches.

I mean hell, I even met my husband via fan mail forwarded from my sponsors when I was 14.

In absence of an agent, I'd list your contact at the most recent speaking engagement. That person will be able to vouch for at least one, and will likely have decided to invite you based on his/her knowledge of past engagements.

 

[LizzyM]

A "contact" is not essential. Leave it out if there isn't a natural fit.

 

[Tiktaalik]

A "contact" is not essential. Leave it out if there isn't a natural fit.

Oh, well if that's the case, all the better.

I'm curious now, though. We were wondering about this over in pre-vet, when someone mentioned that they had heard a classmate planning to lie about experience on their application. Obviously the consequences of being caught would be huge, but we were shaky on exactly what kind of safeguards adcoms have against fabricators and resume-padders. We had agreed that the contact info kept people honest, but if that's not essential, then is it just a matter of watching for consistency in the application? We don't have a vet school adcom member over there anymore, so we had nobody to ask.

 

[DbDan]

Oh, well if that's the case, all the better.

I'm curious now, though. We were wondering about this over in pre-vet, when someone mentioned that they had heard a classmate planning to lie about experience on their application. Obviously the consequences of being caught would be huge, but we were shaky on exactly what kind of safeguards adcoms have against fabricators and resume-padders. We had agreed that the contact info kept people honest, but if that's not essential, then is it just a matter of watching for consistency in the application? We don't have a vet school adcom member over there anymore, so we had nobody to ask.

its a huge risk, its also blatantly obvious that something was not done if they were to be asked about it in an interview. Experiences where you were obviously very involved and did it because you enjoyed it will show through. Also, in the event they are contacted and it turns out to 100% not be true i'd assume you could be blackballed for falsifying your application.

 

[dingyibvs]

i didnt put a contact for some of my activities, didnt seem to hurt. i did write in specifics about some of my most important activities and got rec letters from some of them.

 

[Tiktaalik]

its a huge risk, its also blatantly obvious that something was not done if they were to be asked about it in an interview. Experiences where you were obviously very involved and did it because you enjoyed it will show through. Also, in the event they are contacted and it turns out to 100% not be true i'd assume you could be blackballed for falsifying your application.

That's what we were figuring, but sans contact info that stopgap wouldn't be there. We figured that the interview process was key in sorting out the truth, but we wondered about the schools that have elected not to do face-to-face interviews. (Michigan State CVM, for example, gave an extended supplementary in lieu of interviews this year.)

 

[dingyibvs]

Oh, well if that's the case, all the better.

I'm curious now, though. We were wondering about this over in pre-vet, when someone mentioned that they had heard a classmate planning to lie about experience on their application. Obviously the consequences of being caught would be huge, but we were shaky on exactly what kind of safeguards adcoms have against fabricators and resume-padders. We had agreed that the contact info kept people honest, but if that's not essential, then is it just a matter of watching for consistency in the application? We don't have a vet school adcom member over there anymore, so we had nobody to ask.

there arent many safeguards. they rarely contact the references, mostly they just talk about it over the interview.

i heard a story of someone getting caught once on sdn. the investigation lasted into his 4th year, and he was kicked out after presumably accumulating hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. so yea, the consequences can be pretty severe if u get caught.

 

[Tiktaalik]

i heard a story of someone getting caught once on sdn. the investigation lasted into his 4th year, and he was kicked out after presumably accumulating hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. so yea, the consequences can be pretty severe if u get caught.

If that's the case, good, he deserved it.

I'm not too worried about it - I figure people dumb enough to cheat are usually also dumb enough to slip up and get caught. I was just wondering if we'd missed something. I hope that girl comes to her senses and accumulates experience the right way, but if not, that's less competition for everyone else when she's caught.

 

[LizzyM]

If it doesn't pass the smell test, the applicant may not even get an interview. Sometimes these folks interview poorly because they really haven't any anecdotes that come across as sincere. It isn't so much a case of getting caught as it is just coming across as weak.

 

[Tiktaalik]

If it doesn't pass the smell test, the applicant may not even get an interview. Sometimes these folks interview poorly because they really haven't any anecdotes that come across as sincere. It isn't so much a case of getting caught as it is just coming across as weak.

You say that like you've seen it a lot. Is this common? I had thought people would be more honest, but maybe I'm just naïve.

 

[dingyibvs]

You say that like you've seen it a lot. Is this common? I had thought people would be more honest, but maybe I'm just naïve.

cant speak for her but ppl exaggerate their experiences all the time. for example, someone volunteers at a kiosk at a hospital would talk about patient interactions and stuff.

 

[LizzyM]

Do I know that people are lying? I wouldn't say that they are but I will note if what they say seems insincere, illogical, or otherwise fishy.