Question about E.C.s/volunteering

[hye345]

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Do med schools look at any volunteer/ECs that you did in high school if they are medical-related?

 

[ICCONFETTI]

nope.
you might be able to mention them in passing at an interview that you've been interested in medicine since high school and give example <insert experience here>.

 

[hmm...]

is this officially written down anywhere?

 

[NewYorkDoc]

How much are e/c's considered in general? MCAT and GPA are really the most important correct?

 

[NewYorkDoc]

is this officially written down anywhere?

As in applications? No.

 

[hye345]

What if you do volunteer work during the summer after your senior year in high school? Does that go towards volunteer hours?

 

[Tunn3lVision]

What if you do volunteer work during the summer after your senior year in high school? Does that go towards volunteer hours?

i've been wondering about this myself,

hopefully somone will answer

 

[clsr2nrvna]

Now i'm confused. ANY activity/club in/during high school does not count, and can not be put on your application?

 

[akademiks1989]

What if you do volunteer work during the summer after your senior year in high school? Does that go towards volunteer hours?

I was under the impression they do count.

 

[hye345]

I think that because what someone can do/chooses to do in college dwarfs whatever someone could have done in high school, most med schools don't regard high school activities with high esteem. In my case, during my senior year (this year), I am gonna construct a prosthetic leg; I would like to think that this is significant enough to be specifically mentioned somewhere in the application or the personal statement.

 

[Robizzle]

How much are e/c's considered in general? MCAT and GPA are really the most important correct?

There's no magic percentages.. But not having any EC's even with great scores will probably keep you out of medical school. Having the entire package will help tremendously.

 

[Captain Fantastic]

After high school you'll have three years until you start your application for medical school. Surely you'll have more significant volunteer/E.C.s in those three years that you'll want to list. If you did something extraordinary in high school I suppose I could see listing it if you have space left on the applicaiton after including your more recent college E.C.s.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

The only thing I'm putting on my app that I did in high school is indicating that is when I began my involvement with EMS and the volunteer fire department......other than that I don't think anything else I did is of any significance.

 

[Captain Fantastic]

Sorry, double post.

 

[Captain Fantastic]

I think that because what someone can do/chooses to do in college dwarfs whatever someone could have done in high school, most med schools don't regard high school activities with high esteem. In my case, during my senior year (this year), I am gonna construct a prosthetic leg; I would like to think that this is significant enough to be specifically mentioned somewhere in the application or the personal statement.

I see what you're saying, but why not use that experience as an "in" for a research project in college where you do something even more significant with prosthetics? You can always include a sentence in your personal statement about how building a leg in high school motivated you to find out more about prosthetics and medicine, which lead you to such-and-so's lab where you since worked on XYZ. You don't want to peak in high school, you know?

 

[hye345]

Well, even if I do decide to enter medicine, It will not be because of that experience. I will probably enjoy the project, but not so much that I would continue to dig deeper into the nature of prosthetics while in college.

In fact, if I had the chance, I would change my project topic to do something relating to mental health and the nervous system. Unfortunately, it's too late🙁

 

[clsr2nrvna]

gotcha, thanks for the info!