Question about EC's

[lainey234]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I just finished reading another thread in one of the other forums regarding EC's and am freaking out a bit. Most of the posters, many non-trads, had 15+ EC's to list! I am just starting over after being home the last 5 years raising two babies, so I have no experiences to list - unless you count warming bottles and changing diapers. Somehow I think med schools won't be overly impressed by that. I will start volunteering at a hospital next week and will look into shadowing a physician sometime in the next year. By the time I apply, next fall - I will have 1 1/2 yrs of volunteer exp, but nothing else! Does anyone have any suggestions on what else I might do in the meantime to beef up my application? Not looking to fluff it up with fake stuff, just looking for suggestions of things I can do in the next year. Also, do you think it looks bad that all of my experience will have started right at the same time that I am going back to school? Is anyone else in a similar position?

 

[QofQuimica]

First rule of this game: never ever compare yourself to other people. You can't know the whole story from SDN, and in the whole scheme of things, the only person whose app you can control is yours. So even though it's contrary to human nature, try your best to just worry about you.

Second, you must have done more than just warm bottles and change diapers for the past five years; your kids are in school by now. Anything that you did post-secondary is fair game; this is the one time when it's helpful to be a non-trad. 😛 Did you work at all since graduating high school? Have you organized some sort of activity for your kids, such as a play group? Do you play some kind of sport or otherwise engage in physical activity? Are you a member of any organizations? Do you play a musical instrument? Have you studied a foreign language? What are your hobbies? If you had to pick the things in your life that are the most important to you outside of your family, what would they be? Not every activity has to be medical. Some of them certainly should be, but it's fine if others aren't, and it's probably even good if some aren't.

 

[lainey234]

Thank you, that is very sound advice. It is easy to feel like you are getting in over your head when you are starting so late in the game. My kids are actually 2 and 4, not in school yet, so all of my time has been spent with them the last few years. Changing diapers and warming bottles may be over simplifying it a bit, but in essence they have kept me too busy to do much else.

Since they are finally reaching pre-school age and I am returning to school, I guess what I am asking is what can I do now to improve my application? Are there any activities schools like to see more than others? Is it most beneficial to volunteer or should I try and get involved in some research? Can anyone provide examples of what they have done to improve this portion of their app?

 

[blee]

The stereotypical pre-med ECs include volunteering at a hospital, doing some basic or clinical research, shadowing a physician. Some combination of these activities usually ends up on most people's applications.

That said, whatever you pick, you should make sure it's something that you really want to do. For example, unless you make particular arrangements, volunteering at a hospital may not amount to much more than shuttling patients and x-ray films from place to place -- it's certainly a needed service, but not the best way to expose onself to the medical profession. More importantly, I don't know how much satisfaction you would get from this activity, nor how much experience you could draw upon at interviews or while writing your personal statement. Medically related ECs should be focused on exposing yourself to "real" medicine and learning more about the profession you wish to enter.

But don't stop there. ECs can be anything, as Q mentioned -- community service, any serious interests or hobbies, anything at all of significance to your life. If you're passionate about something, then it counts. I'll also mention that I was "only" able to produce eight ECs on my AMCAS application, but that I have been successful this year.

 

[Maurizio]

I just finished reading another thread in one of the other forums regarding EC's and am freaking out a bit. Most of the posters, many non-trads, had 15+ EC's to list! I am just starting over after being home the last 5 years raising two babies, so I have no experiences to list - unless you count warming bottles and changing diapers. Somehow I think med schools won't be overly impressed by that. I will start volunteering at a hospital next week and will look into shadowing a physician sometime in the next year. By the time I apply, next fall - I will have 1 1/2 yrs of volunteer exp, but nothing else! Does anyone have any suggestions on what else I might do in the meantime to beef up my application? Not looking to fluff it up with fake stuff, just looking for suggestions of things I can do in the next year. Also, do you think it looks bad that all of my experience will have started right at the same time that I am going back to school? Is anyone else in a similar position?

When you say people had 15+ ECs or 8 ECs do you mean they are able to list 15 activities. Is it better to have 3 or 4 ECs and alot of hours in each or 15 ECs and only a few hours in each? I'm currently doing charity work for only 3 or 4 different orginizations (including hospital) but plan to get as many hours as possible over the next couple of years before I apply. Should I be looking to spread my time out in different organizations, or spend all my time these 3 or 4? I'm so confused 😕

 

[blee]

When you say people had 15+ ECs or 8 ECs do you mean they are able to list 15 activities. Is it better to have 3 or 4 ECs and alot of hours in each or 15 ECs and only a few hours in each? I'm currently doing charity work for only 3 or 4 different orginizations (including hospital) but plan to get as many hours as possible over the next couple of years before I apply. Should I be looking to spread my time out in different organizations, or spend all my time these 3 or 4? I'm so confused 😕

You should do what makes you happy.

More specifically, without knowing anything abuot your ECs, I would not change what you're doing at all. Who cares if you can brag about being in 15 clubs if all you ever did was sign your name on the attendance sheet? Adcoms are looking for commitment, not just breadth.

 

[happydays]

Only do significant and meaningful activities. Spend some time on each, like at least 6 months to a year.

The MOST important aspect of your app is to have a solid foundation in your studies, good science GPA (3.0+, preferably 3.3+) and good MCAT (25+). When you've got your bases covered, then work on those EC's.

Here are some ideas:
-have you taken any leadership roles? How does it show you're a people-person and make a good doc?
-Service activities, and how they are important to you.
-Hospital/clinical work, how do they make you want to be a doc
-Research, how do they show you're dedicated to science

The idea of the EC's is to convey that you're a mature, competant individual who has put a lot of effort into thinking WHY become a doc and HOW to become a great doc. If you can do that, you've hit a home run. Good luck in your application process.

 

[QofQuimica]

You should do what makes you happy.

More specifically, without knowing anything abuot your ECs, I would not change what you're doing at all. Who cares if you can brag about being in 15 clubs if all you ever did was sign your name on the attendance sheet? Adcoms are looking for commitment, not just breadth.

I agree. I am one of the people who did fill out all 15 activities, but I have been in school full-time for most of the past 13 years, I do not have a family, and I have spontaneously done things like decide to take a semester off to go do field research in obscure places. But my life is not the norm for most people my age, and it's a double edged sword: I have an unusual app that makes me stand out, but I don't have a lot of the things that many other non-trads have, like, oh, a family and a house!

I think that a big part of the secret to going successfully through this process is to make the most of what you have instead of focusing on what you don't have. I mean, I suppose someone could argue that all of my maverick ECs prove that I'm not committed to one thing and that I'm a professional student. But I have a unifying theme (actually two: research and teaching) that I am passionate about, and I explained on my app and at interviews how every EC pertains to one of those two goals or both. I know that people like to think that this process is all about numbers, and it's true that numbers do play a role. But having a plan and a passion, and being able to communicate those things effectively to the adcoms, is vital.

So again, you should think about what's important to you. What do you want to spend the rest of your life doing? Pick activities that show off those aspects of you, and give the adcoms a sense of you as a person with a history of doing great things who will go on and continue to do great things as a physician. Does that help?

 

[dasta]

Adcoms are looking for commitment, not just breadth.

I could not agree more. Some premeds think that "more EC's" mean "better EC's" and so they spend 2 months doing this, 5 months doing that, 3 weeks doing something else, In my opinion, this looks very flakey and inconsistent.

Medicine is a long term commitment. Show consistency and "staying power" by picking one or two, preferrably unique, quasi-medical EC's that really fascinate and truly interest you. Stick with them for a while, perhaps 1-2 years at minimum pouring your soul and heart into your work. And you'll have some interesting exepriences to talk about at your interview.

 

[blee]

Heck, they don't all have to be medical. If you were a concert pianist for ten years, put it down -- you never know what might catch an interviewer's eye!