Question about work/activities section on AMCAS

[JAKRPH]

I am currently filling out an application for AMCAS for one of my current classes that I am in. I had a question for you about the work/activities section. Since I am a non-traditional student, I was wondering exactly what I should include in this section. I have a rather extensive work history outside of anything medical. I have been working since I was 15 years old mainly waiting tables, bartending, and a years worth of construction experience.

I am going to include most of this stuff in my personal statement. I think it help shows me as having a little more life experience than a typical applicant. But my main question is if I should mention it in this section or just focus on my scribing, volunteering, and clinical volunteering. I know the application will ask me about my 3 of my most meaningful experiences and I credit the service industry with really helping me get over my social anxiety and becoming a conversational "normal" person. I just don't know if that is something that an ADCOM would like to see in this section.

Thanks for any input!

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[bluepeony]

I am currently filling out an application for AMCAS for one of my current classes that I am in. I had a question for you about the work/activities section. Since I am a non-traditional student, I was wondering exactly what I should include in this section. I have a rather extensive work history outside of anything medical. I have been working since I was 15 years old mainly waiting tables, bartending, and a years worth of construction experience.

I am going to include most of this stuff in my personal statement. I think it help shows me as having a little more life experience than a typical applicant. But my main question is if I should mention it in this section or just focus on my scribing, volunteering, and clinical volunteering. I know the application will ask me about my 3 of my most meaningful experiences and I credit the service industry with really helping me get over my social anxiety and becoming a conversational "normal" person. I just don't know if that is something that an ADCOM would like to see in this section.

Thanks for any input!

Yes, there are 15 total slots in the work and activities section. You should list your work experience after youve already listed the volunteering, clinical, research, shadowing experiences.

 

[JAKRPH]

Yes, there are 15 total slots in the work and activities section. You should list your work experience after youve already listed the volunteering, clinical, research, shadowing experiences.

Do you think I should expound upon some of my work experiences in the service industry and talk about how it helped me overcome my social anxiety? I think that it could be a very relatable experience..

 

[bluepeony]

Do you think I should expound upon some of my work experiences in the service industry and talk about how it helped me overcome my social anxiety? I think that it could be a very relatable experience..

Yes you should definitely talk about it but not in the context of mental health issues due to the conservative and risk adverse nature of adcoms.

 

[Catalystik]

I am currently filling out an application for AMCAS for one of my current classes that I am in. I had a question for you about the work/activities section. Since I am a non-traditional student, I was wondering exactly what I should include in this section. I have a rather extensive work history outside of anything medical. I have been working since I was 15 years old mainly waiting tables, bartending, and a years worth of construction experience.

I am going to include most of this stuff in my personal statement. I think it help shows me as having a little more life experience than a typical applicant. But my main question is if I should mention it in this section or just focus on my scribing, volunteering, and clinical volunteering. I know the application will ask me about my 3 of my most meaningful experiences and I credit the service industry with really helping me get over my social anxiety and becoming a conversational "normal" person. I just don't know if that is something that an ADCOM would like to see in this section.

Nontrads with too many experiences to fit them all in are forced to be selective or to group activities. You might consider having one space for Collegiate Jobs, for example. [Anything that took place solely before starting college should be left out, BTW.] Give more emphasis to recent experiences.

Feel free to "expound" away, if you have the room, but also save something for Secondary essays.

 

[JAKRPH]

Yes you should definitely talk about it but not in the context of mental health issues due to the conservative and risk adverse nature of adcoms.

Thanks. I think a lot of people with above-average intelligence struggle with social anxiety. I was thinking of talking about it more along the lines of being willing to be uncomfortable and the growth that comes from that. Or put some sort of spin on it. 😉 🙂

Nontrads with too many experiences to fit them all in are forced to be selective or to group activities. You might consider having one space for Collegiate Jobs, for example. [Anything that took place solely before starting college should be left out, BTW.] Give more emphasis to recent experiences.

Feel free to "expound" away, if you have the room, but also save something for Secondary essays.

OK so absolutely NOTHING, workwise, from before going back to school? Also, no experiences? I hiked the entire Appalachian Trail in 2011, from Georgia to Maine. I was going to put that in there... (probably my greatest accomplishment lol took me 5 months and 8 days) and again put some character-building spin on it. Hard work, perseverance, dedication, etc....

 

[907914]

Anything that took place solely before starting college should be left out, BTW.

This advice feels either incomplete or out of context. If someone has a 15 year post high school career in construction then goes to college at 33 should they leave out their entire job in construction?

 

[JAKRPH]

This advice feels either incomplete or out of context. If someone has a 15 year post high school career in construction then goes to college at 33 should they leave out their entire job in construction?

I was wondering the same thing. I went back to school at 25 (now 28) and that would leave an 8-year gap in my history. ( I graduated high school a year early)

 

[907914]

I was wondering the same thing. I went back to school at 25 (now 28) and that would leave an 8-year gap in my history. ( I graduated high school a year early)

My entire time on Active Duty was before college, should I have left that off my primary? No...

Yah, there’s gotta be some kind of miscommunication we are missing here.

 

[Catalystik]

1) OK so absolutely NOTHING, workwise, from before going back to school?
2) Also, no experiences? I hiked the entire Appalachian Trail in 2011, from Georgia to Maine. I was going to put that in there... (probably my greatest accomplishment lol took me 5 months and 8 days) and again put some character-building spin on it. Hard work, perseverance, dedication, etc....

1) I'm glad you questioned my comment, which was unclear. It would have been more correct for me to say that adcomms generally don't much regard activities that took place before the traditional time of HS graduation, unless they continued into the college years. But there are exceptions, as everyone doesn't graduate from HS or go to college immediately after HS graduation. Sorry about that.

2) I didn't say, "No experiences," rather I suggested you might have to pick the most important. Hiking the Appalachian Trail is a keeper.

 

[Catalystik]

This advice feels either incomplete or out of context. If someone has a 15 year post high school career in construction then goes to college at 33 should they leave out their entire job in construction?

I was speaking in reference to the job at age 15 that OP mentioned.

 

[JAKRPH]

1) I'm glad you questioned my comment, which was unclear. It would have been more correct for me to say that adcomms generally don't much regard activities that took place before the traditional time of HS graduation, unless they continued into the college years. But there are exceptions, as everyone doesn't graduate from HS or go to college immediately after HS graduation. Sorry about that.

2) I didn't say, "No experiences," rather I suggested you might have to pick the most important. Hiking the Appalachian Trail is a keeper.

Thanks for clearing that up. I think I might have not worded my question the best way either. I was kind of thinking of this as a job application, where you want to have no gaps in your employment history. So should I put down the jobs I have worked since graduating HS? I wouldnt go into detail about them, but should they be there just to account for the time between my education?

 

[ciestar]

Please tell me youre not applying this cycle.

 

[Catalystik]

Thanks for clearing that up. I think I might have not worded my question the best way either. I was kind of thinking of this as a job application, where you want to have no gaps in your employment history. So should I put down the jobs I have worked since graduating HS? I wouldnt go into detail about them, but should they be there just to account for the time between my education?

How many jobs did you work between HS graduation and the beginning of college? Did any of them continue into the college years? Are you comfortable with grouping them, or do you need more space to discuss one or more of them?

 

[mwsapphire]

Please tell me youre not applying this cycle.

I was looking for that comment. For DO it seems like OP would likely be fine ( verification is very fast, and if they slam those secondaries they could get 5-10 DO apps in) , but for MD they are late. Unless they are very impressive.

 

[JAKRPH]

Please tell me youre not applying this cycle.

No, I'm not applying this cycle haha I ended up taking an elective class this semester to make up for a 2 credit deficit. The class is just based around putting your application together so it is ready to be submitted when the cycle opens. I will be applying next cycle.

How many jobs did you work between HS graduation and the beginning of college? Did any of them continue into the college years? Are you comfortable with grouping them, or do you need more space to discuss one or more of them?

6 jobs total since highschool. I don't need to explain each one. It's just waiting tables and bartending I'm just wondering if I should put them on there so there aren't any gaps in my timeline. No "where was he and what was he doing for those 8 months in 2010?"

 

[907914]

No, I'm not applying this cycle haha I ended up taking an elective class this semester to make up for a 2 credit deficit. The class is just based around putting your application together so it is ready to be submitted when the cycle opens. I will be applying next cycle.


6 jobs total since highschool. I don't need to explain each one. It's just waiting tables and bartending I'm just wondering if I should put them on there so there aren't any gaps in my timeline. No "where was he and what was he doing for those 8 months in 2010?"

If they were all waiting and bar tending they could just go under one category in the format of:

Title: Service/Food service emolyment

Joe’s Crab Shack: 9/11/2001 - 12/24/2004 9000 hours - contact
Wanda’s sip and slurp: 12/25/2004 - 11/11/2011 13000 hours - contact
O’Pattys delicatessens and delights: 11/12/2011 - (Current) - 15000 hours - contact

 

[Catalystik]

6 jobs total since highschool. I don't need to explain each one. It's just waiting tables and bartending I'm just wondering if I should put them on there so there aren't any gaps in my timeline. No "where was he and what was he doing for those 8 months in 2010?"

Service jobs, especially those requiring people skills, are worth mentioning. You might list them in reverse chronological order, if you have a Contact you can use for the most recent one you'd put in the space.

 

[907914]

If they were all waiting and bar tending they could just go under one category in the format of:

Title: Service/Food service emolyment

Joe’s Crab Shack: 9/11/2001 - 12/24/2004 9000 hours
Wanda’s sip and slurp: 12/25/2004 - 11/11/2011 13000 hours
O’Pattys delicatessens and delights: 11/12/2011 - (Current)

If you were a manager or anything special with any of them, give a one sentence explanation under it.

If it is something that takes more than one sentence to explain in a large group activity like this,then just don’t explain it, they will ask about it at the interview (I got to spend 5 minutes explaining what a CSH and a WAREX are to a Radiologist, so that was fun lol)

 

[JAKRPH]

Awesome! Thank you guys so much. I just want to make sure I dont have any red flags on my application. I really dont want to take a gap year.

 

[ciestar]

No, I'm not applying this cycle haha I ended up taking an elective class this semester to make up for a 2 credit deficit. The class is just based around putting your application together so it is ready to be submitted when the cycle opens. I will be applying next cycle.


6 jobs total since highschool. I don't need to explain each one. It's just waiting tables and bartending I'm just wondering if I should put them on there so there aren't any gaps in my timeline. No "where was he and what was he doing for those 8 months in 2010?"

A class for that?! Awesome!

 

[907914]

A class for that?! Awesome!

My school has something like that. The two classes are required and only available to declared premed majors. BUT...the class is only taught by one PhD who barely knows anything about the application process...so....why even...?

 

[JAKRPH]

A class for that?! Awesome!

Yeah I was pretty stoked when I found out about it. I ended up being short a credit for graduation and this class filled in the spot nicely. Its called Developing Health Professions Portfolio. We put together a portfolio with bio, resume, etc... and fill out our applications for med school. It will be nice to have a peer-reviewed portfolio to bring with me to interviews. The big plus for me is we have to do our personal statement for a grade, which left to my own devices would never get done... I hate writing and I hate it even more if I have to write about myself haha so a deadline will be good.

My school has something like that. The two classes are required and only available to declared premed majors. BUT...the class is only taught by one PhD who barely knows anything about the application process...so....why even...?

Yeah this guy seems to know his stuff he was adcom at one point for Morsani