Question Regarding Extracurriculars

[pennpremed]

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I am currently a freshman at Penn. I am not sure how many extracurriculars to take up in order to make my application in the future as promising as possible. I know that medical schools admire commitment to a couple extracurriculars for multiple years over "commitment" to many extracurriculars but each for only short periods of time. That said, I just want some opinions on my choice of extracurriculars. Are these enough? Will they help my medical school applications? All opinions are welcome.


So currently, I've taken up membership in the following clubs. I plan on sticking with them for four years and hopefully taking up leadership positions:

1. Penn Pre-medical Association (http://www.pennpma.org) [~1 hour/week]

2. GlobeMed (http://globemed.org) [~2 hours/week]

3. Medical Emergency Response Team (http://pennmert.org) [~20+ hours/week]
For those unfamiliar with MERT, you take a semester long EMS course. After the course, you volunteer from evening to morning (8pm - 6am) patrolling the campus, usually on party nights (Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays).


In addition, I am currently working the following jobs:

1. Work Study Job - Evaluation team member for the Netter Center for Community Partnerships (https://www.nettercenter.upenn.edu) [~10 hours/week]
Penn has enrichment programs established at schools in West Philadelphia. These enrichment programs include tutoring, mentoring, teaching, etc. My job is evaluating these programs.

2. Hospital Volunteering - Premed volunteer at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (http://www.pennmedicine.org/hup/) [~5 hours/week]


Aside from participating in research at some point, that's about it. Right now, my schedule is pretty packed with all of these. I feel like I am not doing enough though. I want to participate in more clubs/organizations. But at the same time, I don't want to go way over my head. So I thought that asking those who are or previously were in the same position as me for their input would be a good start. Thanks in advance!

 

[samsunimomo]

This is a predictable list of premed ECs. What's going to distinguish you from all the other candidates?

 

[BABSstudent]

This is fine if you are going for lower to mid tier schools. Keep your grades up and add in some shadowing (you can do it over breaks at home if you want).

Also, keep letters of Rec in mind. If you could get close to someone that could write a great one, don't be afraid to ask after volunteering there for 6 months or so.

 

[plumhill]

I am currently a freshman at Penn. I am not sure how many extracurriculars to take up in order to make my application in the future as promising as possible. I know that medical schools admire commitment to a couple extracurriculars for multiple years over "commitment" to many extracurriculars but each for only short periods of time. That said, I just want some opinions on my choice of extracurriculars. Are these enough? Will they help my medical school applications? All opinions are welcome.


So currently, I've taken up membership in the following clubs. I plan on sticking with them for four years and hopefully taking up leadership positions:

1. Penn Pre-medical Association (http://www.pennpma.org) [~1 hour/week]

2. GlobeMed (http://globemed.org) [~2 hours/week]

3. Medical Emergency Response Team (http://pennmert.org) [~20+ hours/week]
For those unfamiliar with MERT, you take a semester long EMS course. After the course, you volunteer from evening to morning (8pm - 6am) patrolling the campus, usually on party nights (Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays).


In addition, I am currently working the following jobs:

1. Work Study Job - Evaluation team member for the Netter Center for Community Partnerships (https://www.nettercenter.upenn.edu) [~10 hours/week]
Penn has enrichment programs established at schools in West Philadelphia. These enrichment programs include tutoring, mentoring, teaching, etc. My job is evaluating these programs.

2. Hospital Volunteering - Premed volunteer at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (http://www.pennmedicine.org/hup/) [~5 hours/week]


Aside from participating in research at some point, that's about it. Right now, my schedule is pretty packed with all of these. I feel like I am not doing enough though. I want to participate in more clubs/organizations. But at the same time, I don't want to go way over my head. So I thought that asking those who are or previously were in the same position as me for their input would be a good start. Thanks in advance!

Don't be one of those checklist people. Find what you're passionate about and pursue it.