Really bad ECs and about 1.5 years left. This sound like an okay plan?

[grindtime1]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Have done pretty much nothing through my first 2+ years in undergrad and am looking to start now.

Assuming an average gpa and mcat (3.65/low 30s), would these ECs suffice for an MD school?

- 1 year of hospice volunteering
- 100 hours of ER volunteering
- 20 hours shadowing 4 different specialties
- 100 hours of nursing home volunteering
- TA for chemistry lab one semester (not one full year, just one semester)

Would that be enough or is it not even close?

 

[wanderer]

I had about 2 years or perhaps a little less listed in terms of activities (other than hobbies). I got several acceptances though I likely I would have had more if I had activities before then listed. I also had good answers if i was asked what I had done early on in college (they usually asked this indirectly).

Your clinical ECs look fine but you NEED non-clinical things. (E.g. research, community service, hobbies, etc.)

 

[grindtime1]

I had about 2 years or perhaps a little less listed in terms of activities (other than hobbies). I got several acceptances though I likely I would have had more if I had activities before then listed. I also had good answers if i was asked what I had done early on in college (they usually asked this indirectly).

Your clinical ECs look fine but you NEED non-clinical things. (E.g. research, community service, hobbies, etc.)

What about the 100 hours at the nursing home.

 

[wanderer]

What about the 100 hours at the nursing home.

Depends on what you did there.

 

[oldyogurt]

in my limited experience with this process research seems to be the biggest gap in your ECs. I have one research experience and it was brought up everywhere I interviewed.

 

[gettheleadout]

Depends on what you did there.

Yeah agree with this, if you anticipate doing things closer to caring for individuals' health it might be a safer bet to do something really obviously not medical (i.e. habitat for humanity, to pick a common one)

 

[grindtime1]

Depends on what you did there.

So the non-medical volunteering should have less interaction with/caring for people pretty much?

 

[wanderer]

So the non-medical volunteering should have less interaction with/caring for people pretty much?

Sort of. In my experience clinical volunteering isn't really looked at as community service (for the most part).
Some examples of community service:
Soup kitchen, Habitat for humanity (as previously mentioned), working with homeless, tutoring underprivileged students, being a big sibling, church-related-activities, delivering meals. There are also some things that involve patients that aren't necessarily clinical. For example playing musical instruments for sick children or whatever.

 

[Catalystik]

Hopefully you meant 20 hours each for four different specialties rather than 20 hours total, so as to appeal to a broader number of schools?

Why not substitute one of the clinical experience gigs with some weekly nonmedical community service along the lines that wanderer100 has suggested above? You'd still have enough clinical experience and nonmedical volunteerism seems to be increasingly important to adcomms from feedback we've seen here on SND.

 

[4ksibe]

So the non-medical volunteering should have less interaction with/caring for people pretty much?

The ECs you listed look pretty much like a premed doing some solely to get in med skul. what are your hobbies outside of academics??? You need to do some outside of normal premed course. Also you need some leadership which IMO is lacking here.

 

[MacVA]

Have done pretty much nothing through my first 2+ years in undergrad and am looking to start now.

Assuming an average gpa and mcat (3.65/low 30s), would these ECs suffice for an MD school?

- 1 year of hospice volunteering
- 100 hours of ER volunteering
- 20 hours shadowing 4 different specialties
- 100 hours of nursing home volunteering
- TA for chemistry lab one semester (not one full year, just one semester)

Would that be enough or is it not even close?

I am not sure that this would be considered "pretty much nothing". I would suggest adding on some more Shadowing...

Other than that, I think you are fine.

 

[4ksibe]

I am not sure that this would be considered "pretty much nothing". I would suggest adding on some more Shadowing...

Other than that, I think you are fine.

he is saying that these are the things he plans to do in the future

 

[MacVA]

he is saying that these are the things he plans to do in the future

LOL on reading comprehension...😎