significant hobbies as significant experiences?

[dmf2682]

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First off, if I've a hobby that takes up a good amount of my time, can I put it down as a significant experience?

If so, can I still put it in if I've to slow down on said hobby as i do my prerequisites?

What's the expiration date, realistically, on these things?

Even though I know it's a compressed summer course and takes a lot more time than a normal course would, i get the feeling I'm going to have to put some stuff on hold, but think it might bolster my application if I could put them on.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

can you be a little more specific? if your hobby that gets a good amount of time is video games, probably not. why don't you tell us what the hobbies are and we can give you a better idea.

the general thing with hobbies is that they are things that YOU WANT to do and commonly don't contribute to a greater goal. and if you are thinking hobbies can make up for experiences, than no.

 

[DrMidlife]

I personally think it's important to get across things you've done that are not cookie-cutter premed stuff. If you've got a black belt, make it known, if you're a trained singer, make it known (assume they'll ask you to sing), if you have worked on a campaign for a political candidate, make it known (maybe don't mention the candidate ie if they recently were in national news...). This gives interviewers something kind of fun to talk about with you before they have to start working you over. Sets everybody up to succeed.

Best of luck to you.

 

[LingoLaine]

If it was signifiicant to you for some reason, of course it can be a significant experience. Just make sure you have justifiable reasons and can explain it well.

 

[dmf2682]

I do a fair amount of running. I started small, a mile at a time, and built up to running full marathons. I've done three, one was to raise money for charity. Plan is to run for another charity this fall. The reason i asked is, i usually spend 10-15 hours /week on this and i may have to scale back while taking courses.

 

[DrMidlife]

I do a fair amount of running. I started small, a mile at a time, and built up to running full marathons. I've done three, one was to raise money for charity. Plan is to run for another charity this fall. The reason i asked is, i usually spend 10-15 hours /week on this and i may have to scale back while taking courses.

Fantastic EC. You're under no obligation to keep doing an EC.

More to the point, a completed EC (such as a marathon) is an accomplishment. An aspiration to complete an EC is not an accomplishment, and that's what adcoms see too much of (as I understand it). Not being able to keep doing marathons takes nothing away from having completed marathons.

Best of luck to you.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

yeah thats a pretty good one to put on the app.

 

[FlyLite]

I do a fair amount of running. I started small, a mile at a time, and built up to running full marathons. I've done three, one was to raise money for charity. Plan is to run for another charity this fall. The reason i asked is, i usually spend 10-15 hours /week on this and i may have to scale back while taking courses.

Running a marathon sounds like should be important on an application. It says something about mental strength and stamina. I ran a 15k in May this year at 9min/mile pace (I know its not that great🙂). In fact about 15 people older than 57 had better times than me. One of them is 74. I found that impressive since he is 40 years older than me.

It takes a lot of discipline to train and run a marathon. Even if you slow down and never run another marathon, I should think the ones you have done so far are achievements and you should be able to talk about them as long as you live. It says something about what you can do as a person when you set your mind to it.

 

[dmf2682]

Thanks for the input. You all are great to bounce the little questions off of and get feedback