Things to put in "Honors" section of ERAS?

[GeneGoddess]

Besides the blatantly obvious "best pharm student" and "world's best scut-puppy"? I don't have that many, but I'm not sure what to put. Scholarships? Travel awards ($500 to defray cost of attending a scientific meeting)? Classes you honored? What kind of things do people list?

I feel like a heel, since I don't know anyone in my class (re-entering MD/PhD), so I can't ask them.

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[doc05]

I thought MD/PhD's were smart...you can't figure this out on your own??

 

[Hercules]

Besides the blatantly obvious "best pharm student" and "world's best scut-puppy"? I don't have that many, but I'm not sure what to put. Scholarships? Travel awards ($500 to defray cost of attending a scientific meeting)? Classes you honored? What kind of things do people list?

I feel like a heel, since I don't know anyone in my class (re-entering MD/PhD), so I can't ask them.

I would put scholarships in. I would leave classes you honored in out; these should be readily apparent on your transcript and busy PD's usually aren't a huge fan of redundancy.

 

[fourthyearmed]

I put all my honors from undergrad (Phi Beta Kappa, etc.) because I don't have any med school honors. Maybe that's not what they wanted but it looked better than blank space. Anyway, I thought most of the honors weren't given out until end of 4th year so how could anyone have one besides a scholarship?

 

[16846]

At this rate, I am a shoe-in for the "Biggest Pain In The Ass" award for basic sciences if it's the admin. voting.

 

[Fabio]

AOA
Any honors/awards from college onward (you could include high school if it was something well-recognized, like Florida Athlete of the Year or Key Club National Achievement Award or NAACP Student of the Year or something like that.)

I agree that you should leave out classes you honored. Our school told us not to put them in.

I don't think the travel monetary award is as important as the presentation itself. I would think scholarships would be okay to put in.

 

[salsadoc44]

just a thought for early match people (including myself)

i included honors i received on my rotations in my SFMatch app b/c
1) our school is officially pass/fail so those grades do not show up on
our official transcript
2) those grades do show up on our dean's letter that's distributed nov 1st
3) since the dean's letter is sent out nov 1st and most interviews for early match applicants are granted before that date, it's good to have those grades
on your application otherwise the PDs will not see them until it's too late to
grant you an interview

that's the rationale to put your rotation honors on your application, which seems to be different from what people are advising in this thread

hope this helps

 

[Jaded Soul]

AOA

You don't put AOA in the honors section. It gets automatically added there if you check the AOA box in the other part of the application. If you put it in manually, you'll have it listed twice in the printout that the programs see.

I disagree that you should leave out any clerkships you honored. I've had advisors tell me that you should include it there, especially if you don't have other honors. The way it's presented on your transcript is out of your control and be easily overlooked. Might as well ensure that you get recognized for it by putting it in your ERAS app. It doesn't seem redundant to put it in yourself and then have your school confirm it on the transcript.

Edit: I agree with the rationale in the post above, too.

 

[Hercules]

(you could include high school if it was something well-recognized, like Florida Athlete of the Year or Key Club National Achievement Award or NAACP Student of the Year or something like that.)

Where would you draw the line for high school awards? I was going under the assumption that nothing from high school went in. Would you guys include National Merit Scholar?

 

[GeneGoddess]

Well, it appears about 50/50. I'm leaning more towards including them, mainly because my transcript is a mess. They intersperce grad school grades with med school grades, and all grad school grades are either ABCDF or P/F. But they don't designate them as P/F, so it looks like I've got way too many P's and not enough high pass or honors. It's a huge issue for the MD/PhDs at my school (you'd think they'd separate grad school and med school grades or list the class as P/F).

Professors at my school have said yea and nay to this issue. If the dean's letter came out earlier, I'd probably leave them out...

 

[amdap]

My school didn't have us put them in, and our transcript made it pretty clear what we honored and didn't honor . . .

But, if there's any question, I would err on including them. I'm sure there are enough people who end up doing it both ways, so you wouldn't be a total anomaly. 😉

good luck.

 

[Pilot]

I listed my class award as "Juan Valdez Coffee Drinker" for copius coffee drinking irregardless of the Dean's stance on beverages in the lecture hall. I was amazed at how often this "award" was mentioned during interviews, and always in a positive manner.

 

[Kilgorian]

Are you serious, because I drink some major coffee?