Too many hobbies on AMCAS?

[ishabooboo]

I have a lot of hobbies that I spend a lot of time with (dance, snowboarding, singing, running, guitar, etc). What should I keep and what should I throw out for the AMCAS?

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[kevster2001]

Why dont you just make a hobbies list and put the ones you're really good at down. Running doesn't seem like a very interesting hobbie unless you compete or participate in marathons

 

[buffdoc]

Why dont you just make a hobbies list and put the ones you're really good at down. Running doesn't seem like a very interesting hobbie unless you compete or participate in marathons

Really??? I thought part of the purpose of the EC section was to show that you have a life outside of academics/medicine. You don't have to be in the X-games or compete at the Division I level to put down something that you do very often, do you?

 

[hellodoc]

Why dont you just put down,
" Several Hobbies"
then in the description box put down your hobbies and talk about them.

 

[kevster2001]

Really??? I thought part of the purpose of the EC section was to show that you have a life outside of academics/medicine. You don't have to be in the X-games or compete at the Division I level to put down something that you do very often, do you?

Well if he has too many hobbies and has to parse down, then i would obviously remove teh ones he's not good at.

 

[Robizzle]

If you're gonna put it all under one thing, I don't see what the problem of listing all of them is. Unless it's like... juggling, cracking my knuckles, counting ceiling tiles.

Maybe a brief description of each hobby? e.g. Running X miles daily. Show 'em you're serious about it!

 

[ste639]

on the topic of hobbies, i was under the impression that we are only expected to include activities and such that we participate in as part of an school organization, or do competitively or something. for example, i play piano, guitar, and a couple other instruments; i love them and spend a considerable amount of time with them. however, i'm not in any performing arts groups, etc. - they're just on my own time and something i do to relax. of course including this would show that i am well rounded, but i totally thought this would be something we shouldn't include. do a lot of people put down these things that truly are hobbies and nothing more?

 

[cubbbie]

on the topic of hobbies, i was under the impression that we are only expected to include activities and such that we participate in as part of an school organization, or do competitively or something. for example, i play piano, guitar, and a couple other instruments; i love them and spend a considerable amount of time with them. however, i'm not in any performing arts groups, etc. - they're just on my own time and something i do to relax. of course including this would show that i am well rounded, but i totally thought this would be something we shouldn't include. do a lot of people put down these things that truly are hobbies and nothing more?

I think it is reasonable to put a personal hobbie down for one or possibly two ECs. It's something you work at and spend time doing. It'll give the interviewer an idea about you as well. I know for job applications it's quite common to include this stuff, so I don't know why it would be different for med school applications.

 

[e_phn]

If you're gonna put it all under one thing, I don't see what the problem of listing all of them is. Unless it's like... juggling, cracking my knuckles, counting ceiling tiles.

that sucks. i love juggling. 🙁

 

[deleted102545]

A bit of a thread hijack but I was wondering how many ECs you guys have listed? I think I'll have about 7 so is that a good amount? I could possibly fill it up to 15 with a lot of useless junk but I'd rather not do that.

 

[cubbbie]

A bit of a thread hijack but I was wondering how many ECs you guys have listed? I think I'll have about 7 so is that a good amount? I could possibly fill it up to 15 with a lot of useless junk but I'd rather not do that.

I filled up all 15, but only 2 of them were useless junk. The rest were pretty notable.

 

[DF38]

I'm just going to put down one box for my hobbies and list them all in there (reading, swimming, horseback riding, etc). I figure none of them require much of a description, so they'll fit in easily, and it won't look like I'm trying to pad my application with 7 of my EC's being hobbies.

 

[ishabooboo]

on the topic of hobbies, i was under the impression that we are only expected to include activities and such that we participate in as part of an school organization, or do competitively or something. for example, i play piano, guitar, and a couple other instruments; i love them and spend a considerable amount of time with them. however, i'm not in any performing arts groups, etc. - they're just on my own time and something i do to relax. of course including this would show that i am well rounded, but i totally thought this would be something we shouldn't include. do a lot of people put down these things that truly are hobbies and nothing more?

I think that’s a bit extreme. Something you spend at least an hour a day on is pretty significant for med schools to get to know you, I'd say. I run 5-6 miles a day (was track and cross country in high school but can't mention that I guess), was in a well-known performing choir, been dancing as a hobby and competitively since I was 10, play guitar usually an hour a day (not gonna include that on my AMCAS just cause its a recent thing and I'd be embarrassed to demonstrate if it ever came down to it 😛 ).

I have 7 hard-core things on my list and I lumped all my hobbies into one. I coulda made it to 15 but it woulda been annoying to answer questions about such insignificant stuff (irrelevant to medicine or very short time spans) during interviews.

Thanks for the input everyone!

 

[Suaveness]

Ok so I'm a bit confused. Is it better to just put all hobbies that you don't spend lots of time on into one category, or should I just leave it as it is? For example, I have 13 things listed, but 6 are hobbies.

 

[kevster2001]

Ok so I'm a bit confused. Is it better to just put all hobbies that you don't spend lots of time on into one category, or should I just leave it as it is? For example, I have 13 things listed, but 6 are hobbies.

6 of your 13 ECs are hobbies? Uh.. Iwould definitely compress it

 

[rajad10]

6 of your 13 ECs are hobbies? Uh.. Iwould definitely compress it

roger that

 

[Suaveness]

6 of your 13 ECs are hobbies? Uh.. Iwould definitely compress it

So then it would be ok, and enough, to have only 8 items, with 1 of them being hobbies compressed?

 

[joueaupluie]

are you guys putting things like club sports that you did for a semester or two?
I wasn't going to put any hobbies until i saw this thread (since i'm not winning any awards with them)...i thought that was just something they might ask at an interview.

 

[joueaupluie]

What did you guys put for hours per week when you lumped the hobbies together?? total number of hours for all hobbies?

 

[jillibean]

Ok so I'm a bit confused. Is it better to just put all hobbies that you don't spend lots of time on into one category, or should I just leave it as it is? For example, I have 13 things listed, but 6 are hobbies.

What are the six hobbies? Do you have a lot to write about each? I compressed my hobbies into 2 categories one was volleyball (which stood on its own since I played varisty in college all four years and won a couple of awards) and the three others (violin--I played in HS, but only in a christmas orchestra in college, soccer--played intramural during Freshman year, backpacking--almost not worth noting, but I went on a few long summer backpacking trips) were compressed into one category eventhough they have nothing to do with each other.

 

[ESzczesniak]

Anyone worried what med schools will think of your hobbies. My somewhat main unusual, but well known, hobby is building the airplanes and trains everyone built as a kid, only now i will spend 200 hours finishing just one of them. I also run about 40 miles a week and play 10 hours of basketball or so a week. Should these honestly be put on the appication? Well, I guess that has all been answered, so let me put this slightly different. For some reason I feel hesitant about putting my hobbies down, but it seems I shouldn't. How many other people are putting their hobbies down or how many feel like I do? Thanks for your support.

 

[LizzyM]

Put them down. Adcoms want to know how you spend your time, what you do for fun, what you do to relax (no, not that -- but anything you'd be willing to tell your granny, in the presence of her pastor 😉 ).

If you are spending several hours per week on a hobby, it deserves a listing. If you were on a team for a summer or a semester, it might be worth a mention, lumped or unlumped.

 

[Mister Pie]

I weightlift pretty regularly. I wonder if I should put that down because I'm afraid it'll make me sound like a beefhead.

 

[mychelle774]

I weightlift pretty regularly. I wonder if I should put that down because I'm afraid it'll make me sound like a beefhead.

Hahaha, no way. Besides, if they don't believe that it takes dedication, stamina, and bodily knowledge you can just show em your guns.

 

[TexPre-Med]

If you do add hobbies, be sure you are well-versed in them. Obviously if you've played volleyball for 4 years at the college level, you KNOW volleyball. Don't put down guitar if you only know a couple songs, but if you can play piano while reading sheet music - add it. If you've run a number of 5k's, then add it. But be prepared. I've run many 5k's for charitable groups around Texas. A couple of my interviewers had run some of the same and quizzed me on them (make sure I wasn't lying).

Interviewers are there to analyze you. I told one interviewer that I had a poster of a periodic table in my living room (I actually did for o-chem). He pulled out a periodic table and tested me right there on atomic numbers, etc.

 

[Haemulon]

A bit of a thread hijack but I was wondering how many ECs you guys have listed? I think I'll have about 7 so is that a good amount? I could possibly fill it up to 15 with a lot of useless junk but I'd rather not do that.

I filled up all 15, and even had to leave out quite a lot of significant experiences. But I am a non-trad applicant, so have done relevant stuff since undergrad. Plus, I was very active with groups in college. Don't worry though, I'll need the EC's to help explain why i'm not a trad applicant. You'll be fine.

 

[SeventhSon]

among thousands of applications, essays and writing are very important. That established, talking about the things that make you tick is very important. A simple metric for the decision to interview a candidate comes down to "would I want to meet this person?"

Even though they may not be immediately relevant to medicine, I would encourage you to talk about as many of your hobbies as you can that give some type of insight as to how you function as a person. Just make sure you don't fluff it, if it's not going to take up the maximum amount of typing space, then be concise.

 

[dr_dre]

I was a tutorial teacher for a biology course for two years. Do you think that they will drill me on my biology?

Also, it seems weird how you can list anything as a hobby.
For instance, some of mine are sports, listening to music (is that even a hobby) etc etc.
How do they check you actually play basketball in your spare time or that you go running every day?

 

[vmc303]

on the topic of hobbies, i was under the impression that we are only expected to include activities and such that we participate in as part of an school organization, or do competitively or something. for example, i play piano, guitar, and a couple other instruments; i love them and spend a considerable amount of time with them. however, i'm not in any performing arts groups, etc. - they're just on my own time and something i do to relax. of course including this would show that i am well rounded, but i totally thought this would be something we shouldn't include. do a lot of people put down these things that truly are hobbies and nothing more?

This is dumb. To the rest of the world not applying to medical school, a "hobby" is just something you enjoy doing and spend considerable time with, regardless of whether it's an organized, group activity or not. You don't need the official seal of some organization to validate your own interests and choices of how you spend your free time.