Very big error with AMCAS activity hours

[Concept2]

I just realized that I put 14600 hours for my research employment in my activities section. Not sure why I submitted it thinking that was reasonable, turns out it is only 3K+ hours. This has also wrongly inflated the total research experience hours that I filled out.

I submitted that over a month ago and have already gotten all my secondaries and submitted a bunch too.

To make things worse, I’m an md/phd applicant, so I believe they'll look closely at my research numbers.

I plan on sending an update to admissions with the revised hours for all schools, but I'd like to hear from any adcoms if this is the right way to approach this situation ( @Goro @LizzyM and @Faha ). Will this pose a big detriment to my ability to get into a program?

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[LizzyM]

Well, an inability to do simple math might be a red flag. /jk

14600 hours is more than 7 years of full-time employment (40 hrs/wk). Unless you are a non-trad who has been out of school for 5 years or more, someone may assume that there's an error there and the number is only 1460 or something like that. In all likelihood, if the rest of your application is appealing, you might be interviewed with a note from the reader to the interviewer to ask about the number of hours. Or, the reader and interviewer may skip over the number and look at the productivity and your skill set.

 

[Concept2]

Well, an inability to do simple math might be a red flag. /jk

14600 hours is more than 7 years of full-time employment (40 hrs/wk). Unless you are a non-trad who has been out of school for 5 years or more, someone may assume that there's an error there and the number is only 1460 or something like that. In all likelihood, if the rest of your application is appealing, you might be interviewed with a note from the reader to the interviewer to ask about the number of hours. Or, the reader and interviewer may skip over the number and look at the productivity and your skill set.

Thanks for the quick response! So would you recommend I send an update to all my schools, or am I making too big of a deal over something that'll likely be seen as a mistake?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Thanks for the quick response! So would you recommend I send an update to all my schools, or am I making too big of a deal over something that'll likely be seen as a mistake?

I encourage you to ask the MSTP folks in the Physician Scientists forum.

 

[GoSpursGo]

I don't think this will be a huge deal. Anyone who looks closely enough to even notice the numbers will assume you made a mistake.

If you choose to reach out just be very brief, literally 2 sentences. If you choose not to reach out I think that's fine too. Ultimately they're going to judge you more based on your research output and passion for research than some arbitrary number of hours.