Weird Question about hobbies

[NoMoreAMCAS]

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Disagree with this totally, notwithstanding that the poster purports to agree with me. You are supposed to make yourself as interesting as possible, but interesting to folks who aren't going to consider someone who plays video games or collects comic books particularly enthralling. Nor do they think sitting home reading is particularly interesting. The goal isn't to make yourself boring and play it safe. But nor do you want to portray yourself as an immature introvert, who spends his free time gaming. You have to know your audience, and demonstrate that you are unique and dynamic in a way that will impress a 50 year old clinician with a 70 hour work week. So if you collect anime, you'd better do it in a big way that gets you national recognition or earns you big money or I probably wouldn't mention it. Or if you play video games, you'd better be a beta tester or compete in tournaments or I wouldn't mention it. Or if you go to concerts or sporting events, you'd better be playing/performing, rather than a spectator, or it probably doesn't merit a mention. But no, nobody wants to hear that you sit at home and read books either. But if you wrote one, fantastic. The point is, there are people out there whose hobbies are impressive, and those are the folks who get points in this kind of essay. If a hobby isn't, then you have to be careful as to whether it makes you seem nerdy or immature OR BORING. Any of these can mean game over.

I believe you are absolutely right, and I plan to play the game accordingly.

I'm just saying it's ridiculous that we should have to make things up or avoid mentioning hobbies because some 50 year old doesn't find it interesting or appropriate.

 

[pianola]

Why change it? It makes sense that members of a profession should have a say in who else gets in. That's the fun of having an exclusive club.

Heh, ok. Maybe I'll be tempted to agree after/if I get in and actually join said club. 😉

What if you've been involved in hip-hop, rap, or stomp as part of your cultural upbringing? Something tells me they wouldn't be as "legitimate" as classical piano performance or playing violin in the school orchestra. I mean, obviously I'm glad classical piano counts as a 'valid' EC/hobby since I've been playing/performing since before I turned six.

But come on now. These schools keep asking how we'll contribute 'diversity' to their class. Do they really want to know the answer to that question or not?

 

[Law2Doc]

I'm just saying it's ridiculous that we should have to make things up or avoid mentioning hobbies because some 50 year old doesn't find it interesting or appropriate.

I don't think you should make up things. It's too easy to get caught in a lie. But I do think you need to pick and choose those hobbies you deem mention-worthy wisely.

 

[Law2Doc]

But come on now. These schools keep asking how we'll contribute 'diversity' to their class. Do they really want to know the answer to that question or not?

Sure they do. But does collecting comic books or playing video games really contribute to diversity in the same positive day as someone who is a concert pianist, writes books, competes nationally in something, does dance performances, acts in summer stock, restores muscle cars and shows them at car shows, etc? The goal of these adcoms likely isn't to put together a class of introverts who sit in the dark and play WOW, Halo or GTAIV. It is to have an impressive, dynamic class of folks who excel at a multitude of things.

 

[LucidSplash]

Heh, ok. Maybe I'll be tempted to agree after/if I get in and actually join said club. 😉

What if you've been involved in hip-hop, rap, or stomp as part of your cultural upbringing? Something tells me they wouldn't be as "legitimate" as classical piano performance or playing violin in the school orchestra. I mean, obviously I'm glad classical piano counts as a 'valid' EC/hobby since I've been playing/performing since before I turned six.

But come on now. These schools keep asking how we'll contribute 'diversity' to their class. Do they really want to know the answer to that question or not?

You're thinking about this the wrong way (and I agree about 80% with L2D on this). Things like anime, D2D, videogames, etc have a tendency to be viewed as anti-social/loner-type activities (whether or not you consider that to be the case).

What L2D is saying (I think) is that your hobbies, as presented on applications, should a) show excellence and achievement in that area or b) show a well-balanced personality who has a healthy psyche and participates in society (preferably both). When it comes to video games and role-playing games and the like, if you do it so much that you can't come up with any other hobbies to list on your applications, you have a tendency to look like a socially awkward individual who spends too much time without communicating with other people.

Like I said before, your hobbies are helping to round out an adcom's idea of what type of person you are, what your personality is. Its not just that adcoms are full of old white men. There are plenty of those, but a large number of schools also have students and younger faculty doing interviews AND sitting on adcoms. With something like dance (stomp, hip-hop) or involvement in a musical genre (rap, hip-hop) it is easier to present it in a way that shows an active, involved person. But you don't write "I like to dance on the street with my homies and spin dope rhymes about livin' the hardcore gangsta life." You write "I'm involved in a community dance troupe specializing in hip-hop and stomp; we perform at a variety of community-oriented venues including parades and nursing homes." Whatever you write about rap has to downplay the popular conception of half-naked women dancing in videos that anyone NOT involved in rap conjures up the minute you say the word.

You will be inundated with what I refer to as the "touchy-feely" side of medicine in your first two years. You'll be instructed in the "right" type of communication techniques medical schools believe are necessary for excellent patient care (for example, the term "motivational interviewing" = "how to talk a patient into doing something they have no interest in doing"). You don't want to include the stuff that conjures the image of the guy sitting in his room, in the dark, with a headset and a controller, staring at the computer or TV for 6-8 hours at a stretch. It doesn't jive with the current popular models of who is a "good communicator."

 

[pianola]

You will be inundated with what I refer to as the "touchy-feely" side of medicine in your first two years. You'll be instructed in the "right" type of communication techniques medical schools believe are necessary for excellent patient care (for example, the term "motivational interviewing" = "how to talk a patient into doing something they have no interest in doing"). You don't want to include the stuff that conjures the image of the guy sitting in his room, in the dark, with a headset and a controller, staring at the computer or TV for 6-8 hours at a stretch. It doesn't jive with the current popular models of who is a "good communicator."

Very interesting. I see what you're saying. And I definitely agree about the importance of how the activity is explained.

I guess I'm just not a terribly big fan of the rigidity of this whole process. Given how many poodle hoops pre-meds have to jump through, the 'rules' just start to sound a little silly and perhaps a little arbitrary after a while.

Anyway, thanks for explaining, L2D and LucidSplash.

 

[brianmartin]

What if you've been involved in hip-hop, rap, or stomp as part of your cultural upbringing? Something tells me they wouldn't be as "legitimate" as classical piano performance or playing violin in the school orchestra. I mean, obviously I'm glad classical piano counts as a 'valid' EC/hobby since I've been playing/performing since before I turned six.

Obviously!

 

[Law2Doc]

I guess I'm just not a terribly big fan of the rigidity of this whole process. Given how many poodle hoops pre-meds have to jump through, the 'rules' just start to sound a little silly and perhaps a little arbitrary after a while.

Get used to it. These "poodle hoops" are just the first set of hoops you will have to jump through. There are many in this career. You'll have to go through the whole application process again in a few years as you apply for residency.

 

[UVAbme2009]

What L2D is saying (I think) is that your hobbies, as presented on applications, should a) show excellence and achievement in that area or b) show a well-balanced personality who has a healthy psyche and participates in society (preferably both).

Based on this, I can see why mentioning TV shows you like wouldn't fit. But as for sporting events, it's not like I go alone. But I guess even though I'm doing it with a close group of friends, I'm not really contributing anything to society outside of my support for the team and school. Right?

No big deal, I only have down TV or sports on three essays. I still have 20 other chances. Thank you for the advice also everyone!

 

[travelbug73]

I understand what many of you are saying. However, how many premeds will have hobbies that are high impact? And if they did, it would invariably have been mentioned on their AMCAS. For example, Pianola has been playing in concerts since she was barely 6 and I'm quite sure she has already mentioned this on her primary. How many more interesting/unique hobbies that have not been mentioned previously will the vast majority of applicants have?
I enjoy cooking, especially different cuisines, just for our family though. I do not entertain every time I cook. Will that mean I'm socially inept? No! Some Adcoms might like it and somebody else who does not like to experiment will not. I don't think I can make everything interesting to everybody. Can I show excellence in that area? No, I’m by no means a nationally renowned chef. Same thing with gardening, I enjoy it. Again, it is not a community oriented activity, it is my form of relaxation and time for introspection. Does this project me as a loner who does not care about the world, I hope not. If anything it should tell the Adcoms that I take care of myself. Burn out is a big thing in the field of medicine and hopefully people like us will not because of our ability to relax. I have already told the Adcoms what and how I contribute to this society and world, now I think it is time to tell them how I help myself.
I think as long as the activities are not illegal or extremely controversial, you should mention them if you are genuinely interested in them even if you have not contributed in any form except as a spectator. Maybe at the end of a hard day playing video games is your form of relaxation, great! Not everybody prefers to engage in activities that involve people all the time. An activity that is cool or interesting to one person is weird to another, so be yourself!

 

[unsung]

Sure they do. But does collecting comic books or playing video games really contribute to diversity in the same positive day as someone who is a concert pianist, writes books, competes nationally in something, does dance performances, acts in summer stock, restores muscle cars and shows them at car shows, etc? The goal of these adcoms likely isn't to put together a class of introverts who sit in the dark and play WOW, Halo or GTAIV. It is to have an impressive, dynamic class of folks who excel at a multitude of things.

What is inherently more interesting about someone who restores muscle cars vs someone who collects and watches anime? Speaking as someone interested in neither, I would, nevertheless, prefer to meet a person interested in the latter. IME, people interested in anime tend to be interested in Japanese culture and be really open to trying new foods, going new places, etc. I don't know enough people interested in muscle cars to really comment, but since we're knee deep in stereotypes already anyway, my impression of the former is much less favorable... At the very least, I think I would prefer to eat out with the latter.

My undergrad had a Japanese anime club and it was quite a social club. People met every week to watch anime videos, share food, talk, etc. They weren't loners or weirdos and came from a variety of different backgrounds/majors. There was nothing anti-social about the club relative to other clubs I've seen. They came to together because of a love of anime and what keeps them together is an interest in sharing their love for Japanese culture. Some had traveled to Japan. They hardly seemed like boring, lonely people to me.

 

[unsung]

I understand what many of you are saying. However, how many premeds will have hobbies that are high impact? And if they did, it would invariably have been mentioned on their AMCAS. For example, Pianola has been playing in concerts since she was barely 6 and I'm quite sure she has already mentioned this on her primary. How many more interesting/unique hobbies that have not been mentioned previously will the vast majority of applicants have?
I enjoy cooking, especially different cuisines, just for our family though. I do not entertain every time I cook. Will that mean I'm socially inept? No! Some Adcoms might like it and somebody else who does not like to experiment will not. I don't think I can make everything interesting to everybody. Can I show excellence in that area? No, I'm by no means a nationally renowned chef. Same thing with gardening, I enjoy it. Again, it is not a community oriented activity, it is my form of relaxation and time for introspection. Does this project me as a loner who does not care about the world, I hope not. If anything it should tell the Adcoms that I take care of myself. Burn out is a big thing in the field of medicine and hopefully people like us will not because of our ability to relax. I have already told the Adcoms what and how I contribute to this society and world, now I think it is time to tell them how I help myself.
I think as long as the activities are not illegal or extremely controversial, you should mention them if you are genuinely interested in them even if you have not contributed in any form except as a spectator. Maybe at the end of a hard day playing video games is your form of relaxation, great! Not everybody prefers to engage in activities that involve people all the time. An activity that is cool or interesting to one person is weird to another, so be yourself!

I'm thinking about listing those activities too in my secondaries. Actually, I think cooking/gardening and the like paints a pretty positive picture of a person as someone who's family-oriented, hard-working, and health conscious. I don't get "loner" from it at all. Everyone likes good food, but not everyone likes to take the time to cook and learn to cook well... a lot of people just don't have the patience... so they depend on the people who do Anyway, I think people who enjoy to cook tend to be perfectionistic and really enjoy pleasing other people. I also don't cook banquets or anything, mostly just for my family, but I enjoy making things they'll like.

Also, with the gardening thing, that shows an affection for nature that I imagine schools emphasizing rural medicine would take a liking to. I don't know how much of a stretch that is, but I did read about a study once that said rural physicians tend to list outdoor activities for their hobbies.

Anyway, not that any of those reasons/justifications are actually that important. What's important is that you genuinely enjoy those activities and they naturally paint a picture of you. I don't think activities NEED to be "community oriented" in the most obvious sense of clearly not being solitary and clearly involving a group of people.

AND, I think there's a place for introverts in medicine. Not saying you are or aren't, but what is so wrong about enjoying solitary pursuits that involve introspection? (Ironically for the original thread, I don't even think video games or anime or cooking really even qualify as solitary pursuits?)

If anything, I think the bias against video gamers/anime collectors has nothing to do with seeing them as anti-social. Isn't it obvious that gamers associate with other gamers and collectors socialize with other collectors? People associate with others who share their interests. It almost makes me mad, because American culture is so good at throttling non-mainstream hobbies and marginalizing people. A guy who's more interested in gymnastics than football is ridiculed, for no good reason. And here we hit that same wall again in medical school applications. PLEASE, tell us how you're diverse. But don't go outside the box, otherwise you'll get labeled "geek" or "effeminate" or whatever.

Okay, that got a little off-topic. 😉 But I actually don't think Adcoms are AS judgmental like that as maybe the general public. As long as you spin the hobby the right away... i.e. "I like to collect anime because I'm interested in Japanese culture and enjoy seeing different depictions of it, etc." vs "I like to collect anime because the skinny girls with the big boobs are hawt and I have a fetish." Any hobby is amenable to spin.

 

[halekulani]

though i play video games and watch anime, i would never ever write about them in attempt to impress someone, especially an adcom. there are far more important things you can show/write about than those. of course this excludes professional gamers or actual artists. if you're a professional gamer or artist, there's definitely a way to spin it towards teamwork/competition or art as a passion rather than making the focus "video games" or "anime"

if you can write about playing video games or anime without actually making that the centerpiece, then it might be acceptable. otherwise i just don't think it's worth the risk.

 

[Diksha]

Surely you could even write about gaming and anime with a positive spin? For example, you could say something like, "I enjoy spending time with my friends; we unwind by playing video games/ enjoying anime." Sure, the ADCOM wouldn't necessarily be overawed, but I don't think they'd be offended either. I don't think talking briefly about something so innocuous could really harm you.