What are good hobbies or non-academic ECs to talk about?

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um, the ones you actually do and are meaningful to you?
 
I am sure Med School salivate at someone who puts "going to bars" as a hobby. :laugh:

Activity title: Bar Hopping
Hours per week: 20
Description: Favorite beer - bud light
 
greg1184 said:
I am sure Med School salivate at someone who puts "going to bars" as a hobby. :laugh:

Activity title: Bar Hopping
Hours per week: 20
Description: Favorite beer - bud light
Click to expand...

Sorry dude🙁, that would work only when you are paid to do it. Involunteer is one of many ways to bring diversity to its max, isn't it?


BigRedPremed said:
um, the ones you actually do and are meaningful to you?
Click to expand...
Seriously,
I am very happy to go over your MD application. Out of my curiosity, I wonder if you really need to apply to that many schools with large number of applicants. IMHO, you need only one or two of them Tufts, Georgetown, GW, SLU, or Drexel. Schools in N.Y. such as MSSM, AE and the rest should serve the purpose as back up schools much better. You have a very good reason to say that you want to make sure that you remain in N.Y. Otherwise, (I heard that) Mayo has a small class and good financial package; Ohio State seems to prefer higher MCAT score and you'd pay instate tuition fee after the first year.

Besides, you have already had the best back up. I bet that USC will accept you in late October or early November this year. Congrats!
 
leftmid said:
Sorry dude🙁, that would work only when you are paid to do it. Involunteer is one of many ways to bring diversity to its max, isn't it?
Click to expand...

😕 What is "Involunteer"? What does barhopping have to do with that?
 
greg1184 said:
What is "Involunteer"? What does barhopping have to do with that?
Click to expand...

I knew that it was not in a dictionary. But, if "Involutary" is antonymous to "Voluntary," then "Involunteer" should assumably be the opposite to "Volunteer" too. What I was trying arrive at was that anyone can bring uniqueness and diversity to a campus just by being different. Bar hopping would qualified for non academic EC only when it is a paid job.

Hope that I am not making it worse. I did :laugh: along with you.
CHEERS!
 
leftmid said:
Sorry dude🙁, that would work only when you are paid to do it. Involunteer is one of many ways to bring diversity to its max, isn't it?



Seriously,
I am very happy to go over your MD application. Out of my curiosity, I wonder if you really need to apply to that many schools with large number of applicants. IMHO, you need only one or two of them Tufts, Georgetown, GW, SLU, or Drexel. Schools in N.Y. such as MSSM, AE and the rest should serve the purpose as back up schools much better. You have a very good reason to say that you want to make sure that you remain in N.Y. Otherwise, (I heard that) Mayo has a small class and good financial package; Ohio State seems to prefer higher MCAT score and you'd pay instate tuition fee after the first year.

Besides, you have already had the best back up. I bet that USC will accept you in late October or early November this year. Congrats!
Click to expand...

lol I don't want to remain in NY. I'm a CA resident. I would like to attend med school in an urban area. Ohio State (I used to live in Ohio) and Mayo aren't in desirable locations to me.
 
I wrote about comic book collecting, and how I won the bench press compettion at ucla.
 
I've recorded music and put on concerts for causes at my school. I also do digital artwork and design, which I've won some awards for. I religiously play intramurals and work out regularly since fitness is important to me. I've campaigned for sexual assault awareness and changed policy on campus.

Just a couple of examples of hobbies or non-academic ECs I discussed in interviews. Just make sure its stuff that matters to you and you can talk about why it matters to you (i.e. instead of just saying "I like to play intramurals because they're fun" I said "I enjoy intramurals because they allow me to maintain a healthy lifestyle, continually strive for improvement in my skills, and experience teamwork and success as a group. Oh, and they're also a ton of fun!")
 
leftmid said:
I knew that it was not in a dictionary. But, if "Involutary" is antonymous to "Voluntary," then "Involunteer" should assumably be the opposite to "Volunteer" too. What I was trying arrive at was that anyone can bring uniqueness and diversity to a campus just by being different. Bar hopping would qualified for non academic EC only when it is a paid job.

Hope that I am not making it worse. I did :laugh: along with you.
CHEERS!
Click to expand...

You can also say you own a Liger. 😉
 
BigRedPremed said:
lol I don't want to remain in NY. I'm a CA resident. I would like to attend med school in an urban area. Ohio State (I used to live in Ohio) and Mayo aren't in desirable locations to me.
Click to expand...
Do you know a guy name bigredswim, by any chance?😀
 
The dean of admissions from UT-Houston directly told me not to put video games as a hobby. She says video games are a waste of time and will not be considered a good thing.

Also, she said do not put going to the gym, or working out, since those aren't hobbies, those are things you SHOULD do on a regular basis. She said you wouldnt put eating healthy on there would you?

Just a dean's oppinion...
 
bluesTank said:
The dean of admissions from UT-Houston directly told me not to put video games as a hobby. She says video games are a waste of time and will not be considered a good thing.

Also, she said do not put going to the gym, or working out, since those aren't hobbies, those are things you SHOULD do on a regular basis. She said you wouldnt put eating healthy on there would you?

Just a dean's oppinion...
Click to expand...

How did that come up in a conversation? Who would even think to put that on their application?

To the OP: This really is something that shouldn't be hard to think about. For example, I fix people's computers (hardware and software) in my spare time and have a couple of ECs reflecting that.

You need to spend time realizing what non-academic ECs you do often. for most, it's just part of a routine that you aren't even aware of. Ask your friends to describe yourself and something should pop up that you can use.
 
Playing table Dungeons & Dragons, knowing the racial bonus of any race in D&D out of top of my head, and learning to speak the elven language. And yeah, I'm a girl...
 
trevagandalf said:
Playing table Dungeons & Dragons, knowing the racial bonus of any race in D&D out of top of my head, and learning to speak the elven language. And yeah, I'm a girl...
Click to expand...

WoW (World of Warcraft) > Dungeons and Dragons
 
WOW. Dungeons and Dragons and World of Warcraft, huh? I'm surrounded by winners.
 
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