What ECs should I do for medical school applications?

[browneyes124]

This semester is the first semester that I won't be working. So I figured that I'd do some stuff to help with med school applications such as shadowing. I graduate in 1.5 years so it feels like there isn't a lot of time.
Besides shadowing, any other suggestions ? I've been volunteering a little during the semester but mostly during the summer. How important is it to be involved with clubs at school? An advisor said that medical schools look to see how involved you are on campus. It's just kind of hard for me because I have 9 classes this semester and it's hard to make meetings sometimes.

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[WedgeDawg]

The trifecta of experience that is more or less necessary is:

1. Clinical experience (hospital volunteering, scribing, hospice, etc)
2. Shadowing (and doing nothing but shadowing during that time)
3. Volunteering experience (either clinical or non-clinical, but good to have both)
(4). If you're aiming for research heavy schools, you need research experience

After that, just do what you're interested in and do it well

 

[Goro]

Here are some things to consider doing:

Not all volunteering needs to be in a hospital. Think hospice, Planned Parenthood, nursing homes, rehab facilities, crisis hotlines, camps for sick children, or clinics.

Some types of volunteer activities are more appealing than others. Volunteering in a nice suburban hospital is all very well and good and all, but doesn't show that you're willing to dig in and get your hands dirty in the same way that working with the developmentally disabled (or homeless, the dying, or Alzheimers or mentally ill or elderly or ESL or domestic, rural impoverished) does. The uncomfortable situations are the ones that really demonstrate your altruism and get you 'brownie points'. Plus, they frankly teach you more -- they develop your compassion and humanity in ways comfortable situations can't.

Service need not be "unique". If you can alleviate suffering in your community through service to the poor, homeless, illiterate, fatherless, etc, you are meeting an otherwise unmet need and learning more about the lives of the people (or types of people) who will someday be your patients. Check out your local houses of worship for volunteer opportunities. The key thing is service to others less fortunate than you. And get off campus and out of your comfort zone!

Examples include: Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House, Humane Society, crisis hotlines, soup kitchen, food pantry, homeless or women’s shelter, after-school tutoring for students or coaching a sport in a poor school district, teaching ESL to adults at a community center, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, or Meals on Wheels.

This semester is the first semester that I won't be working. So I figured that I'd do some stuff to help with med school applications such as shadowing. I graduate in 1.5 years so it feels like there isn't a lot of time.
Besides shadowing, any other suggestions ? I've been volunteering a little during the semester but mostly during the summer. How important is it to be involved with clubs at school? An advisor said that medical schools look to see how involved you are on campus. It's just kind of hard for me because I have 9 classes this semester and it's hard to make meetings sometimes.

 

[dreamadream]

Volunteer at an inner city school as a homework helper/mentor. Hours are usually in the afternoon(after school time). Go to the volunteermatch website...easy way to get involved.

 

[browneyes124]

Here are some things to consider doing:

Not all volunteering needs to be in a hospital. Think hospice, Planned Parenthood, nursing homes, rehab facilities, crisis hotlines, camps for sick children, or clinics.

Some types of volunteer activities are more appealing than others. Volunteering in a nice suburban hospital is all very well and good and all, but doesn't show that you're willing to dig in and get your hands dirty in the same way that working with the developmentally disabled (or homeless, the dying, or Alzheimers or mentally ill or elderly or ESL or domestic, rural impoverished) does. The uncomfortable situations are the ones that really demonstrate your altruism and get you 'brownie points'. Plus, they frankly teach you more -- they develop your compassion and humanity in ways comfortable situations can't.

Service need not be "unique". If you can alleviate suffering in your community through service to the poor, homeless, illiterate, fatherless, etc, you are meeting an otherwise unmet need and learning more about the lives of the people (or types of people) who will someday be your patients. Check out your local houses of worship for volunteer opportunities. The key thing is service to others less fortunate than you. And get off campus and out of your comfort zone!

Examples include: Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House, Humane Society, crisis hotlines, soup kitchen, food pantry, homeless or women’s shelter, after-school tutoring for students or coaching a sport in a poor school district, teaching ESL to adults at a community center, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, or Meals on Wheels.

I was thinking about doing crisis hotlines. My major is psychology so that kind of stuff interests me but some of the ones that I looked at said that you have to go through special training or certified in something

 

[browneyes124]

The trifecta of experience that is more or less necessary is:

1. Clinical experience (hospital volunteering, scribing, hospice, etc)
2. Shadowing (and doing nothing but shadowing during that time)
3. Volunteering experience (either clinical or non-clinical, but good to have both)
(4). If you're aiming for research heavy schools, you need research experience

After that, just do what you're interested in and do it well

How much clinical experience do you think is a decent amount? So far I only have 35 and that was from the summer.

 

[WedgeDawg]

How much clinical experience do you think is a decent amount? So far I only have 35 and that was from the summer.

I'm not the correct person to answer this if you're looking for a number. You want to demonstrate both commitment (in terms of hours or longitudinal service) as well as productivity (what you do with those hours). It depends on what you've done and how you present it. I will say that there is a point that is absolutely too low and a point after which diminishing returns sharply comes into play. I will also say that residents will often have weeks where they work 80 hours/week. Compare that number to what you've done and how much you've accomplished. I'm not saying you have to work like a resident while you're in college, but you have to demonstrate that you enjoy doing this stuff enough to at least tolerate 3-12 years of that kind of work.

 

[browneyes124]

This doesn't have any thing to do with the original post but at my school if you take a class and fail or do bad in it you can retake it and the new grade replaces the old one. I took a philosophy class online and due to technical difficulties I got a bad grade because there were only 4 exams but by the time it got sorted out it was to late and grades were already entered. I plan to retake the class. Does that look bad on your transcript for med school or while it even show that I took the class twice ?

 

[thatwouldbeanarchy]

This doesn't have any thing to do with the original post but at my school if you take a class and fail or do bad in it you can retake it and the new grade replaces the old one. I took a philosophy class online and due to technical difficulties I got a bad grade because there were only 4 exams but by the time it got sorted out it was to late and grades were already entered. I plan to retake the class. Does that look bad on your transcript for med school or while it even show that I took the class twice ?

You're obligated to report on AMCAS every course that you've attempted even if it doesn't appear on your school's transcript. It will affect your overall GPA. But I suppose it's good that it's not a prereq. Do you need to retake it for your major or something? Obviously, it's totally up to you if you want to retake it but medical schools will consider both grades. If I were you, I would probably move on and take something else.

 

[browneyes124]

You're obligated to report on AMCAS every course that you've attempted even if it doesn't appear on your school's transcript. It will affect your overall GPA. But I suppose it's good that it's not a prereq. Do you need to retake it for your major or something? Obviously, it's totally up to you if you want to retake it but medical schools will consider both grades. If I were you, I would probably move on and take something else.

My advisor said that only the new grade would be counted in my gpa. My it's not a requirement I took the class in high school but since I had a computer problem for the last exam I failed it so I failed the class. So I don't have to retake it but it is affecting my gpa

 

[ridethecliche]

Organic farming.

 

[thatwouldbeanarchy]

My advisor said that only the new grade would be counted in my gpa.

This may be true at your school but AMCAS asks you to include every course you've ever attempted regardless of your school's policy. So you're expected to report the low grade even if you retake it and get a better grade. AMCAS will calculate its own GPA for you and this grade would be included in that GPA calculation.

If you decide to apply to DO programs (as opposed to MD), it's a somewhat different story. DO programs do allow you to replace grades by retaking courses. But honestly, since it's just a philosophy course, it may not be worth retaking. Again, it's up to you to decide if you want to retake.

 

[Goro]

I recommend at least 150 hrs of clinical and nonclinical each.

How much clinical experience do you think is a decent amount? So far I only have 35 and that was from the summer.

 

[browneyes124]

This may be true at your school but AMCAS asks you to include every course you've ever attempted regardless of your school's policy. So you're expected to report the low grade even if you retake it and get a better grade. AMCAS will calculate its own GPA for you and this grade would be included in that GPA calculation.

If you decide to apply to DO programs (as opposed to MD), it's a somewhat different story. DO programs do allow you to replace grades by retaking courses. But honestly, since it's just a philosophy course, it may not be worth retaking. Again, it's up to you to decide if you want to retake.

So you don't think the F will hurt me to bad since it's not really needed for my degree?

 

[candbgirl]

It will be averaged into your GPA for AMCAS so of course it will affect your GPA. If the rest of your grades are good it probably won't be much of a ding. Don't try not to report it.

 

[candbgirl]

I was thinking about doing crisis hotlines. My major is psychology so that kind of stuff interests me but some of the ones that I looked at said that you have to go through special training or certified in something

Well you s the training/certification an issue?

 

[browneyes124]

Well you s the training/certification an issue?

They usually take a few months

 

[browneyes124]

It will be averaged into your GPA for AMCAS so of course it will affect your GPA. If the rest of your grades are good it probably won't be much of a ding. Don't try not to report it.

Well aside from gpa do you think it'll effect interviews ?

 

[thatwouldbeanarchy]

Well aside from gpa do you think it'll effect interviews ?

If your overall GPA is strong when you apply, it probably won't keep you from getting interviews. But it's possible that an interviewer might ask you about it. So I would prepare to explain what went wrong (without making excuses) and focus on what you've learned from the experience/how you've improved.

 

[gyngyn]

My advisor said that only the new grade would be counted in my gpa. My it's not a requirement I took the class in high school but since I had a computer problem for the last exam I failed it so I failed the class. So I don't have to retake it but it is affecting my gpa

We only see your AMCAS gpa's, not your school's.

 

[browneyes124]

If your overall GPA is strong when you apply, it probably won't keep you from getting interviews. But it's possible that an interviewer might ask you about it. So I would prepare to explain what went wrong (without making excuses) and focus on what you've learned from the experience/how you've improved.

So since they don't use school calculated gpa, do you think it would raise my gpa to retake the class or do you think it wouldn't matter ? I have another class that I got a C in so I'm thinking about retaking that as well

 

[thatwouldbeanarchy]

So since they don't use school calculated gpa, do you think it would raise my gpa to retake the class or do you think it wouldn't matter ? I have another class that I got a C in so I'm thinking about retaking that as well

Every course you take will be factored into your AMCAS calculated GPA. So yes, if you retook the course and got a better grade, it would increase your GPA. Just my 2 cents, but I probably wouldn't bother retaking courses that aren't prereqs and aren't required for your major. You could just as easily boost your cumulative GPA by taking another course that interests you that you think you can do well in. You don't need to take the same course again to improve your GPA. (At least not for AMCAS.)

 

[gyngyn]

So since they don't use school calculated gpa, do you think it would raise my gpa to retake the class or do you think it wouldn't matter ? I have another class that I got a C in so I'm thinking about retaking that as well

Re-taking classes has a much more powerful effect on AACOMAS gpa's than AMCAS.

 

[browneyes124]

Re-taking classes has a much more powerful effect on AACOMAS gpa's than AMCAS.

Ya I think I might just retake the philosophy class because I really don't think I should have gotten the grade that I did but I think I'll leave the other one alone. I have a pretty good science gpa so since the other class was just a general Ed I probably won't do it again