what is considered an acceptable level of ECs?

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limpkitty said:
my roomate does research in a lab and has a 3.4 and is gonna be lucky to get a 27, does anyone really think that he's more likely to be a leader in the medical field than me (3.8/41 and diverse ec's)
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I was impressed when you posted your score in the MCAT thread. I am no longer impressed with you.👎
 
Is eagle scout worth mentioning if I received the honor in August after graduating high school in June?
 
LizzyM said:
What proportion of applicants who are snotty brats with a sense of entitlement get interviews... hmm I guess I'll need to do some research, too.

:laugh:

Consider an attitude adjustment before you apply.
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lizzy, does your school always judge people on what they say on sdn? maybe online forum decorum is even more important than research?? seriously though, my only point was that most undergrad research is b.s. and don't tell me that all of you don't know that.
 
limpkitty said:
thousands of people get about a 40 on the MCAT? huh, lets do the math, 100%-99.7%=.003, .003*41,000(number of applicants per year) = 123

huh, it's been a while since I took math, does 123=thousands???? hmmmm, I think I'll do some research on it....
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MCAT score percentiles are based on the number of people who took the test, not the number of people who apply to schools.
 
medking said:
Is eagle scout worth mentioning if I received the honor in August after graduating high school in June?
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Mmm, I dunno, I wouldn't. If you are dying to fill in a slot, maybe put hobbies in there? Scout stuff is too high-schoolish, for lack of a better word, IMO at least.
 
jochi1543 said:
Mmm, I dunno, I wouldn't. If you are dying to fill in a slot, maybe put hobbies in there? Scout stuff is too high-schoolish, for lack of a better word, IMO at least.
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I agree to an extent, I wouldn't put eagle scout on the activities list, but maybe talk about it in the PS or in secondaries. Letting them know you stuck with boy scouts all the way through eagle shows commitment and desire to serve the community. Even though it happened around high school, it probably shows more maturity than being the Jungle Juice Chair at your frat's Spring Beer Bong Blowout.
 
I've spawned a monster that has a life of its own. Oh my.
 
limpkitty said:
lizzy, does your school always judge people on what they say on sdn? maybe online forum decorum is even more important than research?? seriously though, my only point was that most undergrad research is b.s. and don't tell me that all of you don't know that.
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I disagree with this 100 percent. You need to get out of your cubicle or dorm and look around at the interesting research that undergrads are involved in around the country.
 
limpkitty said:
thousands of people get about a 40 on the MCAT? huh, lets do the math, 100%-99.7%=.003, .003*41,000(number of applicants per year) = 123

huh, it's been a while since I took math, does 123=thousands???? hmmmm, I think I'll do some research on it....
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And let's do the math, not everyone who has a 40 on the MCAT and applies has taken it the same administration as you have taken it. The percentiles are based on the percent who took it the same time as you took it. Why don't you gather up all the people from each administration throughout the year plus maybe a year ago's number of people who got similar scores of 35+ and then do your math???

Your numbers alone get your foot in the door to be looked at further but they don't grant you an interview much less an acceptance.

And undergrad research is only BS if you don't get a good PI who lets you get your hands down and dirty. However, there are several people out there who publish, some with multiple publications who have done a lot of fruitful research.

My point was that a lot of people have scores of 35-43 and 3.8-4.0 GPAs but those people also have all the other things. I'm not saying that lack of research will keep you out just that having it will probably help a lot especially if its resulted in publications.
 
man, you people are the biggest bunch of prissy wierdos I have ever seen. Doing real research and getting a first-author publication is a big deal and is great for anyone who does it. But getting listed on a publication cause you did some b*tch work for a PI doesn't mean squat. And do you really think a 35 and a 40+ score on the mcat is similiar?? Come on, get real.

By the way, Gujodoc, the mcat is curved so that the same percentage of people get the same score every time. That's what a curve means, idiot.
 
limpkitty said:
lizzy, does your school always judge people on what they say on sdn? maybe online forum decorum is even more important than research??
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IMHO, having good character doesn't mean being kind and courteous only to those people who can help you get ahead in life (adcoms whom you meet on interview day, bosses, etc.). Having good character means being kind and courteous to everybody even when there is nothing to be gained from it. This includes being courteous to people you talk to on SDN, even though it is an anonymous forum. A lot of people here are taking issue with your tone even though the points you make are, in my opinion, not unreasonable. Yes, there are plenty of intellectually curious, talented, capable people who don't do research during undergrad because it's so difficult to find a research position that isn't just mindless busywork. A lot of the volunteer and clinical-experience opportunities made available to undergrads are also mindless busywork. Heck, a lot of the schoolwork you have to do in the pre-med pre-req classes is also mindless busywork. You either need to search harder for a research opportunity that is intellectually challenging enough to suit your tastes (such research opportunities *do* exist even though they are hard to find), or else suck it up and "play the game" by settling for a less intellectually challenging research opportunity. Sorry, but that's life, and, like somebody already said, you have to start at the bottom in order to get to the top.

I think the point you are trying to make is that research experience should not be valued so much by adcoms because "BS" research experience is less of an indicator of competence than a high MCAT score or "real" research experience. But I think adcoms *do* take high MCAT scores into account, and they *do* try to distinguish between "real" research and "BS" research when they quiz applicants about the research they've done on interview day. Will some applicants be able to pass off their "BS" research as "real" research? Probably. But life just isn't fair, and adcoms have to use the flawed metrics that are available to them to decide which applicants are most suitable for their school.
 
limpkitty said:
But getting listed on a publication cause you did some b*tch work for a PI doesn't mean squat.
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so what exactly is your question/point? You want top research schools to stop looking at undergrad research as criteria for admissions? You want people who got into top research schools having never first authored a paper to be drenched in gasoline and lit on fire?

I can't tell if you're for research or against research.... or maybe you're for undergrads doing research but it shouldn't be taken seriously by adcoms regardless of how they can discuss it at interviews and how many presentations they've given and how many papers they've authored....


or maybe you want all ECs eliminated from consideration so the only things that adcoms see are your GPA, MCAT, and email address?

Clarify your proposal before you go off the deep end with this "undergrad research is bringing on the apocalypse" babble.

not that it will make a difference for you at top research schools, you sound like a huge bitch.
 
i'm for some truth in this process, by trumpeting up research and volunteer experience so much people like LizzyM are giving false hope to some and trashing the dreams of others (like realmd who thinks w/o research there's no hope of a top school admission)

the fact is that other factors, such as intelligence, personality, and character are much more important. these factors are measured by mcat, gpa, and the interview. ec's are important in that they give a window to the person's personality and interests.

frankly, it seems to me that most of you people on this site have become insane w/ this process and have overanalyzed every little thing.

about research, I have no doubt that real acomplishments are highly valued by adcoms, but if you think a year of working as a lab tech is the difference between yale and east tennessee, you're sorely mistaken.

also, i wish you'd refrain from calling me a huge bitch, I mean who the **** are you to judge someone you only know from a few paragraphs on a website? grow the f*ck up man, it's the f*cking internet--people are rude to each other
 
This thread is freakin me out. How much random crap (jk) do you have to do before you are worthy of med schools not spitting on you? I did research for like a year and a half and some volunteer work and joined some orgs and I thought that was ok. I really hope thats ok...
 
limpkitty said:
i'm for some truth in this process, by trumpeting up research and volunteer experience so much people like LizzyM are giving false hope to some and trashing the dreams of others (like realmd who thinks w/o research there's no hope of a top school admission)

the fact is that other factors, such as intelligence, personality, and character are much more important. these factors are measured by mcat, gpa, and the interview. ec's are important in that they give a window to the person's personality and interests.

frankly, it seems to me that most of you people on this site have become insane w/ this process and have overanalyzed every little thing.

about research, I have no doubt that real acomplishments are highly valued by adcoms, but if you think a year of working as a lab tech is the difference between yale and east tennessee, you're sorely mistaken.

also, i wish you'd refrain from calling me a huge bitch, I mean who the **** are you to judge someone you only know from a few paragraphs on a website? grow the f*ck up man, it's the f*cking internet--people are rude to each other
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If you are not a troll, and if you have the high MCAT you say you do, and if you really have a roommate with the stats and profile you indicate, then wear the label "huge b*tch" proudly. Even on the "f*cking internet" as you put it, it is not too hard to identify someone with your unique profile, and you have to be a huge b*tch (or jerk if you prefer) to write what you did about your roommate...
 
limpkitty said:
also, i wish you'd refrain from calling me a huge bitch, I mean who the **** are you to judge someone you only know from a few paragraphs on a website?
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and i wish I had a Bugatti, sometimes things just don't pan out.

grow the f*ck up man, it's the f*cking internet--people are rude to each other
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exactly. You're a bitch.
 
trichomoniasis said:
ugh. it's a gross term that was coined by some producer for daytime news. It relies on the perception that the "traditional" spring break involves Cancun and roofies. The idea that kids need to be given an "alternative" to drunken debauchery for two weeks because they're incapable of being productive on their own is insulting. I'm not saying the idea of giving kids the opportunity to shadow docs for two weeks during spring break is a bad idea, it's great, I just hate the name "alternative spring break."

but if that's what the program was called, I guess you have no choice.
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What school do you go to that gives you a two week spring break?
 
limpkitty said:
i know a ton of people who do "research" and can talk about it like they're actually do stuff and have second or third-author publications but admit that they don't do **** for real stuff. my little sister is getting an authorship just for doing a little bit of fact-checking. but my point is that i don't see how working in a lab makes you suitable for a top-ten school. my roomate does research in a lab and has a 3.4 and is gonna be lucky to get a 27, does anyone really think that he's more likely to be a leader in the medical field than me (3.8/41 and diverse ec's)
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He just may turn out to be BETTER than you. Numbers don't mean @#$@ when trying to "calculate" how good of a doctor one may eventually become.
 
AnesthesiaMD said:
What school do you go to that gives you a two week spring break?
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i went to UCLA... but i didn't go to class much, so time off between classes just sort of blended in with the rest of the time i didn't spend studying...

also I had this weird luck of being done with finals on a Monday... it happened like 5 quarters in a row....
 
what is considered an acceptable level of ECs?

Looks like I've found the acceptable level of "no research" status in the ECs. The answer is in the Selection Factors section of each individual school in the MSAR.

It took me less than a minute to approximate that 58-94% of successful applicants have had research experience, depending on where they are accepted.

Stanford 94%
LSU 58%
Mercer 58%
 
mountainhare said:
IMHO, having good character doesn't mean being kind and courteous only to those people who can help you get ahead in life (adcoms whom you meet on interview day, bosses, etc.). Having good character means being kind and courteous to everybody even when there is nothing to be gained from it. This includes being courteous to people you talk to on SDN, even though it is an anonymous forum.
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👍
 
This is just a general EC question:

If my EC section on my AMCAS is filled with research, volunteering, clinical stuff, jobs, clubs, etc., is it bad to not have any "personal" activities on there, such as hobbies?

I have a hobby in particular that I'd like to put in, as it's really unique and I've spent a lot of time doing it, but I'd have to delete something to fit it in. Should I just save that to write about in secondaries? Thanks.
 
Ggnome said:
This is just a general EC question:

If my EC section on my AMCAS is filled with research, volunteering, clinical stuff, jobs, clubs, etc., is it bad to not have any "personal" activities on there, such as hobbies?

I have a hobby in particular that I'd like to put in, as it's really unique and I've spent a lot of time doing it, but I'd have to delete something to fit it in. Should I just save that to write about in secondaries? Thanks.
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Pull out one of the clubs (no adcom member I've ever talked to was impressed by a club membership or even club leadership) and put in something fun & interesting. Don't bury it in your secondaries.
 
Thanks, Lizzy. Much appreciated.
 
I went to Oxford and then got a 1bizillion on my Mcart do you think I can get in? by the way my gpa was 9.8, lots of AP,I mean LOTS!
 
limpkitty said:
i'm for some truth in this process,

...

also, i wish you'd refrain from calling me a huge bitch, I mean who the **** are you to judge someone you only know from a few paragraphs on a website? grow the f*ck up man, it's the f*cking internet--people are rude to each other
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awesome, just awesome.

with a new email address you can get a new sdn username.
 
medking said:
Is eagle scout worth mentioning if I received the honor in August after graduating high school in June?
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I mentioned receiving my Eagle Scout (even though it happened in High School). However, I only mentioned it in the context of a work/activity where I described my experiences as a Scoutmaster (which was quite a bit more recent). I probably wouldn't have listed just the Eagle.
 
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