Writing about new activities not listed in AMCAS

[Evergreenblackbird]

I recently began a personally meaningful volunteer experience that is somewhat of a continuation of a previous volunteer experience I wrote about in my my primary, but it is a different organization with different responsibilities. Would it be off the table to write about this new experience in a secondary I'm currently working on? Would it be seen as dubious because it is new/not on my primary?

Also, to what extent would schools want an update about this new activity? I'm scheduled to receive c 300 hours in the next year before matriculation and it's adding depth to my understanding of serving communities with specialized needs as a doctor.

Thanks in advance!

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[Mountainman121]

I've been mentioning the research I started this semester in those "anything else not on your primary" questions. Just 3-4 sentences about the project, why Im excited for it, but pretty concise since its new.

 

[Blueprint Med School]

It won't be dubious if it's not on your primary. Many schools have secondary prompts such as "What have you been doing since you submitted your application" or something along those lines for you to talk about stuff like this.

As for sending an update, conventional SDN wisdom says that the only things worth sending in as updates are grades and publications/presentations. With that being said, sending an update letter later in the cycle (after around November/December) stating your reaffirmed interest as well as an update could potentially help you. For almost every school, it won't do anything, but it might help move the needle a bit at one or two.

Kevin W, MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors