AMCAS application question

Nontraditional Premed Discussion
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Hi all. Well I’ve finally sat down and done the dreaded work/activities section of the application. I have three questions:

  1. as older non-trads, how far back should we go? Since it only allows 15 activities I have to be selective…so should I even bother listing something I did say in high school, even though it may add some diversity to the list?

  2. I know we’re supposed to explain the experience in resume style without narrative, however…ok I’m not sure how to word this question without being specific so here goes: One of my “artistic endeavors” is ballet. So I wrote “Trained and danced with various ballet companies across the US and in Europe.” Though I no longer dance as seriously as I once did, I still take classes. Do I need to add this in somehow? You know explain why I still dance, my passion for it, etc.? Or is checking “Until Present” for the End Date sufficient?

  3. last question…phew…is it ok to list something that I haven’t done yet but plan on doing this year before starting med school (i.e. a medical missions trip).


    Sorry this ended up being so long.


    Thanks,


    Bea
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Hi Bea. Here’s my $.02 on your questions.

  1. Unless the experience would significantly build up your app, I wouldn’t include high school experiences. As non-trads, one of the assets we have is that we generally have a much broader set of experiences with more depth. I’d focus on more recent ones, still looking to show a variety of experiences.

  2. It’s great to hear that you’re a ballet dancer! That shows great discipline. And a nice addition to your application which will set you apart. I think what you wrote is fine and include the “Until Present”. Perhaps you can give more explanation of this by tying it into your personal statement.

  3. My personal feeling on this is to not include it in this section of your AMCAS application in case something happens that keeps you from being able to complete it. You can certainly talk of your intent in your personal statement. Also, there will generally be a spot on secondaries that you can fit this in.


    Hopefully several others will offer up some suggestions as well so that you’re able to make a better decision as to how to complete your application.


    Good luck!!
3

Thanks Larry! You confirmed what I initially thought but needed to hear from someone else. All of my experience descriptions are brief and to the point, without alot of “self-promotion.” So when I only use 100 of the 1325 character limit I get a little worried that I’m not “elaborating” enough. It’s good to hear I’m on the right path. I’ll save the rest for the personal statement and secondaries.


Bea

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If you’re getting the point across and giving the admissions committee less verbiage to wade through, they’ll thank you for it. They’ll probably read 1-200 other applications the day they read yours. Be their friend!

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Ok…one more question to throw out there. I did volunteer work at a local ER room but only for 2 months. Should I even bother listing it?

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If it was a neat experience and you want to be asked about it in interviews, put it down.

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  • Bea Said:


1) as older non-trads, how far back should we go? Since it only allows 15 activities I have to be selective...so should I even bother listing something I did say in high school, even though it may add some diversity to the list?

2) I know we're supposed to explain the experience in resume style without narrative, however...ok I'm not sure how to word this question without being specific so here goes: One of my "artistic endeavors" is ballet. So I wrote "Trained and danced with various ballet companies across the US and in Europe." Though I no longer dance as seriously as I once did, I still take classes. Do I need to add this in somehow? You know explain why I still dance, my passion for it, etc.? Or is checking "Until Present" for the End Date sufficient?

3) last question...phew...is it ok to list something that I haven't done yet but plan on doing this year before starting med school (i.e. a medical missions trip).



1. AMCAS is relatively clear that these should be "post secondary" experiences. If your experience began prior to college, but continues through college, you can mention that it began "back when."

2. I generally recommend a "quasi-resume" style. A little narrative included to make it easy to read is fine. But be spare with your narrative. Although you are allowed up to 1325 characters in the description, think in terms of no more than about 800.

3. I think this year AMCAS is making it a bit more difficult in the "date" part of the heading for listing "I'm going to be doing xxx." Nevertheless, if you have something important you will soon be doing, and you know what your duties/responsibilities will be, then it might be just fine to include it.

Cheers,

Judy
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  • Bea Said:
Hi all. Well I've finally sat down and done the dreaded work/activities section of the application. I have three questions:

1) as older non-trads, how far back should we go? Since it only allows 15 activities I have to be selective...so should I even bother listing something I did say in high school, even though it may add some diversity to the list?

2) I know we're supposed to explain the experience in resume style without narrative, however...ok I'm not sure how to word this question without being specific so here goes: One of my "artistic endeavors" is ballet. So I wrote "Trained and danced with various ballet companies across the US and in Europe." Though I no longer dance as seriously as I once did, I still take classes. Do I need to add this in somehow? You know explain why I still dance, my passion for it, etc.? Or is checking "Until Present" for the End Date sufficient?

3) last question...phew...is it ok to list something that I haven't done yet but plan on doing this year before starting med school (i.e. a medical missions trip).

Sorry this ended up being so long.

Thanks,

Bea

To answer your questions:

1) I'd take care of the priorities first. include your best (interms of time spent, things learned, quality of experience) clinical experience and lock that in. Consider condensing a few together into a coherent and continuous narrative if you don't have a single great one. People have been rejected for not having this EC. After that, I'd look for your best research experience and do the same with it. Then do the same for community service and teaching. One you have those out of the way, if you have them, publications, presentations, conventions, and honors are all good things to have one experience each in (roughly the same priority). Lastly, I included one random thing to balance me out - I chose skiing, rock climbing, and sailing and called it a hobby. I put 'current' as the end date.

2) I wrote all of them like a resume too. If you learned something, then that can be put in as a one-liner summary. For example: I did poorly in Organic. But I ended up teaching it in college. So I wrote about how it was a challege for me but I worked harder and learned more as a teacher because of it. Dancing is one of those random things like I mentioned in 1). It adds depth and personality to an otherwise standard application. As such, if you've got a personal reason for doing it, then I'd say write about it. If you've been to Egypt because of it, then that makes it even better and more distinct.

3) I don't believe AMCAS has a "Planning to" option for an EC start/finish time. In any case, I'd hold off on these. How would you answer an interviewer's question about it if it fell through (through no fault of your own)? Besides, being a non-trad, you should be able to fill up those 15 spots like nobody's buisness.

Lastly, notice how I haven't said WHEN you did these, just asking IF you've filled particular categories. You want to look like a balanced applicant with diverse interests. It's ok if all of those ECs haven't happened in the last 2 years. (Though if you're going back more than 10 years, you may want to consider a more recent EC. Note: college-level academic/research honors never age.)
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Thanks guys for all of the terrific tips! Now should there be a particular order that I enter them in? I started to just add things as I thought about them, but now I’m not sure if it should be done in a particular order so that they’re listed in a certain way. … or is the “order” completely irrelevant?


Thanks again,


Bea

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I’ve never experienced, heard of, or seen, an effect on how ECs were listed.


I take the approach that these will be screened en masse by non-technical folks just looking to see that you HAVE research, clinical, whatever, experience.

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I listed them in chronological order, most recent to oldest, as you would on a resume. Alternatively, you could group types of EC’s together (awards, volunteer work, research, clinical experience) and then them in chronological order.

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  • RxnMan Said:
I take the approach that these will be screened en masse by non-technical folks just looking to see that you HAVE research, clinical, whatever, experience.



Nope, these are NOT just used in screening. Each AdCom works differently and I only know the system I worked in, but at GWU a committee member (who could be a medical student, resident, attending, clinical faculty or science faculty member) would read through a complete file and then present it to the entire committee.

You should pay attention to how the EC section is organized and worded. Make it user-friendly: don't skip all over, don't make it hard to figure out what you've been doing. As Judy Colwell has said, it should be in "resume" form, brief statements rather than lengthy descriptions, but it needs to make sense and it is part of your sales package. It is NOT just for screening.

Mary
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Although AMCAS used to sort your experiences by category, they now do it chronologically by start date, most recent first. It doesn’t matter what order you put them in, AMCAS sorts them to their standard. AND, each medical school can resort it on what it thinks is important. For instance, a very researchy med school may sort so that the research experiences are first. Or the community service, or …


Cheers,


Judy

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Howdy,


According to the admissions folks at Vanderbilt, this section is automatically sorted by AMCAS in chronological order, with the most recent activity first. So the advice they gave us was enter it in this order, that way you’ll write it in the same way that they’ll read it.