I’ve got 2 random questions…
The first of which is… how would you input schooling experience when you took time off but attended the same university?
Would you put in the first time period, then a break and then re-enter the school and the second time period?
The other question I had was… should you use the whole 15 extra-curricular/experience entries?
At some point they become redundant I would think. I entered all of my 10 years of work experience under one, rather than enter in several companies and time periods. This seemed the most logical to me, but others might disagree… but as far as volunteering experience etc. not sure how much of that to include.
ideas would greatly be appreciated.
Thanks!
Andrea
I have a random application question as well:
Both AMCAS and AACOMAS require that you identify “repeated courses”. What constitutes a repeated course? Does it have to be taken at the same school? Or does the “same” course taken 17 years later at a different university not need to be identified as a “repeat”?
Andrea, I’m not going to combine my work experiences just because they have been so much a part of my life for the past decade. I’ve come to the conclusion that if I approach this application with an “recent graduate” mindset and start putting things in using this as a filter, that I’ll just end up shortchanging myself.
I took Chem I & II 9 years apart at two different schools and listed them as repeat courses in since they were the same classes and same material.
When listing your work and extra-curriculars, I would just make sure that the reader gets a good idea of the breadth of activities/work you have so that they can see you as well-rounded. I think it’s also important to show your level of involvement, knowing that in some activities you are probably just a participant whereas in others you were a key leader.
Hope that helps,
Tara
I am DEFINITELY putting work experiences as separate entries. Especially because, due to the work, that was often ALL I did in those time periods - so I don’t want it to look like I was just goofing off. There is not much time for extra curriculars when you are on a big grey ship at sea. Plus, I can then elaborate on some of the neat stuff I was able to do. I figure there is a good chance that may come up on interviews. 
Oh - and thanks for the catch on repeated courses. I totally forgot to plug that my CHEM and PHYS were repeats. D’oooh
Andrea,
As far as attending the same school twice, were you an undergrad both times? Or did you also attend once as a postbacc? If your status was different during the two attendance periods, then you have to list them twice. If your status was the same, however, then I’d say list the school only once, using the entire range of years during which you’ve attended. That way the school will only come up once in the Schools Attended section. AMCAS gets extremely confused by anything complicated in this section, so the simpler you make it, the better. One school, one transcript, and everything’s fine.
Another thing re. Schools Attended: for most purposes, just call the college or university “Main Program.” Do this even if you were never a degree seeking student there. I made the “mistake” of listing my first attendance at the U of Minnesota as being at U of M, Twin Cities, Main Program/University College. That was the name of the university’s extension school back in 1992 when I took a drawing class there. I listed my 2003 attendance at the SAME school as being U of M, Twin Cities, Main Program/College of Continuing Education, which is its current name. I had the U send AMCAS my complete transcript, which lists all my grades, and correlates them with the name of school during the time classes were taken. AMCAS would have nothing of this. They accused me of attending different schools and not having submitted transcripts. To avoid this situation, don’t even bother telling them you attended the business school, the engineering school, or whatever. Everyone should just list their schools as being the Main Program.
I used up all 15 EC spaces. I didn’t list all my jobs, only the most interesting and recent ones. I used one space each for two such jobs. I put in a lot of detail for those two. The other 13 spaces I used for a whole variety of things. I would say try to strike a balance so they know you’re a well rounded person, but also have depth.
Hope that helps a bit!
Andrea, I have nothing to add to the question about how to enter coursework. But on the job stuff - presumably over the course of ten years, you had changing (and increasing) responsibilities. If you combine the whole time span into one block, it seems you’re shortchanging yourself. This is your opportunity to describe different aspects of what you did.
Think of this section as a marketing presentation. This is your chance to emphasize those aspects of your life and career that enhance your candidacy.
Mary
Just to re-enforce. I have the same situation as far as taking time off but attending the same college. I called AMCAS about it and they said to do it as one entry. Every entry you have requires its own transcript, and your school will only send the one combining your years there, so you need to only list each school once.
–Alison
One more question…
The first semester I took prerequisite courses, I took the first semester of Bio and Physics as Audits and Gen Chem for a grade because I was still working. When I was furloughed. I ended up dropping my two audits and received a W (withdrawal, not withdrawal/fail) as a grade.
So
(1) Do I list these classes as “Audits” for both classification and grading purposes? Do I list them as “Withdrawals” or “Audits” for which I received a W?
(2) I took them for real the following summer and fall. Do I have to list those occasions where I took them for a grade as a repeated course?
(scratching head). By the time this application is submitted, I’ll certainly know what the meaning of “is”, is.
Boeing, you need to enter whatever is on the transcript. You do NOT want there to be discrepancies between your entries and the official transcript, because then your application gets pulled out of the process while they try to resolve the discrepancy and this is NOT a good thing.
Check the detailed AMCAS directions in that infamous pdf file to see if they address your question about whether you should list them as repeated courses when you initially did not take them for a grade. If they don’t specifically answer it, I’d recommend that you call; everyone’s shuddering at the thought of calling AMCAS, I know, but it is better to get the right answer if you can, than guess.
Mary
Thanks Mary,
I guess I’m going to have to call them and see what they say.