*~*~*~*Official AMCAS Work/Activities Tips Thread 2017-2018*~*~*~*

[Catalystik]

Is there a threshold of hours at which a service role no longer merits its own activity?
I will have a broad "Short Term Community Service" section already, which is a collection of unrelated experiences.
The activities I have in question are 36 hrs, 40 hrs, and 80 hrs.
I am already at 14 and do not want to appear as "fluffing" anything, but this is the only potential consolidation I see.

Consolidating those experiences will make a nicely meaty one.

Applicants may list, for example, a 40 hour Alternative Spring Break, which can be acceptable if it was highly impactful. Any 'threshold' that exists is in the eyes of the beholder, not written anywhere.

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[Catalystik]

1) I have worked for 14 years as a General Manager for large and small stores-- highest volume at $19 million/ 150 employees and lowest volume at $2.5 million/ 30 employees. Would this be implied/ described as leadership by the position title or should it be placed under leadership? All day, everyday was leading a team with awards/acknowledgements in developing staff & driving profit. I established new training tools, ran really profitable locations, but most noteworthy was developing employees to be good leaders, promoting new leaders, & holding a leadership role that had me travel the US & Canada teaching GMs how to coach/develop/recruit. That last role only had 10 of us throughout the US and Canada so was a big accomplishment for me. However, I'm worried my work will sound redundant with each company listed. I developed/ fine tuned my leadership skills a little bit more with each company for the better & could include that? Also, 1 year as a Medical Assistant for a surgeon + practice management for this surgeon (helping start the practice... basically doing a lot of the legwork to make the transition go well) -- would I just put both job titles on the same line? All of my leadership has been from paid experiences; is this a problem? I am non-traditional and worked 60/hr weeks while still doing the usual volunteering, school, and shadowing-- It didn't dawn on me to add another leadership role to be honest. The neuroticism has set in!

2) With one company, I did a lot of work with grassroots organizations (volunteer) that wasn't paid but I supported them at work with fundraising events. The time outside of the events was unpaid and on my days off and also in other states. Should this just be listed under the employment section with that company? I have 3000+ hours nonclinical volunteering and 200 clinical volunteering hours additionally so I'm not as worried about the amount of hours-- more so the experiences were really neat & eye opening.

3) I attended and presented at a lot of large leadership conferences for work-- worth mentioning? Majority in the US but some in the UK.

4) Some of my volunteering/ shadowing (100 hours) was done about 6-7 years ago when I started this journey; can it still be listed? I took a few years to focus on work and family but kept up volunteering during that time as well so it's not all from that long ago. I work with a lot of physicians now who are rooting for me & have offered more shadowing experiences. Should I add more this summer?

1) Yes, General Manager is clearly Leadership and it would probably benefit your application more to highlight it as such, rather than using Employment. This is an opportunity for grouping largely similar experiences. You might carve out the dates and hours of the teaching/training role, as that is significant, too, and would strengthen your application if you have nothing else under Teaching.

Surgical practice setup, isn't so clear, if you did the legwork yourself, rather than delegating and overseeing. It's so different from the above, consider leaving it out or listing it elsewhere. You can't always include every experience when you're a nontrad.

2) Since you're otherwise solid with community service, you could leave it with the affiliated Employment space (and maybe mention it in the title, too).

3) Attending conferences isn't worth mentioning. Presenting? Yes. Could be include with the above suggested Teaching space.

4) Yes, update the activity, but include the older experiences. It will look strange to have nothing recent (there have been a lot of changes in those years that you might be quizzed about at interviews), and you can accumulate a decent number of hours in a week, so it won't delay submission. Aim for primary care docs.

 

[MidnightSun32]

1) Yes, General Manager is clearly Leadership and it would probably benefit your application more to highlight it as such, rather than using Employment. This is an opportunity for grouping largely similar experiences. You might carve out the dates and hours of the teaching/training role, as that is significant, too, and would strengthen your application if you have nothing else under Teaching.

Surgical practice setup, isn't so clear, if you did the legwork yourself, rather than delegating and overseeing. It's so different from the above, consider leaving it out or listing it elsewhere. You can't always include every experience when you're a nontrad.

2) Since you're otherwise solid with community service, you could leave it with the affiliated Employment space (and maybe mention it in the title, too).

3) Attending conferences isn't worth mentioning. Presenting? Yes. Could be include with the above suggested Teaching space.

4) Yes, update the activity, but include the older experiences. It will look strange to have nothing recent (there have been a lot of changes in those years that you might be quizzed about at interviews), and you can accumulate a decent number of hours in a week, so it won't delay submission. Aim for primary care docs.

Thank you-- this was very helpful!


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[Bionista]

Does it look bad to put myself as the contact for an independent research study? I performed a research study that I carried out myself (basically just used my professor's lab/equipment to complete it) and I was going to put myself as the contact, but is it better to put my professor? She did not really oversee the project and this was in 2015. If they were to contact her I'm not sure she will even remember honestly.

Thank you!

 

[Catalystik]

Does it look bad to put myself as the contact for an independent research study? I performed a research study that I carried out myself (basically just used my professor's lab/equipment to complete it) and I was going to put myself as the contact, but is it better to put my professor? She did not really oversee the project and this was in 2015. If they were to contact her I'm not sure she will even remember honestly.

Unless you published and your work was peer-reviewed by a widely-distributed journal, or you are already multiply-published with an advanced degree, you will need an objective observer to verify this type of activity, IMO. if you want it taken seriously.

 

[Bionista]

Unless you published and your work was peer-reviewed by a widely-distributed journal, or you are already multiply-published with an advanced degree, you will need an objective observer to verify this type of activity, IMO. if you want it taken seriously.

I understand, thank you. It was not published. It is a project I would like to work further on perhaps in graduate school or independently so I wanted to add it somehow, but not if it hurts more than helps. I wonder if it would be worth listing under a separate category (maybe extracurricular or hobby) or skip it altogether?

One more question -

I work at my husband's practice (he is a physician) and have listed it along with his name and contact info, but is it best to openly state that it is my husband's practice in the application or leave that as something to talk about in the interview? So far I've described my duties and what I have gained from the experience.

By the way, I think it is so amazing and admirable of you to help us all like this!

 

[Catalystik]

I understand, thank you. It was not published. It is a project I would like to work further on perhaps in graduate school or independently so

1) I wanted to add it somehow, but not if it hurts more than helps. I wonder if it would be worth listing under a separate category (maybe extracurricular or hobby) or skip it altogether?

2) One more question - I work at my husband's practice (he is a physician) and have listed it along with his name and contact info, but is it best to openly state that it is my husband's practice in the application or leave that as something to talk about in the interview? So far I've described my duties and what I have gained from the experience.

1) If you enter it as a Hobby, you don't need a contact. I think that would be fine.

2) Working in a family business would not be looked down on. Be up front about it. Call it Employment, even if you don't get a pay check, as presumably there are non-monitary compensations.

 

[Bionista]

1) If you enter it as a Hobby, you don't need a contact. I think that would be fine.

2) Working in a family business would not be looked down on. Be up front about it. Call it Employment, even if you don't get a pay check, as presumably there are non-monitary compensations.

Great, thank you so much!

 

[egb03460]

I just got offered a TA position for physics the fall - should I list it? And if so, what should I put for my start and end date? I have 9 solid activities and work experience without it, but as a non-physics major I thought it would be good to add.

 

[Catalystik]

I just got offered a TA position for physics the fall - should I list it? And if so, what should I put for my start and end date? I have 9 solid activities and work experience without it, but as a non-physics major I thought it would be good to add.

Have you been a TA before? Do you have another entry under Teaching already?

One problem is that the AMCAS application won't allow you to save a future start date. You might be able to sneak mention of it at the end another related activity, though.

If that won't work, you might do better to save mention of it for Secondary applications and future update letters, where allowed.

 

[mariposas905]

If I am going to be continuing an activity throughout the app year, should I put the end date as my date of expected matriculation into medical school (August 2018)? There is no "till present" option I can find on AMCAS. Also would my total hours include these future hours? Or should I indicate the future hours some other place (like in the description)? I don't want to come off as fabricating hours...

 

[Catalystik]

If I am going to be continuing an activity throughout the app year, should I put the end date as my date of expected matriculation into medical school (August 2018)? There is no "till present" option I can find on AMCAS. Also would my total hours include these future hours? Or should I indicate the future hours some other place (like in the description)? I don't want to come off as fabricating hours...

You can indicate the future hours separately in the narrative description and not include them in the header (stating that they are not included above), or alternatively (if you are very sure you will carry through), you can use the Repeated feature to break the hours down into current Total Hours and future Total hours, all of which will appear in the header, but divided into two timeframes. For the latter option, use the current month for the last month in timespan #1 (completed) and also for the beginning month in timespan #2 (future), so that the AMCAS program will accept and save it.

 

[mariposas905]

You can indicate the future hours separately in the narrative description and not include them in the header (stating that they are not included above), or alternatively (if you are very sure you will carry through), you can use the Repeated feature to break the hours down into current Total Hours and future Total hours, all of which will appear in the header, but divided into two timeframes. For the latter option, use the current month for the last month in timespan #1 (completed) and also for the beginning month in timespan #2 (future), so that the AMCAS program will accept and save it.

Thanks! So you would not recommend just bunching the hours up into one time frame (say August 2015-august 2018)? I thought this would be simpler for adcoms to read through quickly but I will go with the second option if that's preferred.

 

[mariposas905]

I also worked as a paid summer research fellow. After the summer project, I continued at this organization for the rest of my gap year (although as a volunteer). I am wondering how to list this on AMCAS. There are two types of research placements at this organization (paid post-bacc fellow or continuing as a volunteer post-bacc). I wasn't paid the rest of the year because I couldn't do full-time work, so I did a combination of both. Is it alright to still name this acitvity as "Post-Bacc Research Fellow" and then describe the paid and volunteer components within the description? This program is well known (similar to NIH IRTA) so I'm wondering if adcoms will automatically assume I was paid throughout the gap year when they see the activity title, and if it would be a negative when they saw that I was only paid for the summer.

 

[Catalystik]

Thanks! So you would not recommend just bunching the hours up into one time frame (say August 2015-august 2018)? I thought this would be simpler for adcoms to read through quickly but I will go with the second option if that's preferred.

No. I don't recommend one massive timeframe.

If the activity wasn't continuous from August 2015 to June 2017, like if you took off in the summer, there are other ways of indicating that, too (one being additional use of the Repeated feature).

 

[Catalystik]

I also worked as a paid summer research fellow. After the summer project, I continued at this organization for the rest of my gap year (although as a volunteer). I am wondering how to list this on AMCAS. There are two types of research placements at this organization (paid post-bacc fellow or continuing as a volunteer post-bacc). I wasn't paid the rest of the year because I couldn't do full-time work, so I did a combination of both. Is it alright to still name this acitvity as "Post-Bacc Research Fellow" and then describe the paid and volunteer components within the description? This program is well known (similar to NIH IRTA) so I'm wondering if adcoms will automatically assume I was paid throughout the gap year when they see the activity title, and if it would be a negative when they saw that I was only paid for the summer.

Assuming the activity is tagged as Research, that is exactly what I would do. I'd include the hours/week in each sub-datespan, too. Paid or not, class credit or volunteer, doesn't matter in a Research space.

 

[DBC03]

1) If you enter it as a Hobby, you don't need a contact. I think that would be fine.

2) Working in a family business would not be looked down on. Be up front about it. Call it Employment, even if you don't get a pay check, as presumably there are non-monitary compensations.

I didn't even consider this when I sent my application in, but my lengthiest job was at a firm owned by my father and his business partner (who I have known since I was 2). I didn't think about adding the family aspect to it in the work/activities section (I thought of that more like a resume where you really just list what you've done and explain how it's impacted you). Can I/Should I add that to secondary applications?

 

[Catalystik]

I didn't even consider this when I sent my application in, but my lengthiest job was at a firm owned by my father and his business partner (who I have known since I was 2). I didn't think about adding the family aspect to it in the work/activities section (I thought of that more like a resume where you really just list what you've done and explain how it's impacted you). Can I/Should I add that to secondary applications?

It would depend on whether you're offered an appropriate prompt. I don't know that I'd use it for an open-ended question, like, "Is there anything else you want the committee to know." But some other question that would allow you to highlight some important characteristic, related to the position, that would be desirable in a physician, might do.

 

[DBC03]

It would depend on whether you're offered an appropriate prompt. I don't know that I'd use it for an open-ended question, like, "Is there anything else you want the committee to know." But some other question that would allow you to highlight some important characteristic, related to the position, that would be desirable in a physician, might do.

Thanks! I will think through it when I get secondary applications.


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[ariri]

I agree, hence why after taking into account all possible publication, posters, and conference presentation, even intraschool or student-societies, I would be quite suprised if it approached 20%. I am sure under 5% of applicants had any authorship connection to "signficant" publication or presentation

That's really surprising to hear! And I'm slightly relieved to though as an applicant. I guess sampling from SDN forums gave me an overestimate of the applicant pool! It makes sense though, having a year of research experience during college is probably not enough to generate enough data to contribute significantly to a paper. Thanks for pulling out those statistics!

 

[Brah of Science]

Hi everybody, I have a couple quick questions.

1.) For an on-campus organization, I held a leadership role where I coordinated and participated in a monthly volunteering activity. I was wondering if I could combine the the leadership and volunteering roles into the non-clinical volunteering tab? I already have multiple leadership activities but I am lacking in the volunteering department. Also, since I don't have a contact for the place where we volunteered at, could I use our adviser as the contact person?

2.) Would being accepted into be year long on-campus research program that provided a monthly stipend and partial tuition waiver be considered an honor/award?

3.) A clinic I volunteered at merged with another organization and has changed its name. Should I include this in the description or just put the new name? The reason I ask is because it changed from serving only children to providing care to people of all ages.

Thank you in advance!

 

[Catalystik]

1.) For an on-campus organization, I held a leadership role where I coordinated and participated in a monthly volunteering activity. I was wondering if I could combine the the leadership and volunteering roles into the non-clinical volunteering tab? I already have multiple leadership activities but I am lacking in the volunteering department. Also, since I don't have a contact for the place where we volunteered at, could I use our adviser as the contact person?

2.) Would being accepted into be year long on-campus research program that provided a monthly stipend and partial tuition waiver be considered an honor/award?

3.) A clinic I volunteered at merged with another organization and has changed its name. Should I include this in the description or just put the new name? The reason I ask is because it changed from serving only children to providing care to people of all ages.

1) Yes, you can include both in a volunteer/community service space, though you might like to include the name of the position in the name you give the activity along with your general role. Using the advisor is fine, though it might be a good idea to give them a "heads-up" about the level of involvement they might be asked to verify if contacted.

2) Probably, as I doubt that everyone who applies gets into the program. If you want to use that tab (eg, the program won't start until a future month, but you've already gotten a letter of acceptance, and you want to include it so adcomms know your future plans), see if you can find out how selective it is. For example, number applying vs number getting into the program. Include that in the description of the experience.

3) Use the new name in the header. Put a description of the change in target populations in your narrative.

 

[tbonez71]

One of my classes was an "honors seminar" which I repeated not for a grade, but just to take the class again as it was, in reality, a year long experience. On my transcript, this has shown up as an "unauthorized repeat" for 0 credits, which was something they told us upfront when taking the class.

I don't really care, but should I put this as a "repeat" type course? Seems obvious but there were some warnings about how my app could be returned, which would really be disastrous. I do have the previous course on there with the credits and letter grade.

I thought it would be more an "audit" type class, but that isn't how it's showing up on my transcript.

 

[Brah of Science]

1) Yes, you can include both in a volunteer/community service space, though you might like to include the name of the position in the name you give the activity along with your general role. Using the advisor is fine, though it might be a good idea to give them a "heads-up" about the level of involvement they might be asked to verify if contacted.

2) Probably, as I doubt that everyone who applies gets into the program. If you want to use that tab (eg, the program won't start until a future month, but you've already gotten a letter of acceptance, and you want to include it so adcomms know your future plans), see if you can find out how selective it is. For example, number applying vs number getting into the program. Include that in the description of the experience.

3) Use the new name in the header. Put a description of the change in target populations in your narrative.

Thank you so much!

 

[Catalystik]

One of my classes was an "honors seminar" which I repeated not for a grade, but just to take the class again as it was, in reality, a year long experience. On my transcript, this has shown up as an "unauthorized repeat" for 0 credits, which was something they told us upfront when taking the class.

I don't really care, but should I put this as a "repeat" type course? Seems obvious but there were some warnings about how my app could be returned, which would really be disastrous. I do have the previous course on there with the credits and letter grade.

I thought it would be more an "audit" type class, but that isn't how it's showing up on my transcript.

This would have been better posted to the general AMCAS questions thread. Let's see if @gonnif will make a house call to give input.

 

[Catalystik]

Thank you so much!

Happy to help.

 

[bigboss18]

So I was in an organization that had opportunities for both clinical and nonclinical volunteering. I have 169 hours total, with 61 being clinical volunteering. What should I put as the experience type under the work/activities section? Should I make it two experiences? I want to make sure they don't miss the fact I have clinical hours here as well

 

[gonnif]

One of my classes was an "honors seminar" which I repeated not for a grade, but just to take the class again as it was, in reality, a year long experience. On my transcript, this has shown up as an "unauthorized repeat" for 0 credits, which was something they told us upfront when taking the class.

I don't really care, but should I put this as a "repeat" type course? Seems obvious but there were some warnings about how my app could be returned, which would really be disastrous. I do have the previous course on there with the credits and letter grade.

I thought it would be more an "audit" type class, but that isn't how it's showing up on my transcript.

This would have been better posted to the general AMCAS questions thread. Let's see if @gonnif will make a house call to give input.

It is listed as repeat so I suggest you mark it as such. What grade did you have in original course and what grade/attempted credits do you have for repeat

 

[tbonez71]

Oops sorry for putting this in the wrong thread...

It is listed as repeat so I suggest you mark it as such. What grade did you have in original course and what grade/attempted credits do you have for repeat

A's in both. So the first one was A with 2 credits, and the second is A with 0 credits and marked as "Unauthorized repeat".

The course name is literally "Honors Seminar" so I think it is fairly obvious that it is not a traditional class.

 

[jazzmetal]

Hi! I'm going back and forth on how to categorize some activities and am looking for opinions.

I have: (1) a non-research but science-related presentation that I created and delivered as a certified continuing education instructor, (2) about 25 hours as a volunteer math tutor for disadvantaged students (from a long time ago, so could show longstanding commitment), (3) a modest but national award for a non-science book I published, and (4) recognition from a relatively well-known newspaper related to community service (in the same underserved community where I tutored). I have only one activity slot left and no way to consolidate the others further.

Option A: group (1) and (2) under "teaching/tutoring," put (3) with the related book activity (which is one of my MM) and put (4) with the related community service activity (which is another MM). This would give me a teaching/tutoring activity and the most space to elaborate.

Option B: group (3) and (4) under "honors/awards/recognitions," put (2) with the community service activity, and put (1) with a different related activity (not an MM). This would give me an honors/awards activity, but space for (1) might be tight.

Option C: give (1) its own entry as a "presentation," put both (2) and (4) into the community service activity, and put (3) into the book activity. This would give me a presentation activity and probably enough space.

I don't have any other teaching/tutoring, or honors/awards, or presentations, so whichever option I choose, the other two categories would be empty. I won't have any research/pubs no matter what (well, other than the non-science book, which I'm calling an artistic endeavor), but I'm actually very interested in the academic side of medicine, or at least translational research; I don't intend to pursue primary care to the underserved, even though that might be a natural assumption given my community service (which I have lots of: 5000+ hours). I'm close to lining up some research, but not in time for the primary.

My questions:
1 - is it legit to put a non-research presentation in the "presentations" category?
2 - are any of these three categories inherently more impressive/advisable?

Advice welcome!

 

[Catalystik]

So I was in an organization that had opportunities for both clinical and nonclinical volunteering. I have 169 hours total, with 61 being clinical volunteering. What should I put as the experience type under the work/activities section? Should I make it two experiences? I want to make sure they don't miss the fact I have clinical hours here as well

The best solution is to split out the clinical hours and either a) list them on their own, or b) group them with other clinical hours in another space.

An alternative would be to list it under "Other" since it is of a mixed-type experience, and that would defeat your purpose in highlighting the clinical component.

 

[Catalystik]

Hi! I'm going back and forth on how to categorize some activities and am looking for opinions.

I have: (1) a non-research but science-related presentation that I created and delivered as a certified continuing education instructor, (2) about 25 hours as a volunteer math tutor for disadvantaged students (from a long time ago, so could show longstanding commitment), (3) a modest but national award for a non-science book I published, and (4) recognition from a relatively well-known newspaper related to community service (in the same underserved community where I tutored). I have only one activity slot left and no way to consolidate the others further.

Option A: group (1) and (2) under "teaching/tutoring," put (3) with the related book activity (which is one of my MM) and put (4) with the related community service activity (which is another MM). This would give me a teaching/tutoring activity and the most space to elaborate.

Option B: group (3) and (4) under "honors/awards/recognitions," put (2) with the community service activity, and put (1) with a different related activity (not an MM). This would give me an honors/awards activity, but space for (1) might be tight.

Option C: give (1) its own entry as a "presentation," put both (2) and (4) into the community service activity, and put (3) into the book activity. This would give me a presentation activity and probably enough space.

I don't have any other teaching/tutoring, or honors/awards, or presentations, so whichever option I choose, the other two categories would be empty. I won't have any research/pubs no matter what (well, other than the non-science book, which I'm calling an artistic endeavor), but I'm actually very interested in the academic side of medicine, or at least translational research; I don't intend to pursue primary care to the underserved, even though that might be a natural assumption given my community service (which I have lots of: 5000+ hours). I'm close to lining up some research, but not in time for the primary.

My questions:
1 - is it legit to put a non-research presentation in the "presentations" category?
2 - are any of these three categories inherently more impressive/advisable?

Advice welcome!

1) Yes. It wouldn't be my first choice, but there's no rule against it.

2) Teaching > Awards (if nonacademic, unless they are olympic gold in nature, which would move them up the list) > Presentations (of the type typical to a premed, rather than a TED talk or address to congress). You can see from my side comments that "impressive" is fluid, depending on content.

I like option A best as it would make the Teaching space most meaty and keeps the awards within the context of their related activity, so they'd be easier to fully appreciate. I could live with option C, but the entry would have to convince me it was worth its own space, considering it sounds like something a HS or college teacher does every day for class (from what you've said above).

JMO.

 

[gonnif]

Oops sorry for putting this in the wrong thread...


A's in both. So the first one was A with 2 credits, and the second is A with 0 credits and marked as "Unauthorized repeat".

The course name is literally "Honors Seminar" so I think it is fairly obvious that it is not a traditional class.

just mark it as repeat else it may raise a flag on verification

 

[Bionista]

I am basically done with my application nw and would love your advice on including or omiting one activity.

Last year I started a lifestyle blog and have built a substantial blog and social media following. I have had the opportunity to collaborate with various small and large corporations to create marketing campaigns and help market their products and services, and I have (and am currently) making an income this way. Anyways, while I feel this is a pretty interesting and unique accomplishment, I recently read that "blogging" may not be taken too seriously or viewed as a good thing on your application because so many people call themselves bloggers these days. (Granted, not everyone makes money or has a following.) What is your opinion?

For reference, my focus is photography/nature, healthy lifestyle/fitness/eating, and fashion.

Oh, one other question about hours - For things that you have done for years or do randomly/in your spare time, is it okay to put "99999" or should I try to come up with a number for every entry? (This is mainly in reference to hobbies.)

Thank you!

 

[gonnif]

I am basically done with my application nw and would love your advice on including or omiting one activity.

Last year I started a lifestyle blog and have built a substantial blog and social media following. I have had the opportunity to collaborate with various small and large corporations to create marketing campaigns and help market their products and services, and I have (and am currently) making an income this way. Anyways, while I feel this is a pretty interesting and unique accomplishment, I recently read that "blogging" may not be taken too seriously or viewed as a good thing on your application because so many people call themselves bloggers these days. (Granted, not everyone makes money or has a following.) What is your opinion?

For reference, my focus is photography/nature, healthy lifestyle/fitness/eating, and fashion.

Thank you!

Premeds need nuance as there isnt a yes or no answer on anything, including blogging. If you have a substantial blog that has expanded into a business, and can express that in a way that says something about you that the adcom might appreciate such as initiative, collaboration, etc would be a useful activity to list

 

[Catalystik]

question about hours - For things that you have done for years or do randomly/in your spare time, is it okay to put "99999" or should I try to come up with a number for every entry? (This is mainly in reference to hobbies.)

I'd probably pick 9999 (unless you think it might be closer to 999). But, yes, that's a good way to indicate unknowable hours.

 

[Bionista]

Premeds need nuance as there isnt a yes or no answer on anything, including blogging. If you have a substantial blog that has expanded into a business, and can express that in a way that says something about you that the adcom might appreciate such as initiative, collaboration, etc would be a useful activity to list

Great, thank you so much!

 

[Catalystik]

Last year I started a lifestyle blog and have built a substantial blog and social media following. I have had the opportunity to collaborate with various small and large corporations to create marketing campaigns and help market their products and services, and I have (and am currently) making an income this way.

For reference, my focus is photography/nature, healthy lifestyle/fitness/eating, and fashion.

Premeds need nuance as there isnt a yes or no answer on anything, including blogging. If you have a substantial blog that has expanded into a business, and can express that in a way that says something about you that the adcom might appreciate such as initiative, collaboration, etc would be a useful activity to list

To me, it is interesting mainly because you expanded it into a business, especially, if it makes you self-supporting. It could be a good Employment entry, but could also be a two-edged sword. Are you paying taxes on the income? Some adcomms like to paint you into a corner on picky questions like that, and the wrong answer wouldn't reflect well.

 

[Bionista]

I'd probably pick 9999 (unless you think it might be closer to 999). But, yes, that's a good way to indicate unknowable hours.

Okay great, thank you!

I have also won various awards in horseback riding competitions and want to include some, but in the awards section it is not possible to have repeating dates. Is it alright to put them all in one and make a list with the name and dates of each competition in the description?
Thanks again!

 

[Catalystik]

I have also won various awards in horseback riding competitions and want to include some, but in the awards section it is not possible to have repeating dates. Is it alright to put them all in one and make a list with the name and dates of each competition in the description?

Select the date of the last earned award for the header. The list you suggested will work fine in the narrative.

 

[Bionista]

To me, it is interesting mainly because you expanded it into a business, especially, if it makes you self-supporting. It could be a good Employment entry, but could also be a two-edged sword. Are you paying taxes on the income? Some adcomms like to paint you into a corner on picky questions like that, and the wrong answer wouldn't reflect well.

Thanks, I see what you are saying. It is setup as an LLC and I am filing/paying taxes on all income.

 

[Catalystik]

Thanks, I see what you are saying. It is setup as an LLC and I am filing/paying taxes on all income.

I'm proud of you.

 

[jazzmetal]

I like option A best as it would make the Teaching space most meaty and keeps the awards within the context of their related activity, so they'd be easier to fully appreciate.

Excellent - Option A was my first instinct and will give me the most space for setting context.
Thank you so much! Your advice throughout this thread has been incredibly helpful.

 

[secretsunset28]

Hello! I'm new to this forum and this is my first post, so please bear with me

My research experiences are a big part of my application. From undergrad (2009-13) and master's (2013-14) studies, and from my current research associate position (2014-present), I've gotten a fair share of publications (10 total) from the various labs.

What's the best approach to listing these? Should I just cram them all into one section within Publications, or should I list the respective publications under the corresponding Research experience for each lab? I feel like the former would come off as very "CV-like", but I'm also worried about space for the latter. Almost half of my publications came from my current research lab and I've used up most of that space to describe my the work experience and it's also one of my most meaningful experiences.

I'm leaning towards just listing them all in chronological order under Publications. Is it appropriate to just list them like: [authorship rank][title][journal][date] to make it more compact?

Really appreciate any advice!

 

[PattingPeta]

Hi everyone, I am also new the forum. I tried using the search bar to find the answer to my question but unfortunately couldn't find it.

Anyhow, my question is that as I am a nursing graduate, I have about >1100 hours of clinical experience working directly with patients. However, these hours span over 7 different clinical placements. Is it advisable that I place all these placements together? Or should I split up the placements by year and make a separate entry for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th year placements?

Also what would this fall under? I wasn't paid so I'm hesitant to put it under Paid Employment - Medical/Clinical, however it isn't volunteer either... Would putting it under "Other" be the most appropriate?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Catalystik]

My research experiences are a big part of my application. From undergrad (2009-13) and master's (2013-14) studies, and from my current research associate position (2014-present), I've gotten a fair share of publications (10 total) from the various labs.

What's the best approach to listing these? Should I just cram them all into one section within Publications, or should I list the respective publications under the corresponding Research experience for each lab? I feel like the former would come off as very "CV-like", but I'm also worried about space for the latter. Almost half of my publications came from my current research lab and I've used up most of that space to describe my the work experience and it's also one of my most meaningful experiences.

I'm leaning towards just listing them all in chronological order under Publications. Is it appropriate to just list them like: [authorship rank][title][journal][date] to make it more compact?

Here is an example of a super-condensed Publication entry using PMID#, thanks to tmax, which you could adapt for your own purposes. (Though I generally disagree with including submitted manuscripts, there might be a place for it when one can demonstrate super-productive involvement and has a proven pattern of acceptance):

Abridged bibliography in the following format:
Shortened Title; Shortened Journal/Book; Pubmed ID/Location/Status.

1st Author:
TSUP; BBA; PMID 22192777
Rhodopsin Superfamily; Nature; Submitted
Efflux Proteins: Microbial Efflux Pumps; Horizon Scientific Press; Accepted
Lead and Mercury Transporters (2 articles); Encycl. of Metalloproteins; ISBN 978-1-4614-1532-9 Jan. '13
MFS; FEBS J; PMID 22458847

2nd Author:
PTS; ELS; Search PTS on www.els.net
Transp. Protein Evol.; Protein Families; Accepted
4-JC; BBA; Submitted
ABC; JMB; Submitted

Co-author:
Phylogenetic char.; JMMB; PMID 22286036
APC; JMMB; PMID 22627175
Transposons; Mutagenesis; Accepted
Mer; WASP; Accepted

In case you have related Abstracts, Podium Presentations, Posters, they could be included in the same space with the pubs. The highest form of sharing a set of data with the world should be the primary listing (Publications, Abstracts, Posters/Presentations), but other venues can still be mentioned in the same space or in the affiliated Research space in precise or vague detail depending on space restraints (And I'd think this particularly important where a manuscript was submitted, but not yet accepted, if you use the format provided above). If you don't keep them hooked together like that, and use a different space instead, it would be far to difficult for a reader to keep them all straight for a highly-productive researcher.

Keep in mind that there's no one right way to do this. Personally, I feel this is so compact it makes my eyes bleed trying to sort out the entries. You might come up with a efficient, but more readable and informative format than the one provided (in which case, I'd love your permission to use it as another example, if you'd be so kind as to post an anonymized version).

Also, read post #2, item 20 on the first page of this thread for more ideas to streamline things.

 

[Catalystik]

I am a nursing graduate, I have about >1100 hours of clinical experience working directly with patients. However, these hours span over 7 different clinical placements. Is it advisable that I place all these placements together? Or should I split up the placements by year and make a separate entry for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th year placements?

Also what would this fall under? I wasn't paid so I'm hesitant to put it under Paid Employment - Medical/Clinical, however it isn't volunteer either... Would putting it under "Other" be the most appropriate?

I'm assuming you are referring to required curricular clinical rotations prior to getting the nursing degree and that these rotations will appear on your AMCAS transcript.

The best tag to use is "Other" as you suggested, as this is not employment or volunteerism. You don't need to specify the placement locations, as all took place through the nursing school and can use the same contact (eg, nursing school rotations director or registrar). All the placements can be put in the same space. Adcomms would have a pretty clear idea on the likely departments you cycled through, so name them or not depending on the space you have (nting that making the activity Most Meaningful would be a way to get more characters), or if some of them were more unusual. If one of the rotations stood out in particular and resulted on major insights, you can list it on its own or even make it Most Meaningful instead.

If you have other questions, feel free to ask.

 

[kitkat13]

.

 

[Catalystik]

@Catalystik Do you think it would be dumb to include in one of my 15 slots that I got a Fulbright award? I chose not to accept it, and was planning on writing why I chose not to. Or is that a red flag?

Personally, I don't see the point of including it, but opinions will vary on this. @gonnif for his thoughts.

What would you say about not accepting it?

 

[gonnif]

@Catalystik Do you think it would be dumb to include in one of my 15 slots that I got a Fulbright award? I chose not to accept it, and was planning on writing why I chose not to. Or is that a red flag?

Personally, I don't see the point of including it, but opinions will vary on this. @gonnif for his thoughts.

What would you say about not accepting it?

As an adcom my comment "schmuck" Sorry for being blunt. Why would you waste the time applying for such a prestigious award and then not accept it? Where you just trying to get an acceptance and brag about on, say, a medical school application?

And why are you applying to medical school now instead of after you completed the scholarship when it would have so valuable?