What You're Doing WRONG in Your Activities Section—With Examples! (Med School App: Extracurriculars)

the admissions committees are not going to accept you because you checked off all of the boxes the admissions committees are going to accept students who what's going on guys dr. Ryan grey here for another video on the medical school headquarters YouTube channel I hope you're having a great day and I hope this video comes at an opportune time for you so that you can fill out your extracurricular descriptions properly don't forget to hit that subscribe button and that Bell button to be notified of more great videos here every week and we actually have multiple videos multiple days a week so stay tuned for all of those great videos and actually some of the stuff that I'm gonna be showing you are from application renovation videos that come out on Tuesday so if you don't watch those those are actually I think the most watched videos on the channel right now so you are missing out so overall let me let me give you a brief kind of breakdown of extracurricular descriptions and how they differ from application to application I think we should start there so the extra curricular descriptions or as a lot of the applications call it the activities section on am cast so if you're applying to m.d. schools on am cast you get 700 characters three of the 15 that you can include on your application on am cast three of those you can mark as most meaningful so 15 total activities three of those 15 can be marked as most meaningful when you mark it as most meaningful an extra box opens up and you have an additional 13 hundred and 25 characters as separate thirteen hundred and twenty-five characters not a total of 2025 characters but your 700 character description and a thirteen hundred and twenty-five most meaningful essay to go with it so that's AM casts on a Comus there is no limit the sections are broken down a little bit more but you only have 600 characters it's a hundred characters and forty MD SAS again no limit the section breakdown is a little bit different a little bit more rigid I would say potentially even TMT SAS is nice because it lets you put in future activities one of the things that TMD SAS does not let you do very well is actually write anything about the activity you only get 300 characters now I'm friends with the guys over at TMD SAS all the team over there and I yell at them all the time that they need more characters they gave it a little bit and they very similar to am cast have three three activities that you can mark it as most meaningful now you get 500 characters extra for those three activities so 700 characters for am cast 600 for a Comus 340 MD SAS now the question is how do you write those activity descriptions now I'm gonna start and I'm gonna focus on how do you not write them because I think and and I get a lot of negativity for this that I always focus on what not to do and that's because all of you are making the same mistakes over and over and over again and so hopefully if I can focus on the the same mistakes over and over and over again when you are writing yours you avoid those mistakes and you'll probably make other mistakes which is okay but hopefully you'll start to end up in the right place now the majority of what I'm going to talk about fits for a Comus and am cast 700 character 600 characters for TMD SAS the storytelling that I'm gonna try to tell you to focus on that I'm going to tell you to try to focus on is not going to work TMD SAS just doesn't give you enough space 600 characters is enough 700 is plenty and I'll show you some good examples as well but first let's look at the bad examples so as I'm recording this I'm looking at my my iPad here and I have an application brought up this is actually from application renovation season 2 episode 1 if you want to go watch that full the full video where I break down this whole application you can see all of my writing on here but there were a few in here a few activities that I wanted to highlight even more just to show you and so one of the biggest things is writing an essay format and so when you look are not sa resume format so when you look at the description so you can see here the description you can see this one's marked as a most meaningful when you look at that number one it's bullet pointed do not bullet point your activity descriptions period end of story with a few exceptions there's always exceptions to this rule so in general do not bullet point no I'll tell you when you can so as you're looking at this what I see here is basic job descriptions worked as a teacher right the basic job description worked as a teacher educating this many students assisted as a school nurse worked as a big sister just basic job duties worked as a bartender right my duties included waiting on tables working to ensure customers desires and orders were fulfilled well of course right that's what a waitress does a server does when you're working on your activities if you are writing stuff and you're thinking will the person know what this job is will the person know what is what a server does will the person know what an EMT does will the person know what a scribe does if you're like yes they'll know then don't write those basic job descriptions in your activity you don't need to do that focus on the story focus on the impact so let's talk about that real quick before we dive even further into this when I'm talking about focusing on the story and what we're seeing on the impact what I want you to focus on is how that activity impacted you or how you were able to impact that activity don't just tell me what you did that doesn't tell me anything about you the goal of the application whether it's the primary application the secondary application the interviews is to show who you are the admissions committees are not going to accept you because you checked off all of the boxes the admissions committees are going to accept students who they get to know and who they realize will be good students not who checked off all the boxes okay so from a story perspective let's look at what a server can do so from a stories perspective let's look at how this student wrote about being a server now they were a server at a winery and so you can see here server at a winery one of my favorite tasks was to give tours of the facility so now all of a sudden I am picturing myself taking a tour of a winery we can picture the grapes and the buildings and the barrels and everything else every weekend people from all over the world would come to sample our locally produced wine so now I can see that this person is interacting with a large variety of people and and this the student doesn't say because I interacted with a large amount of people I was able to build my communication skills no it tells me right away that this person was interacting with these people so I probably can can extrapolate that from the story I would guide them through the basics of how they were made I enjoyed walking the group through the cellar that held our oak barrels right I'm picturing this I'm smelling it it's very engaging very interesting mellow lactic fermentation gentle bubbling of co2 rights story and and just visuals are great many were quietly aging Reds had been placed there for several months up to a few years before a few more where grapes that I had helped to harvest so now I can say Oh help to harvest so this person is also probably hard-working willing to kind of get down into the dirt and and interact and and pick those grapes awesome it was rewarding to be an integral part of the winemaking process Oh team player without saying team player this person just said they're a team player they're willing to go and pick the grapes and and walking around communicating with people this is an excellent story of someone who is a server right yes it was a server at a winery but you can transform your experience of being a server into something similar I don't care right that you learned how to take orders and did it without errors and we're good at customer service that's how most students would write about this right looking at it this is how many students would write about this activity I provided wine samples to customers well yeah that's what you kind of do I gave tours to customers okay harvested grapes for wine making right just the basic stuff and then where students start to go into a sales pitch is improved communication skills by talking to customers from all over the country made sure every customers taken care of right the students tried to focus so much on here's how I am better here's how my skills were built and that is not the goal of these extracurricular activities at least in my mind the goal is to show who you are and through showing who you are you then show those skills that you gathered right we talked about it here we talked about how this student we talked about how this student was able to talk about her communication skills without saying that her communication skills were increased she was able to talk about being a hard worker without saying I am a hard worker and I'm dedicated she was able to talk about how she was a good team player without saying I built up my team skills because making wine is a team process with lots of different components go into it that is good extracurricular writing so that was a quick example of being a server something that a lot of you have done now let's look at a good and potentially bad example of what students write about being a tutor again something very common that students do and also going back to my iPad and actually what you're seeing here is the draft of my next book the Prima playbook guide to the medical school application unfortunately it won't be out in time for this 2021 cycle applying in 2020 but hopefully if you're applying in 2021 it will be available then and so this is one chapter of the book that you're seeing and so you can see here the example that I have here is a tutor and this is a great example I think right my first semester of tutoring I was paired with Charlie so I'm like oh a story great 45 year-old physics major and veteran charlie cared more about learning the information than his grade he was motivated to do well on every assignment lab and tests always seems fully focused one day near the end of the semester Charlie sat down and said with a smile I changed my major to chemistry I was stunned and a little thrilled I made an impact on Charlie's life and had been a part of his discovery of his love of chemistry this fueled my motivation to build a career in higher education only 574 characters so this would have worked in a lot of places right on MCAS and a Comus so that is great now you look at this and you go well it doesn't tell me anything about tutoring no because you know what tutoring is you know what a tutor does which if you look at this bad example here I tutored students in chemistry created lessons plans you see it's written like a resume without the I tutored I created just tutored students created lessons for students and checked in on their progress yes that's what tutors do you don't need to tell me that I know what tutors do and so do the people reading your application listening to their specific situations I was able to craft lessons to the knee of each student right you're trying to sell how amazing you are at being flexible and crafting all this information to students you don't need to do that met with students weekly to answer all their questions help students prepare for a test yes that's what tutors do the good example is a story of impact the bad example is basic description don't do this and do this stories of impact that's all that I want you to think about as you are working through your application through these activity descriptions again don't look at this as an opportunity to check off boxes and go I need to show that I'm hardworking I need to show that I'm adaptable I need to show that I'm resilient don't do that it's not needed a common question that I get is whether or not to include hobbies in your activity section and I would say if you have room for it included now here's a good hobby description to check out about dancing and the student does sell themselves a little bit at the end but I am not completely against a little bit of the pitch if you need it there if you want it there if you're like I just have to have it there that's okay but the rest of it is really good just description about dancing and what the student likes so hopefully this helps you understand hobbies a little bit now what about research how do you do storytelling in research how do you not sell your skills in research well let me show you first how a student tried to sell themselves with their research description again this is from a draft of my pre-med playbook guide to the medical school application book and the student said I performed research for a summer internship at the neuroradiology laboratory of dr. Smith that if you don't know the setup of an application and entering in a lot of this information that's wasted space you're gonna put the con detect information you're gonna put the location in that activity already you don't need to repeat it in the activity description a lot of students do that so it's just wasted space I worked both on the clinical and animal research side focusing on a study of cerebral secular aneurysms okay it's a little bit of what they're doing I'm not against that I don't know if it's really needed but I'm not against it it's okay and here we go into my responsibilities right the job description don't need this stuff chart review looking at the accuracy of icd-9 codes helped advance my skills in the research software I can guarantee you that the admissions office is not sitting there thinking I need a student who understands research software all right the student is so focused on selling skills that they just go off into the weeds here just it's not important I had the opportunity to see both sides of clinical application and of using micro coils to treat aneurysms and to be part of the animal lab research to better understand the mechanisms of aneurysm growth and healing again you're gonna learn all about aneurysms in medical school you trying to sell me that you understand aneurysms doesn't show me who you are the impact that you had on this position I was required to learn a large diverse set of skills in a short amount of time look at me look at me look at me look at me that's what the student is doing and that's what many of you do avoid this by telling stories strengthen my time management skills again the admissions office isn't checking off boxes going does this person have time management skills does this person have communication skills does this person have researched software skills it's not what they're doing so let's look at a better example of research in some respects and how a student was able to write about research now this is being a research assistant maybe it's a little bit different than bench lab stuff but you get a good idea of how a student could potentially write something good so this student is in here saying I worked with my mentor to develop articles and workshops on trauma and resilience for hundreds of journalists humanitarian workers and health care providers so setting up a little bit about what this position is obviously all of that isn't going to fit into the Job Description or job title that you enter into the activity so okay I have a little context now let's jump into the story and here we go add a training for human rights workers I spoke with an aid worker recently who returned from South Sudan who described the depression and homelessness hopelessness he experienced upon returning home we spoke about how chronic exposure to trauma influenced the sustainability of his work so just understanding a person right throughout the training we worked to normalize his traumatic stress responses educate him about protective measures and resources available to frontline workers so this is a story about a person not I built my communication skills I was able to solve problems I was able to do XYZ it's just a story above this student interacting with a person it is my hope that these lessons will inform my work as a future physician advocate so a little take-home message there at the end which is always nice if you can fit it in how is this going to affect you how is this strengthening you as a person how is this going to impact your future as a physician these little take-home messages are something that you can write about now let's look at another good example from the same student who we just saw an example for for the research assistant and look at this pediatric rehab volunteer again where students go wrong as they try to sell their skills they try to show that they were able to to impact a student or not impact but impact a patient in a way that they were able to build their communication skills and understand something about healthcare again check boxes are not important here the admissions committee members don't need you to show them that you understand what medicine is like that's not the goal so let's look at this one here I've I've worked with children with a variety of physical impairments from cp2 torticollis great straight up okay let's go story time I first met Sarah child with CP for a pool rehabilitative session after recent surgery we laughed together I lowered her into the water sharing in the joy of her body's buoyancy aford her encouragement for the next hour she fought with judy in her legs while volunteering has been a wonderful experience I want to be able to provide a type of medical care that would help this child achieve the greatest mobility possible for her so now the student is is going into a little bit of what I talked a lot about in the personal statement is why do you want to be a physician there's a little bit of that here there's this story of this student impacting this patient's life in a way and and then having a little bit of a reflection saying I want more I need more as a volunteer with pediatric patients I'm struck by the intensity of emotions I feel when they struggle and when they succeed it shows the impact of the position on her it talked about it earlier what is your impact on the position what does the positions impact on you right this doesn't say I was an amazing communicator I was a hard worker I learned to X Y or Z it's here's the story of a patient that I interacted with all right so let's look at another not so a good example of research again another example from the book the student here research was always one of the domains I wanted to explore again the sales pitch of I I like research to write it as if it's a requirement to make sure that the admissions committee member the review or the application makes sure that that you like research right it's just a very generic and weird statement I volunteered in research about sleep apnea twice a week where I analyzed and arranged data using whatever that is and Excel so again very nuanced and specific information that just isn't important I was offered a job by the supervisor to work in the lab as a student assistant again not important the student I understand why a student puts it there the student puts it there to say hey they liked me so much they offered me a job that must mean I'm pretty amazing I'm a hard worker and I'm competent I was thrilled to accept this position alongside my other job as a medical scribe okay now look even more of a sales pitch look I can handle multiple things at the same time again not important my work primarily focuses on reporting on results and helping with manuscript data for publication and job description stuff research involves a lot of that most people understand that you don't need to write that so far I have learned how to generate read and analyze data and how to troubleshoot problems sales pitch I'm a problem solver not necessary additionally my teamwork skills have improved significantly and I learned how good collaboration with my other team members produces the best results from reading this I don't know who this student is I just know that they think they're good problem solver they think they have good teamwork skills they think they are awesome because they were offered a job they think they're good multitasker multi juggler whatever because they have a job as well as a scribe so there's nothing here that tells me much about the student tell a story that shows your impact in these positions show the impact of you on the position show the impact of the position on you so when I say show the impact of you on the position something that a lot of students think about is let's say you are part of a fraternity or sorority and you are part of the like philanthropic side of things as the chair of philanthropy talk about instead of talking about how you were able to organize events and and impact people's lives in that way talk about how many events did you organize how many people were you in charge of how much money did you raise that shows impact those kinds of numbers show impact without you saying that you built your communication skills without you building your teamwork skills so another very common activity for students is shadowing and there are many ways to do shadowing or write about shadowing application for me shadowing isn't very impactful it's a very passive experience for you and so number one marking it as most meaningful for me just doesn't make sense because the most meaningful designation is most meaningful for you as a person as a human being not most meaningful for you on your journey to medicine so that's kind of just a sidebar for shadowing but shadowing itself because it's very passive and usually because you shadow lots of physicians hopefully you either have a couple options you can either list all of the shadowing separately which on a Comus and TMZ SAS you potentially could or you bunch it together in one activity on am cast and if you do it in one activity on am cast it's okay to kind of bullet point those to say total hours total time with like the main contact information maybe the person who knows you the best as the contact person and then you say okay line here shadow dr. Smith GI doctor these dates these hours shadowed dr. Wilson cardiologist these days these hours writing you just list that's okay if you want to do it in more of a story form here's how potentially not to do it so this student and I'll have a good example following this student says that was very easier to know more about more deeply about clinical life and okay great I don't need the sales pitch to says you were you were eager for it which drove me to shadow and endocrinologist and for me that first sentence is a wasted sentence because you obviously are telling me that you shadowed because this is a whole experience and their chronology was always my interest due to the fact that my brother has a pituitary tumor okay so a little bit of personal information I think is great I had the opportunity to watch the patients closely hear their complaints and feel their worries so again that's kind of a basic idea of what shadowing is you get to hear things and and experience the whole visit so not not super helpful I developed more compassion and relatedness to the patients I don't need to know write the sales pitch I'm compact I'm empathetic I can connect with these patients I also got to know wide range of diagnoses that I had not known before yeah there's there's gonna be even more that you don't know about that you're gonna learn in medical school so again just super generic stuff it just doesn't help the reader so if we look at this good example of shadowing this student says when I first meet a physician I ask about treatment gaps and potential improvements in the healthcare system so interesting little twists it kind of gives me some insight into the student and what they are interested in what they're concerned about with health care OBGYN the surgeon a pediatrician named the same need access to effective and affordable mental health care for their patients right so the student is kind of highlighting a an area of medicine that the student really likes watching a surgeon counsel his patients for surgery or a pediatrician speak with her patient about distorted eating confirm for me that all health is mental health so again the focus is on mental health here it's not necessarily a good thing to only focus in on one thing but for this specific student it matched with a lot of her application with where she was coming from so it works here in addition I've heard physicians voice frustration with structural barriers they face providing care to their patients within the health care system their stories resonate deeply with me and galvanized me to work toward developing solutions to challenges in healthcare so this is an interesting one right it's not a story it's but its impact of that position on her having these conversations shows the reader what this student is interested in this student is interested in mental health this student is interested in treatment gaps and improvements in the health care system and the student at the very end says it galvanizes me to work toward developing solutions to challenges in the healthcare system so without selling that the student is a problem solver she's telling the story of the impact and how it's driving her forward in this world so I could go on and on and on about all the different things and different experience and different everything that that you could come up with to put in an application I obviously can't give you examples of everything the the book hopefully will be out in several months it'll have a lot more examples in there breaking down good examples and bad examples so so keep an eye on that if you haven't seen my other books the pre-med playbook is the series kind of like Chicken Soup for the Soul the pre-med playbook guide to the medical school personal statement guide to the MCAT and guide to the medical school interview so go check out those and then guide it to the medical school application will be out as soon as possible remember at the end of the day for your activities don't sell skills talk about the story and the impact that's the biggest thing that I need you to take away from this whole conversation

Channel: Medical School HQ

Views: 115,618

Keywords: amcas activities, amcas activities section, amcas activities section examples, amcas work and activities, amcas work and activities example, activities descriptions, med school activities, med school activities example, med school application activities, med school, medical school, extracurriculars, EC, ECs, EC descriptions, EC essays, med school apps, apps, applications, application, extracurricular activities, work and activities, premed activities, premed, pre-med, pre med, amcas

Id: u-IDlvkYSSw

Length: 29min 10sec (1750 seconds)

Published: Mon May 11 2020