what to write in experience description for amcas
Our Nifty Med School Admissions team has read literally 1000s of AACOMAS and AMCAS Work and Activities descriptions. Read our tips to write an outstanding medical school application, including several AMCAS piece of work and activities examples from successful applicants!
Learn how to writesplendid Work and Activities Descriptions:
- How to Write Work/Activities Section for AMCAS
- AMCAS Work and Activities Examples
- AMCAS Work and Activities Tips
- FAQs
- Medical Schoolhouse Application Packages – get edits for your med school applications!
Demand help with your AMCAS application, including the work and activities section? Send united states of america a question below. Nosotros tin can assistance you smooth on your medical schoolhouse applications, secondary essays, and interviews!
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How To Write AMCAS Work and Activities
The Basics: How To Fill up Out the Work and Activities Section
On the AMCAS application, you take space to fill up upwardly to 15 work and activities descriptions. For each description, you can identify which category best describes your experience, and yous take 700 characters. Additionally, you can designate three of your activities as a "most meaningful experience." For these 3 most meaningful experiences, you have an additional 1325 characters. We accept an entire blog mail service dedicated on how to write your AMCAS most meaningful experiences.
This is what an AMCAS activities section description looks similar filled out
Elements of this AMCAS description:
- Program goal: In activities in which the goal or mission of the organization / project is not obvious,
- AMCAS activity description: Write a clarification, whether in bullet points or paragraph form, of what YOU did for that specific work or activity. Focus on impact. One common fault our Cracking Med School Admissions finds our students doing is they talk too much about the organization and not enough of what they did for the organization.
- Awards / Bear on: If you lot won any awards, brand sure to note them. Finally, if you tin can necktie the activeness with how y'all tin chronicle information technology to your hereafter career in medicine, y'all should mention information technology in the finish.
As you lot can meet, yous can write a lot in 700 characters!
How are activities categorized on the AMCAS Application?
There are several AMCAS activities categories that yous can choose from for each of your activities.
AMCAS Work and Activities Categories:
- Creative Endeavors
- Community Service/Volunteer – Not Medical/Clinical
- Community Service/Volunteer – Medical/Clinical
- Conferences Attended
- Extracurricular Activities
- Hobbies
- Honors/Awards/Recognitions
- Intercollegiate Athletics
- Leadership – Not listed elsewhere
- Military Service
- Other
- Paid Employment – Medical/Clinical
- Paid Employment – Non Medical/Clinical
- Physician Shadowing/Clinical Observation
- Presentations/Posters
- Publications
- Inquiry/Lab
- Education/Tutoring/Education Assistant
Note: Yous do not take to fill out an action for each one of the categories. For example, you tin can have 4 "extracurricular activities" and 0 "artistic endeavors."
The AMCAS Application makes sure that you accept a proper category to fit your activity into, no thing how unique it may be. There's always the "other" category for the really rare and valuable experiences y'all may accept. If y'all applied earlier, the categories are now dissimilar from previous years' application. While not all AMCAS extracurricular activities carry the same weight, they should give the medical school admissions committees a good picture of what you did for each activity. Additionally, they should acquirewhy it was meaningful to you and what y'all learned.
There is a lot of strategy related to choosing categories, so contact us if you want strategy and editing help with your AACOMAS or AAMC awarding.
Should my AMCAS Descriptions exist in Bullet Points or Paragraph Style?
There are two master means an applicant can write the work activities descriptions for the AMCAS.
- Bullet points: Think almost this every bit "resume" style. These descriptions tend to be to the indicate and emphasize what an bidder did for each activity.
- Paragraph class: This allows medical schoolhouse applicants to write more than stories and describe their activities.
It is a personal preference and there is not one correct format to write your activities descriptions. We've seen students succeed both ways! Nosotros strongly advise that y'all stick to 1 format, and not alternate between bullet point and paragraph grade.
Must take Elements for Each Activity Clarification
- What YOU did:What were your responsibilities? What touch on did you have in this organization? Oftentimes, we read descriptions that depict the program or project, and barely touches on what the applicant did. Leaving this out is 1 of the most mutual mistakes nosotros encounter.
- Reflection is KEY: Reflection shows maturity and growth. Some reflections you can talk over in your description – What lessons did yous larn? Did y'all face any difficulties? How did this experience impact you lot or change the style you think most patient intendance and healthcare?
Step Up Your Game: Make Your Activities Descriptions From Good to Dandy
Add these components to strengthen your activities clarification.
- Awards & Publications: Did you lot win whatever awards from this activity? Did you publish? Accolades are external validations that back up the strength of your medical school application.
- Leadership:Particularly if you were founder, first author, or president, highlight leadership in your activity description and make it assuming.
What if I desire to requite the reader context about the activity?
If you need to add together context nigh the organisation or program, then yous can write a curt clarification nearly the organization or activity groundwork. Nosotros recommend ii sentences MAX.
Merely I'm nevertheless not sure how to categorize my extracurricular activeness...
We wanted to give yous some examples of common premed activities and under what category y'all can list them on the AMCAS. Leadership - Not Listed Elsewhere Honors/Awards/Recognitions Community Service - Medical/Clinical Customs Service - Non-Medical/Clinical Didactics/Tutoring/TA Conferences Attended
What are the best practices for bullet points?
If you're going to write in bullet-point mode, make sure to utilise strong action verbs . Additionally, applicants use the same verbs for multiple bullet points in a row. Don't do this - it does not appeal to the reader. Here'southward an case... Not Ideal Description: Instead, hither's a better way to write this description:
There'south a lot of strategy with filling out the activities and work section of the AMCAS Application. We've helped numerous students strategize about how to present their activities and work experience.
If you demand a second opinion or need assist with how to all-time position your activities,don't hesitate to schedule a telephone call with us by filling out the contact form below.
Complimentary AMCAS Work & Activities Workbook
Use this workbook to write STELLAR AMCAS descriptions. This section is equally important every bit your personal statement.
AMCAS Work and Activities Examples
We want to give you samples of common medical school application activities and fantabulous AMCAS piece of work and activities examples. We want to share our advice on pop premed AMCAS piece of work and activities! Want more examples, download our AMCAS Work and Activities workbook here or fill out the grade beneath. It is besides a brainstorming tool to help you effigy out what to write in your activities descriptions!
AMCAS Work and Activities – Shadowing Example
A common question the Cracking Med School Admissions squad receives is, "how do we write nearly our shadowing experiences in the AMCAS piece of work and activities section?" The example beneath shows one approach to writing about your premed shadowing experiences.
AMCAS Work and Activities Example – Shadowing
Analysis: Here, the bidder has had several shadowing opportunities throughout college, so he decided to mention several of them. One matter you can do with your AMCAS Work and Activities description is to depict the significance of each shadowing experience or highlight key points.
The benefit of having a broad range of shadowing experiences is that you can clearly convey that you've acquired a multifaceted perspective of healthcare. The best way to practice this is to incorporate experiences unique to each specialty in your description.
Looking back on the above instance, the following sentences definitely stand out on their ain:
" observed open heart surgeries" (You lot'll never see this in Family Medicine!)
"patient consultations…dialysis centers" (Over again, unique to nephrology)
"attended international infectious disease conferences" (Sounds like an exciting opportunity, and makes one retrieve of the 1995 film Outbreak, starring Dustin Hoffman)
Other shadowing description examples:
- OB/GYN: Adumbral live births or fetal ultrasound sessions
- Radiology: Shadowed night room sessions during an ER shift and learned to differentiate matter based on density on MRI scans.
- Orthopedic Surgery: Shadowed rounds at clubfoot clinic
- Plastic surgery: Shadowed cleft palate repair surgery and follow-up outpatient intendance clinic.
By carrying these experiences, you're painting a bigger picture with fewer words.
For more AMCAS activities examples, download our Costless AMCAS work and activities workbook.
AMCAS Piece of work and Activities – Research Case
Many med school applicants will take research experience every bit 1 of your activities. We have stressed once again, this is one of the virtually mutual fields in which applicants Neglect TO Effectively SELL THEMSELVES. We met students who've invested iii years into a research lab, merely failed to finer convey those experiences. And we've coached them through our awarding advising services to make sure their AMCAS activities help them stand up out.
AMCAS Work and Activities Case – Research
Insights to learn from this enquiry AMCAS work activity example:
From the above feel, note how the description is limited to one, brief sentence.
Additionally, the applicant'southward research case in the AMCAS Work and Activities emphasized two points:
- Learning from his mistakes ("I never wasted my failures")
- Establishing a pristine work ethic ("scrubbed flasks, washed counters, keeping my listen busy to rub away regrets, rinse thoughts, and echo…").
How much of my research experience has to be technical jargon?
Y'all should exist able to describe fundamental points of your research, i.e. relevant information, utilized techniques and procedures, etc. in your action. (Proceed in mind that you may have to elaborate on your research during the interview). However, y'all demand to write your description geared towards an individual who does non have a science background and knowledge about your field of study. Additionally, our Swell Med School Admissions team thinks it's very important to also describe what you learned from this research projection. You can add together personal reflections and insights.
Don't forget that this description can besides highlight your leadership.
Did you lot create a enquiry projection of your own? Did you mentor somebody in your lab? Brand sure to write about these because it shows initiative and leadership!
AMCAS Work and Activities – Volunteering
Many premeds have volunteered in both clinical and non-clinical settings. To differentiate yourself, you lot demand to write well-nigh your experiences with insight and demonstrable passion. Therefore, while it is important to describe your responsibilities, the bulk of your description should focus on the bear upon you had and lessons yous learned. From the above example, notice how only i sentence describes responsibilities of the position "[ensuring] that staff and residents… take access and daily meals and needed resource," while more infinite is taken to describe bear on, such equally the implementation of a "breakfast/lunch programme," and lessons learned almost the "implementation of theory into exercise."
Furthermore, recall that medical schools want to recruit mature students with rich life experiences. Ultimately, being a md is about connecting with patients on a human level, so have advantage of your clinical experiences and describe what you learned near working with people. For example, the above description reflects on how "medicine is non just almost treating disease simply also connecting with others." Recognition of the humanistic aspects of medicine is looked upon highly by medical school admissions committees!
For more AMCAS activities volunteering examples, download our free AMCAS work and activities workbook below.
Costless AMCAS Work & Activities Workbook
Employ this workbook to write STELLAR AMCAS descriptions. This section is as of import as your personal statement.
AMCAS Piece of work and Activities – Paid Employment
Many premeds take work experience, including tutoring and summer jobs. Some applicants think that these non-clinical work experiences are non relevant, but they definitely are!
In fact, Dr. Rizal wrote an article for the U.S. News that shows how students can leverage their not-clinical experiences: How to Make Premed Non-Clinical Experiences Relevant to Medicine
AMCAS Piece of work and Activities Example – Paid Employment
Activity: "Undergraduate Work Feel". Category: Paid Employment – Non-Military
Starbucks Barista – Baronial 2007 – May 2008
- Responsible for training new employees, customer service, and product ordering.
- Worked 20 hours per calendar week while attention school full time
Paid Intern – Summertime 2008
- Worked at the Mayor'due south Part for the City of Memphis.
- Responsible for…
- Worked forty hours per week while taking 1 summer class
Grocery Store Worker – August 2008 – May 2010
- Worked every bit a cashier for a major grocery store chain
- Worked 30 hours per week while attending school total time
- Responsible for….
Tip: Equally you can see in this AMCAS activity description, the applicant combined two work experiences. Nosotros suggest students do this when they tin can make full all 15 activities. By combining multiple jobs into one action, you are able to salvage 2 spaces in the Work/Activities section, merely still are able to show that you have significant work feel and have the ability to juggle a job and school.
How Will Y'all Stand Out?
How will you make your medical school awarding stand out amongst the 50,000 other applicants?
The two large pieces of medical school awarding tips we give to premeds so that you tin stand out are:
- Highlight a niche in medicine you are interested in: Make sure your entire medical school application highlights a niche in medicine you are interested in. It doesn't have to exist a specific field of medicine, like radiology or pediatrics. It can as well exist an attribute of patient care or healthcare you are passionate well-nigh. Are you lot a global health guru? Love enquiry? Figure out your niche. And highlight these strengths throughout your medical school application. For instance, say y'all are interested in health teaching. You lot should highlight this passion in your personal statement, AMCAS activities reflections, secondary essay applications, and your medical schoolhouse interviews.
- Pigment a picture of yourself through stories: Our Neat Med Schoolhouse Admissions team has establish that stories are the most powerful style to display an bidder's relationships with other individuals, teamwork, compassion, and empathy. Your AMCAS personal statement, AMCAS letters of recommendation, and secondary essays should all include stories.
More AMCAS Piece of work and Activities Tips
AMCAS Work and Activities Tip #1:
Don't talk too much about your extracurricular activities themselves. Instead write more than about what YOU did and the touch on Y'all had.
I of the common mistakes we encounter applicants make is that they do not focus their AMCAS activities section on THEM. Instead, they write too much near the arrangement or what the team accomplished equally a whole. While it is important to bear witness that you are a team role player, it should non exist at the expense of the reader learning about You lot. When filling out the AMCAS activities section, call up to explicate WHY you did something and your personal motivations. One of the central components of a good application is the ability to weave the entire application into a coherent story. Explaining your motivations is a neat mode to connect your by experiences to your future goals and aspirations. It's likewise a smashing place to talk about your personal reflections on how you've grown as a person.
For examples of great AMCAS activities descriptions, download our AMCAS piece of work & activities workbook here.
AMCAS Work and Activities Tip #2:
Don't duplicate information on your main application and your secondary applications
To be successful on your AMCAS application, you must combine a variety of stories together to explain why you are a good match for a medical school. Avoiding redundancy is central hither, which goes to say that you do Non want to exist repeating information an admissions commission already knows about you. This seems obvious, even so you'd exist surprised how many pre-med applicants either re-state information in their secondaries, or complain that they don't take plenty unique stories to craft a winning application.
If yous want to write about the same activity in your personal argument, AMCAS activities department, and your specific medical school secondary essays, we definitely support it. However, yous should highlight different aspects almost the activity. For example, you could use a infirmary shadowing opportunity to write both about the rigors of the emergency room, and in a separate essay, you can talk most a personal interaction you had with a patient in the emergency room. Although both of these experiences came from shadowing, they reveal totally different however essential qualities of a medical professional.
AMCAS Piece of work and Activities Tip #iii:
Spelling and grammar mistakes
No matter how many times some people are told to proofread and get essays edited, spelling and grammer mistakes always seem to slip through the cracks on the AMCAS application and on secondary applications as well. Unfortunately, that doesn't give them an excuse, and spelling and grammar mistakes volition be looked at unfavorably and taken every bit abandon. Information technology'south simple – get your essays edited!
AMCAS Work and Activities Tip #4:
Don't forget to put ALL your activities down in your AMCAS activities section
This happens more unremarkably than you recall.
Some premed applicants accept expressed that they experience they shouldn't put not-medical related activities in their awarding because non-clinical activities may be perceived as a lack of focus and doesn't contribute to their medical school candidacy. This couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, going "too deep" on a certain activeness and not showing a variety of experiences tin contribute to not getting whatever secondaries! Don't experience bad to show y'all are well-rounded! However, besides remember that there is a departure between a well-rounded applicant and an unfocused applicant. You should exist able to explain how your diverse experiences accept shaped you as a person and how these experiences volition help you succeed in medical school and beyond.
AMCAS Work and Activities Tip #5:
Don't forget to put ALL your honors and awards
On a similar note to med school applicants forgetting to write downwardly their activities, many premeds forget to write all their leadership positions and awards. We are frequently on the phone with our premed advisees making certain they don't forget near a lab presentation or a "Dean's List" nomination.
The about common information premeds forget on their principal medical schoolhouse applications: Students forget to put awards, honors, and leadership positions for each activity. Don't forget to add your presentations, posters, or any other recognitions you've had! Fifty-fifty presenting in a lab meeting or to a small group of students should be recognized!
AMCAS Piece of work and Activities Tip #6:
Show depth and commitment through your activities
Ane of the common medical schoolhouse application mistakes students brand is that they do not show plenty depth and delivery through their activities. From an admissions committee members' perspective, this results in generic-sounding essays and extracurricular activities descriptions.
In that location are many opportunities for you to show commitment and passion with your activities throughout your medical schoolhouse application. First, your AMCAS work and activities department is a good place to prove depth. Be sure to enter the number of hours yous've committed to each activity, every bit well as a detailed description of the activeness and any leadership roles y'all've taken on. It goes without saying that you should choose activities you've spent a considerable amount of time on across a long time menses.
Read: activities picked up three months before applying to medical school are usually not stiff activities.
Furthermore, your description of the activity is just as important as the activity itself.
A second manner to show your commitment to your activities and people effectually y'all is through your essays – both your personal statement and your secondary essays. As we stated above in our 2 biggest medical schoolhouse awarding advice department, be sure to tell stories. You tin tell stories about how you have made a deviation to an individual, how you take helped your community, and how you take fabricated changes in an organization you lead.
Frequently Asked Questions
Responses by Dr. Rachel Rizal and Dr. Rishi Mediratta – your Dandy Med Schoolhouse Admissions premed advisors
Can you assist me with my medical school application?
Nosotros dear helping students with their medical schoolhouse applications! Merely leave us a message in the contact form below. If y'all want personalized advising and detailed help with your medical schoolhouse awarding, including personal statement edits and activities description edits, then check out our medical schoolhouse application packages.
I currently accept 8 activities. Is that enough?
Here's our best do - we advise students to have at to the lowest degree 13 activities. If you don't have this many activities, make sure yous aren't forgetting whatsoever of your part-fourth dimension jobs, awards, or extracurricular activities. Remember, you can add non-clinical employment, like working equally a barista or as an executive assistant to your AMCAS activities!
I do not have plenty activities for my AMCAS work and activities section. Practise you have whatever recommendations?
Well-nigh commonly, people forget that they did a volunteer activity and won an award from freshmen or sophomore year. Don't forget to use a space for awards, hobbies, and piece of work experiences. We have other strategies to increase the number of activities you have, like separating your honors / awards into multiple activities description. Feel gratis to contact united states if yous take questions or issues.
How of import are non-medical work experiences on the AMCAS application?
Work experience is definitely of import for y'all to list. The Work/Activities department is there for you to show off all of your skills. Holding downwardly a job while doing well equally a student, is a huge accomplishment that not anybody can handle. Information technology also shows a well-rounded bidder that can motility beyond the lab bench.
What are the most common mistakes you run across applicants brand on their AMCAS work activities section?
The most mutual mistakes we see applicants make are:
Do you recommend adding hobbies?
If you lot do non take 15 activities already, then yeah, we recommend using 1 or 2 of the activities descriptions every bit hobbies. They oftentimes make students sound interesting. All the same, if you are short on activities descriptions and y'all have 15 or more strong extracurricular experiences,nosotros do not suggest you to add hobbies here. You can always write almost your hobbies and interesting personality qualities in your secondary application essays. If you want more examples of AMCAS activities descriptions, download our AMCAS workbook!
How exercise I grouping activities together?
Another trick for inbound your activities is to group several dissimilar activities under one heading so that you are not wasting multiple spots. For case, you can put all your works, poster presentations, or awards nether one activity. Some other popular activeness that is grouped together is shadowing. In the shadowing example, the applicant groups all their shadowing experiences together.
How do I listing my shadowing experiences on AMCAS?
At that place are several means to list your shadowing experiences on the AMCAS piece of work and activities section. Hither is what we see commonly among applicants:
Do you lot have whatever AMCAS most meaningful experience examples?
Yes! In fact, nosotros have many tips and pieces of wisdom to share with medical school applicants. We wrote an entire blog mail dedicated towards the AMCAS most meaningful experience descriptions.
Who do I write as a contact for my AMCAS activities?
Write down an private who can vouch for you and can verify that yous participated in that activity. Be certain to include the individual'southward contact data, such equally an email address and telephone number, fifty-fifty if it'due south an international number.
We'll answer any and all your questions nearly medical schoolhouse!
We typically respond within one business organization mean solar day.
Please provide united states of america with a phone number if you prefer us to call you back.
This is what an AMCAS activities section clarification looks like filled out
Elements of this AMCAS description:
- Programme goal: In activities in which the goal or mission of the arrangement / project is not obvious,
- AMCAS action description: Write a clarification, whether in bullet points or paragraph form, of what YOU did for that specific work or activity. Focus on impact. One mutual mistake our Cracking Med School Admissions finds our students doing is they talk also much almost the organization and not enough of what they did for the organization.
- Awards / Impact: If you lot won any awards, make sure to notation them. Finally, if you tin tie the activity with how you can relate information technology to your time to come career in medicine, yous should mention it in the cease.
As you can see, yous can write a lot in 700 characters!
Source: https://crackingmedadmissions.com/amcas-work-and-activities-example/