<p>as a bio/premed person, i'm just inclined to join extracurriculars that are bio/med related. i was just wondering if i should find some other extracurricular in case i seem too bio/med focused.</p>
<p>i am very involved in a cultural organization but it's obviously a recreational activity and i don't think i should put that on my app.</p>
<p>any input would be greatly appreciated!!</p>
<p>I think it could be helpful for the med schools to realize that you’re very involved in your cultural org, as they DO want professionals that can reach out to different cultures when they practice. That would be a strength. I think they want to see leadership, commitment, and any experience you have in research and/or shadowing.</p>
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<p>I have no doubt that one of the reasons I have been so successful this application cycle has been because of my non medical and non academic ECs. They have made me stand out and they have become a topic of discussion at every interview. Every competitive applicant will have variations of the same routine shadowing, volunteering at a community clinic, TA, tutoring, research, premed clubs etc; but that won’t make you stand out. The field is so competitive now that those activities are “expected”, (just like a high GPA and MCAT)</p>
<p>When you show the schools that you have “a life” outside of medicine and academia you are only enhancing your chances of admission.</p>
<p>More and more medical schools are now looking for someone who is broad based. Doing a non science will help you tremendously.</p>
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<p>Couldn’t agree more. I’m almost certain the reason I’ve been as successful as I have been has had to do with both the depth and breadth of my resume, which is by no means all focused on medical stuff.</p>
<p>I agree with the above posters – IF I was on an admissions board I would love to see someone who is doing something for a true deep interest rather than just the usual suspects that applicants are obviously using just to fill in the resume checkbox. This would specifically apply to something that has a benefical component to the community or a group of other people – people skills, organizational skills, and sometimes the plain all-out commitment to something has transferable props as much as any Medical EC’s. EC’s are as much as learning Life Skills as anything – find something that’s interesting to you and go all out.</p>
<p>I get quickly bored of reading posts that essentially read – if it’s not impressive to the AdCom, why bother wasting my time even doing “X” or 'what EC looks best on my application." The whole “I want to help people” spiel is a whole lot more impressive to show how you’ve actually gone out (or gone out of your way) and helped someone(s) rather than just looking over someone’s shoulder while they are helping.</p>