<p>I'm in the process of applying to various leadership positions in the clubs i'm involved in. would a leadership position in the Pre-Medical club look good?</p>
<p>If you do impressive and useful stuff yes. Attending weekly meetings and keeping the roster isn’t as valuable as organizing new initiatives, expanding opportunities, etc.</p>
<p>^Precisely. It all depends upon what you’re doing. I generally consider club leadership positions to be among the least valuable positions (i.e., below RA, orientation leader, student mentor/peer counselor, store/building/general/etc. manager, TA, etc.) simply because these positions are often little more than paper-shuffling and/or title-only positions. If you truly make a difference in the organization (i.e., implement or expand programs, lead projects, etc.), then sure. If not… it’s worthless.</p>
<p>Personally, I consider leadership positions in medical clubs as the most mediocre leadership positions anyone can have. They are way too predictable and Adcoms see it that way. They won’t make anyone stand out. Just another Premed Club President - Treasurer - Secretary. There are hundreds of those.</p>
<p>then what WOULD make you stand out? isn’t everyone’s resume repetitive to an extent? (leadership position of a volunteering club/job shadowing/summer research opportunities, etc…)</p>
<p>like would working as an EMT on campus look good? or is this even too common of an activity for premed students?</p>
<p>Its about the sum total of your ECs. Yes EMT work looks good, but very few things are going to make your resume by themselves.</p>
<p>^Exactly.</p>
<p>It’s the package that matters.
For example, my ECs point toward the possibility of working in psych or EM and/or w/ an underserved population:
- Internship w/ psych facility (in-pt)
- Job at another psych facility (in-pt)
- Job on a psych unit (acute)
- Internship in an ER-type setting
- Peer counseling/mentoring
- Multiple supervisory roles
- Training peer counselors
- Related Research
- Related UG degree</p>
<p>etc., etc…</p>
<p>Each position alone means little but together they add up to something and point in a specific direction, which ultimately has a powerful effect on my PS and interviews. Individually, those positions would each be somewhat impressive but not particularly striking. As a package (along w/ my strong GPA and MCAT), they look quite good, IMO.</p>
<p>I would agree with MyOpinion. My question would be: are you doing this because you REALLY believe in the mission statement of the pre-med club and their activities and want to make a difference, or just because it will look good to med schools? If you want a leadership opportunity, do it in something that you feel strongly about or really enjoy, NOT just because you want it to look good on your app. If an interviewer asks you about the leadership experience, your passion (or lack thereof) will really show. This goes the same for the PS; if you are really passionate about something, it will be noticed. A PS is essentially a “pre-interview” for the school.</p>
<p>Yes, admissions committees want to see a general formula of EC’s: Volunteering, clinical exposure, shadowing, leadership experience, and research. But think; WHY do they want to see this specific “formula”? It’s because these things show that you know what you are getting into, and that you will be able to become an effective practitioner of medicine.</p>
<p>Am I the only one who thinks these pre-med societies are a crock? Sure they do some stuff, but I mean come on… How many of you are joining it just because you’re pre-med and it has pre-med in the title.</p>
<p>I went to one meeting of our pre-med society back at the beginning of the school year and never went back… I was all fluff.</p>
<p>Go join the comedy club or something… If there’s one thing I’m learning in college, it’s that what you get out of an activity is infinitely more important than what someone else will think of it.</p>
<p>Pre-med societies are great if you feel intimidated when finding doctors to volunteer with or shadow, or if you just are having trouble finding a good one. Since I really didn’t do a lot of either in college, I never found any reason to be part of them.</p>