Is it reasonable to list being a club member separate from being an officer of that club, especially you had previously not been an officer? They constitute pretty different experiences. What sort of person should I list as a contact for each? Also, would it be reasonable to separately list experiences in a club from being a member of that club, such as if part of a club involves a weekly commitment to aiding communities in need (given that it isn’t central to the club)? Thanks!
@honcho why do you want to have two listings for the same club? And yes, I understand officers do more than regular members…but you do have to be a member to be an officer…right?
Are you trying to fill in all the lines on the application spot?
@WayOutWestMom is this something that warrants several lines on the application?
You can add your info in any way you want, but it seems counterproductive to list one activity more than once unless you’re trying to highlight it for some reason
I would put the experience type as leadership, list your title and the dates you held office, then underneath in your description, include the dates you were a member. You can’t be an officer in a club unless you were a member first.
Something like this:" I was elected as vice president of XX in May 201X after being a member since 10/1X. My duties included…"
You can also mention the community service here as part of the description. “One of the activities undertaken by our club was weekly community outreach where we…”
I mean why use up limited slots listing one EC unless you’re trying to pad out your application.
You could list the community service separately, but you’ll need to mention it was part of the activities done through the club in your description. “Members of the XX club held weekly community outreach activities during the academic year…”
As for contact person-- is there an office at your college who oversees campus clubs? If so, you can list whoever staffs that office if your club is a recognized campus club. Alternatively, you can give the name of the incoming/current president of your club, or even list yourself as the primary contact–though the latter is less than ideal.
@WayOutWestMom not trying to pad, rather trying to highlight certain experiences. I just figured certain parts of the club would fall under the sea of information I’m putting under 1 section, all under the main idea of a typical “premed club”
Would it be looked down upon if I spread it out too much rather than making it compact? From what I understand, you think the best balance would be to list member/officer in 1 section, and the community service one in another? Thank you!
You can fill your application out any way you want, but I think listing membership as one item and a office in the same club separately doesn’t make sense. While the specific duties/roles may differ–it’s all with the same organization with leadership being the more important point.
As for getting lost—there’s what? A 50 word/2000 character limit for the description?. Adcomms aren’t so lazy they’re not going to read all 50 words of the description. Use the type designator to highlight the most important facet of the EC.
If you want to highlight your service hours–go ahead and create a second entry with a different type designator.
Make a decision that puts your application in the most favorable light. Just remember, anything you put on the application is fair game for adcomms to follow up on.
You don’t have to fill all 15 slots.
There’s tons of different advice about how to enter items and which ones to include and which to leave off.
–some advisors say to leave at least 1 slot blank because filling all 15 is braggadocio.
–some say to include at least 1 hobbies/sport/leisure activity you’ve pursued in college to show that you’re not an all-work-no-play/academic automaton kind of person
—many advise to consolidate all activities stemming from single activity together so not waste a slot
–many advise to consolidate related activities (like shadowing ) into 1 entry so as not to waste a slot
(FWIW, many adcomms have little enthusiasm for pre-med clubs. Don’t lean too heavily on it.)
There is a YouTube clip, the guy shares his experiences in a successful med school application process. He has only one EC, being on Div 1 basket ball team for all 4 years. He did well in academics and that is all needed to get into med school. The adcomms KNOW what is involved to be a Div 1 player and that is enough.
You do not list every trivial club in your EC, you need to show what is your passion and commitment to the adcomms and that is more important than 15 little things you have done.
Also note, though 15 entries, you need to designate only 3 as ‘significant items’. There you choose the right one where you made so much impact and/or special about you to get their attention. You can decide which 3 based on where ROI is more for your profile and background.
There are only 15 items allowed. Using up more than one for same experience (member vs leader) makes it look like you are not able to come up with 15.