Aspiring doctor figuring out spikeAnswered
Hi im a rising junior, and this is my extracurricular plan, I have not already done everything on the list but this is what I would like to do next year. I want my spike to combine sports, medicine, and research/world problems to add the depth colleges are apparently looking for. So I need some advice on improving my extracurriculars to strengthen my overall profile and spike. I am an aspriring doctor and would like to go to a T30 pre-med school. Brown is my dream school. I have all the academic requirements (4.0 GPA, honor societies, several AP's, and I think I will do good on SAT and ACT) so im just worried about my extracurriculars. Thank you! :)
Here are my extracurriculars (I dont know if this is good enough so ideas would be appreciated)...
1. President of HOSA branch
- participation in competitions and leading volunteer initiatives
-starting fundraisers
2. Potential ranking in Toshiba/Regeneron (national science competition)
3. Participation in research program or independent lab research
-want to research a holistic approach to biological problems combined with technology
4. Starting informational blog
- raising awareness to sports related injuries and diseases
-potentially raise money
5. Unpaid internship at health and wellness center
- focus on holistic medicine
-took vitals and charting experience
-shadowed nurse
6. Paid job at health care facility
7. Hospital volunteer
8. Varsity Track and Field/Cross Country
9. Secretary in Model UN
10. Board member of community service club
11. Sports medicine club
-Work in physical therapy
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1 answer
Your list of extracurriculars looks strong but let me make a few comments before I give my overall opinion.
1. HOSA - good activity, shows leadership and interest in health
2. Toshiba/Regeneron - strong, especially if you rank, college love people who do well in the Regeneron competition and a lot of people know that (which is why it is so competitive)
3. Research - good extracurricular particularly for pre-med people
4. Blog - if you are doing this for self-expression and to have fun, go ahead and do it; please note however that most colleges don't find this impressive unless you have a decent size audience who reads your blog (if you do, quantify this in your application)
5-7. Shadowing/working at hospital - good work experience to have, shows interest, great extracurricular
8. Sports - good but also common; with that being said, it is not bad to include this to give some depth/dimension to who you are
9. MUN - good, shows attributes about you that you can't find elsewhere on your application
10. Community Service - always nice to do community service if you are passionate about it and want to make a difference
11. Sports Medicine Club - good for showing specific interest
Now, general comments:
You have a lot of extracurriculars related to medicine, which is good for building your theme. If this is all you have on your application, however, you may be perceived as bland. You are going to need to write essays that show a different side of you so that the admissions officers see some flavor in you. #2 and #3 can be combined since you will need to do research in order to enter research competitions. If you feel like you won't be able to elaborate enough if they are combined, you can keep theme separated on your application. #5-7 are all related so if possible, try to combine a couple of them together. The reason why I say this is because you will only have 10 slots on your Common Application.
Key takeaways:
- Have a spike; it looks like yours will be the Toshiba/Regeneron competition (if you place)
- Be a multidimensional applicant (don't confuse this with being well-rounded; that is not what you should aim for)
- Have fun and be interested in your extracurriculars (admissions officers have a sixth sense for knowing when an applicant is not passionate about an extracurricular)
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Thank you so much, this is more helpful than you know! I just have a few follow up questions... so when you say multidimensional could my interest in sports, medicine, and community service give me that dimension or no? Additionally, would adding a personal touch relating to my extracurriculars in my essay give me enough flavor? Or do I need to discuss something that is not seen in my extracurriculars? Or would I need to include an extracurricular that would show a different side of me?