Am I well rounded enough for med-school?
Most medical schools look at extra-curricular and non-academic activities as a part of their selection for medical school acceptance. I am just wondering if I would be considered well rounded enough (ignoring academics).
I paint, competed in track and field at a high level (cities and state competitions) until I was 16 (I don’t any more because I don’t have the time to train for it & riding), and I compete in show jumping and hunter competitions (horse riding) and am quite successful at that (in the 3′ – 3′3″ divisions).
If this isn’t well rounded enough, what other things could I take up to make myself more qualified?
I agree with most of what has been posted so far. You should probably do some long-term volunteer/community service activities, but don’t do it unless you’re genuinely interested. People will be able to tell that you’re only doing it for your medical school application.
Medical schools are looking for extra-curricular activities that show you have leadership/team management skills, good communication skills, genuine interest in helping others (not just medically related), and an inquisitive nature.
Research is not a requirement, but it can be a plus if you have it. However, the research project has to be something that you are personally working on. It just can’t be a project that you got your name but didn’t do any of the work or understand it. You will be asked during your medical school interview about research projects you put on your application. It doesn’t have to result in a publication in a medical or scientific journal, but if you can’t at least speak intelligently about the project the interviewer will know you just did it for your medical school application.
I disagree with the posters who said that medical schools don’t care about sports. That is not necessarily true. It can be a good extracurricular activity and can also demonstrate leadership and team building qualities. Collegiate sports demand long hours of practice and can be physically draining. If you are able to keep a high GPA and get good MCAT scores during college while playing competitively in college level sports, that is pretty impressive in my opinion. However, any sports you’ve done in high school won’t mean too much for medical schools except maybe as a conversation piece if your interviewer has similar interests. There were several people in my medical school class who were college athletes (ranked highly in their respective sports nationally) and were also probably some of the smarter people in our class (exam score-wise).
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