How old can the extracurriculars be on your application?

[Guest qbait]

Hi everyone,

 

I was wondering how far back applicants usually describe their extracurricular activities. I was involved in quite a few things during highschool which I would love to put on my applications... but these happened 4-5 years ago! Is it normal to have old activities listed on medical school applications, or do you generally try to keep it as recent as possible?

 

Thanks!

[Guest Jochi1543]

I think you can list everything since 16 years of age. However, it's customary to list activities in chronological order, so activities you did in high school would naturally end up at the bottom of your list.

[Guest JewelLeigh]

Some schools encourage activities to be listed that were since age 16, but others ask for activities from the most recent 5 years or since you started university. Either way...if you have been out of HS for 4-5 years, I think your application should focus on more recent activities that reflect who you currently are. HS references are also not a good idea.

 

Good luck!

 

JL

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[Guest HP]

My extracurriculars went back to high school years, but I wouldn't go any farther.

[Guest peachy]

I think it's pretty typical for applicants to include a handful of items from high school on the OMSAS autobiogaphical sketch. I personally think that it is preferable not to use high school examples in your personal statements, and to avoid reference letters from high school teachers, though.

[Guest choti]

I used high school activities on my app in addition to stuff I did in undergrad and it didn't seem to affect the acceptance I got from UWO. If you run out of spots on your application or something, then I would definitely list more recent actvities in favour of older ones. In terms of high school references being a bad idea, I disagree. I know quite a few people who used high school teachers etc as references and it didn't affect them. For a lot of Canadian schools references are more of a character check. It's not the prestige of the writer which has impacts but rather what they have to say. And anyway..for most Canadian schools reference letters don't count for a whole lot anyway, unless they say something like "do not admit this candidate under any circumstances."

[Guest peachy]

I'm quite sure there are tons of people who get in with references from high school teachers. This is not a "make or break" item in terms of an application. It's just not very impressive, and less good than having a reference from a more recent activity. It also has nothing to do with the "prestige" of the letter writer, it has to do with their relationship with you.

 

Also, this obviously depends at least partly on the school, and UWO is a particularly poor example, given that they judge your extracurricular activities entirely by your closed-file interview. That's as opposed to a school like U of T, where your reference letters and essay are scrutinized closely.

[Guest satsumargirl]

I believe the OMSAS application asks you to list everything from the age of 16.

 

This presented some problems for me...since as a non-trad I had a hard time remembering that far back (it had been a little more than 4-5 years) and it also meant that I would have run out of space if I listed everything. So I picked the most relevant things from high school and the things that would differentiate me from other applicants.

 

Obviously use your discretion as to what is relevant.

 

Good luck

 

Sats