Are hobbies extracurriculars?

[daryn]

I'm wondering what I can put on my apps and what I can't. I'm taking classes for this particular one and I don't know if it's a legitimate thing to put on my applications.

 

 

 

Also, are there any med students out there who are nice enough to read my essays? Pretty pretty please?

[Kuantum]

I'd say hobbies are extracurriculars.

[Kirsteen]

Hi there,

 

Hobbies would definitely fall into the "extracurricular activities" category.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[FireDragoonX]

removed...

[Darla]

would say 'practicing guitar' count as an EC?

how about recreational sports, like non-competitive? (basketball with friends every now and then)

I've used both but sub piano for guitar and tennis for basketball, but only b/c it's how I spend a significant amount of my week. If I don't, I look like a shlub, all work no play

[muchdutch]

That's a kind of problem I run into - looking like a schlub because I work 22-30 hours per week with a variable schedule. So not a lot of concrete scheduling leads to no time to commit to a specific volunteer slot or extracurricular activity. Mostly, my 'me' time is spent at the gym. I work nights so sometimes I'll go in on Sunday or Saturday at 7 am after work, when there is nothing else in the world going on, certainly no volunteer opportunities.

Would going to the gym count as an extracurric seeing as how I'm there more days than not? Has anybody else added this as one of their extracurrics?

[SarahZ]

This is a bit of a problem for me, I have countless extracurricular activities is the 7 years since highschool, but most of the older ones I no longer have a contact for,

for example I have taught guitar lessons....but not for a few years

I was belonged to a lot of bands and jazz combos that rehearsed/play gigs,

I also have spent a lot of time training and participating in funruns, again no verifier.

Anyone have any advice on I should be writing down for the reference/contact for these types of activities?

[Darla]

Someone else suggested to me to use friends or family who knew that I was doing the ec's w/o other verifiers. "Better friends and family than no verifier at all"

[everyoneloveschem]

I think that if you spend a lot of time doing these other activities that you should note them on your application, because they show a facet of you that otherwise is lost. I probably wouldn't pad my application with them, but I think what I said was 3-4 hours/week reading, painting, etc, and I used a family member as a verifier.

[TimmyMax]

Hey,

 

Personally, I don't think that stuff like practicing the guitar for 16-33 minutes every 3rd Sunday after the last full moon belongs in your AB sketch, but the underlying idea is that if you feel that what you are involved with defines you significantly as a person, then go ahead and include it! I'd just caution you about including too much "fluff" as part of your ABS- it could be interpreted by some schools as padding (those that actually mark your ABS, that is).

[lostintime]

Do 3 hobbies sound too much? I guess I should scrap one of them and put down high school as my formal education. But I don't really see how they would be more interested in which high school I went to vs. my hobbies....