Religious Organizations

[Guest tweep0]

Hi

 

I wanted to talk about some religious organizations i am involved with. However, I have heard that an applicant shouldn't mention religion, temple, church etc. so use "service organization" instead.

 

Now obviously, I will get responses like: "you should respect your religion and not be ashamed " bla bla.

I really want HONEST opinions:does "service organization" look better than "church" for example

 

Thanks

 

Tweep

[Guest macdaddyeh]

tweep:

 

Tweep, don't be a twerp!:lol

 

I am a Christian, and I don't evangelize or overstate that on my application but I am straightforward. Don't be wishywashy or scared; be honest, simple and direct.

 

Besides, your not stating exactly *what* you believe etc, rather an activity you did at organization X. If I was an assessor I would appreciate that honesty and transparency regardless of whether someone was Bahai, mormon or hindu. The religious faith choice is not so much of interest, rather the act of humanitarian service and giving of yourself is critical--where it took place is inconsequential. For example, if you wrote "I oversaw a Kid's program at the United Way" that will be accepted the same as "I oversaw a Kid's program at the Anglican Church."

 

This process is supposed to be non-discriminatory, Tweep, so don't be concerned with stating the locale of the organization or it's name. Who cares?

 

The only proviso I would make is to avoid interjecting religious opinion into your essay (ie. belonging to a prolife organization, or to the Jews for Jesus movement or something like that) because, unfortunately, these are just a little bit too in-your-face for a med school application.

 

To conclude I think the assessors will appreciate your candidness.

[Guest Tanya24]

Hi tweep, my application was full of my church activities and I made it in! It has been my experience that adcoms are made up of people who have a strong sense of integrity while considering applicants. They will not discriminate for or against you for putting mentioning religious activities on your application.

 

Besides, the last thing you want to do is be evasive on your application. If I were to read "service organization" on an application, my first question would be "what on earth is that?" They need to see you as a real human with a real life. For many people, a faith community is a big part of that.

 

Good luck.

[Guest wassabi101]

I have to agree with Tanya24!

 

I also put down all my church activities-- instead of putting down the church name multiple times, I tried to talk about the content by instead using a descriptive title of the activity at the church, like 'Youth Group Leader' or 'Religious Education Teacher'.

 

Hope this helps! Good luck!

 

wassabi