THX Posted June 2, 2008 Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 I was wondering what you guys are putting down for your extracurriculars? I don't have 15 academic/impressive things to put down. I was thinking of adding a few entries like completed a 10km, fitness and reading (as hobbies). Is this acceptable? I think it paints a better picture of who I am, but I don't know if this is what they are looking for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flamesfan Posted June 2, 2008 Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 I think i may be in the same boat as you although i could theoretically stretch my ECs. It is always better to fill the 15 spots and I am going to put sports/working as one. i think if you are running 10km a few times then it most certainly is an accomplishment and something that takes some of your time. have you run any races? reading i am not sure on... i am also just applying but i agree it is a great hobby but does it carry weight i am not sure sorry. also how long are your descriptions for thigns i am using about 600-700 characters right now. i describe the role that i had or did in a general sense then explain what i did personally. shoudl i note takeaway experiences from each thing that woudl have it? like went to africa ... learned this etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THX Posted June 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 I'm using about the same number of characters, I usually explain what I did and try to show something positive that came from it (ie. new skill, friends, etc). I haven't run a 10k in a race yet (only by myself 5 or 6 times), I'm going to do one this summer but it will be too late for my application - because it's not official and the only 'contact' I have for it would be either a friend/sister/parents I am a bit unsure of whether I should put it down or not. I actually thought of putting down three sports categories hah: 10k run, general fitness (misc. sports) and weekly squash matches. This would go along with another non-academic entry and a list of activities that I will be engaging in during the 2008/2009 year. As you can see, I'm grasping at straws here . I can fill out the first 8 or 9 entries with some pretty high quality stuff, but after that I enter the BS category. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alastriss Posted June 2, 2008 Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 I am sure they don't expect you to put only 15 items down. I have 6 items in conferences/abstracts/presentations, but I'm putting them down as 1 item and then explaining each on in the space provided. I want to put stuff down like soccer and salsa just to show that I do have a life outside the books and the lab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tan008 Posted June 2, 2008 Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 I was wondering what you guys are putting down for your extracurriculars? I don't have 15 academic/impressive things to put down. I was thinking of adding a few entries like completed a 10km, fitness and reading (as hobbies). Is this acceptable? I think it paints a better picture of who I am, but I don't know if this is what they are looking for? I would not hesistate to put things outsdie of the "academic/impressive" because it would show that you are a well rounded person with interests outside of academics etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madz25 Posted June 2, 2008 Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 put down hobbies/interests - it shows who you are. you can put multiple things under one heading like alastriss mentioned. use all the space that's provided! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mca Posted June 2, 2008 Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 you really recommend filling up all the space for every one of your work/activity entries?! 1325 characters for each!? It seems like the consensus at SDN is that ad coms value succinct descriptions of what you did in the activities section and the personal statement is where you discuss how the experiences have influenced/affected you. Just my opinion though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madz25 Posted June 2, 2008 Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 perhaps not for each...i meant use the space provided as in fill up all 15 spots and put multiple activities under one heading. if you've listed multiple activities then you'll probably need the 1325 characters. i dont think i used up the 1325 characters when i applied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alastriss Posted June 2, 2008 Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 Im thinking of doing something like "conferences/presentations" as activity and then using the 1325 chars to do bullet points: ie. "research presented at x conference", and then specifying whether I was just on the abstract, or if I actually was the presenter, etc. For the published abstracts my bullet point will probably be the reference and at which conference it as associated with. You know what, I kinda miss the verifier system. I just don't like the fact that people can flat out lie about their app. I am only saving 3 spaces for hobbies: soccer/ultimate/other sports, salsa/dance, and piano/violin playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpanishFly Posted June 2, 2008 Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 do they at some point verify this stuff though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alastriss Posted June 2, 2008 Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 They don't verify. Unless something is very suspicious. Yet saying you did 4 hours of volunteering a week for 2-3 years at a hospital when you didnt isn't suspicious at all and a pretty nice boost to your ECs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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