Choosing between Extra Curricular

[thehockeykid]

With signing up for an extra curriculars how do you choose which ones to do? Is there some sort of a ranking scheme, what you enjoy most, what looks best on resume, ect

 

As for some of the stuff u wont even know if u have got the position until later after the deadline for application for the next one.

 

Some of the ECs I might do

-varsity hockey team

-bartender

-building homes and creating fundraisers for charity

-hospital volunteer

 

With these ECs a lot of them have a time requirement, I feel that I can't really choose more then one, as I will be busy with 2nd year (its a heavy course load)

 

eg.of a time commitment

varsity hockey team team practices, traveling for games, ect.

[MD2015]

Then why not go with hockey. It gives you collaboration-team work, critical thinking, initiative, potentially leadership, dedication, perseverance. So, if it fits your timetable and you can handle academics as well, you enjoy hockey and many of the traits and characteristics you develop are required in medicine. Definitely don't take on more than you can chew, and academics come first.

[psychoswim]

I would pick the one you enjoy most, want to do the most, as it's then that you might learn the most. If your heart is not into it, then it will show and people will realize you're only doing it to pad your resume. Also I would suspect you will feel uncomfortable and not learn as much (of course you could end up loving something you didn't think you would).

 

And yes I agree if you decide to go for varsity hockey, then it demands an important time commitment to do well.

[medtech]

Most Varsity sports will kill your GPA, I remember my friend who stuck with rowing woke up at 4:30 every morning to go to practice, fell asleep in most of here 830 classes. Another friend who was in varsity basketball came out with a 3.2GPA and she worked hard.

 

I'm not sure if it's same everywhere (I just graduate from UWO), but if your varsity team is any good, practices will be daily.

 

Bartending really doesn't send the right message to med school, hospital volunteering is ay too generic, I'd go with building homes and creating fundraisers for charity

[astrogirl]

I just do whatever I feel like doing. To me the point of extracurriculars is to do stuff that I like. As long as you do some activities other than surf the internet and watch TV in your spare time, you can put them on application and find relevant skills and characteristics you developed that you can talk about.

[DoctorToB3]

Most Varsity sports will kill your GPA, I remember my friend who stuck with rowing woke up at 4:30 every morning to go to practice, fell asleep in most of here 830 classes. Another friend who was in varsity basketball came out with a 3.2GPA and she worked hard.

 

I'm not sure if it's same everywhere (I just graduate from UWO), but if your varsity team is any good, practices will be daily.

 

I agree, being on a varsity team has the potential to harm your GPA, but if you are able to adequately manage your time and be on top of your game academically, I think that the payoff would be great. I currently play on my University basketball team and practice 6 days a week for a combined 20+ hours each week. At times it can be stressful and overwhelming but I wouldn't have it any other way. Being on a varsity team develops your time management, critical thinking, and communication skills along with a number of other skills that would be great to discuss during medical school interviews. Ultimately the decision is up to you, i guess whatever ECs you decide on doing need to be something that you enjoy doing and that you will be able to discuss in detail during your interview.

[psychoswim]

Most Varsity sports will kill your GPA, I remember my friend who stuck with rowing woke up at 4:30 every morning to go to practice, fell asleep in most of here 830 classes. Another friend who was in varsity basketball came out with a 3.2GPA and she worked hard.

 

I'm not sure if it's same everywhere (I just graduate from UWO), but if your varsity team is any good, practices will be daily.

 

Not true. It will kill your GPA if you don't have the discipline to do it.

 

I trained between 25 and 30+ hours a week both in the pool and gym during my 8 years of university( and the 12 years before), and did the varsity meets on top of that for 5 years. During that time, I was up at 5am every morning to swim, then had school, then more swimming/weights/cardio then home. It's all in how disciplined you are about it. Yes maybe I really rarely go out, but it's my choice and I'm fine with it. And yes sometimes it was hard to fit the practices with school. Doing only varsity is already a little easier because everyone on the team is in school and the coaches know it.

[MarathonRunner]

Not true. It will kill your GPA if you don't have the discipline to do it.

 

I trained between 25 and 30+ hours a week both in the pool and gym during my 8 years of university( and the 12 years before), and did the varsity meets on top of that for 5 years. During that time, I was up at 5am every morning to swim, then had school, then more swimming/weights/cardio then home. It's all in how disciplined you are about it. Yes maybe I really rarely go out, but it's my choice and I'm fine with it. And yes sometimes it was hard to fit the practices with school. Doing only varsity is already a little easier because everyone on the team is in school and the coaches know it.

 

+1. I have a friend who studied engineering at Guelph (with the typical engineering course load - not a lighter one) who also played on the women's varsity soccer team. She was a scholarship student and maintained her scholarships throughout her four years of university, and was admitted to a Master's program in engineering right after graduating. So it is certainly possible to be a varsity athlete and maintain good grades. It may not be easy, but it is certainly possible, at least for some people.

[thehockeykid]

Not true. It will kill your GPA if you don't have the discipline to do it.

 

I trained between 25 and 30+ hours a week both in the pool and gym during my 8 years of university( and the 12 years before), and did the varsity meets on top of that for 5 years. During that time, I was up at 5am every morning to swim, then had school, then more swimming/weights/cardio then home. It's all in how disciplined you are about it. Yes maybe I really rarely go out, but it's my choice and I'm fine with it. And yes sometimes it was hard to fit the practices with school. Doing only varsity is already a little easier because everyone on the team is in school and the coaches know it.

 

since u were on a varsity team and had school work on top of that were you able to participate in any other activities (Sororities, inter murals, clubs, participate in organizing charity events, student council ect.)?

 

Most Varsity sports will kill your GPA, I remember my friend who stuck with rowing woke up at 4:30 every morning to go to practice, fell asleep in most of here 830 classes. Another friend who was in varsity basketball came out with a 3.2GPA and she worked hard.

 

I'm not sure if it's same everywhere (I just graduate from UWO), but if your varsity team is any good, practices will be daily.

 

Bartending really doesn't send the right message to med school, hospital volunteering is ay too generic, I'd go with building homes and creating fundraisers for charity

 

bartending would be an easy way to make money, and meet people.

[aaronjw]

bartending would be an easy way to make money, and meet people.

 

Translation: easy access to hot women.

[psychoswim]

since u were on a varsity team and had school work on top of that were you able to participate in any other activities (Sororities, inter murals, clubs, participate in organizing charity events, student council ect.)?

 

I probably could have, but I didn't want to do too much either. 30 hours a week was enough, and training for the olympics means it's the highest priority so you have to make choices. I've never been interested in clubs or student councils but that's just me. It would be different playing on the hockey varsity team - certainly less hours than I was doing, not the same goal even though it is competitive, it's a different level so there's more room for other activities. You don't want to overload your schedule though as academics need to remain in the foreground which was the opposite for me.

[aaronjw]

I probably could have, but I didn't want to do too much either. 30 hours a week was enough, and training for the olympics means it's the highest priority so you have to make choices. I've never been interested in clubs or student councils but that's just me. It would be different playing on the hockey varsity team - certainly less hours than I was doing, not the same goal even though it is competitive, it's a different level so there's more room for other activities. You don't want to overload your schedule though as academics need to remain in the foreground which was the opposite for me.

 

Varsity hockey was less hours?

 

I never played hockey in University but I did play football and between, 2-3 hours/day for practices, 2-3 hours for games (once a week) plus gym time I'd say it equalled to 30+ hours in a week in addition to my studies and working.

 

Rugby was a bit less and obviously there were periods of time between those two sports so it definitely wasn't as full time each week during the year like you were but no doubt I was putting in the time which means it took away from my studies and because my IQ doesn't break the bank... something suffered and my choice was that my grades suffered hence why I am doing a second degree instead of doing MCAT studying right now lol

[psychoswim]

Ah ok then, sorry. I don't really know about team sports and their time requirement, it was just guess work wrt hockey.

 

You could always contact the hockey coach at your school and ask about training schedule and games and travels? That way at least you'd have an idea of the time involved and can make a decision based on that.

[aaronjw]

Ah ok then, sorry. I don't really know about team sports and their time requirement, it was just guess work wrt hockey.

 

You could always contact the hockey coach at your school and ask about training schedule and games and travels? That way at least you'd have an idea of the time involved and can make a decision based on that.

 

Not a worry. I don't think many of us are privy to the lives of others unless we've experienced it ourselves or seen someone we knew experience it. I only know what it required from a training standpoint for swimmers because I've read quite a bit about Michael Phelps and his training programs. Also, done a lot of reading on skiers and their training is equally insane and vastly different depending on WHERE you do your training (east where snow is more wet vs. west where snow is more dry).

[psychoswim]

Not a worry. I don't think many of us are privy to the lives of others unless we've experienced it ourselves or seen someone we knew experience it. I only know what it required from a training standpoint for swimmers because I've read quite a bit about Michael Phelps and his training programs. Also, done a lot of reading on skiers and their training is equally insane and vastly different depending on WHERE you do your training (east where snow is more wet vs. west where snow is more dry).

 

Wow makes sense but I would never have thought of it! I know about short track speed skating, diving, polo, synchro and swim (obviously) because we all train at the same gym. The others it's only from the outside. Oh yeah parts of the year part of the national women's hockey team trains there too, but we only see the gym part.

[aaronjw]

Wow makes sense but I would never have thought of it! I know about short track speed skating, diving, polo, synchro and swim (obviously) because we all train at the same gym. The others it's only from the outside. Oh yeah parts of the year part of the national women's hockey team trains there too, but we only see the gym part.

 

One technique used by Bode Miller in training is to have a compression squat system whereby as he squated down, force (weight) was applied to a max pressure at the bottom to mimic the G forces that he'd be under and the time required to hold the strength in the turns and as he accelerated out of the lift (the turn) the force was removed.

 

Brilliant concept when I first heard of it and I've been working with similar concepts for those I help train in their football and hockey careers to mimic the same conditions that they'd face in games whether it be strength, endurance or explosiveness.

 

So fascinating!!

 

Similar to sprinters using parachutes in training...

[psychoswim]

Yup.. we use parachutes in the water too. Or buckets we drag behind us either in a pulley system or just attached with tubing.

 

Sorry to derail your thread OP - I think best for you wrt hockey is really to check out what the schedule is like and then you can figure out if you would be able to do more activities along with it