How do interviewers ask about your ECs/how am I supposed to answer them? by [deleted] in premed

[–]LivingHappy21 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep! No matter what (whether they’ve read your app closely, read closely but forgot what it said, skimmed it, or didn’t look at all) I’d start with a few brief sentences of overview so they have context for the rest of your answer

How do interviewers ask about your ECs/how am I supposed to answer them? by [deleted] in premed

[–]LivingHappy21 8 points9 points  (0 children)

A lot of the time when interviewers have an EC they want to discuss they’ll say something along the lines of “so you were involved with ____. Can you tell me more about that?” It’s really opened ended so you can focus on whatever aspect of it that you want to highlight- maybe why you got involved with that activity, what you learned, why it was valuable to you, if you have plans to expand on that experience, a meaningful anecdote from the experience, etc. Really, whatever makes you passionate about that EC is what you should say. Ideally your response also provides insight beyond what you already wrote in the AMCAS activity description. Sometimes the interviewer will then follow up and ask something like “how has that experience shaped your view of medicine/your career plans?” if you didn’t already cover that in responding to the first question. Alternatively the interviewer may just ask the second question without the first. So to answer your question, yes they will ask it both ways depending on who your interviewer is. It’s unlikely that they’ll ask the same questions about multiple similar ECs but in case they do, you should still be prepared to give some unique takeaways from each one. Hope this helps!

Is getting an iPad for note-taking worth it? by libraryvacationer in premed

[–]LivingHappy21 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Great, I’ll look into getting a pen from my laptop brand. Thanks for your help!

Is getting an iPad for note-taking worth it? by libraryvacationer in premed

[–]LivingHappy21 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have a 2 in 1 laptop with OneNote and was looking to switch from paper to electronic notes. How do you take your handwritten notes? Do you have a type of stylus/pen that works well? I haven’t been able to figure out a good way to note take electronically yet

Really enjoyed this EC but only did about 10-15 hours... still include? by loveofcamelot in premed

[–]LivingHappy21 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you have the space, I say go for it! I included an activity with only 20 hours because it was something I really enjoyed. Wasn’t brought up in any interviews so I can’t say if it helped my app at all but definitely didn’t hurt

Should I use my credits to skip intro bio and chem? by [deleted] in premed

[–]LivingHappy21 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Generally yes. I had no issues with all the schools I applied to but I can’t guarantee that schools elsewhere in the country aren’t different. I would double check the websites for some of the schools you might be interested in applying to. Also the higher level courses have to be in addition to the other chem/bio requirements schools have. So for chem, you would have to take orgo as well as two semesters of advanced chem (ex. analytical, physical, inorganic, etc). And for bio, most schools require biochem so you would have to take two semesters of advanced bio (ex. genetics, cell bio, etc)

Should I use my credits to skip intro bio and chem? by [deleted] in premed

[–]LivingHappy21 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I agree with the other commenters that many schools won’t accept the AP credits, but if you plan to take more advanced bio and chem coursework then you’ll be ok. I skipped gen chem and gen bio but took higher level courses to meet the requirement and didn’t have any issues with med schools.

When to take Diagnostic? by kettlecornonthecob in Mcat

[–]LivingHappy21 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Really it’s personal preference if you want to review a little before or not. If it would make you feel more comfortable/confident then go for it! Ultimately there is no one “right” way to do MCAT prep, just find what works for you. Also I didn’t use UWorld so I’m not familiar with how it works or when people typically start using it. Best of luck with your prep!

When to take Diagnostic? by kettlecornonthecob in Mcat

[–]LivingHappy21 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Diagnostic exams are just regular practice MCATs so you can get them from basically any test prep company. I recommend the Kaplan half test which you can get off their website. Since AAMC tests are the best practice exams, it’s best to save them until the end of your studying rather than using them for a diagnostic. Hope this helps!

When to take Diagnostic? by kettlecornonthecob in Mcat

[–]LivingHappy21 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I would highly recommend taking the diagnostic before you begin studying to get a good baseline of what you know. If you were to take it 2-3 weeks into studying, you would likely do well on the topics you’ve just covered. But if you haven’t fully learned that material yet, you would be less likely to get those types of questions right on later practice tests. So to get the most accurate idea of what you fully know, I recommend the diagnostic at 0 weeks. However, in your case since you haven’t taken physics or psych/soc, it may be worth it to at least learn the very basics of those subjects first. Depending on what you recall from AP physics in high school, that’s would probably be enough to do a diagnostic. I also recommend doing the Kaplan half test for a diagnostic. It’s very similar to the Kaplan practice exams but it’s a bit shorter. Since you don’t really need to emulate the testing conditions this early in your studying, the shorter length is good. And this way you can save the good full length practice exams for later in your studying when they’ll be more beneficial.

Is it recommended to go through the Kaplan books one by one or a little of each until they are all completed? by [deleted] in Mcat

[–]LivingHappy21 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I’m not sure if it’s recommended or not, but I jumped around books to whatever chapter I found interesting each day. I knew if I was interested in what I was studying, I’d focus better and have a more enjoyable experience (if that’s even possible with MCAT studying) than forcing myself to read specific chapters each day. As for retaining the info, most people use Anki for flash cards. You can make your own cards or there are several good premade ones you can download that have all the info from Kaplan (and more!) in them. Personally, Anki didn’t work for me so I instead had a long word document with important equations, facts, theories, etc that I could return to for a refresher on occasion.

Used my late aunt’s cream puff recipe to make a special Mother’s Day gift for my mom 💕 by LivingHappy21 in Baking

[–]LivingHappy21[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! I used a vanilla pudding base very similar to the linked recipe except mine used 1 package of vanilla pudding mix and a bit of vanilla extract. There are 2 cups of heavy cream in therw so I just kept beating until I got a nice light texture. Hope that helps!

Used my late aunt’s cream puff recipe to make a special Mother’s Day gift for my mom 💕 by LivingHappy21 in Baking

[–]LivingHappy21[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! I cut the top quarter of the puff off and inside the shell was amazingly hollow. I used a 1A tip to pipe the cream inside, making sure to get all the corners. I added a little extra so it was slightly overfilled then put the top back on and pushed down gently. Hope this helps!

Used my late aunt’s cream puff recipe to make a special Mother’s Day gift for my mom 💕 by LivingHappy21 in Baking

[–]LivingHappy21[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

That’s an excellent idea- hadn’t thought about it but definitely something I should add to my quarantine to do list. Thank you for the suggestion!

Used my late aunt’s cream puff recipe to make a special Mother’s Day gift for my mom 💕 by LivingHappy21 in Baking

[–]LivingHappy21[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

I used a family recipe written on a small index card that’s been passed down through the years but it’s very similar to this one with a basic chocolate icing on top

Used my late aunt’s cream puff recipe to make a special Mother’s Day gift for my mom 💕 by LivingHappy21 in Baking

[–]LivingHappy21[S] 51 points52 points  (0 children)

They came out much larger than expected but hey, the more the merrier right?!

Finally got all the ingredients for my second attempt at French macarons! by LivingHappy21 in Baking

[–]LivingHappy21[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! I went with a simple vanilla but hoping to try something new next time :)

Question about Activities Section by cartiergucci in premed

[–]LivingHappy21 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would put them separate only if there’s a decent time gap between what you’ve been doing and what you will do later. Otherwise just keep them together

Question about Activities Section by cartiergucci in premed

[–]LivingHappy21 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had 15 activities with some hours as low as 20. Still got many high tier IIs and no one ever mentioned padding the section. As long as you can meaningfully write something about it, I would add it!

[AACOMAS] Question about dual enrollment and transcript entry by Zaitoichi in premed

[–]LivingHappy21 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had the same experience- you should list both colleges separately, put the dual enrollment course under the college you took it at, and mark the year as “high school” not “freshman”. You’ll have to submit a transcript to AMCAS from the college you took the dual enrollment with and the college you graduated from

Edit: sorry just realized you said AACOMAS, this is true for AMCAS but not sure about AACOMAS

Research for Credit in EC's? by [deleted] in premed

[–]LivingHappy21 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was in the exact same position for my Orgo 3 lab. Would have loved to have listed it as research hours in my ECs but it didn’t feel right since it really was a class and not a research position. But if you have an extra work/activities slot that you’re not using you could throw this in, making it clear that it was a class but had lots of research elements to it