Last Updated on October 1, 2026
Quick answer: The AMCAS activities section, officially called Work and Activities, lets you list up to 15 experiences with 700 characters each and mark up to three as most meaningful for 1,325 more characters. Prioritize clinical, service, research, and leadership experiences, and describe your impact and reflection rather than just your duties.
AMCAS Activities and Experiences: 8 Ways to Take Advantage of the Section
When you apply to medical school, the AMCAS (American Medical College Application Service) application includes a Work and Activities section. [1] If you remember your college application days, think of it as an extended Common App activities section. You’ll have fifteen boxes to include relevant work, research, internship, volunteer, or extracurricular activities. [2]
Once you have reached the academic threshold at a med school (a good GPA and MCAT score), schools evaluate your candidacy based off of your personal background and experiences. Your AMCAS activities are one of the first places committees see those experiences, so give this section careful attention. Our step-by-step guide to the AMCAS application system covers the other sections.
It is your first chance to show an admissions committee what sets you apart, what makes you qualified for med school, and why you would make a great doctor. So take advantage of all that this section has to offer! Here are 8 ways to use the AMCAS activities section to your benefit:
1. Choose Your Most Relevant or Important Activities
You have only fifteen spaces to include relevant work, research, internships, or other extracurricular activities. Choose wisely! If you are still building your list, explore ways to get clinical experience for med school and these research opportunities for pre-med students.
There are certain types of extracurricular activities for med school you need to make sure you include: research, volunteer service, work or internships, and teaching experience. But don’t forget about nontraditional activities that may display your interests, even if they are beyond the realm of medicine. If you’re a national Tae Kwon Do champion or a graphic designer or a concert pianist or even if you worked the cash register at a convenience store, these are all unique activities to show the admissions office who you are as a person.
2. Understand the Format
Know what information will go into the AMCAS activities section. For example, understanding that you will list a contact’s email and phone number is important so that you can build solid relationships with your mentors early on. Here are the pieces of information you fill out for each activity:
- Experience Type (e.g., “Community Service/Volunteer – Medical/Clinical”)
- Experience Name (e.g., “Oncology Shadowing”)
- Dates
- Contact Name and Title
- Contact Email and Phone
- Organization Name
- City/State/Country
- Experience Description
- Most Meaningful Experience Remarks (additional description for up to three activities)
This is not your resume. You have 700 characters (1325 characters for your 1 to 3 “most meaningful” AMCAS activities), so you have room to use full sentences. This room allows you to express the impact these experiences have had on your path to medical school. You can even think of the descriptions as mini-essays.
3. Include Only Significant Activities
You have fifteen spaces. But that does not mean that you have to fill all fifteen.
Activities that are either unimpressive or too general should be left off your list. For example, including “Self-Directed Reading” on your AMCAS activities section is probably best to avoid. It comes across as a filler activity, and it does not include any sort of tangible achievement that an admissions committee can understand. A filler activity is worse than an empty space.
4. Group Relevant Activities Together
Your AMCAS activities appear on your application in chronological order, and you cannot rearrange them. [1] You will, though, be able to group relevant activities together under a catchall description heading.
This is particularly helpful if you have more than fifteen activities to include. For example, maybe you have two or three shadowing experiences. Under the “Community Service/Volunteer – Medical/Clinical” experience type, you could title an experience “Shadowing Doctors”, and include the details of each individual activity under the description. This is easy to read, easy to understand, and easy to organize. It also leaves open slots for other experiences.
5. Choose Your “Most Meaningful” Experiences
In the AMCAS activities section, you can provide further clarification about your top three most meaningful experiences. Choose these with purpose.
What about these activities has inspired you? How have they developed your love for medicine? How have they helped you understand the compassion and empathy needed to become a doctor? The key word here is “meaning”. Make sure this comes through! You don’t always have to choose the most impressive activities. Your most meaningful experience could have been stocking shelves at a Home Depot as long as you can show how it taught you something, helped you grow, and that these lessons will play a role in your life as a doctor.
6. Take Advantage of the Description Section
You have a lot of room to explain these AMCAS activities. Use this space wisely. These descriptions are a great way to provide in-depth insight into the effect an activity had on your medical school path. You should be displaying three key aspects in these descriptions:
- Tangible achievements
- Sustained involvement
- Leadership experience
So, being a member of a medical service club at your school is fine, but participating for four years, being elected president, and organizing a community health fair is even better. Make sure these descriptions are concrete and easy to understand!
This is also not the time to repeat yourself, fill space, or get lazy with your descriptions. While medical schools are looking for meaningful descriptions, they also appreciate brevity when it is due (Remember: admissions committee members read a great many applications!). Don’t repeat yourself just to hit the word limit!
7. Display Your Interests
While there are certain types of experiences you should have before applying for medical school, there is no set formula. Rather, use the AMCAS activities section to show why you are different than other applicants. The way you describe experiences plays a vital role in showing how they have shaped you. Clearly explain why you are interested in your activities.
Your interest in medicine, your interest in helping others, and your desire to become a doctor should come through clearly in this section. Be explicit. Show how these activities have helped you grow your love for science and your love for impacting the community around you. These are the two central aspects of your life as a future doctor, so do not leave any room for questions. Solid language and concrete stories are key in displaying the way an experience has impacted you!
8. Set Yourself Up for Interview Success
Every one of the AMCAS activities that you list is fair game in an interview. Make sure that you can talk at length about each and every one of your experiences – think about it as preparation for your medical school interviews! Do not include an activity that you weren’t involved in, did not spend time on, or were not engaged with.
The experiences section is just the first layer of how you will present yourself to an admissions committee. Make sure that you can speak knowledgeably and wholeheartedly about every single one of your AMCAS activities. Do not simply “check off the boxes”. Show schools that you are unique, dedicated, driven, and fit to be a doctor.
How to Write AMCAS Activities Descriptions
With 700 characters per entry, every sentence needs to earn its place. A simple structure keeps your descriptions focused. Start with the setting and purpose of the organization in a brief phrase. Then explain your role and what you actually did, using specific details rather than general statements. Close with what you learned or how the experience shaped your understanding of medicine. [2]
For example, instead of writing that you volunteered in a hospital emergency department, describe the patients you helped direct, the way you learned to stay calm in a fast-paced setting, and a moment that changed how you think about patient care. Concrete details like these help readers picture you in the role.
Your descriptions should also connect to the rest of your application. It is fine to write about the same experience in your personal statement, as long as you highlight a different outcome or insight in each place.
Reporting Hours and Dates in the AMCAS Activities Section
Each entry asks for start and end dates and your total hours. If you took part in the same activity during separate periods, such as a summer research program you returned to, you can enter up to three additional date ranges within a single entry instead of using another slot. [3]
You can also report anticipated hours for activities you plan to begin after you submit your application, which gives schools a fuller picture of your plans for the coming months. Anticipated hours are not available for every experience type, including honors and awards, conferences, publications, and presentations. [3] Keep your hour estimates accurate and consistent, since interviewers may ask about any entry.
AAMC updates its Work and Activities guide each year, so review the latest version before you begin entering your experiences.
Make Your AMCAS Activities Memorable
Your activities section is more than a list. [3] It’s a chance to show admissions committees who you really are. Our team of medical school admissions experts can help you refine your descriptions, highlight your most meaningful experiences, and position yourself as a competitive candidate.
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