The Work and Activities section of the AMCAS® application (and its equivalents in AACOMAS®, CASPA®, and other centralized systems) is where you describe the experiences that have shaped your path to healthcare. You are allowed up to 15 activity entries in AMCAS®, each with a 700-character description (including spaces) and one optional “most meaningful” designation that expands to 1,325 characters. These character limits are strict, and every word must count. This guide teaches you how to select, categorize, describe, and prioritize your activities so that admissions committees see a compelling, authentic picture of who you are and what you have done.
What Counts as an Activity
The Work and Activities section is broader than most applicants realize. It includes paid employment (clinical and non-clinical), volunteer experiences (clinical and non-clinical), research, leadership positions, teaching and tutoring, extracurricular organizations, community service, hobbies and interests, military service, intercollegiate athletics, artistic pursuits, family responsibilities, and any other experience that shaped your development. You do not need to fill all 15 slots, and you should not pad your list with trivial entries. Quality and depth matter more than quantity. An applicant with 8 deeply meaningful activities is stronger than one with 15 shallow entries.
Activity Categories in AMCAS
AMCAS® provides specific categories for classifying each activity. The categories most relevant to pre-med applicants include: Paid Employment (medical/clinical and non-medical/non-clinical), Volunteer (medical/clinical and non-medical/non-clinical), Research/Lab, Leadership (not listed elsewhere), Teaching/Tutoring/Teaching Assistant, Extracurricular Activities, Community Service/Volunteer (non-medical/clinical), Physician Shadowing/Clinical Observation, Presentations/Posters, Publications, Conferences Attended, Honors/Awards/Recognition, Hobbies, and Other. Choose the category that best represents each activity. If an experience fits multiple categories (for example, a research position that was also paid employment), choose the category that best captures the nature of what you did and what you learned.
Writing Effective 700-Character Descriptions
Seven hundred characters is approximately 100 to 120 words. This is not enough space to tell a story. It is enough space to communicate clearly what you did, what you accomplished, and what you learned. Every word must serve a purpose. Use active verbs. Eliminate filler phrases like “I was responsible for” (say “managed” or “led” instead), “I had the opportunity to” (say “I” and the verb directly), and “various” or “multiple” (use specific numbers or examples instead).
Structure each description with three components. First, state what you did in concrete, specific terms (your role, the setting, the population you served or worked with). Second, quantify your involvement wherever possible (hours per week, total hours, number of patients seen, amount of funds raised, number of students tutored). Third, describe what you gained, learned, or contributed in a sentence that goes beyond restating your duties. The third component is what distinguishes a strong description from a resume bullet point. It shows reflection, growth, and the meaning you found in the experience.
The “Most Meaningful” Designation
AMCAS® allows you to designate up to three activities as “most meaningful,” which gives you an additional 1,325 characters (approximately 200 words) to elaborate on each one. Choose your three most meaningful activities carefully. These should be experiences that genuinely changed you, deepened your commitment to medicine, or developed qualities that you believe make you a strong candidate. They do not need to be your most impressive activities by external standards. An experience working at a homeless shelter that fundamentally changed your understanding of healthcare access may be more meaningful than a prestigious research publication if the shelter experience had a deeper personal impact.
In the expanded description, go beyond what you did to explore why it mattered. Tell a specific story from the experience: a patient encounter that stayed with you, a moment of failure that taught you something, a realization that shifted your perspective. Use concrete details (a specific patient, a specific conversation, a specific day) rather than abstractions. The most meaningful essays are the closest thing to a mini personal statement within the activity section, and they should reveal something about your character and values that the 700-character description cannot capture.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Listing duties without reflection: “Volunteered at hospital front desk, greeted patients, answered phones, filed paperwork” tells the reader nothing about you. Add what you observed, learned, or contributed that went beyond the task list. What did you notice about the patients you interacted with? What did you learn about the healthcare system by being present in that environment?
Exaggerating or inflating: Admissions committees read thousands of applications and can spot embellishment. If you observed surgeries, say “observed.” If you assisted, say “assisted.” If you led a project, describe the specific leadership actions you took. Overstating your role undermines your credibility if you are asked about the experience in an interview.
Ignoring non-clinical experiences: Medical schools want well-rounded applicants. Include meaningful non-clinical experiences: jobs that taught you communication or responsibility, artistic pursuits that developed creativity, athletic commitments that built discipline, family obligations that shaped your character. These experiences humanize your application and demonstrate qualities that pure clinical experience alone does not convey.
Failing to show progression: If you can, order your activities to show growth over time. An applicant who began as a hospital volunteer, progressed to a clinical research assistant, and then became a certified EMT shows a trajectory of deepening engagement with healthcare. This progression is more compelling than a list of disconnected experiences.
Activity Descriptions for Different Application Systems
While AMCAS® is the most common system, other centralized applications have their own activity sections with different character limits and categories. AACOMAS® (for DO schools) has a similar structure but uses slightly different categories. CASPA® (for PA programs) allows activity descriptions with different character limits. AADSAS® (for dental schools), OptomCAS® (for optometry), and PharmCAS® (for pharmacy) each have their own formats. The principles of writing strong activity descriptions (specificity, quantification, reflection) apply to all systems. See our application guides for AMCAS®, AACOMAS®, CASPA®, AADSAS®, OptomCAS®, and PharmCAS®.
For related application resources, see our personal statement guide, personal statement prompts, secondary essay database, and building your resume guide.
Choosing Which Activities to Include: If you have more than 15 activities, you must prioritize. Include every clinical experience, every research experience, and every activity where you held a leadership role or made a meaningful contribution. After those essentials, fill remaining slots with experiences that add diversity to your profile: non-clinical employment that developed transferable skills (communication, problem-solving, responsibility), artistic or athletic pursuits that reveal your character, community service that demonstrates your values, and personal experiences (caregiving responsibilities, overcoming adversity) that shaped your perspective. Omit brief or superficial involvements that you cannot describe meaningfully in 700 characters. It is better to leave a slot empty than to fill it with an activity that adds nothing to your narrative.
Quantifying Your Impact: Numbers make descriptions concrete and credible. Instead of “volunteered regularly at the clinic,” write “completed 240 volunteer hours over 18 months at [clinic name], interacting directly with 15 to 20 patients per shift.” Instead of “raised money for the organization,” write “led a fundraising campaign that generated $4,200 for [cause], a 35 percent increase over the previous year.” Quantification transforms vague claims into verifiable evidence. When you cannot quantify impact with numbers, use specific descriptive details: the population you served, the setting, the scope of your responsibilities, and the outcomes your work contributed to.
References
Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). “Work and Activities Section.” AAMC, 2025. https://students-residents.aamc.org/applying-medical-school-amcas/work-and-activities. Accessed March 2026.