Updated
ERAS Experiences Section: Limits, Most Meaningful, Tips
The experiences section is the part of MyERAS programs read to see who you are beyond scores, and the limits are tight.
In the 2027 MyERAS application you can list up to 10 experiences, each with a 750-character description. Up to three of those can be marked most meaningful, and each gets 300 more characters to say why it mattered. Hobbies and interests get a separate 300-character field. Programs see your most meaningful experiences first, and interviewers can ask about anything you list.
How many experiences can you list in the ERAS experiences section?
Up to 10. The AAMC's guide tells applicants to “Identify and describe up to 10 experiences that communicate who you are, what you are passionate about, and what is most important to you.” Once you have saved 10, MyERAS will not take another until you remove one. The description field says “Briefly describe your major activities and responsibilities, and any important context using the 750-character limit.” Here is every field with a limit:
Every MyERAS field with a limit (9)
| MyERAS field | Limit |
|---|---|
| Selected experiences | Up to 10 entries |
| Experience description | 750 characters per experience |
| Most meaningful experiences | Up to 3, picked from your 10 |
| "What made this experience most meaningful?" | 300 characters per most meaningful experience |
| Experience type | Pick 1 of 8 |
| Primary focus area | Pick 1 of 13, or leave blank |
| Key characteristic | Pick 1 of 10, or leave blank |
| Impactful experience | Optional, only if it applies to you |
| Hobbies and interests | 300 characters |
From the AAMC's 2027 MyERAS Applicant User Guide.
MyERAS opened on June 4, 2026, and applications could go to programs from September 2, 2026. The AAMC warns that “Once you have certified and submitted your application, it will be irrevocably locked, and no changes will be permitted.” If you have already submitted, your entries are set, so the rest of this page is your interview prep. Season dates are in our residency interview season guide.
What are the fields for each ERAS experience?
Each entry asks for the “position title, organization name, approximate start and end dates, frequency of participation, location, and setting.” Then you tag it with one experience type, and optionally one primary focus area and one key characteristic. Programs can sort applicants by these tags, so pick the one that fits best rather than the one that sounds best. The full menus, as the guide lists them:
Experience type: 8 options
- Education/training
- Military service
- Professional organization
- Other extracurricular activity, club, hobby
- Research
- Teaching/mentoring
- Volunteer/service/advocacy
- Work
Frequency: 6 options
- One time
- Daily
- Weekly
- Monthly
- Quarterly
- Annually
Primary focus area: 13 options
- Basic science
- Clinical/translational science
- Community involvement/outreach
- Customer service
- Health care administration
- Improving access to health care
- Medical education
- Music/athletics/art
- Promoting wellness
- Public health
- Quality improvement
- Social justice/advocacy
- Technology
Key characteristic: 10 options
- Communication
- Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
- Cultural Humility and Awareness
- Empathy and Compassion
- Ethical Responsibility
- Ingenuity and Innovation
- Reliability and Dependability
- Resilience and Adaptability
- Self-Reflection and Improvement
- Teamwork and Leadership
Hobbies as experiences, and the optional impactful experience question
The AAMC also suggests that “if you have a hobby or extracurricular activity that you have dedicated significant time and effort to, this may be one of the experiences you wish to include.” A separate, optional impactful experience question sits in the same section. The guide says “This question is intended for applicants who have overcome major challenges or obstacles.” and that “programs do not expect all applicants to complete this question.”
What are most meaningful experiences on ERAS?
“From your 10 selected experiences, you will identify up to three most meaningful experiences.” For each, MyERAS asks “What made this experience most meaningful?” and gives you 300 characters to reflect on why it was meaningful and how it influenced you. The AAMC's tip: “Focus your three most meaningful experiences descriptions on why the experience was meaningful and how it impacted you.”
Two more rules of thumb from the guide. If you tag a key characteristic or focus area, the reflection should explain why you chose it. And it says “Ideally, your most meaningful experience descriptions should not repeat the same information from your MSPE Noteworthy Characteristics and/or personal statement.” Our residency personal statement guide covers how the two fit together.
What goes in the ERAS hobbies and interests section?
“Applicants have a maximum of 300 characters to provide details regarding their hobbies and interests.” Three hundred characters is two or three short lines. Name real things you do and one specific detail for each (a race you trained for, a dish you cook, a band you play in). Expect it to come up as small talk on interview day, so list only what you can talk about happily for a minute.
How do programs see and use your ERAS experiences?
Your experiences “will be seen by programs across all specialties to which you apply.” The guide says “programs will see experiences listed by experiences type and then chronological order with most meaningful experience(s) above all experiences.” It adds that “programs can sort experience types, focus areas, and key characteristics to help identify applicants that align with their mission.”
The section matters for interview offers. In the AAMC's guide: “More than 94% of respondents to the 2026 Program Director Survey used the most meaningful experiences when factoring in whom to invite to interview.”
Our example ERAS experience entry
One entry we wrote to show the format and the split between the description (what you did) and the reflection (why it mattered). It is not a real applicant's entry.
Read our example entry: description and reflection
- Position title
- Student co-director
- Organization
- A student-run free clinic
- Experience type
- Volunteer/service/advocacy
- Frequency
- Weekly
- Primary focus area
- Improving access to health care
- Key characteristic
- Teamwork and Leadership
Description (542 of 750 characters)
Co-led a weekly evening clinic for uninsured adults run by medical students with volunteer attending physicians. Built the volunteer schedule, trained first-year students on intake and vital signs, and saw patients under supervision. Patients with diabetes often missed follow-up because the clinic had no reminder system, so two classmates and I set up text reminders and a standing foot exam station. When half of our leadership team left for clerkships, I split their duties into a rotating on-call list so the clinic never closed a night.
What made this experience most meaningful? (245 of 300 characters)
I tagged teamwork and leadership because the clinic only worked when every volunteer knew their job. Training new students taught me to explain things simply and to ask for help early. That is the kind of team I want to be part of as a resident.
How do you write the ERAS experiences section?
One of the AAMC's tips: “Consider your experiences as a complete set. Use them to paint a picture of yourself.” Our five rules for getting there:
Choose the 10 as a set
Clinical work, research, teaching, service and one real hobby together say more than 10 entries of the same kind. Ten is a cap, not a target.
Lead the description with what you did
Your role, the setting and one concrete result in the first line. Programs read the role and context here, so save the why for the most meaningful reflection.
Make the 300 characters count
Two or three sentences on why it mattered and how it changed what you do. If you tagged a key characteristic, say why that one.
Avoid repeating your personal statement
Pick most meaningful experiences that add something your personal statement and MSPE do not already say.
Draft offline and count characters
Write in a plain text editor with a character counter, then paste. MyERAS has no spell or grammar check.
Applying to medical school, not residency?
AMCAS works differently: it allows “You may enter a maximum of 15 experiences and four separate date ranges for recurring experiences.” with 700 characters per description and 1,325 for each most meaningful experience. See the medical school version of this guide.
How do interviewers use your ERAS experiences?
The AAMC reminds applicants that “any information shared within the application may also be discussed during interviews.” In practice, your most meaningful experiences are the easiest place for an interviewer to start, and a natural follow-up to “Tell me about yourself”. How to prepare:
Know every entry cold
Any entry on your list is fair game, including the ones you wrote months ago. Reread all 10 the week of each interview.
Have a two-minute story for each most meaningful experience
What happened, what you did, and what you would do the same way as a resident. Your 300-character reflection is the headline, not the whole answer.
Expect a question on your hobbies
Hobbies and interests are an easy opener. Be ready to talk about one for a minute with real detail.
Be ready for the impactful experience
If you answered that question, plan how much you want to share out loud before the day.
“Tell me about one of your most meaningful experiences.”
A strong answer picks one entry from your ERAS list, spends one sentence on what you did and most of the time on why it mattered and what you will bring to residency because of it.
Practice those stories out loud with Confetto's feedback on every answer. For which programs to signal, see ERAS program signals.
Sources: the AAMC's 2027 MyERAS Applicant User Guide and 2027 AMCAS Applicant Guide. All checked October 28, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
How many experiences can you list on ERAS?
Up to 10 selected experiences. Once you have saved 10, MyERAS will not let you add another until you remove one.
What is the character limit for ERAS experiences?
750 characters for each experience description. Each most meaningful experience gets a 300-character reflection, and the hobbies and interests field allows 300 characters.
How many most meaningful experiences can you choose on ERAS?
Up to three, picked from your 10 selected experiences. For each one, MyERAS asks "What made this experience most meaningful?" and gives you 300 characters to answer.
Do I have to answer the impactful experience question?
No. The AAMC says programs do not expect all applicants to complete it. It is meant for applicants who have overcome major challenges or obstacles.
Can I edit my ERAS experiences after I submit?
No. The AAMC says a certified and submitted MyERAS application is irrevocably locked, and the same version goes to every program you apply to.
Will interviewers ask about my ERAS experiences?
They can. The AAMC reminds applicants that anything in the application may be discussed during interviews. Be ready to talk about each most meaningful experience and your hobbies in detail.