How much volunteering is enough?

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Hi there.

I was just wondering if pharmacy schools look at how long you volunteered for as opposed to how many places you volunteered at?
I volunteered at a hospital pharmacy but only from April - November, and I feel that I didn't even do enough to be able to put that on my application. I also tutored from March - June, and I don't think these experiences are substantial enough for a pharmacy school to take seriously. Won't they think I'm flaky and can't commit if I only volunteered for less than a year?
(The reason I stopped volunteering at the pharmacy is because I felt I wasn't learning or getting any important experiences. And stopped tutoring because, well, the quarter was over.)

What do you guys think? Any help is appreciated!

For your first question I would say it depends. If you volunteer 10 hours at 5 places for a total of 50 hours then putting all the hours in one basket looks better. If you volunteer 300 hours then you should spread them out to look more well-rounded. Either way, I don't think it's the amount of hours, but the experiences you gained from volunteering that you can talk about in your personal statement and interview that really matter.

The most I've seen anyone on the forums mention is 200 hours. I'd say 100 hours is enough, but the more the better.

I think it is great that you have a diverse set of experiences in addition to working at a pharmacy for 8 months. I only volunteered at my pharmacy for 9 months.

Enough volunteering is when you have done a sufficient number of hours at a sufficient number of activities to become a well-rounded applicant.

I would certainly put down both of those experiences. Don't sell yourself short. Think up a positive - or at least unchallengeable/non-flaky - way to explain why you left each experience, and even more importantly, paint what you learned from each in a positive light.

Remember that some folks put down 20 hours of shadowing as a legit EC...

I was just wondering if it was a good idea to include volunteer experience that you did pre-college years. I've volunteered at public libraries ever since I was in 5th grade and also at a medical center up until I started college. I don't know if it is a good idea to include them?

Thanks for all the replies! And I think it's great if you have a volunteer opportunity where you've committed many years of dedication. I think it really shows a lot about you to the admissions committee.

I hope admissions office looks at working as a CPhT and 100 volunteers hours in the hospital pharmacy as enough experience that you are committed to the field.

FelixRx, when I read your posts, they are narrated in your avatar's voice in my head.