Should I put an Activity on AMCAS where my volunteering can't be vouched for?

[PreMade]

I have done two different volunteering long time ago and I would like to place it on AMCAS, but I'm not sure if my volunteering hours are on record.

The volunteering was done such a long time I do not remember the volunteer coordinator's name nor would they remember me, but I do remember the months I volunteered for and roughly how much time I volunteered.

I found both of these volunteering places online and sent them a email asking if my hours were on record and I never received a response. I plan on calling both places on Monday when they are open. I'm concerned because when I signed in/our it was on a sheet and not on a computer.

I really want to put it on AMCAS because it's still hours that I put in, I received a meaningful experience out of it, and it's sort of a unique experience. I just don't want a school to call and think I'm making something up. Also, the school could call AMCAS and have my account suspended due to them thinking I provided false information.

When I call Monday and if they don't have me on record, should I just skip it since it's not worth the risk?

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[Azete]

I'd certainly add it. Only in rare instances do ADCOMs actually verify volunteer hours; and even if they did check, what's the worst that happens? They speak to somebody that says "he might have volunteered but we don't keep records." They're not going to assume you were lying based off that information.

 

[The Cheat]

Do you have the contact info for any person you volunteered with? If they aren't applying this cycle, then they can be your AMCAS contact.

 

[Catalystik]

I have done two different volunteering long time ago and I would like to place it on AMCAS, but I'm not sure if my volunteering hours are on record.

The volunteering was done such a long time I do not remember the volunteer coordinator's name nor would they remember me, but I do remember the months I volunteered for and roughly how much time I volunteered.

I found both of these volunteering places online and sent them a email asking if my hours were on record and I never received a response. I plan on calling both places on Monday when they are open. I'm concerned because when I signed in/our it was on a sheet and not on a computer.

I really want to put it on AMCAS because it's still hours that I put in, I received a meaningful experience out of it, and it's sort of a unique experience. I just don't want a school to call and think I'm making something up. Also, the school could call AMCAS and have my account suspended due to them thinking I provided false information.

When I call Monday and if they don't have me on record, should I just skip it since it's not worth the risk?

As a last resort, you can list yourself, with a note in the narrative that due to the number of years that have passed the organization no longer has your records.

 

[candbgirl]

How old were you when you did this work? Was it in your college years?

 

[Catalystik]

How old were you when you did this work? Was it in your college years?

Good question. If this volunteering occurred solely during the high school years, it may not be relevant to a med school application.

 

[ChrisMack390]

I would try to get an appointment with the current volunteer coordinator if you can and explain the situation. Just tell him/her that there is a very low chance someone will call, and it is not really a reference it is just to verify if it actually happened. I am sure they would be willing to respond in a positive way, something like "Yes, I met with that student - he was here before my time and we do not keep old records, but he gave me a detailed account of his work here and it seemed to be in line with our institution."

That or locate literally anyone there who remembers you - a nurse, another volunteer, doesn't matter - who could just say "yup, I remember him doing x, y, and z"

 

[PreMade]

How old were you when you did this work? Was it in your college years?

Yes, I was in college, but at that time I had not even thought about pursuing medicine.

 

[PreMade]

I called one of the places and spoke to someone where they told me that they do not have records before 2013, but she would try to look into it to see if she could locate it and she would call me back.

The other place I called I was sent to the voicemail of the volunteer coordinator so I left the person a detailed message.

I'm waiting at this point.

I will explain it to the volunteer coordinator once I hear back from them about my situation and my reasoning for trying to validate my volunteer hours.

If there is no record of me, I decided that I am going to enter it anyways with a disclaimer in the description as someone suggested in this thread.

Thanks for all of your inputs everyone.

 

[Banco]

Yeah add it. What can you do if they don't have any more records?