Admitted Nontrads, how long did it take you to collect hours and how many hours did you apply with?

[purplepuppy391]

Nontrad here who recently took the MCAT. I'm focusing on doing a post-bacc right now and then to collect clinical and nonclinical volunteering hours. I have a full-time non-clinical job and am stressing about trying to get enough hours before the next application cycle. Wondering what are my chances if I try to apply in May/June with ~100 clinical and ~100 non-clinical hours or if I should just wait til 2024.

How many hours did you end up applying with?
How long did it take you to get those hours?

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[Snoozles]

There isn't a set minimum, but generally it's good to show a theme/pattern that matches the rest of your app. If you are volunteering with something you care about and it ties with you mission, it will play better than 1000 hours in something you're not really into. I think a good baseline is around 150 hours each for clinical exposure and non clinical volunteering. If that's the only thing missing from your app that you'll submit in 6 months, get on your horse right now and get the hours. Don't try to cram them all in last minute.

That said, I had around 200 hours nonclinical volunteering mostly with activities that fit with my main hobby (which I listed as my most meaningful activity). My clinical experience was pretty low (50 volunteer, 50 shadowing) except I had a last minute scribe job with 150 hours right at application time. It was much easier and more meaningful to get 20+ hours/week scribing than volunteering on a quiet medical floor for 4 hours/week.
Me = Accepted for Class of 2027