Advice on Americorps

[MyOdyssey]

I have reviewed Americorp's website but I haven't heard from anyone - whether applicant or adcom - about the program: whether participants had a good experience, what to watch out for when applying, how medical school adcoms perceive the program.

I am planning to take two gap years (one will be devoted to continuing the research in my current undergrad lab with the goal of obtaining additional publications; I am coauthor on one so far). I am undecided about whether to apply to MD or MD/PhD. I haven't taken the MCAT. My GPA is around 3.9 at a T20 undergrad. I have about 200 hours of nonclinical volunteering including mentorship/tutoring in underserved communities, about 100 hours of clinical volunteering and about 100 hours as a college tutor/TA.

Any suggestions on how good a fit a full time Americorp position would be and the strengths/weaknesses of the program would be appreciated.

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[EMS0821]

I completed a service with AmeriCorps over the summer for a total of 450 hours (full-time summer). There is such a wide variety of positions available through AmeriCorps that no justice would be done in me describing what they do. You could act as an business intern, a teacher, a construction worker, etc. I didn't like it. Not because the program was difficult or rigorous or filled with red tape or anything, I just joined for a summer gig that I thought that I would like but didn't. I'd consider it again in the future for a different role; there were pros and cons.

Pros:
-Helping the community (feels good to do your part)
-Making job connections (wherever you work for that time may want to hire you after)
-Making friends (you'll interact with lots of people from your area who are involved with possibly similar interests)
-Tuition awards ($)
-Personal growth
-Loads of volunteering hours for medical school/job applications

Cons:
-Your "living expense" is very small (not unexpected, but if you don't live at home, expect to struggle financially; its below minimum wage)
-If you don't like your assignment, it isn't easy to change out of and its contract based, so leaving is highly frowned upon and you won't get your tuition award
-Some positions require weeks of training before starting your role. (I tutored kids aged 5-13 and was required to go through about 120 hours of training on how to work with kids; it was pretty painful)
-You're working for the government, so paperwork is definitely a thing

Those are a few pros and cons off the top of my head, if you have any other questions feel free to let me know

 

[MyOdyssey]

I completed a service with AmeriCorps over the summer for a total of 450 hours (full-time summer). There is such a wide variety of positions available through AmeriCorps that no justice would be done in me describing what they do. You could act as an business intern, a teacher, a construction worker, etc. I didn't like it. Not because the program was difficult or rigorous or filled with red tape or anything, I just joined for a summer gig that I thought that I would like but didn't. I'd consider it again in the future for a different role; there were pros and cons.

Pros:
-Helping the community (feels good to do your part)
-Making job connections (wherever you work for that time may want to hire you after)
-Making friends (you'll interact with lots of people from your area who are involved with possibly similar interests)
-Tuition awards ($)
-Personal growth
-Loads of volunteering hours for medical school/job applications

Cons:
-Your "living expense" is very small (not unexpected, but if you don't live at home, expect to struggle financially; its below minimum wage)
-If you don't like your assignment, it isn't easy to change out of and its contract based, so leaving is highly frowned upon and you won't get your tuition award
-Some positions require weeks of training before starting your role. (I tutored kids aged 5-13 and was required to go through about 120 hours of training on how to work with kids; it was pretty painful)
-You're working for the government, so paperwork is definitely a thing

Those are a few pros and cons off the top of my head, if you have any other questions feel free to let me know

Thanks for the feedback!

How did you find the full-time tutoring work itself to be?

What was painful about the training?

Had you tutored previously?

Did you work in a rural/small town/urban setting? How did your location affect your experience?

 

[EMS0821]

Thanks for the feedback!

How did you find the full-time tutoring work itself to be?
-The work itself was what I didn't enjoy. I don't like working with kids; I didn't know that before.

What was painful about the training?
-It was boring and mostly self-explanatory information. It felt about as interesting as watching a group of painters painting a large wall white. It was like that for 40 hours a week for 3 weeks.

Had you tutored previously?
-I have tutored in the past and enjoyed it. I tutored in college for about a year in a few topics and enjoyed it. I like teaching, I just don't like teaching kids.

Did you work in a rural/small town/urban setting? How did your location affect your experience?
-It was an inner-city suburb. It was by no means a thriving metropolis (i.e. it was in a bad area). That didn't bother me either way honestly, I've worked in rough areas before and still do, it is what it is, just be smart about it. If you do AmeriCorps, expect to work in a poor area.

Responses are in the quoted area

 

[Goro]

I have reviewed Americorp's website but I haven't heard from anyone - whether applicant or adcom - about the program: whether participants had a good experience, what to watch out for when applying, how medical school adcoms perceive the program.

I am planning to take two gap years (one will be devoted to continuing the research in my current undergrad lab with the goal of obtaining additional publications; I am coauthor on one so far). I am undecided about whether to apply to MD or MD/PhD. I haven't taken the MCAT. My GPA is around 3.9 at a T20 undergrad. I have about 200 hours of nonclinical volunteering including mentorship/tutoring in underserved communities, about 100 hours of clinical volunteering and about 100 hours as a college tutor/TA.

Any suggestions on how good a fit a full time Americorp position would be and the strengths/weaknesses of the program would be appreciated.

I have a high regard for people who do Americorps!

 

[Mooseforkicks]

I did AmeriCorps NCCC, and it was a great experience. I chose NCCC over other AmeriCorps positions specifically for several reasons.

You serve on multiple assignments over the course of the term, so if you don’t like an assignment much just wait and you’ll get a new one. You work on a team the whole time— this, while sometimes challenging, was also highly rewarding. I made some great friends and learned a lot about working on a team (this was especially useful when answering secondary prompts and during interviews). This program also makes arrangements for living expenses for you, so you aren’t given a stipend then have to go find an apartment that you can afford. I got to travel a lot as well (assignments in 6 states), learned some new skills, saw some really interesting things, etc. Plus it is a great way to give back to communities, get some life experience, and get a ton of non clinical volunteering hours/get fantastic LORs.

This program can be challenging, but overall I’m very glad I did it. You should be aware that in NCCC you might end up with some assignments involving manual labor (Habitat for Humanity, building trails, etc.) There is also a program called NCCC-FEMA Corps that is the same structure but whose assignments specifically deal with preparedness and response to disaster. This doesn’t involve manual labor. I did FEMA Corps, and had some really interesting experiences in disaster areas.

You can also serve as a Team Leader in either program. This is a great way to challenge yourself, and get very meaningful leadership experience.

If you want more details about the program, or just have any specific questions, feel free to PM me.