AmeriCorps

[ScreenName23]

I did AmeriCorps for a gap year and am wondering if it would be listed as a job or community service (in the Activities section)?


Thanks so much for any input!

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[machete fred]

I am currently doing AmeriCorps and listed it as community service on my application.

 

[Catalystik]

I did AmeriCorps for a gap year and am wondering if it would be listed as a job or community service (in the Activities section)?

During the program they constantly emphasized that it is NOT considered a job since we were paid with a stipend and that it is considered service. However, there is money exchanged, and I don't want to seem dishonest on my application by calling it community service.

Teach for America is widely understood to be a Community Service activity, even though a salary is provided. Americorps is looked at similarly, though it is stipended (no taxes paid), rather than salaried. So IMO you could categorize it as Employment or Community Service/Volunteer, and it shouldn't matter, but if you want to be sure that a new, not-yet-in-the-know adcomm member gets it straight, then use Community Service.

 

[Mclovin0351]

Don't think so hard, it's community service.

 

[ChrisMack390]

Its community service. They pay a stipend because it would be nearly impossible to work during it, and they like their volunteers to eat and bathe themselves and such.

 

[ScreenName23]

Thanks! I appreciate the responses/consensus. Enjoy your terms of service and/or thank you for your prior service!

 

[Plastic156600sub3]

When I went to volunteer for AmeriCorps they actually told us we had to apply for food stamps through our state and that we could have no other income.

I was also quoted a higher stipend and when I committed (and quit my job) and went to training, I was given another number. Anyway, I passed it up and took a real job and just did volunteering on the side.

It's a huge scam for the state governments. It's also a volunteer poverty for the poor members of AmeriCorps.

Yeah, community service is what it is. It's like being on welfare.

 

[sazerac]

How many legs does a dog have if you call his tail a leg? Four. Saying that a tail is a leg doesn't make it a leg. -Abraham Lincoln

Just because the government calls it "community service" doesn't mean it isn't a job. Just because the government says it is a "stipend" doesn't mean it isn't a salary. Whoever said that the W-2 income you report from AmeriCorps is tax free is smoking crack. That's a good way to end up in jail, not medical school.

You can report your AmeriCorps hours on AMCAS however you want. Luckily it is a big enough program that everybody knows what it is (and what it isn't).

I believe the only medical school where what you call AmeriCorps actually does matter is the University of Utah. They have very strict requirements on how many community service / volunteer hours you have before they will even look at your application. I called them up, and asked them directly if AmeriCorps counted as community service / volunteer. They laughed and said no. As I was hanging up the phone I heard somebody on the other end muttering about "paid volunteer, lol".

 

[machete fred]

Corporation for National and Community Service

 

[Plastic156600sub3]

As I was hanging up the phone I heard somebody on the other end muttering about "paid volunteer, lol".

Professionalism.