Americorps

[stressedout]

Hi Everyone,

I am currently taking some post-bac courses, but I am trying to figure out what I'm going to do next year. I am really considering doing Americorps. They offer some amazing opportunities, particularly in the field of HIV.

BUT the money they provide is so little...I was just wondering, for those of you who participated how did you survive and pay for apt, food? Did you get an additional part-time job? I am just trying to get suggestions 'cause I really want to do this!

Also, for those of you who participated while you were applying to med school...do the program directors mind that you were missing many days for interviews??


any info is appreciated. thanx

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[wyo]

I'm currently doing Americorps VISTA in Montana. I'm working with a diabetes prevention program for Native American children. It's been a great experience and showed me a relly interesting side of humanity and medical experience. I highly recommend it.

As far as living....I live in Montana where the cost of living is pretty low and the stipend is enought to get by on depending on what you have to pay for. If I had car payments or something else there is no way. Also, with VISTA you aren't llowed to get a part-time job. Other Americorps programs you can. So, alot depends on how frugally you can live and where.

My program director hasn't had any problem with me missing work. They are really encouraging of my goal to become a doctor. At least with VISTA you are granted at least 10 days vacation and 10 sick days for the year. This has been enough to make it to my 6 interviews, but I don't think it would be a problem if I needed more.

I hope I answered some of your questions. If you want to about it more feel free to PM me. Good luck.

 

[djwdv]

A co-worker of mine did that and lived off of food stamps to make up for the pay. This is in CA of course (SF) where the cost of living is expensive.. but it was doable. She shared an apt. in the city with 3 roommates and was very careful with her spending. She applied to grad school and got in.. I'm sure her experience with food stamps made her an interesting applicant and I know the Americorps experience gave her a lot to talk about in her grad school interviews. good luck!

 

[BobbyDylanFan]

Is your program full time, like 40 hrs/week?

Originally posted by wyo
I'm currently doing Americorps VISTA in Montana. I'm working with a diabetes prevention program for Native American children. It's been a great experience and showed me a relly interesting side of humanity and medical experience. I highly recommend it.

As far as living....I live in Montana where the cost of living is pretty low and the stipend is enought to get by on depending on what you have to pay for. If I had car payments or something else there is no way. Also, with VISTA you aren't llowed to get a part-time job. Other Americorps programs you can. So, alot depends on how frugally you can live and where.

My program director hasn't had any problem with me missing work. They are really encouraging of my goal to become a doctor. At least with VISTA you are granted at least 10 days vacation and 10 sick days for the year. This has been enough to make it to my 6 interviews, but I don't think it would be a problem if I needed more.

I hope I answered some of your questions. If you want to about it more feel free to PM me. Good luck.

 

[LoneCoyote]

I have had four friends who have done Americorps and 3 of the 4 have had great experiences, two in Cape Cod and one in the Bay Area. The three of them were on food stamps. My friends in Cape Cod were given housing for their program but still have trouble even with the food stamps because their stipends are lower than what they need to maintain cars which were required for their program. But they both are having a great time and are making it work. My other friend worked for non-profits in the East Bay and made it work with food stamps and the small monthly stipend by biking everywhere and living in an apartment with a lot of other people. It was very tough at times but she enjoyed it and had no problem getting into med school while doing it. Another friend of mine in the Bay Area had a horrible experience because the group she was working for was totally disorganized dropped out after about 4 months. She was living at home with her parents so the low pay was not as much of an issue. I myself am seriously considering Americorps for next year but have realized I will most likely have to live at home to make it work in San Francisco. But I think in a lower cost of living area you can get by on the stipend and the food stamps. Hope that helps.

 

[gimmedog]

I was an Americorps volunteer before med school and have to warn you that each program is run by the sponsoring organization, so everyone's experience may be really different. Whether someone else on this page got time off is irrelevant to you. The best way to find out about each is to talk to current volunteers in the specific program you want.

Also--DON"T do this just to pad your application, most of these positions are very demanding and the compensation is peanuts.

The places that use volunteers often are strapped for resources and your work is vital. This may include a lot of admin or scut work that you didn't plan on. You may have to really advocate for yourself to get the types of experiences and skills you want. My site really wanted to make the experience good for me, but budget cuts eliminated many of the paid positions during my time there and I kept absorbing more job duties that weren't in the initial job description.

Good Luck!

 

[Dmcpharmd2be]

Interesting, I'm going to research more on Americorps. Are there any other programs of the same nature that any one can refer me to?

 

[md_student2b]

I did Americorps for a year as a post-bac in SF, and the stipend was pretty poor, but I supplemented it with additional school loans. The scholarship helps, it cut down on the amount I needed to borrow, and the volunteer placement was great, I ended up at a free-clinic organizing other volunteers. My program directors were cool with me interviewing, but I did tell them upfront that I was pre-med and that I'd probably need to take some time to interview. Working another job might be hard if you want to keep up your GPA since the program itself can be demanding depending on what you're doing. I'd talk to my school's financial aid people, loans might be the best way to keep you afloat.

 

[2ndave]

If you don't mind a church-affiliated program, there's Lutheran Volunteer Corps. I know a few people who've done that and it's pretty similar to Americorps. The volunteers get monthly stipends, group housing, and they work in social-services type jobs. I think they pretty much get to choose the jobs themselves. I never heard of anyone needing to rely on food stamps or live with relatives. I'm not sure how closely tied to the church it is--my impression is that the connection's pretty loose. They operate in a number of cities.

 

[stressedout]

Thanks to everyone for their input!