Any schools that care little about E.C.'s?

[circulus vitios]

---

Members do not see this ad.

What kind of volunteering are/were you doing?

Hospital.

 

[Planes2Doc]

lol at one school last year I was rejected post-interview and called for feedback since I thought I would be reapplying (I got accepted off another school's WL a few days later). The admissions lady told me that the biggest hole in my application was a lack of volunteering and that I should get at least 100 hours if I wanted to have a better shot at their school. She said altruism is one of the important perameters that they use to evaluate potential students. My internal reaction was "uhhh... forced volunteering isn't really altruism" but of course I kept my mouth shut.

There is so much wrong with this... So initially the school didn't consider you altruistic, but suddenly if you volunteer and apply next year, you suddenly become altruistic? 😕

The applicant is either altruistic or not in the first place. I don't see how checking the box later on magically changes the original intentions of the applicant. If the applicant didn't volunteer in the first place, then they only did so later to fulfill an unwritten requirement.

This type of thinking by ADCOMs is very flawed and makes absolutely no sense.

 

[circulus vitios]

lol at one school last year I was rejected post-interview and called for feedback since I thought I would be reapplying (I got accepted off another school's WL a few days later). The admissions lady told me that the biggest hole in my application was a lack of volunteering and that I should get at least 100 hours if I wanted to have a better shot at their school. She said altruism is one of the important perameters that they use to evaluate potential students. My internal reaction was "uhhh... forced volunteering isn't really altruism" but of course I kept my mouth shut.

Which school was it?

 

[The Bunk]

Hospital.

What about non-clinical volunteering?

Also, just out of curiosity, is that hospital your closest option for health care? 45 minutes away?

 

[circulus vitios]

What about non-clinical volunteering?

Also, just out of curiosity, is that hospital your closest option for health care? 45 minutes away?

Closest hospital is 15 minutes away, but it's small and does not allow volunteering. The hospital that's about 45 minutes away is the closest large hospital and the closest hospital that offers volunteering. I live in a designated "rural and medically underserved" area.

 

[The Bunk]

Closest hospital is 15 minutes away, but it's small and does not allow volunteering. The hospital that's about 45 minutes away is the closest large hospital and the closest hospital that offers volunteering. I live in a designated "rural and medically underserved" area.

Yeah, I really don't see how they can hold it against you for not having a ton of clinical experience. But volunteering is a different thing.

My premed advisor tells me that even though I volunteer in clinical research, I still need to rack up hours in my non-clinical volunteer position. Plus I gotta make money for living expenses. It's a juggling act, for sure! But I want to be a doctor, so I don't mind.

 

[SunsFun]

Like I said, I think adcoms can appreciate when someone is truly stretched too thin to have a ton of ECs. But I still think there's gotta be something along the lines of just a couple of hours a week that anybody can find time for.

I am not saying its impossible, just that it puts poor people at a disadvantage. Just like unpaid internships that are often prerequisites to work in the entertainment industry.

 

[yehhhboiii]

Don't look to Circulos...we covered in another thread that he has no interest of returning to rural communities

man have you ever been to a rural community? they're awful. i can totally see why no one wants to practice there

 

[ChemEngMD]

man have you ever been to a rural community? they're awful. i can totally see why no one wants to practice there

born and raised in rural northern New England 😉

 

[Bea5T]

There is so much wrong with this... So initially the school didn't consider you altruistic, but suddenly if you volunteer and apply next year, you suddenly become altruistic? 😕

The applicant is either altruistic or not in the first place. I don't see how checking the box later on magically changes the original intentions of the applicant. If the applicant didn't volunteer in the first place, then they only did so later to fulfill an unwritten requirement.

This type of thinking by ADCOMs is very flawed and makes absolutely no sense.

We'd have a severe shortage of qualified doctors if they only admitted people who were "truly" altruistic. Pre-med neuroticism has pretty much made volunteering a requirement.