Building Up EC's as a Single Parent

[missmissouri]

I have searched this topic but I had trouble finding any good threads covering this topic specifically. I am 21 years old, single mom to an almost 3 year old little boy. Studying and grades are not so much a problem for me, however having good EC's for my application are. This is my first semester at a public university in a small town in Missouri (I am a transfer student). We have a hospital with shadowing and volunteering opportunities which I plan to take advantage of. My issues are volunteering and gaining clinical experience regularly while working part-time, and finding childcare for my son outside of his regular daycare hours. Throughout the school day Mon-Fri he goes to a great preschool/daycare. The daycare closes at 5:30pm. I don't have family in town. This summer I will be in class every morning and working every afternoon. I am enrolled in 17 hours (my school's maximum) for the fall semester and I will only have one afternoon free a week, Tuesday. Would volunteering from 12:30-5pm every Tuesday for ~16 weeks be significant enough? Do medical schools take into account the time restraints on single parents when considering an applicant?

My main question is, other single parents, how do you stay active in EC's while caring for your children and working? I have tried thinking of ways that he could also be involved, and I will continue to do research on that. I think at the end of the day, when I apply to med school in 2019, I just won't have the hundreds of hours of volunteering that traditional applicants have. I have to work to help pay our bills.

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[AnotherLawyer]

The good news is you're asking about this two years out and not three months before you want to submit your app. With two years to go, you shouldn't think in terms of racking up hours. Instead, aim for sustained commitment. I think it's far more impressive to volunteer 200 hours over two years than it is to volunteer 300 hours in the six months before you submit your app.

 

[futuremdforme]

First - I have so much respect for single parents. I cannot imagine how you do it. This psychiatrist can be your inspiration for getting into med school as a single parent!

That sounds like a good start for this year. Can you stay with the organization next year? It would show a sustained commitment. I do think schools will consider your working hours. Schools that don't would probably not be a good fit anyway.

 

[esob]

There are actually lots of online volunteer opportunities you can do, I've looked into several of them including doing social medial management for non-profits, creating online learning content for open sourced public education groups, etc. Check out volunteermatch.org and filter by online opportunities.

 

[LizLemongrab]

I was once in your shoes in undergrad and was geographically single my first year of dental school as well. You can try to find EC that let you participate from home like some schools have tutoring that can be done over the school's proprietary education management system. Doing the writing for a research publication or school paper can also be done from home such that you don't have to be there in the lab or on campus. There are also other options like reading/craft/hobby clubs, a parenting club where you guys gather to support each other and discuss resources- that counts too.

I second sustained commitment. In undergrad I ran a cooking club to teach meal prep and various healthy/easy recipes out of my home and used some of that time to make pre-prepped meals for indigent students. My husband and I bought lots of extra food when there were good sales to donate to my school's pantry program. It wasn't too many hours a month but I did it over 2-3 years. It adds up and it was very meaningful to me in very personal ways. I still keep in touch with many of the students I taught or fed directly with my cooked meals.

I am now in dental school and I keep up with my research, various societies, and a teaching fellowship. They all allow me to bring my child as a guest to almost everything but she and I are a few years older than you and yours... he will mature in your world with exposure. A school that is a good match for you will have resources, accommodations, and a support system ready to go.

You do not need hundreds or thousands of hours that a conventional applicant has. They need it to offset their relative privilege to "prove" they're good people. It's just box checking and stamp collecting. Most people do not continue to do their community service works once they get in. I still volunteer at my school within the context of our community health fair presence and screening programs. I bring my child with me when allowed because I think it is important for her to experience and witness for herself a wider range of human experience and develop a greater understanding of our journey. Your son will be a very lucky young man.

 

[namormckenzie]

Fellow premed/working mama here. I've started volunteering with Crisis Text Line and it's amazing! I do it after my two year old falls asleep and I do it in my living room.

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