Can I use court-ordered community service as non-clinical volunteering?

[deleted1159869]

I have a shoplifting charge and have to do 25 hours of court-ordered community service.

This might seem like a silly question, but can I use these 25 hours towards my non-clinical volunteering or does that category have to be for non-court ordered activities? I probably will complete it at the local animal shelter if that matters at all. I'm assuming I can, but just want to make sure.

Thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[deleted1158685]

Even in arrest, OP is thinking about med school. Respect lol

 

[Nontrad_FL_LGBT]

I'm really hoping this is a **** post. Lmao.

No, you can't use court ordered community service in your medical school application. Community service in the app is to demonstrate that you are humble and care about others; you're going to need a hell of a lot more than 25 hours to offset a charge like this, lol.

Shoplifting as a legal adult has to be one of the most embarrassingly immature things I've heard in a while and def doesn't demonstrate the good judgement required of a doctor.

 

[deleted1159869]

I'm really hoping this is a **** post. Lmao.

No, you can't use court ordered community service in your medical school application. Community service in the app is to demonstrate that you are humble and care about others; you're going to need a hell of a lot more than 25 hours to offset a charge like this, lol.

Shoplifting as a legal adult has to be one of the most embarrassingly immature things I've heard in a while and def doesn't demonstrate the good judgement required of a doctor.

Oof, this isn't a ****post, but I appreciate the honest feedback.

 

[Nontrad_FL_LGBT]

Yeah, sorry dude. You've gotta do something big to offset this, esp if you're not close to a 4.0/520 plus person. Something like Peace Corps, Americorps, Teach for America, military service, etc.

Prove that time and responsibility has made you a better version of yourself and be on your absolute best behavior for the rest of your life.

 

[LizzyM]

If you are doing 25 hours of volunteering, you can list it on your application. There is nothing in the manual that says that you can't.

You will need to list that arrest/plea deal or conviction and you may want to describe the penalty assessed. Anyone might put two and two together and figure out that your volunteering wasn't entirely voluntary.

It sounds like you are being given lemons and making lemonade. No harm in that but criminal activity , even just a small thing, will have a large impact on the viability of your application to medical school.

 

[Just D.O. it]

No, you can't use court ordered community service in your medical school application.

Says who, I don't remember any disclaimer in the activities section about how court ordered ones don't count.

On a serious note, you said "charge", but also mention that you were sentenced. So I assume you pled guilty or were convicted. If that is the case, you now have much bigger hurdles than buffing up your community service if you want to have a serious shot at a US medical school.

 

[Catalystik]

I have a shoplifting charge and have to do 25 hours of court-ordered community service.

This might seem like a silly question, but can I use these 25 hours towards my non-clinical volunteering or does that category have to be for non-court ordered activities? I probably will complete it at the local animal shelter if that matters at all. I'm assuming I can, but just want to make sure.

Thanks!

Community Service hours can be listed on the AMCAS application whether required by academic faculty, court-ordered, essential to a religious process, or decided on your own. That said, 25 hours are rather sparse, co you might consider continuing at the site you select, or grouping it with other community service activities in one slot.

 

[GoSpursGo]

As amusing as the premise of this question is, I agree with the other experts--there is no reason NOT to include the 25 hours in nonclinical volunteering. Nobody is going to know that you did them because of a court order. You may want to consider that volunteering at an animal shelter probably doesn't do anything to benefit your med school application.

The actual criminal conviction is going to be the much larger problem. If it happened in your first semester of college, it's bad but it's easier to dismiss it as a stupid mistake from an 18 year old. If this happened in the spring immediately prior to applying, that is a bright red flag--that level of dishonesty with no time for demonstration of remorse or completion of restitution is completely unbecoming of an aspiring physician.

Maybe this sounds harsh, but this isn't a funny stupid thing. Dishonest people tend to be dishonest in multiple settings, and nobody has time to deal with dishonest students when there are plenty of other qualified applicants who don't carry that kind of baggage.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Including this information would have made the WAMC thread much more interesting.

 

[deleted1159869]

Including this information would have made the WAMC thread much more interesting.

This happened quite recently unfortunately, so it didn't make it into my WAMC @GoSpursGo @Mr.Smile12

With the feedback here, I guess I'll take a couple more gap years to improve my personal character and pursue other community-service activities.

 

[Angus Avagadro]

Court Ordered is not the same thing as non clinical "Volunteering". I would give you originality points for the spin.
Edit:
I believe not reporting it as court ordered would be considered dishonest by some adcoms if found out.

 

[GoSpursGo]

This happened quite recently unfortunately, so it didn't make it into my WAMC @GoSpursGo @Mr.Smile12

With the feedback here, I guess I'll take a couple more gap years to improve my personal character and pursue other community-service activities.

Yikes. That is most unfortunate, since your app seemed reasonably strong aside from this. And it is probably going to limit the tier of schools you can apply to.

I think you need to address this head-on. Find some activities related to ethics/honesty, maybe something like an honor council at your undergrad or place of employment during your gap year(s). Yes, it's checkbox-y, but I think you need to communicate that you recognize that this was a major mistake and are going above and beyond to demonstrate that this isn't going to happen again.

 

[SpoiledMilk]

So with a simple conviction of shoplifting, research your state's non-disclosure or expungement laws. Some states will allow for sealing of the conviction after a couple years of being a law abiding citizen. Then contact a criminal defense attorney in your state to get advice on how to go about this. GL.

 

[xffan624]

I got a speeding ticket in college and was poor and asked the judge for community service (of my choosing) instead of paying the several hundred dollar fine. Completed my hours and then ended up enjoying the activity and continuing on with it (volunteering at an after school homework center in an urban impoverished neighborhood). I definitely put that on my application.

 

[Goro]

I have a shoplifting charge and have to do 25 hours of court-ordered community service.

This might seem like a silly question, but can I use these 25 hours towards my non-clinical volunteering or does that category have to be for non-court ordered activities? I probably will complete it at the local animal shelter if that matters at all. I'm assuming I can, but just want to make sure.

Thanks!

vol·un·teer
noun
a person who freely offers to take part in an enterprise or undertake a task.

What part of the bolded don't you understand?

 

[gyngyn]

I would not consider an activity required by the judicial system "voluntary."
You may certainly list it for what is: mandatory service required by a judge.

 

[LizzyM]

I would not consider an activity required by the judicial system "voluntary."
You may certainly list it for what is: mandatory service required by a judge

That isn't a AMCAS tag in the activities section. Would you use "other"?

 

[IlDestriero]

I had many, many hours of mandatory community service over 4 years of college primarily because my fraternity was comprised of a bunch of overly intelligent and anti authoritarian folks that didn’t really care about the rules, or the punishment.
They featured prominently in my application. Some were mandatory some were voluntary. We had a nice arrangement with the local food bank.

 

[theoceanman]

I have a shoplifting charge and have to do 25 hours of court-ordered community service.

This might seem like a silly question, but can I use these 25 hours towards my non-clinical volunteering or does that category have to be for non-court ordered activities? I probably will complete it at the local animal shelter if that matters at all. I'm assuming I can, but just want to make sure.

Thanks!

First, the 25 hours should not be included in your non-clinical volunteering section in my opinion because you were ordered to do it, hence defeating the underlying purpose of volunteer work. Also, it kind of looks bad regardless when you include it and have to write in your activity section description "I was ordered by the court to engage in 25 hours of mandatory community service therefore I chose X" (no sarcasm intended truly). Admissions committee members are going to look into it and question why you would only have 25 hours in that experience, recognize you were ordered to do it, and immediately toss out that activity.

This happened quite recently unfortunately, so it didn't make it into my WAMC @GoSpursGo @Mr.Smile12

With the feedback here, I guess I'll take a couple more gap years to improve my personal character and pursue other community-service activities.

You will have to fulfill over a hundred, potentially hundreds of non-clinical volunteering hours and meaningful non-clinical experiences, along with hundreds of hours and meaningful community service experiences, to redeem your integrity and character as a future physician so the 25 hours are a small amount overall. The shoplifting charge depicts you as someone that cannot follow simple laws and rules, such as "stealing someone else's property", and it puts you into question of why you would do that in the first place. As a physician, a career choice that values the lives and wellbeing of others above all, your shoplifting charge shows that you have no integrity currently. This can be redeemed, but it will take a lot of effort, and more than 25 hours of community service in the wider scope of things. Although I sounded harsh, I hope this puts into effect how much effort and how much of an uphill battle you have ahead of you. Best of luck, cheers.