Fundraising counts as service?

[saletta2]

I'm an Illinois resident and all these in state schools are very service heavy. I've spent most of my college career fundraising for International Medical sites. Do schools count this as service work? I kind of feel like it's not as admirable as working at a soup kitchen or teaching underprivileged kids?

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[USERX]

Not exactly sure what you mean by "service". If it is community service, then any time that you give to benefit others is counted as service. Also, its not what the experience is, its how you describe and apply it to yourself that is important.

 

[saletta2]

Yeah just in general volunteering and service. I was never paid and it was all for donations so I'm assuming it is. Thanks for the response!

 

[DBC03]

It is certainly volunteering - perhaps not in the same way as service to the underserved, but you are giving your time for the betterment of others. I added service on a fundraising board to my application, even though its wasn't my most meaningful volunteering activity. You should certainly look into ways you can serve the underserved as well, but fundraising requires skills that are beneficial in the real world and it is an interesting and worthwhile extracurricular.

 

[deleted877060]

I'm an Illinois resident and all these in state schools are very service heavy. I've spent most of my college career fundraising for International Medical sites. Do schools count this as service work? I kind of feel like it's not as admirable as working at a soup kitchen or teaching underprivileged kids?

Make sure you also have experience interacting with the people you are serving, as those are valued more. Fundraising belongs to the "behind the curtains" volunteering category.

 

[DrDwayneJohnson]

I believe one of the moderators/physicians touched on this once. IIRC, it was @LizzyM who mentioned that it wasn't community service. Mostly because they're looking for direct service to people. To be fair, I may have completely misremembered that.

 

[LizzyM]

I believe one of the moderators/physicians touched on this once. IIRC, it was @LizzyM who mentioned that it wasn't community service. Mostly because they're looking for direct service to people. To be fair, I may have completely misremembered that.

It could be listed on the application as Volunteer-non-clinical but it isn't really what the schools are looking for if they are looking for people who seek out opportunities to help the needy in face-to-face encounters.

 

[saletta2]

I believe one of the moderators/physicians touched on this once. IIRC, it was @LizzyM who mentioned that it wasn't community service. Mostly because they're looking for direct service to people. To be fair, I may have completely misremembered that.

That's kind of along the lines I was thinking. I hit hard on my essays why I did it and I was extremely successful doing it, so I'm hoping it comes across justified, but I do see why they prefer the front line experience.