Giving up volunteering work after getting an acceptance

[zoner]

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Hi med students. Sorry to post this in med forum but had to ask current med students.

Has anyone gotten into trouble for quitting their volunteer work after getting an acceptance? I ask this because I am about to quit one of them so I can concentrate on finishing up my required classes and work so I can save as much as I can before med school start in the fall.

Can they rescind my acceptance for this?

 

[peteB]

Hi med students. Sorry to post this in med forum but had to ask current med students.

Has anyone gotten into trouble for quitting their volunteer work after getting an acceptance? I ask this because I am about to quit one of them so I can concentrate on finishing up my required classes and work so I can save as much as I can before med school start in the fall.

Can they rescind my acceptance for this?

If they don't, they should... you obviously did it just for the acceptance. Might as well have not done it at all.

 

[VVSHT]

lol. no they wont.

if you are actually interested in the work, and it brings you enjoyment, do it. If not forget about it, and have fun. You're already in. Only thing that might get the acceptance rescinded is something extreme, like failing a class, or not passing a background check. The most important thing for you to do now is to have fun, relax and enjoy what is probably the most care-free time in you life until retirement.

 

[kpcrew]

Do a search next time and please post premed questions in the premed section.

 

[Alvarez13]

If they don't, they should... you obviously did it just for the acceptance. Might as well have not done it at all.

Of course he did it for the acceptance. So did the other 95% of med students.

Do a search next time and please post premed questions in the premed section.

You tell him, you've been a med student all of 2 mo already and he has no right to pull that crap whatsoever. Rawr!!!

 

[peteB]

Of course he did it for the acceptance. So did the other 95% of med students.

The fact that a lot of people do it doesn't make it right.

 

[tiedyeddog]

You tell him, you've been a med student all of 2 mo already and he has no right to pull that crap whatsoever. Rawr!!!

Hey OP, do a search next time and don't post premed questions in allo.

😉

 

[KnuxNole]

Hi med students. Sorry to post this in med forum but had to ask current med students.

Has anyone gotten into trouble for quitting their volunteer work after getting an acceptance? I ask this because I am about to quit one of them so I can concentrate on finishing up my required classes and work so I can save as much as I can before med school start in the fall.

Can they rescind my acceptance for this?

They shouldn't care. That would stupid to do completely. I know people who quit that stuff, even during interview season lol

 

[D elegans]

First, they wouldn't care. Secondly, no one is monitoring your activities. The people who interviewed you and especially the admission committee has likely forgotten the particulars of why they admitted you among hundreds of others. Once you're in medical school, your MCAT, GPA, and pre-med activities all become completely moot.

That being said, congrats on being accepted! Enjoy your time between now and then, and FOR GODSSAKE, do NOT do anything related to medical school before starting.

 

[zoner]

Thanks! Sorry to have posted here but the reason why I did it us because I wanted to see if any current med students did the same before.

N just to defend myself a little I am quitting just one of my volunteer work which I have been doing for the past three years so don't jump to criticism so fast

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using SDN Mobile

 

[Alvarez13]

Thanks! Sorry to have posted here but the reason why I did it us because I wanted to see if any current med students did the same before.

N just to defend myself a little I am quitting just one of my volunteer work which I have been doing for the past three years so don't jump to criticism so fast

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using SDN Mobile

You're fine posting here.

Other premeds probably don't have a clue and haven't completed the process. You're in and unless you fail everything and run over a family of endangered pandas, the adcom probably won't care. They'll be plenty of mandatory volunteering when school starts.

Like someone else said, congrats on the acceptance and please enjoy your down time as you don't get much of it moving forward 😀

 

[Dr Love]

If they don't, they should... you obviously did it just for the acceptance. Might as well have not done it at all.

Call the FBI. A med school applicant did a volunteer activity to strengthen his application. OMG!

 

[Alvarez13]

Call the FBI. A med school applicant did a volunteer activity to strengthen his application. OMG!

Don't question his integrity. That's the guy who ratted me out to the Dean for partaking in free sandwiches at the internal medicine interest group lunch meeting and leaving 1/2 way through 😡. Mmmm Panera...it was worth it.

 

[D elegans]

Don't question his integrity. That's the guy who ratted me out to the Dean for partaking in free sandwiches at the internal medicine interest group lunch meeting and leaving 1/2 way through 😡. Mmmm Panera...it was worth it.

I stopped feeling bad about this after observing multiple attendings take food from tables outside of rooms holding meetings they never go to. I guess as you go through residency you take any food you can find lying around, or else you don't eat

 

[tiedyeddog]

You're fine posting here. kpcrew's tiger mom used to beat her with bamboo.

No really, OP shouldn't be posting that kind of question here. Don't let the premeds flow in here with every inane question they have. Preallo is made for that. This appears at the top of the Allo forum page for a reason: "Allopathic MD student topics. For current medical students."

Besides, his question really has nothing to do with being in medical school. His question is dealing with pre-matriculation. Yes, it is logical that any medical student could answer this question. But there are tons of medical students in preallo that answer these questions all the time.

/rant

 

[45408]

If they don't, they should... you obviously did it just for the acceptance. Might as well have not done it at all.

Somebody call the waaaambulance.

 

[notbobtrustme]

No one cares that you quit volunteering.

Just about the only thing that will get your acceptance rescinded is not graduating or farting in the dean's face.

 

[armybound]

Guarantee you people have been accepted with applications that list volunteering that they never actually did.

No problem with quitting. They won't ask, they won't care, your acceptance is safe.

 

[Planes2Doc]

I am a non-traditional student, and during undergraduate years (I had no intentions of going to medical school), I volunteered every now and then for single events usually through my school's Hillel. I think a lot of people (not pre-med) would volunteer every now and then for an event with their friends. Of course, since I was doing what was "important to me" (what you hear in every volunteer thread in pre-allo), I would always make sure that I didn't have any plans with family or friends when I chose to volunteer on those dates.

Now enter the post-bac. I started volunteering consistently at a hospital since I knew this was a "unwritten requirement" for medical school admissions. Due to my schedule, I often had to work Saturday morning shifts. Since I had to wake up early on Saturdays, I often missed out on spending time with family and friends on Friday nights. During my post-bac, I disliked volunteering. But now as an MS-1 looking back, I absolutely hate that ADCOMs require pre-meds to go through this.

I have absolutely no time left to spend with family and friends because of the enormous amounts of school-work. I'm giving up the rest of my 20's and early 30's so that I can become a doctor. I'm making a great sacrifice so that I can spend the rest of my life helping others. Is it absolutely necessary for pre-meds to be forced to "volunteer" for hundreds of hours to show their altruism and commitment? It's absolutely disgusting. There's nothing wrong if providing free labor or volunteering for any other organization isn't at the top of the pre-med's priorities. I never met any person who was not pre-med that had such extensive commitments. In fact, when I was at my job where they didn't know I was a pre-med, they saw me as some sort of saint!!! And I also had below-average to average ECs according to SDN standards.

So to the OP. Go enjoy yourself. I have yet to meet someone in my class that actually wanted to do all of those volunteer hours. You are going to spend the rest of your life helping others, and sacrificing the best years of your life to do so. You'll probably have tons of work to do during your pre-clinical years. So cherish the time you have now, and remember... You are already showing your altruism by embarking on this path, and it shows much more than providing free labor to a hospital system doing a bunch of scut work up until matriculation.

 

[ArcGurren]

Well if you're not going to volunteer you could just get a part-time job and make some extra cash. That's what I ended up doing; didn't regret it in the least.

 

[Alvarez13]

No one cares that you quit volunteering.

Just about the only thing that will get your acceptance rescinded is not graduating or farting in the dean's face.

 

[zoner]

I laughed so hard I kept farting

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using SDN Mobile

 

[evilbooyaa]

Most people overestimate how many hours they volunteered.

People who say that they did 500 hours of volunteering wasted their time. I can't imagine ADCOMs make a distinction between 50 and 500 hours of volunteering if there is no other projects that come out of it.

As for all the people po'd that this is in the Allopathic forum... this guy is in pre-matriculation. He's already in med school. He's not some stupid pre-med asking WAMC with a 3.1 GPA and 25 MCAT.

I'll cut him some slack.

As to OP: Yes, for the love of god, drop the volunteering (unless you ACTUALLY enjoy it). You've gotten it. Graduate college and you're good to go.

 

[Planes2Doc]

I can't imagine ADCOMs make a distinction between 50 and 500 hours of volunteering if there is no other projects that come out of it.

I heard anecdotal evidence on both SDN and outside of it that 100 is typically a magical number to hit, though in the pre-allo board, you have so many bleeding heart applicants that will call you a heartless person if you didn't volunteer because you actually wanted to.

 

[evilbooyaa]

I heard anecdotal evidence on both SDN and outside of it that 100 is typically a magical number to hit, though in the pre-allo board, you have so many bleeding heart applicants that will call you a heartless person if you didn't volunteer because you actually wanted to.

IDK if it's different from traditional applicants, but when I was applying for BS/MD programs, not one person asked me about the number of hours I had volunteered at any of the 3-4 places I had listed on my CV. If they even asked about the experience (which very few of them did) they asked me other questions about it, like what did I do on a daily basis, what did I learn, how did it make me want to be a doctor, etc. etc.

 

[Planes2Doc]

IDK if it's different from traditional applicants, but when I was applying for BS/MD programs, not one person asked me about the number of hours I had volunteered at any of the 3-4 places I had listed on my CV. If they even asked about the experience (which very few of them did) they asked me other questions about it, like what did I do on a daily basis, what did I learn, how did it make me want to be a doctor, etc. etc.

Same with me. I never had to talk about hours. I was told by my pre-med advisor that I needed to do consistent volunteering to show a commitment. Therefore, someone who sporadically did events they genuinely enjoyed, cared about, and learned from would probably have trouble getting into medical school even though they genuinely did those because they wanted to. On the other hand, a typical applicant can get a few hundred hours and that shows more commitment than the former even if they never wanted to do it in the first place.

 

[D elegans]

Quality > quantity (within reason, of course)

 

[notbobtrustme]

I heard anecdotal evidence on both SDN and outside of it that 100 is typically a magical number to hit, though in the pre-allo board, you have so many bleeding heart applicants that will call you a heartless person if you didn't volunteer because you actually wanted to.

I think if you are a good applicant, you don't need a set number of volunteering hours, but if you are average (aka 3.6/30), your ECs matter a lot more.

I applied late with 6 ECs on my initial AMCAS, which mainly consisted of research experiences and 1 shadowing experience. I had 2 MD interviews and 1 DO interview, which I believe was due mostly to my strong academic credentials (3.7 double major in Bio/Chem, 37 MCAT). Of course, I spent the entire 2011-2012 interlude volunteering on the assumption that I wasn't going to get into med school my first shot and racked up 100 hours to make sure adcoms knew I was "serious" about altruism.

 

[evilbooyaa]

Wait I'm confused. You applied with a 3.7 and 37MCAT with 6 ECs and got 3 interviews, including one DO? Did you apply in a very picky manner?

 

[notbobtrustme]

Wait I'm confused. You applied with a 3.7 and 37MCAT with 6 ECs and got 3 interviews, including one DO? Did you apply in a very picky manner?

I applied super-late. Primary was complete in late Sept and secondaries were out in early to mid October. I'm sure I would have had a better cycle in 2013 simply due to an earlier app, never mind the extra ECs I had over the year. I also only applied to Chicago area schools.

 

[SpecterGT260]

If they don't, they should... you obviously did it just for the acceptance. Might as well have not done it at all.

Quiet...


No zoner, they won't bother you for it nor will they ask you for updates. They will probably never know. 90% of pre meds enjoy their last summer of freedom with personal time 👍

 

[Planes2Doc]

Quiet...


No zoner, they won't bother you for it nor will they ask you for updates. They will probably never know. 90% of pre meds enjoy their last summer of freedom with personal time 👍

Yeah I think if they ask the applicant what they will be doing between acceptance and matriculation and the applicant says volunteering, I think both sides will quietly know the truth but not say it. It is one of those quiet unspoken things.

 

[D elegans]

Yeah I think if they ask the applicant what they will be doing between acceptance and matriculation and the applicant says volunteering, I think both sides will quietly know the truth but not say it. It is one of those quiet unspoken things.

For some reason this brought to mind PandaBear, MD's "My Personal Statement." I'm sure many of you have read it, but if you haven't, you should:

http://www.pandabearmd.com/2006/05/26/my-personal-statement/

 

[Planes2Doc]

For some reason this brought to mind PandaBear, MD's "My Personal Statement." I'm sure many of you have read it, but if you haven't, you should:

http://www.pandabearmd.com/2006/05/26/my-personal-statement/

LOL. That is classic!

It actually reminds me of my Bar Mitzvah. I made a promise in front of the whole congregation to I would continue to study Torah and be an observant Jew. The Rabbi totally called me out on it though.

 

[JP2740]

The fact that a lot of people do it doesn't make it right.

I don't care about volunteering. It won't affect my ability as a physician. I just jumped through the hoop for the acceptance, what's the big deal? I have to love volunteering to be a physician?

 

[D P356]

To the OP, congrats.

There are hoops to jump through to get into medical school. Regardless of your motivations for volunteering, I think you could probably ditch the job and focus on school, or whatever else you wanted.
These same hoops exist in medical school as students participate in research between M1 and M2. Usually these are just resume boosters, b/c honestly, I don't think that many people like research. Come residency/application time, they can say, "I have research in..." Honestly, I equate summer research to "I did grunt work for someone in a topic I'm not really interested in, but at least I was paid for it." I think valuable research is conducted longitudinally over a year or two, and even that is on the shorter end.

You sound like someone who frets over small, minute and improbable details and you seem like you may be anxious. You'll fit right in.

congrats and best of luck to you.

 

[MedicalBeast]

you can do whatever you want.

they won't cancel your acceptance

lol

 

[Planes2Doc]

I don't care about volunteering. It won't affect my ability as a physician. I just jumped through the hoop for the acceptance, what's the big deal? I have to love volunteering to be a physician?

This is something I will never understand... I've seen people post in pre-allo that volunteering is something that can make them a "better" physician. How? I don't choose my doctors based on volunteering. In fact, I would rather pick a doctor who goes to Vegas every weekend and drives a Ferrari than a doctor who spends their weekends at a free clinic, if he or she is a more effective physician toward my needs.

 

[notbobtrustme]

This is something I will never understand... I've seen people post in pre-allo that volunteering is something that can make them a "better" physician. How? I don't choose my doctors based on volunteering. In fact, I would rather pick a doctor who goes to Vegas every weekend and drives a Ferrari than a doctor who spends their weekends at a free clinic, if he or she is a more effective physician toward my needs.

People want to justify their waste of time rather than accepting volunteering for what it is, a hoop to jump through.

 

[kpcrew]

This is something I will never understand... I've seen people post in pre-allo that volunteering is something that can make them a "better" physician. How? I don't choose my doctors based on volunteering. In fact, I would rather pick a doctor who goes to Vegas every weekend and drives a Ferrari than a doctor who spends their weekends at a free clinic, if he or she is a more effective physician toward my needs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insufficient_justification

 

[theamazingbil]

You're fine posting here. kpcrew's tiger mom used to beat her with bamboo.

Other premeds probably don't have a clue and haven't completed the process. You're in and unless you fail everything and run over a family of endangered pandas, the adcom probably won't care. They'll be plenty of mandatory volunteering when school starts.

Like someone else said, congrats on the acceptance and please enjoy your down time as you don't get much of it moving forward 😀

Alvarez13, you are hilarious! haha👍

 

[GoSpursGo]

Moving to pre-allo.

Spend your time however you like. If you enjoy the volunteer work enough to keep doing it, keep doing it. If not, don't. No one is going to care.

 

[darkjedi]

One would like to think the reason you are volunteering is because you enjoy it. Believe it or not, if what you list as an experience is something you are not truly passionate about, you will be surprised as to how evident that can be to interviewers.

However, that said, you are entitled to take a break from all your hard work once you get accepted to medical school, and quitting your volunteer gig doesn't have to mean that you did it only for an acceptance. Either way, you won't be penalized for it.