High School Extracurriculars Affecting Resume

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sunflower18

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I know that the rule of thumb is that your high school ECs don't matter and should not go on your application. However, if you continue volunteering, can you put that you have x number of cumulative hours, including high school?

I, like many others I'm sure, have been volunteering at a hospital since freshman year of high school (I'm a freshman in college now) and got 400-450 hours there. I am continuing at a hospital near my college and back home during breaks, so I will definitely keep accumulating hours. My question is, when I apply to med school, will I be able to say that I have 600+ hours from 9th grade - present? Or is that not a good idea? It doesn't matter much either way, I suppose, but it'd be nice if all those hours that I've spent in the hospital find their way onto my application somehow! :) And yes, it was meaningful experiences with a lot of patient interaction.

I couldn't find (recent) threads that answered this particular question, so I hope that this doesn't come on the heels of a similar query. Thanks so much!!

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The Common Wisdom is that you can list HS activities if they continued into the college years, so go ahead and include all those lovely hours. The actual Instruction Manual for including activities on the AMCAS application says nothing about this issue. But practically speaking, adcomm members are unlikely to be impressed if your sole listed acquisition of clinical experience occured 3-4 years before you apply. That said, if one does have pertinent HS experience not continued in college, it's fine to mention it in the Personal Statement as part of one's Journey toward Medicine.
 
That's probably legitimate. Generally, only mention high school stuff if it's something really unique or stands out (getting research published, winning championships if you're an athlete...). I'd say that 450 hours of volunteering when most people haven't done any would count. If all else fails, you can mention it in your personal statement.
 
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You should definitely include the hours, however I would break it down a bit to give a better picture of how those hours were distributed. For example, if an adcomm sees 600 hrs 9th grade-present, you don't want them to be suspicious and think that it could mean 590hrs in high school and 10hrs in college. So, it would be to your advantage to say X number of hrs in high school and Y number of hrs in college. That bit of info can go in the description area underneath the kisting of the experience on the AMCAS primary. And don't worry if you have more high school hrs, that's expected since college is a much busier time. You just want to be sure to demonstrate that you have continued the volunteering through college.
 
One thing I wish I would have done is write everything down on paper as I was doing it. If you haven't done so, I highly suggest starting a notebook and record everything in it such as where you are volunteering; work address; your supervisors name, title, e-mail, phone number, ect,; how many hours each week and total hours; and exactly what you do there. The more details the better.

Trust me that it's much harder to try and think back years later when you have to fill out the AMCAS application.
 
Thank you guys so much!! Those are really helpful comments, and I very much appreciate it :)

The only other thing I did in high school was found and organize a collaborative art performance so that I could donate the proceeds to a local hospital that was being constructed. I raised $3000, and it was a great experience. Still, my senior year was probably too far back to mention in my applications and it might not be that remarkable/special anyway. Que sera sera. I thought it was a worthwhile endeavour, anyway! :)

Thank you for your help!!!
 
Sunflower18, you should include all your hours and mention how many were accrued in high school and how many in college. I did that and also mentioned my volunteering in my personal statement. At interviews, many interviewers have asked me to describe the path that has led me to medicine, and I speak a lot about my childhood and high school experiences including volunteering, and interviewers often want to know more about experiences prior to college.

Everyone understands and appreciates that we have had meaningful experiences before college, and if these are experiences that you truly cherish, include them on your application!
 
Sunflower18, you should include all your hours and mention how many were accrued in high school and how many in college. I did that and also mentioned my volunteering in my personal statement. At interviews, many interviewers have asked me to describe the path that has led me to medicine, and I speak a lot about my childhood and high school experiences including volunteering, and interviewers often want to know more about experiences prior to college.

Everyone understands and appreciates that we have had meaningful experiences before college, and if these are experiences that you truly cherish, include them on your application!

That definitely makes sense, and I'm glad to hear that they do that!! I don't have a particularly inspirational or remarkable reason for choosing this route or anything, but it has been quite dedicated and consistent. Hopefully that counts for something :)

Are you currently interviewing? If so, good luck!! :) :)
 
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