Hour Verification

[WitcherWolf7]

Hi all, i've been confirming with references the amount of hours to put for activities in my application. For Hospital volunteering (which I do 8-12 hours a week) I planned to put the amount of hours I will have by August of 2021. However, my contact at the hospital says she cannot sign off on future hours. Applications go off before I can start volunteering again. This means the entire next year to 14 months of volunteering would not be able to count on my application.

Do you think it would be alright to put it anyway? When do you think medical schools would contact the hospital to verify? I know I will easily reach the amounts I want to put, but I don't wan't to be accused of being dishonest, depending on when they ask. And I don't wan't the next 400+ hours to not count either. Will med schools even ask?

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[M&L]

I would put the number of hours you currently have, and below, in the description, put that you are planning to continue volunteering, and the number of hours you are planning to accumulate by matriculation.

 

[KnightDoc]

1) Hours that are actually completed are given the most weight and have the most impact
2) future planned hours are just that: planned with the future and there is no way anyone can sign off.
3) because they are planned and in future, medical schools give only as much weight that is reasonable. That means if you have been doing 8-12 hours a week for the past year and project to do that in the future it will be seen as likely. However, if for example you have done a total of 25 or 50 hours recently and project another 300, that seems like you are cramming it in.
4) Just be transparent: You can put in total hours but note what is completed and what is planned in some fashion

This^^^^^. NOBODY who knows what they are doing signs off on future hours. Schools understand that you have a year ahead of you before you start school; everyone is in exactly the same boat. They really care about what you have done as of the date of application.

We all have great plans for the future, but we are really not held to them, since plans change, people get lazy after they have an acceptance (which can come as early as October), pandemics strike unexpectedly, etc. As a result, as @gonnif says, and to paraphrase financial service firm advertising disclaimers, past results are given much more weight than predicted future performance.

Nobody is going to give you the same credit for 400+ hours projected over the next year as for however many hours you have to date. That's just the way it is, and it applies equally to all of us. There is, of course, a difference for something like Americorps, etc. that involves a committed project with a start and end date, but, even then, you are typically already in it when you are applying, or it has already ended.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Can't you can breakdown current and future hours in the application by using Repeated option.? for example you can put Aug 201x - Apr 2020 with actual hours and May 2020 - May 2021 with future hours.

 

[KnightDoc]

Can't you can breakdown current and future hours in the application by using Repeated option.? for example you can put Aug 201x - Apr 2020 with actual hours and May 2020 - May 2021 with future hours.

Yes, of course. The point is that future hours just don't get the same weight (like LOIs, they are not binding -- things change, sometimes within your control, sometimes not), so it might be advisable to push back an application if you need future hours to meet a school's expectations, since there are more than enough people who are not counting on future hours to meet a "minimum."

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Yes, of course. The point is that future hours just don't get the same weight (like LOIs, they are not binding -- things change, sometimes within your control, sometimes not), so it might be advisable to push back an application if you need future hours to meet a school's expectations, since there are more than enough people who are not counting on future hours to meet a "minimum."

I thought OP is worried about verification of future hours, not whether they are meeting the minimums or not.

 

[KnightDoc]

I thought OP is worried about verification of future hours, not whether they are meeting the minimums or not.

No, he's worried about getting "credit" for them.

Hi all, i've been confirming with references the amount of hours to put for activities in my application. For Hospital volunteering (which I do 8-12 hours a week) I planned to put the amount of hours I will have by August of 2021. However, my contact at the hospital says she cannot sign off on future hours. Applications go off before I can start volunteering again. This means the entire next year to 14 months of volunteering would not be able to count on my application.

Do you think it would be alright to put it anyway? When do you think medical schools would contact the hospital to verify? I know I will easily reach the amounts I want to put, but I don't wan't to be accused of being dishonest, depending on when they ask. And I don't wan't the next 400+ hours to not count either. Will med schools even ask?

 

[jhmmd]

Don't put down anything that you don't want verified; that's the best/honest option

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

No, he's worried about getting "credit" for them.

Then it's no go OP can break it down by current and future hours and hopefully they have good amount completed hours and not relying more on the future hours.

 

[KnightDoc]

Then it's no go OP can break it down by current and future hours and hopefully they have good amount completed hours and not relying more on the future hours.

Yeah -- he can do what you suggested, or just break down his hours in one entry between already served and anticipated future hours. Same result either way. He apparently just didn't understand that we don't get "credit" for what we haven't yet done, and nobody verifies future hours since they are speculative. No way to know for sure, but the question certainly implies he is counting on those hours counting.