How am I supposed to be documenting volunteering?

[FiremedicMike]

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My current volunteering list includes over 1000 hours as an auxiliary police officer and detective (don't get me started), over a hundred hours with the church drama ministry, and now I'm working as an upwards basketball coach (which is ironic, seeing as I know almost nothing about basketball). Anyhow, I still have several years before matriculation, and I'm wondering how I'm supposed to go about documenting and proving these activities for my future application.

 

[futuredoc1004]

You will have verifiers from these organizations. It wont prove to be a problem.

 

[QofQuimica]

It's an honor system. You keep your own records and enter them on your app.

 

[FutureDrB]

Like Q said. It's really an honor system. Although the hospital I volunteered at actually had a volunteer director who logged and documented all of your hours..

 

[FiremedicMike]

Thanks all!!

 

[GenusTide]

I like you had, many hours well in advance. Fortunately the hospital I volunteered at had a login registry, but like everybody else already stated, it is on the honor system as far as the app is concerned. I am not sure how the verification process works but I certainly did not add anything that I could not prove that I actually did. I would imagine, the Interviewers will be able to pick out who is " not truthful " when they have their sit down interviews.

 

[QofQuimica]

I like you had, many hours well in advance. Fortunately the hospital I volunteered at had a login registry, but like everybody else already stated, it is on the honor system as far as the app is concerned. I am not sure how the verification process works but I certainly did not add anything that I could not prove that I actually did. I would imagine, the Interviewers will be able to pick out who is " not truthful " when they have their sit down interviews.

Exactly. It tends to be obvious when someone has greatly exaggerated their participation in an activity because they can't discuss it on more than just a superficial level. An applicant who says he has spent 1000 hours as an auxiliary police officer should be able to discuss that experience extensively. In addition, for an activity that is this significant, I would expect that FM would have a LOR from his supervisor, because presumably a person who oversaw you for 1000 hours of volunteering over a period of several years would know you very well and be able to comment extensively on your character and attributes as a potential future physician. If he didn't have such a letter, it would look odd.

 

[FiremedicMike]

Exactly. It tends to be obvious when someone has greatly exaggerated their participation in an activity because they can't discuss it on more than just a superficial level. An applicant who says he has spent 1000 hours as an auxiliary police officer should be able to discuss that experience extensively. In addition, for an activity that is this significant, I would expect that FM would have a LOR from his supervisor, because presumably a person who oversaw you for 1000 hours of volunteering over a period of several years would know you very well and be able to comment extensively on your character and attributes as a potential future physician. If he didn't have such a letter, it would look odd.

Interesting, I hadn't thought of that. It becomes slightly muddy because I'm probably going to be quitting within the next few weeks, but not planning on applying for 2-3 more years depending on how the remaining pre-reqs go. Would you suggest I get an LOR from the chief now and sit on it?

 

[QofQuimica]

Interesting, I hadn't thought of that. It becomes slightly muddy because I'm probably going to be quitting within the next few weeks, but not planning on applying for 2-3 more years depending on how the remaining pre-reqs go. Would you suggest I get an LOR from the chief now and sit on it?

Will you be having any further contact with this person? If not, yes, I would invest in an interfolio account for a couple of years and get the letter now. Some schools want character/peer letters, and most if not all schools will accept up to three extra letters.

I'm assuming, of course, that this person will write you a strong letter. If you're not leaving on good terms, and/or you're not sure that the letter will be stellar, it would be better to forgo it, especially since a few years will have gone by. In that case, I would also not emphasize this activity on your app as much, because again, you've devoted so much time to it that it would be natural to ask your supervisor to write you a LOR.

 

[FiremedicMike]

No we're on great terms, I do wonder how much contact we would maintain after I leave though. I will look into the interfolio account to see what that entails, thanks for the idea.