volunteer hrs

[bluemamba7]

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[Bubblepop]

I'm curious about this too because I have one volunteer activity that wasn't tracked very well since my club's student leadership tracked it and is no longer reachable. I ended up listing my advisor as the contact, and he would verify my involvement despite him also not having documentation. Most schools seem to understand that for some activities, we had to estimate hours to the best of our ability.

IF the school ever reaches out to verify hours, I think it depends by school regarding exactly what "evidence" they would like. And should the school request exact start/end times and dates, then the contact would hopefully honestly respond that although this person completed these hours, we don't keep/have exact information as those requested.

 

[StillConfusedLOL]

I remember reading that they are rarely verified, but you still shouldn't lie....
I don't recall where I read it from tho (probably reddit or sdn), so I might not be the most reliable source.
Hopefully someone can give us a better answer.

 

[deleted905755]

Let’s say that they do track hours and the start date didn’t match what was on their records (I started volunteering there unofficially with a friend before I contacted the volunteer office to make it a reccurant activity). Would the med school give me a chance to show them my verification sheet or would they automatically kick me out (assuming I get in).

You're not going to need to show them your verification sheet. They just call to check up and make sure that you were a volunteer there, and even then it's rare they do this. Admissions committees are smart, and they understand that for the most part, volunteering is a pretty unofficial thing, and you don't have to be precise on your start date and times committed to the organization. Hope this helps OP.

 

[Lucca]

I suppose that they will send your contact what you entered in the application and ask something along the lines of: "can you verify that this information is accurate?"

 

[DameJulie]

At one of my volunteering sites where there's many pre-med and other pre-health students, we do an "exit interview" with our directors when we leave the volunteer organization. We will review the hours worked so both of us know what to expect during verification.

I suggest do something like that with your volunteer director if you're worried. This is the safest and arguably the "best" way to make sure nobody gets into unnecessary trouble.

 

[aldol16]

They really generally don't check unless something looks egregious (i.e. you report a full course schedule and somehow spend 100 hours a week volunteering). it's more about what you take from the experience and what you can say about it. If you volunteer for 1000 hours but can't say anything about what it taught you, that's basically a useless experience. It'd be better to volunteer for 100 hours and be able to speak about the impact it had on you.

 

[bluemamba7]

Kick you out like an NFL kickoff!

Dont worry about, it really isnt that invasive

Thanks gonnif, just wanted to make sure. I’ll try to make it as simple as possible for the medical schools tho

 

[DrElliotReid]

What about post-matriculation? A place I volunteered at shut down a few months ago, so they couldn't be reached 2 or 3 years from now.

This is what I call being neurotic. What does your common sense think the answer is?

Obviously if they've shut down or are no longer in business then all we would have is your word and that's going to have to be it. It's not your fault they closed. There are thousands of applicants to each school every year. Do you know how time consuming that would be to try and verify every person's work, volunteer activities, research etc...? I never verified volunteer hours when I reviewed applications. Honestly, I didn't even look up any of the places as long as they sounded legit (disclaimer: this doesn't mean make-up legit sounding volunteer opportunities and hope you don't get caught).

I don't know the ins/outs after acceptances, but in all honesty, be truthful and give a rough estimate. OMG he/she said she started on 10/15/2015 but they actually didn't start until 10/20/2015. Reject. Come on, obviously not.

 

[MyOdyssey]

Hypothetically, suppose I spend 2 hours a week actually tutoring kids but spend an additional 2 hours a week preparing to tutor kids, does my volunteering experience count as 2 hours a week or 4 hours a week?

 

[vrazzles]

Hypothetically, suppose I spend 2 hours a week actually tutoring kids but spend an additional 2 hours a week preparing to tutor kids, does my volunteering experience count as 2 hours a week or 4 hours a week?

I suppose it would depend on how you talk about it in your activities section. Does the 20 minutes I drive to the hospital to volunteer count?

 

[Catalystik]

Does the 20 minutes I drive to the hospital to volunteer count?

No.

 

[Catalystik]

Hypothetically, suppose I spend 2 hours a week actually tutoring kids but spend an additional 2 hours a week preparing to tutor kids, does my volunteering experience count as 2 hours a week or 4 hours a week?

Depending on what the extra two hours of prep time entails, it could be 4 hours per week, so long as you explain the breakdown in your narrative. (Travel time should not be included.)

 

[PreMedMissteps]

Schools don't do something like random checks on apps when you're a 3rd or 4th year?

Why the heck would they do random checks years later???

Do you really think med schools have enough staff and resources to devote to nonsense?

 

[Goro]

Why the heck would they do random checks years later???

Do you really think med schools have enough staff and resources to devote to nonsense?

It's is an extremely dangerous pre-med notion to believe that med schools "don't have time for that".

 

[thegrind33]

From what I understand is this. If you list an activity and they ask about it in an interview and you act like they're speaking a foreign language they will be suspicious. But if for example they ask "hey the grind, what have you learned by doing X, I see you are very involved with X", and I go on and on about my involvement in X. They still might spot check it, but it is less likely because you explained your experiences in that activity well and by doing so have showed your involvement. And med schools most certainly have "time for it". Heck at my last interview both of my interviewers knew where I was from and everything that I was involved in, and neither of them had my file open or checked my file during the interview. Also, if there is something that looks really fishy they might check (300 hours of volunteering in two months, etc.).

Edit: most of this stuff posted is straight neurotic. I don't think a school will care if you put down you started in march but really in february or stuff like that.

 

[thegrind33]

It's is an extremely dangerous pre-med notion to believe that med schools "don't have time for that".

Now I will have to say checking years later seems kind of like a waste of time and energy. Why don't they just check the activites before matriculation and be done?

 

[Goro]

Now I will have to say checking years later seems kind of like a waste of time and energy. Why don't they just check the activites before matriculation and be done?

Now THAT is a good question! It might be how often the accreditors are sniffing around.

 

[Catalystik]

Now I will have to say checking years later seems kind of like a waste of time and energy. Why don't they just check the activites before matriculation and be done?

Why spend resources on an acceptee who might get off the waitlist elsewhere and never attend their school?

 

[Goro]

Don't leave us hanging, how often do they sniff around???

COCA comes around here about every 5-7 years. LCME will vary, I surmise.

 

[PreMedMissteps]

It's is an extremely dangerous pre-med notion to believe that med schools "don't have time for that".

I agree that it’s a dangerous notion for the application process.

However, it’s just silly to think that the school is going to get a wild-haired idea to go back to a MS3’s app, look over the listed shadowing hours/EC’s and make random calls without some sort serious reason to do so (something suspicious has arisen, etc). It would be a total waste of time since the people being questioned may innocently answer incorrectly simply because memories fade.

 

[thegrind33]

They'd probably be more likely to check the big things like publications, transcripts, criminal records, etc. than the soup kitchen you volunteered at for a few months for this reason. It's probably how those people brazen enough to submit fake recommendation letters and such get found out lol.

Believe it or not but people have somehow faked transcripts