how do people here volunteer/research so much?

[deleted802724]

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i just read a post about some person at state school getting 4.0, researching 15 hours, and volunteering 15 hours per week. A lot of people at my school volunteer around 3 hours at maximum per week and do 5 hours of research... and if they do research, they take only 4 classes. i go to a top 20 institution if that matters at all. any inputs?

 

[ChymeofPassion]

Be smart enough to fly through classes and focus on research and volunteering in their downtime/do homework and study during research.

 

[theonlytycrane]

Multiply real hours by 5


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[deleted802724]

Multiply real hours by 5


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

this sounds more realistic to me

 

[alliwantforxmasispoo]

gap year

 

[Lawpy]

i just read a post about some person at state school getting 4.0, researching 15 hours, and volunteering 15 hours per week. A lot of people at my school volunteer around 3 hours at maximum per week and do 5 hours of research... and if they do research, they take only 4 classes. i go to a top 20 institution if that matters at all. any inputs?

So in a week, there are 7 days x 24 hours/day = 168 hours. Now, the optimal sleeping time is 7-8 hours per day, so let's approximate that as 56 hours/week (max of 8 hours per day) to have 112 hours of waking time. As a full-time student, you'd likely spend 40 hours per week studying (assuming you're studying efficiently with a manageable courseload). This means you have 72 hours remaining. If someone is researching 15 hours/week and volunteering 15 hours/week, they still have 42 hours/week remaining to do whatever they want. Even if you spend 50-60 hours per week studying, you still have 22-32 hours/week doing whatever you want.

In the end, it depends on efficient time management.

 

[ifnotnowwren]

i just read a post about some person at state school getting 4.0, researching 15 hours, and volunteering 15 hours per week. A lot of people at my school volunteer around 3 hours at maximum per week and do 5 hours of research... and if they do research, they take only 4 classes. i go to a top 20 institution if that matters at all. any inputs?

I researched ~16-20 hours per week during school, basically I set up my course schedule so that it only took up 3 days, then I had 2 full days of research per week. Volunteering was confined to the weekends and definitely never hit 15 hours, but if you set up your class schedule and take summer classes, it's easy to set yourself up to have a lot of time for research and volunteering during the school year as well.

 

[aldol16]

4 hours of research a week isn't enough to get anything done. Ever. Doing ~30 hours/week of ECs total is not uncommon and is quite manageable with effective time management strategies. If you want to sleep at 10pm and wake at noon, you're obviously not going to be able to do those things. But if you're genuinely interested in research, I would say that 10-15 hours/week is a good pace to get something done.

 

[efle]

i go to a top 20 institution if that matters at all.

The 15 hrs volunteering is a lot more than what most people were doing at WashU, but the typical research load was ~12 hours per week for most people doing research for credits. I def didn't know anyone doing only 5 hrs per week. Maybe they just do tons of volunteering instead of working a campus job or some other common time intensive activities.

 

[Frogger27]

Adderall

 

[SValley]

Just because it's on the internet, doesn't make it true my love. Most of these "hours* are fabricated.

 

[efle]

Just because it's on the internet, doesn't make it true my love. Most of these "hours* are fabricated.

Eh, is it that outrageous? I was doing 30 hrs/week ECs and I was far from the most workaholic of my friends. If all they are doing is research and volunteering that doesn't set off my BS detector

 

[Lawpy]

Just because it's on the internet, doesn't make it true my love. Most of these "hours* are fabricated.

Eh, is it that outrageous? I was doing 30 hrs/week ECs and I was far from the most workaholic of my friends. If all they are doing is research and volunteering that doesn't set off my BS detector

It makes sense by doing the math though?

So in a week, there are 7 days x 24 hours/day = 168 hours. Now, the optimal sleeping time is 7-8 hours per day, so let's approximate that as 56 hours/week (max of 8 hours per day) to have 112 hours of waking time. As a full-time student, you'd likely spend 40 hours per week studying (assuming you're studying efficiently with a manageable courseload). This means you have 72 hours remaining. If someone is researching 15 hours/week and volunteering 15 hours/week, they still have 42 hours/week remaining to do whatever they want. Even if you spend 50-60 hours per week studying, you still have 22-32 hours/week doing whatever you want.

In the end, it depends on efficient time management.

 

[Lucca]

10-20 hrs /wk is pretty common for research, especially for-credit or for-pay positions. Volunteering that much? Ehhh, also possible. My example: I average like 15 hours a week doing research. Some weeks I do less. Some weeks I do more. I take some weeks off if I have a lot to do for school. My shifts as a volunteer translator at clinics in the city are about 5 hours long and I'll usually do one or two a week, but I have been called in up to 4 times in a week (including the weekend). So there are certainly weeks where I'm doing 20+ hours total of research + volunteer during the semester.

So it's not outrageous. You definitely shouldnt try to do more if it is going to affect your grades though. School first, ECs second.


disclaimer: my social life isn't as active as the average college student's probably. I get together with my friends like once every two weeks, hang out with my gf and my pets and that's about it.

 

[deleted802724]

i'm not rly sure about some of the responses here. i know a lot of people from my school who volunteered only around 3-5 hours per week and 10 hours research but still got into ivy league med schools. in fact, i've never seen anyone do more.
I myself just find this hard to believe because even if i manage my schedule to volunteer around 6 hours, 10 hours of research, only time i would have to study would be from 8pm to 12pm IF i assume that i'm getting 8 hours of sleep every day. only four hours of studying would result in me getting all C's in my classes - i wouldn't necessarily say that I'm dumb though. i would have 10 hours on saturday/sunday as a free time, but I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around these claims

 

[Lawpy]

i'm not rly sure about some of the responses here. i know a lot of people from my school who volunteered only around 3-5 hours per week and 10 hours research but still got into ivy league med schools. in fact, i've never seen anyone do more.
I myself just find this hard to believe because even if i manage my schedule to volunteer around 6 hours, 10 hours of research, only time i would have to study would be from 8pm to 12pm IF i assume that i'm getting 8 hours of sleep every day. only four hours of studying would result in me getting all C's in my classes - i wouldn't necessarily say that I'm dumb though. i would have 10 hours on saturday/sunday as a free time, but I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around these claims

just to clarify, i'm not making any recommendation that you should volunteer or do research for this long. i'm simply saying it's possible and definitely not an exaggeration. school/grades matter more than ECs, and the quality of ECs matter a lot more than how many hours you spent per week on it.

 

[deleted802724]

just to clarify, i'm not making any recommendation that you should volunteer or do research for this long. i'm simply saying it's possible and definitely not an exaggeration. school/grades matter more than ECs, and the quality of ECs matter a lot more than how many hours you spent per week on it.

Yes I agree but i guess my question is, is it really that practical unless you find academics at your school to be extremely easy?

 

[Lawpy]

Yes I agree but i guess my question is, is it really that practical unless you find academics at your school to be extremely easy?

yeah practicality depends on the courseload taken. for someone taking 12 credits worth of fluff and easy courses, the 15 hrs/week in research + 15 hrs/week in volunteering on top of getting a 4.0 with plenty of sleep and leisure is possible. i definitely wouldn't invest so much time on ECs with a rigorous courseload (like all upper-level engineering and physics courses) at a grade-deflating university like MIT.

 

[getAsordietrying]

So in a week, there are 7 days x 24 hours/day = 168 hours. Now, the optimal sleeping time is 7-8 hours per day, so let's approximate that as 56 hours/week (max of 8 hours per day) to have 112 hours of waking time. As a full-time student, you'd likely spend 40 hours per week studying (assuming you're studying efficiently with a manageable courseload). This means you have 72 hours remaining. If someone is researching 15 hours/week and volunteering 15 hours/week, they still have 42 hours/week remaining to do whatever they want. Even if you spend 50-60 hours per week studying, you still have 22-32 hours/week doing whatever you want.

In the end, it depends on efficient time management.

LOL SDN math. How about time spent doing things like showering, cooking food, occasional conversations with friends or roommates? Errands? I spend the least time on my social life out of all my room mates and the premeds I know well, yet I still find it difficult to spend 20 hours a week on ECs, the most I go for is about 15 hours a week as I don't do research yet, but I find it just exhausting to be constantly doing these things that require a lot of attention.

But yes there are a few people I have even met personally that are very smart and study less than most others and have better social lives than people like me and double the time I spend on my ECs.

Adderall

This is also very underestimated, I didn't think it was so apparent until I saw it with my own eyes. People generally take it during midterms / finals week, but I have met a few people who almost live off of it.

 

[Lawpy]

LOL SDN math. How about time spent doing things like showering, cooking food, occasional conversations with friends or roommates? Errands? I spend the least time on my social life out of all my room mates and the premeds I know well, yet I still find it difficult to spend 20 hours a week on ECs, the most I go for is about 15 hours a week as I don't do research yet, but I find it just exhausting to be constantly doing these things that require a lot of attention.

But yes there are a few people I have even met personally that are very smart and study less than most others and have better social lives than people like me and double the time I spend on my ECs.

I'm simply showing it's possible. That's all.

 

[Lucca]

LOL SDN math. How about time spent doing things like showering, cooking food, occasional conversations with friends or roommates? Errands? I spend the least time on my social life out of all my room mates and the premeds I know well, yet I still find it difficult to spend 20 hours a week on ECs, the most I go for is about 15 hours a week as I don't do research yet, but I find it just exhausting to be constantly doing these things that require a lot of attention.

But yes there are a few people I have even met personally that are very smart and study less than most others and have better social lives than people like me and double the time I spend on my ECs.


This is also very underestimated, I didn't think it was so apparent until I saw it with my own eyes. People generally take it during midterms / finals week, but I have met a few people who almost live off of it.

Wait, doesn't everyone have a small legion of servants to do all of that pleb stuff for them?

 

[aldol16]

yeah practicality depends on the courseload taken. for someone taking 12 credits worth of fluff and easy courses, the 15 hrs/week in research + 15 hrs/week in volunteering on top of getting a 4.0 with plenty of sleep and leisure is possible. i definitely wouldn't invest so much time on ECs with a rigorous courseload (like all upper-level engineering and physics courses) at a grade-deflating university like MIT.

It's definitely very important to have that EC/academic life balance when you're taking upper-level courses at rigorous universities. You don't want to have all work and no play - it makes the work that much harder.

 

[aldol16]

But yes there are a few people I have even met personally that are very smart and study less than most others and have better social lives than people like me and double the time I spend on my ECs.

There are also people who function perfectly well with only 6 hours of sleep a day. And a select few can even go down to 4-5 hours.

 

[getAsordietrying]

There are also people who function perfectly well with only 6 hours of sleep a day. And a select few can even go down to 4-5 hours.

I used to be one of those people who would sleep 6 hr a day and sleep in for one day on the weekend. I felt great. However, there was a slight loss in my mental performance. Sleeping 4-5 hours a day significantly affected my post-sleep retention of what I spent hours studying, but hey if it works for you then it works. Personally I go off of 7 hrs, sometimes 8 if I need it.

 

[Dr.Sticks]

Because they don't work
Working and full time job and being an aspiring doctor on the traditional path is next to impossible.
I would argue even working a part time job is fairly difficult unless that job allows you to study.(you either work part time or do your ECs..)

 

[floatingribs]

It's not too crazy tbh. Normal research/intern position make u commit to 10-25 hrs weekly for a semester and hospitals require a 6 month weekly commitment so it's pretty easy to get the hours

 

[kb1900]

Because they don't work
Working and full time job and being an aspiring doctor on the traditional path is next to impossible.
I would argue even working a part time job is fairly difficult unless that job allows you to study.(you either work part time or do your ECs..)

It's not too crazy tbh. Normal research/intern position make u commit to 10-25 hrs weekly for a semester and hospitals require a 6 month weekly commitment so it's pretty easy to get the hours

Worked part time 15 hrs a week and spent about 20hrs in the lab per week throughout undergrad. Still had a social life/ran errands/volunteered/whatever. Being in the city definitely helped maximize my efficiency.

The only time I EVER had to get near 40 hours/week for my academic work was 1) finals 2) one semester where I took 21 credits. I dont know anyone who was successful academically during undergrad that spent more than 5 hours a day studying.

The people who say its impossible simply have not been pushed enough. Pretty much all my peers were comfortably able to maintain ~25-30 hours of "other stuff" alongside school work. You just have to be efficient with your time and sacrifice a sunday here and there to catch up. Wtf do you plan to do when you have 70+ hours/week in the hospital?

 

[Dr.Sticks]

Worked part time 15 hrs a week and spent about 20hrs in the lab per week throughout undergrad. Still had a social life/ran errands/volunteered/whatever. Being in the city definitely helped maximize my efficiency.

The only time I EVER had to get near 40 hours/week for my academic work was 1) finals 2) one semester where I took 21 credits. I dont know anyone who was successful academically during undergrad that spent more than 5 hours a day studying.

The people who say its impossible simply have not been pushed enough. Pretty much all my peers were comfortably able to maintain ~25-30 hours of "other stuff" alongside school work. You just have to be efficient with your time and sacrifice a sunday here and there to catch up. Wtf do you plan to do when you have 70+ hours/week in the hospital?

Have a really hot girlfriend. 😀
Okay in seriousness; Those who work 70+ hours a week be it in a hospital or whatever else don't have a life full of hobbies and fun like someone working 40 a week would.
That is why workaholics often don't have a successful marriages.... They work so much they barely have time for their wives.

Again lets analyze this, the college schedule.
So you are a full time student, 15 credits and go to school 5 days a week
If you have an EC afterward, a commute, etc you might not have the time to fit in a part time job.
Why? Because jobs don't work based on your availability they work on what they need coverage for.

 

[kb1900]

Have a really hot girlfriend. 😀
Okay in seriousness; Those who work 70+ hours a week be it in a hospital or whatever else don't have a life full of hobbies and fun like someone working 40 a week would.
That is why workaholics often don't have a successful marriages.... They work so much they barely have time for their wives.

Again lets analyze this, the college schedule.
So you are a full time student, 15 credits and go to school 5 days a week
If you have an EC afterward, a commute, etc you might not have the time to fit in a part time job.
Why? Because jobs don't work based on your availability they work on what they need coverage for.

Any part time job with shift work can work with a college schedule. Hell, you can even be an undergrad tour guide that employs only students in the first place lmao

 

[Dr.Sticks]

Any part time job with shift work can work with a college schedule. Hell, you can even be an undergrad tour guide that employs only students in the first place lmao

Yes, and most jobs aren't shift work
Plus all your classes being in the morning isn't super realistic anyways
Often your classes might be spaced out
You have one class in the AM and another at noon, etc and it is different each day

That is why weekend work is the most realistic when in college full time
But wait..

Are you going to go volunteer or are you going to work? See where I am getting at.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Have a really hot girlfriend. 😀
Okay in seriousness; Those who work 70+ hours a week be it in a hospital or whatever else don't have a life full of hobbies and fun like someone working 40 a week would.
That is why workaholics often don't have a successful marriages.... They work so much they barely have time for their wives.

Again lets analyze this, the college schedule.
So you are a full time student, 15 credits and go to school 5 days a week
If you have an EC afterward, a commute, etc you might not have the time to fit in a part time job.
Why? Because jobs don't work based on your availability they work on what they need coverage for.

+1
I work an average of 70 hours a week and have a wife and two kids. Even now that I've finished my degree, I still only have time for maybe 10 hours a week of research and a few hours for non-clinical volunteering. Fortunately I keep racking up clinical hours at work. That leaves me not very much time for hobbies. My wife and I have stopped going to CrossFit and running and work out together in our home gym (we still do crossfit workouts, just at home). I haven't been to the range in months outside of work.

One day, when the kids are older, we'll have more time for hobbies. One day...

 

[kb1900]

Yes, and most jobs aren't shift work
Plus all your classes being in the morning isn't super realistic anyways
Often your classes might be spaced out
You have one class in the AM and another at noon, etc and it is different each day

That is why weekend work is the most realistic when in college full time
But wait..

Are you going to go volunteer or are you going to work? See where I am getting at.

All I'm saying is that it's very possible and plenty of people do it. Almost every job offered to undergrads by the university are accommodating to class schedules via a simple shift system. Anyway my point of posting wasn't about whats convenient, but what's possible.

it bothered me that people believe there's "hour fudging" happening for ppl that push 70hrs a week of (school + commitments)...which becomes a luxurious 30hrs a week during the summer and winter breaks aka right now

 

[kb1900]

+1
I work an average of 70 hours a week and have a wife and two kids. Even now that I've finished my degree, I still only have time for maybe 10 hours a week of research and a few hours for non-clinical volunteering. Fortunately I keep racking up clinical hours at work. That leaves me not very much time for hobbies. My wife and I have stopped going to CrossFit and running and work out together in our home gym (we still do crossfit workouts, just at home). I haven't been to the range in months outside of work.

One day, when the kids are older, we'll have more time for hobbies. One day...

Maybe I'm missing something but this is not what op is talking about right?

He's talking about an average college student whose only commitments are school + research + volunteering. No wife, no kids, no job...

 

[Dr.Sticks]

All I'm saying is that it's very possible and plenty of people do it.

And it bothered me that people believe there's "hour fudging" happening for ppl that push 70hrs a week of (school + commitments)

They do, and I do not know any that are doctors.
I know people who worked fulltime and what they sacrificed was their GPA.
They were so consumed with work and paying bills they couldn't focus enough on school.

It can be done but it isn't easy and it is very stressful and that could take a toll on tour grades.

I guess there is reason why more med students come from families that usually are better off.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Maybe I'm missing something but this is not what op is talking about right?

He's talking about an average college student whose only commitments are school + research + volunteering. No wife, no kids, no job...

That's why I quoted the person who said people working long weeks and going home to families aren't spending all their time doing hobbies.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

They do, and I do not know any that are doctors.
I know people who worked fulltime and what they sacrificed was their GPA.
They were so consumed with work and paying bills they couldn't focus enough on school.

It can be done but it isn't easy and it is very stressful and that could take a toll on tour grades.

I guess there is reason why more med students come from families that usually are better off.

It can be done, but depending on your job and situation, your GPA will take a hit. It's just how big of a hit that's the question.

 

[kb1900]

That's why I quoted the person who said people working long weeks and going home to families aren't spending all their time doing hobbies.

Ah my bad completely confused myself misreading

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Ah my bad completely confused myself misreading

Been there!

 

[kb1900]

They do, and I do not know any that are doctors.
I know people who worked fulltime and what they sacrificed was their GPA.
They were so consumed with work and paying bills they couldn't focus enough on school.

It can be done but it isn't easy and it is very stressful and that could take a toll on tour grades.

I guess there is reason why more med students come from families that usually are better off.

Yep this was me my first semester of college. I still remember trying to pick up extra work and skipping classes just so I could be on time with my rent checks... I cannot imagine going thru that nightmare ever again

Thankfully I had the opportunity to switch to a partime job and take out additional loans

 

[esob]

They don't work b/c someone else is paying their way through life.

 

[Dr.Sticks]

They don't work b/c someone else is paying their way through life.

Or because their parents are generous enough to not kick them out at 18.
Kicking your kid out at 18 is some of the dumbest stuff ever and it is pretty dumb that it is popular in the current culture.

How does that help your kid?? I mean unless they are a bum, but a college bound kid would do a lot more if you didn't kick them out and make them decide between school and being homeless.

I am glad my parents didn't put me on the streets once I hit the magic number.

 

[kb1900]

Or because their parents are generous enough to not kick them out at 18.
Kicking your kid out at 18 is some of the dumbest stuff ever and it is pretty dumb that it is popular in the current culture.

How does that help your kid?? I mean unless they are a bum, but a college bound kid would do a lot more if you didn't kick them out and make them decide between school and being homeless.

I am glad my parents didn't put me on the streets once I hit the magic number.

How popular is it though??

I had a couple of acquantinces that went thru this once they finished high school (dropped out typically). But they all were community college bound and had severe issues (drug/crime etc)

 

[Dr.Sticks]

How popular is it though??

I had a couple of acquantinces that went thru this once they finished high school (dropped out typically). But they all were community college bound and had severe issues (drug/crime etc)

Where I am fairly..
I even met 17 year olds that were too busy working and not focussed on their education at all..
That is perhaps a reason why my general area has a low rate of college graduates, and a lower income.

Just kick those freeloading jerks out and they will eventually become super educated rich people..
Yeah,no..

Heck I even know of someone who has been on their own since 15....

 

[esob]

Or because their parents are generous enough to not kick them out at 18.
Kicking your kid out at 18 is some of the dumbest stuff ever and it is pretty dumb that it is popular in the current culture.

How does that help your kid?? I mean unless they are a bum, but a college bound kid would do a lot more if you didn't kick them out and make them decide between school and being homeless.

I am glad my parents didn't put me on the streets once I hit the magic number.

That is exactly what I meant though: parents paying their way, hence they are not working. My point is, that it's entirely possible if you have mommy and daddy paying your way in school. Most people are not in that situation though. Most of the college students I know work at least part, so one of those activities (like research) gets replaced with waiting tables. These aren't kids that were thrown out, they are just kids that if they want a new shirt or a night out with friends they have to make their own money. I do have some peers however that when they want something they just put it on daddy's credit card and have zero sense of what it means to work for money. I'm not planning on throwing my kids out when they turn 18 but they will work if they want things (even though I have more than enough money that they could literally spend their entire adult lives as bums if I wanted to finance them in that life).

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

That is exactly what I meant though: parents paying their way, hence they are not working. My point is, that it's entirely possible if you have mommy and daddy paying your way in school. Most people are not in that situation though. Most of the college students I know work at least part, so one of those activities (like research) gets replaced with waiting tables. These aren't kids that were thrown out, they are just kids that if they want a new shirt or a night out with friends they have to make their own money. I do have some peers however that when they want something they just put it on daddy's credit card and have zero sense of what it means to work for money. I'm not planning on throwing my kids out when they turn 18 but they will work if they want things (even though I have more than enough money that they could literally spend their entire adult lives as bums if I wanted to finance them in that life).

Cue defensive post from rich kid who didn't have to work through college.

 

[ifnotnowwren]

They don't work b/c someone else is paying their way through life.

You can also seek out research positions and clinical experiences that are paid positions, that's what I did. I got a scholarship for tuition but I needed a salary to sustain myself and worked really hard to find opportunities that would be good for my application/my personal development but also allowed me to pay the rent. But yeah my roommate had her parents pay her way through and she had a much easier time doing sporadic unpaid research and extensive volunteer work that required high time commitments.

 

[Dr.Sticks]

That is exactly what I meant though: parents paying their way, hence they are not working. My point is, that it's entirely possible if you have mommy and daddy paying your way in school. Most people are not in that situation though. Most of the college students I know work at least part, so one of those activities (like research) gets replaced with waiting tables. These aren't kids that were thrown out, they are just kids that if they want a new shirt or a night out with friends they have to make their own money. I do have some peers however that when they want something they just put it on daddy's credit card and have zero sense of what it means to work for money. I'm not planning on throwing my kids out when they turn 18 but they will work if they want things (even though I have more than enough money that they could literally spend their entire adult lives as bums if I wanted to finance them in that life).

Yeah kids who are thrown out often don't make it through college or don't do well at all. How can you do well if you are too worried about not getting evicted, eating, not getting the light shut off, etc?
Hell I wasn't thrown out but I still don't know how I will afford a med school application cycle.. I can't imagine what it would be like for someone who has just a H.S diploma and has to work full time just to try and go to school, living paycheck to paycheck.

 

[Goro]

Good time mgt skills.

i just read a post about some person at state school getting 4.0, researching 15 hours, and volunteering 15 hours per week. A lot of people at my school volunteer around 3 hours at maximum per week and do 5 hours of research... and if they do research, they take only 4 classes. i go to a top 20 institution if that matters at all. any inputs?

 

[Kpw101]

I work 20 hours a week, volunteer 10+, research for 10+. Good time management skills and quality studying time. You'll find that you have plenty of time to get everything done and still goof around if you make sure most of the hours of your day are productive.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Yeah kids who are thrown out often don't make it through college or don't do well at all. How can you do well if you are too worried about not getting evicted, eating, not getting the light shut off, etc?
Hell I wasn't thrown out but I still don't know how I will afford a med school application cycle.. I can't imagine what it would be like for someone who has just a H.S diploma and has to work full time just to try and go to school, living paycheck to paycheck.

I work with dozens of them every day. I was one of them. It's hard going to school while working full time and dealing with the realities of life. That's probably why they like non-trads and people with real life experience.