How to classify volunteer tutoring/volunteer TA?

[907914]

My civilian volunteering includes about 150 hours of tutoring, about 60 hours as a genetics TA, about 21 hours with salvation army and like 15 hours between two events for teaching STEM to middle schools students. Should I classify the tutoring and TA as volunteering or as "teaching/tutoring/TA"? I just don't want my civilian tutoring coming off as low...and they were/are no credit/no pay roles.

I do have significant other clinical/non-clinical volunteering and teaching in a military setting, so raw numbers is not necessarily an issue. I just worry ADCOMs may just sort things by category, look at hours, and read the interesting looking ones.

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[LizzyM]

It doesn't really matter given that you have 60 hours of being a TA. The 150 hours of tutoring is a significant block of time and deserves mention. The rest is just small potatoes that you could easily leave out if you have 15+ items.

 

[907914]

It doesn't really matter given that you have 60 hours of being a TA. The 150 hours of tutoring is a significant block of time and deserves mention. The rest is just small potatoes that you could easily leave out if you have 15+ items.

And that I do. Thank you! So it would be worthwhile to put the TA in a "TA" category and the tutoring in a "volunteer" category?

 

[LizzyM]

It you were tutoring college students or high level HS students, I think that calling it tutoring might be best. If you were tutoring up through 9th grade, or HS students doing remedial work, then volunteer non-clinical might be a better descriptor. With small group learning going on in med schools. some adcoms highly value experience in teaching /tutoring but the ideas is that it is higher level material and not the times tables.

 

[907914]

It you were tutoring college students or high level HS students, I think that calling it tutoring might be best. If you were tutoring up through 9th grade, or HS students doing remedial work, then volunteer non-clinical might be a better descriptor. With small group learning going on in med schools. some adcoms highly value experience in teaching /tutoring but the ideas is that it is higher level material and not the times tables.

Thank you for the feedback, I greatly appreciate it. It has been for college students who have children but no/little childcare (thus, little access to on-campus tutoring). I suppose I will likely just not have a civilian volunteering tab (unless I stack those 30 something hours in to a small 15th item type of block?)

 

[LizzyM]

Are you saying that you need something on your application that can be labeled non-clinical volunteering?

No one will be critical if you label the voluntary tutoring of college students as "volunteer, non-clinical" but it might be better to call those "tutoring" and pull up those 36 hours with Salvation Army, etc as volunteer,non-clinical and hope that the adcom gives you props for your service as a volunteer in the US military.

 

[907914]

Are you saying that you need something on your application that can be labeled non-clinical volunteering?

No one will be critical if you label the voluntary tutoring of college students as "volunteer, non-clinical" but it might be better to call those "tutoring" and pull up those 36 hours with Salvation Army, etc as volunteer,non-clinical and hope that the adcom gives you props for your service as a volunteer in the US military.

More or less, yah. I am just paranoid I will get an ADCOM member that sees my application and wonders why there was so little volunteering outside of the military (was still in the reserves until middle of Junior year).

My military volunteering is stuff like phlebotomy at an Army hospital outside of duty hours, setting up an annual blood drive, mental health advocate, stuff like that which is real volunteering, just in a military context. Like I said, I am just worried that they may wonder why there wasn't much "regular" volunteering. Am I just being paranoid?

 

[LizzyM]

More or less, yah. I am just paranoid I will get an ADCOM member that sees my application and wonders why there was so little volunteering outside of the military (was still in the reserves until middle of Junior year).

My military volunteering is stuff like phlebotomy at an Army hospital outside of duty hours, setting up an annual blood drive, mental health advocate, stuff like that which is real volunteering, just in a military context. Like I said, I am just worried that they may wonder why there wasn't much "regular" volunteering. Am I just being paranoid?

Some adcoms will see your service, all of it, not just the "volunteering" for extra activities, as volunteering... It is not for nothing that the LizzyM score awards 5 points for military service. And if you were in for many years, you didn't have many opportunities for civilian volunteering and that's understandable.
At ease!