Include high school work and volunteering on AADSAS?

[DazzlingSmile87]

I had great work experience, volunteering in hospitals and leadership for community service groups in high school...can I include these on my application [important high school related experiences]?

I am asking because I would like to include my high school experiences on the application and leave room for my important college experiences on my personal statement [I really won't have room to discuss high school stuff in my personal statement although they're character-building and significant opportunities]

Thanks so much!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[luv8724]

I say why not... If your experiences enlightens who you are and are related to what you can attribute to the schools you are applying to, then go for it. I had attended Model United Nations 5 times during high school and two of them were held in Holland which I ended up being a committee chair in one of them. That kind of stuff shows that you have a leadership.

 

[interesting]

i included one volunteer experience from middle school. i had 3 interviews, 1 waitlist and 1 acceptance.

 

[MatthewLeeDDS]

There are two basic scenarios when this would be a good idea:

If it is a long-term volunteer/service experience that you have been doing since high school. Example: tutoring kids at your local church for free one sunday out of the month for the past 5 years would probably look pretty legit. Schools like volunteer longevity, not just spurts here and there.

If it was something BIG. If you cleaned up leaves for 4 hours one day as an after school project when you were in 10th grade, you should probably pass. However, if you went on a mission trip and built homes in Nicaragua for a 2 weeks one summer back in high school, this would show some early maturity and some deep seeded commitment to giving back.

My point is... don't just use high school experiences to fill space

 

[MowgliR]

how about sports since high school through college?

 

[DrReo]

I had great work experience, volunteering in hospitals and leadership for community service groups in high school...can I include these on my application [important high school related experiences]?

I am asking because I would like to include my high school experiences on the application and leave room for my important college experiences on my personal statement [I really won't have room to discuss high school stuff in my personal statement although they're character-building and significant opportunities]

Thanks so much!

I honestly hope you have done more glorious, noteworthy things since your high school days. I can see if you're an Eagle Scout, but keep it short and no one cares what you did in high school.

 

[DazzlingSmile87]

It was just an honest question...
I have acquired vast accomplishments since high school but I was just trying to determine if I should include my notable high school accomplishments [group leader of Alzheimer's home/elementary school mentoring groups for 3 years...2 year paid internship] since they showed my early initiative towards community service and volunteering.
I figured it might have been appropriate to include these in the AADSAS application under work experience [paid internship] and one blurb summarizing all the volunteering and leadership. This way I would leave my personal statement for only current experiences.

But thanks everyone for your input!

 

[mylilpony]

It was just an honest question...
I have acquired vast accomplishments since high school but I was just trying to determine if I should include my notable high school accomplishments [group leader of Alzheimer's home/elementary school mentoring groups for 3 years...2 year paid internship] since they showed my early initiative towards community service and volunteering.
I figured it might have been appropriate to include these in the AADSAS application under work experience [paid internship] and one blurb summarizing all the volunteering and leadership. This way I would leave my personal statement for only current experiences.

But thanks everyone for your input!

Call a dental school that you are interested in and ask for their opinion.

 

[DazzlingSmile87]

Call a dental school that you are interested in and ask for their opinion.

Thanks, that's probably my best bet!

 

[DrReo]

Thanks, that's probably my best bet!

Don't let the door hit you on your way out.

 

[mylilpony]

Don't let the door hit you on your way out.

lol but a call is anonymous. They can get a feel for what how dental schools perceive this.

 

[DrReo]

lol but a call is anonymous. They can get a feel for what how dental schools perceive this.

Using high school information gives a perception that you didn't have enough collegiate, worthwhile material. Also, who knows what schools simply look at the activities and disregard the personal statement initially.

I feel sorry for all the calls dental schools receive from students who are attempting to become professionals and lack a judgment of a certain caliber.

 

[Blue Panther]

What you did in High School does not matter anymore, what you did in undergrad will not mater in dental school, what you do in dental school will not matter 10 years post dental graduation. However, your past experiences will build you as a person but not your resume.

 

[DazzlingSmile87]

Using high school information gives a perception that you didn't have enough collegiate, worthwhile material. Also, who knows what schools simply look at the activities and disregard the personal statement initially.

I feel sorry for all the calls dental schools receive from students who are attempting to become professionals and lack a judgment of a certain caliber.

The only "lack of judgment of a certain caliber" is your poor attempt at insulting my question. Interestingly enough, it was my research mentor who suggested I include these couple of notable high school experiences to show my continuous dedication [and he has guided other students into medical and dental school acceptances]. Hence, I was double-checking with SDN members who have been through the process, since this is the purpose of the forum. I have yet to call any dental school but a question like this I would think is legitimate, considering the whole difficulty of this competition is separating yourself from others.
Cheers.

 

[DazzlingSmile87]

What you did in High School does not matter anymore, what you did in undergrad will not mater in dental school, what you do in dental school will not matter 10 years post dental graduation. However, your past experiences will build you as a person but not your resume.

Thank you, I appreciate your intelligible response [without the added sarcasm]
I agree with your mentality but I momentarily thought otherwise since I was recommended by my research mentor to include those 2 hs accomplishments, but now I go back to my original thoughts of thinking it's not very relevant to application.