Insufficient volunteer hours

[dadmdtobe004]

Low key freaking out because I don’t have enough volunteer hours and I’m so worried that this is going to be a deal breaker. I have research experience, clinical experience, played a sport in college, great gpa, strong mcat but I just feel like this will be such a glaring omission. Someone please tell me I’m wrong?

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[deleted980662]

you're missing some important information here – how many volunteer hours do you have in total?

if most other aspects of your application are satisfactory, low volunteer hours probably won't break you. but it depends on how many you have, and how substantive these experiences were.

 

[Moko]

Low key freaking out because I don’t have enough volunteer hours and I’m so worried that this is going to be a deal breaker. I have research experience, clinical experience, played a sport in college, great gpa, strong mcat but I just feel like this will be such a glaring omission. Someone please tell me I’m wrong?

Depends on how many hours you have and the strength of the other components of your application. However, volunteering is an important part of one's application. Given how competitive the admissions process has become, you never want to be the one lacking a major class of experiences that every other applicant has. Lack of volunteering has sunken plenty of otherwise good applicants, though there are certainly exceptions that have gotten through (though usually because of the other aspects of their application).

 

[dadmdtobe004]

you're missing some important information here – how many volunteer hours do you have in total?

if most other aspects of your application are satisfactory, low volunteer hours probably won't break you. but it depends on how many you have, and how substantive these experiences were.

I have 40 hrs with the same organization. I had some other experiences but the hours were even less so I felt like it would just appear as though I was trying to check off the box. So I omitted those experiences for others.

 

[Moko]

I have 40 hrs with the same organization.

Too little. Work on getting more volunteer hours. Worst case scenario, if you become a re-applicant, at least you would have fixed this major hole in your application the next go around.

 

[deleted980662]

OP, have you submitted your AMCAS yet? you can list volunteer hours that you anticipate gaining over the application year. see if you can schedule some weekly volunteering with that organization before you submit, and estimate how many hours you'll gain before next summer. then add those to your current number.

also, those extraneous volunteer activities are still worth including if you have any room! i would suggest adding an activity titled "Short-Term Volunteering" and listing the other experiences within.

 

[Moko]

you can list volunteer hours that you anticipate gaining over the application year. see if you can schedule some weekly volunteering with that organization before you submit, and estimate how many hours you'll gain before next summer. then add those to your current number.

The problem with this is that future hours mean almost nothing to adcoms given how often plans change after submission.

An applicant with 50 hours performed and 500 anticipated hours will still be seen as being a '50 hours' applicant.

 

[deleted980662]

The problem with this is that future hours mean almost nothing to adcoms given how often plans change after submission.

An applicant with 50 hours performed and 500 anticipated hours will still be seen as being a '50 hours' applicant.

but is there actually a distinction between performed and anticipated hours on the AMCAS? when i applied, there was a "total hours" box where you entered all your hours for an activity, including anticipated hours. unless you're extrapolating from the range of dates, i'm not sure how you'd be able to tell the difference.

 

[Moko]

but is there actually a distinction between performed and anticipated hours on the AMCAS? when i applied, there was a "total hours" box where you entered all your hours for an activity, including anticipated hours. unless you're extrapolating from the range of dates, i'm not sure how you'd be able to tell the difference.

Some people will separate them by using two different date ranges (e.g Sept 2017 - June 2019; July 2019 - June 2020), others will write in the section how many hours have actually been performed vs how many are anticipated. Otherwise, I extrapolate and usually assume that the numbers are being inflated by folks merging the past and future time periods together. Most of the reviewers have gone through this process before and know how the game is played 😉 .

 

[dadmdtobe004]

Too little. Work on getting more volunteer hours. Worst case scenario, if you become a re-applicant, at least you would have fixed this major hole in your application the next go around.

Yeah I already applied so I guess I will just pray.

 

[Hi_I'mPaul]

Yeah I already applied so I guess I will just pray.

Keep volunteering. It'll make for good updates for you to send throughout the cycle.

 

[Planes2Doc]

You would definitely need more. See if you can find an additional non-clinical volunteering gig in the meantime to add to an update letter. Otherwise, if things don't work out this cycle, you will know where to focus your attention!

 

[Goro]

I have 40 hrs with the same organization. I had some other experiences but the hours were even less so I felt like it would just appear as though I was trying to check off the box. So I omitted those experiences for others.

*sigh* Lex, what are you going to say when asked how you know you are suited for a life of caring for the sick and suffering? “That you just know”? Imagine how that will go over!

This is not the application of a person who dearly wants to be a physician. It is the application of someone who wants to be a doctor as long as it is convenient or it doesn't interfere with research.

Here's the deal: You need to show AdComs that you know what you're getting into, and show off your altruistic, humanistic side. We need to know that you're going to like being around sick or injured people for the next 40 years.

Here's another way of looking at it: would you buy a new car without test driving it? Buy a new suit or dress without trying it on??

We're also not looking for merely for good medical students, we're looking for people who will make good doctors, and 4.0 GPA robots are a dime-a-dozen.

I've seen plenty of posts here from high GPA/high MCAT candidates who were rejected because they had little patient contact experience.

Not all volunteering needs to be in a hospital. Think hospice, Planned Parenthood, nursing homes, rehab facilities, crisis hotlines, camps for sick children, or clinics.

Some types of volunteer activities are more appealing than others. Volunteering in a nice suburban hospital is all very well and good and all, but doesn't show that you're willing to dig in and get your hands dirty in the same way that working with the developmentally disabled (or homeless, the dying, or Alzheimer’s or mentally ill or elderly or ESL or domestic, rural impoverished) does. The uncomfortable situations are the ones that really demonstrate your altruism and get you 'brownie points'. Plus, they frankly teach you more -- they develop your compassion and humanity in ways comfortable situations can't.

Service need not be "unique". If you can alleviate suffering in your community through service to the poor, homeless, illiterate, fatherless, etc, you are meeting an otherwise unmet need and learning more about the lives of the people (or types of people) who will someday be your patients. Check out your local houses of worship for volunteer opportunities. The key thing is service to others less fortunate than you. And get off campus and out of your comfort zone!

Examples include: Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House, Humane Society, crisis hotlines, soup kitchen, food pantry, homeless or women’s shelter, after-school tutoring for students or coaching a sport in a poor school district, teaching ESL to adults at a community center, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, or Meals on Wheels.

 

[MyOdyssey]

What if the OP's clinical volunteering (as opposed to nonclinical volunteering) were sufficient and was directed at underserved populations (e.g. large public hospital, health clinic for the homeless, etc.)? Would that satisfy the need to show an interest in serving others normally covered by nonclinical volunteering with the underprivileged?

 

[Goro]

What if the OP's clinical volunteering (as opposed to nonclinical volunteering) were sufficient and was directed at underserved populations (e.g. large public hospital, health clinic for the homeless, etc.)? Would that satisfy the need to show an interest in serving others normally covered by nonclinical volunteering with the underprivileged?

We really need to see both.

 

[openstage]

I know Ad coms really like to see “both,” but is it viewed as a red flag if you have hundreds of hours volunteering only in clinical settings?