Is this volunteer experience too short to include on my application?

[JulianaW]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I have a volunteer experience that I participated in for 6 months and 30 hours (which I realize is not a whole lot). The issue is that I actually had some really meaningful experiences here (experiences that I'm currently including in my personal statement) but I'm not sure if the time I spent here is so negligible that I should just leave it off my app.

If I do leave it off my application, does this mean I can't talk about it in my personal statement?

 

[Notsobs]

If you have a lot of other activities to put down on your application, you should probably leave this one out since the actual number of hours is so few (relative to your other experiences, I'm assuming). But you should definitely talk about this activity in your personal statement even if it's not on your list of EC's in the application.

 

[Catalystik]

I have a volunteer experience that I participated in for 6 months and 30 hours (which I realize is not a whole lot). The issue is that I actually had some really meaningful experiences here (experiences that I'm currently including in my personal statement) but I'm not sure if the time I spent here is so negligible that I should just leave it off my app.

If I do leave it off my application, does this mean I can't talk about it in my personal statement?

Applicants commonly list one-week meaningful Alternative Spring Break experiences. I think you're fine to use a space for it if the experience was significant to you. Alternatively, you could group it with other Short-Term Volunteerism (naming it as such) to conserve space or just leave mention of it in your PS.

 

[LizzyM]

I don't consider 1 hour per week for 6 months to be insigificant. List it. It shows that you stuck with something for the long haul, even if it was just a short time per week (or maybe it was several hours just once a month?).

 

[rhcarolina]

I'd include it. I included a volunteer experience I had done for 30 hours over a year (during college breaks), and it was the central topic in one of my interviews. You never know what can catch an AdCom's eye.

 

[northpenn]

I'd include it but be specific about how those 30 hours were distributed over the 6 months