Just completed TONS more community service hours, but already submitted app?

[marii0o]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi Everyone!

I apologize in advance if this has been asked before, I just couldn't find anything.

I've been doing some service/volunteering at a local community hospital that serves underprivileged areas near my home town throughout this summer, and I've totaled quite a few hours there (over 200, I'm pretty sure).

Unfortunately, I didn't find out about this opportunity until after I had submitted my TMDSAS app (Texas app for Texas residents). I'd really like to put it on my application as well, and it's a little too late to edit it now since it has already been transmitted to the schools.

Do I just call up the app service/email them and tell them I have all these extra hours now? Or do I let each of the individual schools know (I'm only applying to three anyway 😛 ). Does it even matter/do the schools even care at this point now that they already have all my other information?

Thanks!! 😀

 

[AwesomeTeeth]

Hi Everyone!

I apologize in advance if this has been asked before, I just couldn't find anything.

I've been doing some service/volunteering at a local community hospital that serves underprivileged areas near my home town throughout this summer, and I've totaled quite a few hours there (over 200, I'm pretty sure).

Unfortunately, I didn't find out about this opportunity until after I had submitted my TMDSAS app (Texas app for Texas residents). I'd really like to put it on my application as well, and it's a little too late to edit it now since it has already been transmitted to the schools.

Do I just call up the app service/email them and tell them I have all these extra hours now? Or do I let each of the individual schools know (I'm only applying to three anyway 😛 ). Does it even matter/do the schools even care at this point now that they already have all my other information?

Thanks!! 😀

Honestly, I don't think it would matter at this point since they have all your information from TMDSAS already. If they let everyone update their app through the school's admissions office, it would be mass chaos with people calling in to update with every little thing they've done.

You have great stats. I guarantee you'll get in somewhere in Texas. Stop worrying =)

 

[jeffity]

In your particular case, I think your application looks solid as it is. This would just be more frosting on your cake.

 

[doc toothache]

That would be like worrying about the effect of a feather on an elephant's weight or in the case of Texas, the weight of a tick on a longhorn.

 

[marii0o]

Alright, thanks everyone!

I guess I'm just nervous about this whole thing, I don't want to look under-qualified in anything.

Thanks for the advice! I guess I should just let this one go and enjoy the ride 😳

 

[thewobblytooth]

if anything, it'll be something good to talk about during interviews. Nothing is a waste of time!

 

[marii0o]

if anything, it'll be something good to talk about during interviews. Nothing is a waste of time!

Very true! I was just worried that my community service hours would be a determining factor, especially for Baylor. I didn't have all that many, so I thought I should supplement. Oh well, it was a great experience anyway!

 

[AwesomeTeeth]

Very true! I was just worried that my community service hours would be a determining factor, especially for Baylor. I didn't have all that many, so I thought I should supplement. Oh well, it was a great experience anyway!

Honestly the whole Baylor/community service thing is pretty overblown. People seem to think you need to do tons upon tons of stuff to get in. If you've done like 150 hours of service or worked in a community dental clinic for a bit, then you should be fine.

You have great numbers (GPA + DAT). That's 70% of the battle right there. If you've taken some upper level biology classes and are nice/knowledgeable at the interview, there's no reason you won't get in. Just talk about your latest endeavors when you go there and they'll love you even more. 👍

 

[dantemac]

My friend applied to PA school and had this problem, she racked up like 500 more clinical hours during the application process. The best thing to do is to contact the schools individually, via their admissions department, and politely ask that they put an addendum to your file. They will probably kindly do this.

 

[marii0o]

@AwesomeTeeth: I'm hoping that's the case! I'm only applying with 2 years of undergraduate work, since I'm graduating a year early. Most of my upper divisions are going to be this year, hopefully they take that into account!

@dantemac: Thank you! That's what I was thinking about doing initially, I just wasn't sure the schools would care that much about it, or if they would bother with it at all since I'm sure it's plenty busy over there.

 

[AwesomeTeeth]

@AwesomeTeeth: I'm hoping that's the case! I'm only applying with 2 years of undergraduate work, since I'm graduating a year early. Most of my upper divisions are going to be this year, hopefully they take that into account!

Oh wow you're only applying with two years of undergrad work? I dunno how that's going to look because Baylor really really likes upper division biology even if you have great grades in everything else.

There was a guy last year who applied with 2 years worth of grades and he had some killer stats as well. He interviewed at all the TX schools and thought they went well. He didn't hear from anywhere in TX on Dec. 1 but eventually went to a nice Ivy school.

I'm not trying to freak you out or anything, but that's just the story I've heard. Did you indicate on your app that you were graduating early? I think you should call the schools and tell them that if you didn't. Otherwise, they're going to think you're not going to get a bachelors before entering and that not a good thing.

 

[wizi]

Alright, thanks everyone!

I guess I'm just nervous about this whole thing, I don't want to look under-qualified in anything.

Thanks for the advice! I guess I should just let this one go and enjoy the ride 😳

You got 28 on RC? How did you do it 🙂 ?
I am doing so bad on RC lol.

 

[marii0o]

Oh wow you're only applying with two years of undergrad work? I dunno how that's going to look because Baylor really really likes upper division biology even if you have great grades in everything else.

There was a guy last year who applied with 2 years worth of grades and he had some killer stats as well. He interviewed at all the TX schools and thought they went well. He didn't hear from anywhere in TX on Dec. 1 but eventually went to a nice Ivy school.

I'm not trying to freak you out or anything, but that's just the story I've heard. Did you indicate on your app that you were graduating early? I think you should call the schools and tell them that if you didn't. Otherwise, they're going to think you're not going to get a bachelors before entering and that not a good thing.

Yup, on TMDSAS they have you put your expected graduation date, and they'll be able to see I started in '09 and I'll be receiving my degree in spring '12. I'm hoping Baylor takes into consideration that I am a bio major, and I will have at least 36+ hours of upper level biology by the time I matriculate. I'll be sure to sell that point if I get an interview. I'm just graduating early because I had dual credit and AP out of my ears, pretty much saved me my freshman year of school.

Eep! To be rejected from all 3 TX schools and get into an Ivy?? That's so weird, was he an in state resident? That kind of freaks me out. Hopefully I get a better outcome than that, these are the only three schools I'm applying to!

 

[AwesomeTeeth]

Eep! To be rejected from all 3 TX schools and get into an Ivy?? That's so weird, was he an in state resident? That kind of freaks me out. Hopefully I get a better outcome than that, these are the only three schools I'm applying to!

Yeah he was a resident. He didn't do undergrad here but he lived in Texas the majority of his life. Well I wouldn't freak out too much because he wasn't going to get a degree like you are. He was just going straight from 2 years of undergrad to dental school. Which worked out for him in the end.

I actually know two texas people who interviewed at all the dental schools and didn't get in any of them. They ended up going out of state. But they definitely didn't have stats like yours. You'll be fine 👍

 

[marii0o]

You got 28 on RC? How did you do it 🙂 ?
I am doing so bad on RC lol.

Hmm... what are you having trouble with?

Honestly, I just read all the time, it's one of my favorite hobbies. I'm a huge book nerd, so I've just had a lot of practice in speed reading and comprehension. I've heard that the search & destroy method works for a lot of people to get a pretty decent score if you're a slower reader, I didn't use this, but I've heard people get good results!

I just read the passages all the way through, answered the questions I knew for sure, and skipped and marked the ones I wasn't for sure on. Then went back and answered those looking harder into the passages, and moved on to the next passage. I ended up finishing with about 20-something minutes left on the clock, and went back and made sure I was completely confident with my answers.

 

[wizi]

Hmm... what are you having trouble with?

Honestly, I just read all the time, it's one of my favorite hobbies. I'm a huge book nerd, so I've just had a lot of practice in speed reading and comprehension. I've heard that the search & destroy method works for a lot of people to get a pretty decent score if you're a slower reader, I didn't use this, but I've heard people get good results!

I just read the passages all the way through, answered the questions I knew for sure, and skipped and marked the ones I wasn't for sure on. Then went back and answered those looking harder into the passages, and moved on to the next passage. I ended up finishing with about 20-something minutes left on the clock, and went back and made sure I was completely confident with my answers.

You do all that and still have 20 mins left. lol I guess you are basically a good reader.

My problem is that I just came to the U.S not too long ago. I am an ESL and I have read about 5 English books in my entire life. Well, I read campbell, Barron, Twilight and SDN if those count.

I am a real slow reader and can't skim. I guess I just have to read and read more.

 

[marii0o]

You do all that and still have 20 mins left. lol I guess you are basically a good reader.

My problem is that I just came to the U.S not too long ago. I am an ESL and I have read about 5 English books in my entire life. Well, I read campbell, Barron, Twilight and SDN if those count.

I am a real slow reader and can't skim. I guess I just have to read and read more.

Ah, I see.
Yeah, definitely practice reading a lot, I suggest passages maybe in magazines that are about the same length as you'll find on the DAT (14/15 paragraphs) and just really focus on comprehending and reading as quickly as possible. Maybe getting your hands on some practice tests too, Crack DAT Reading was pretty helpful for me, it had 10-or-something tests that I thought were pretty close to the type and difficulty of the actual DAT.