Low Volunteer Experience

[EllaOfFrell]

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I'm a third year with a 3.7 overall GPA and and something like a 3.85 science GPA. I plan on taking the MCAT this April and am taking a Kaplan course to prepare. I have been in a research lab since Jan 08, and have now begun my own project, and plan to be there the rest of this year and next year (hopes of publication). however, I have little to no volunteer experience or extracurricular activities - I commute home every Sunday for church with a group of people from school who showed interest in attending my church, I used to do tons of stuff in high school, I'm going to start being a Big Sister this Tuesday and I'm going to start volunteering at our university's children's hospital on Saturdays. Do I have a chance of getting into medical school if I apply this summer? Even though I don't have many extracurriculars? Should I wait a year (that wasn't my plan, but if it would help my application, I would)? Does any one know of any awesome, intense summer volunteer experiences I could apply for this summer?

Let me know what you think! Thanks! 🙂

 

[TRN1983]

Start increasing your volunteer hours ASAP. Its a big deal, bigger than your potential publication IMHO (for most schools). Between now and July you can get LOTS of volunteer time in. Make it count.

 

[EllaOfFrell]

But you think its feasible that I'll be accepted if I do so? Any good ideas? Thanks!

 

[TRN1983]

Yeah, its reasonable, especially if you do really well on the MCAT (35+). But, in my experience having few and recent volunteer hours coming into an application cycle will hurt you quite a bit!

 

[HeatherMD]

Yeah, its reasonable, especially if you do really well on the MCAT (35+). But, in my experience having few and recent volunteer hours coming into an application cycle will hurt you quite a bit!

really?

Ouch! This isn't good news for me =(

 

[TRN1983]

really?

Ouch! This isn't good news for me =(

You've got some pretty awesome community involvement, so just try to put some time into medical volunteer work and I'm sure you'll be fine. I'd definitely try to beef up that list of schools though.

I've got a 33/3.75 w/ good LOR's & PS and schools aren't showing me much love. I think a few other factors play into it, but I think the big one is the recent (early 2008) and relatively few (75-100 in ED, 50-75 in community) volunteer hours.

 

[HeatherMD]

yeah I just didn't start volunteering until this year (I couldn't! I was working for MONEY!) so my volunteering will only be at 1yr by the time I apply..

I didn't realize volunteering mattered THAT much. Your GPA & MCAT are great, I would think that would get your foot in the door for interviews at least.

lol and as for my list of schools.. I do plan to build on it, I just don't know the US schools yet. I've decided to post-pone my US applications anyway, so instead of applying next cycle, I'll apply the one after (for matriculation in 2011).
I know, it's a big delay, but I want to give Canada a chance first. Our application cycle is different (earlier), and it also buys me an extra year to take post-bacc classes if necessary, and kick my GPA to a 3.6+ which would make me a better candidate for US schools (also adds a year to the EC's and I'll probably re-take the MCAT).

My dream school is in the USA, but if by magic I get in here, I'll probably stay.

 

[TRN1983]

Yeah, i worked for money, too. I was first in family to go to medical school, etc, etc. Not many people care too much about any of that from my experience, unfortunately. (Probably because they cannot relate.) Its one of those things I hear people talk about, but it doesn't seem to actually make a difference much of the time. Although, I did interview with one person who made a big deal of it. It was a great interview... hopefully I'll get lucky!

If you can volunteer your butt off and show that you're working hard you'll be fine. 🙂 If it takes a year to do all of that stuff, then so be it. its just a year, right?

Good luck! 👍

 

[Mobius1985]

Your research experience and GPA are outstanding.

Applying with less than 1.5 years of apparent interest in becoming a physician (as reflected by what you list among your extracurriculars) seems iffy to me. Adcomms seeing an application with "last minute" humanitarian and clinical experience will not perceive a sustained dedication to becoming a physician. An intense experience, like three months of 40 hours/week volunteerism, will not be viewed as comparable to the preferred 1.5 years of 3 hour/week experience.

I see that you mention a lot of high school experiences. As a rule, AMCAS does not want you to list HS experiences, as adcomms will not regard them. However, there is an exception to that rule, namely, you may include experiences that continued into the college years. One way to beef up your application fast is to resume participation in a previous experience, particularly those with a humanitarian bent or exposure to patients. You would list the entire experience under one heading, but in the narrative add the dates of participation and the two institutions where they occurred with contact information (if it differs). An example might be hospital volunteerism which took place both in an institution back home and in another place near campus. Or Habitat for Humanity, but in two different chapters.

Even if this idea doesn't work for you particularly, I am not discouraging you from applying anyway. Who knows; a specific length of time that I think of as a general rule, may not be considered important at every med school. Thereby, comes the recommendation to "apply broadly", that you'll see a lot on SDN.

 

[Textuality]

Generally speaking, I think having really strong clinical experiences would compensate for lack of volunteering (I never really volunteered much either), and very distinguished volunteering/altruism would probably compensate for weaker clinical experience, but if you have neither it'll be a bit problematic because they'll probably ask why not go PhD? (If you say "you want to help people" or something along those lines, they may be skeptical about it if you don't have the clinical work/volunteering to back it up).

I actually never technically volunteered since I got paid for tutoring, and credit for my volunteering in the hospital/research, and then paid for being a clinical researcher. But I had a lot of clinical work and other extracurriculars, so I think that made up for my lack of shadowing for some of the schools I applied to.

 

[alibai3ah]

I agree with Mobius, its better to have fewer hours extended over a period of time, but its not too late. You can apply this year, and with a decent MCAT score (i'd say 32/33 i don't think you need a 35) you should have a decent shot. Also TRN1983 is from California, and over here schools are very difficult, so 33/3.7 isn't amazing here. But if your state schools are more friendly, I think you have a decent shot. Just volunteer as much as you can, and hope that they feel 11 months of volunteering is sufficient.

 

[fizzle]

Volunteering in itself is not as valuable as the idea that you're seeking to improve the world through your efforts. It's the reason that activities such as Teach for America, while not technically a volunteering position, is so popular with med schools. Just because you get paid for it doesn't mean it isn't necessarily meaningless!

Gad, I gotta stop giving advice...I'm a pre-med (and a reapplicant, no less!)--what do I know about these things? I feel like a chump, giving advice when I myself haven't been successful in the process.

 

[TRN1983]

Volunteering in itself is not as valuable as the idea that you're seeking to improve the world through your efforts. It's the reason that activities such as Teach for America, while not technically a volunteering position, is so popular with med schools. Just because you get paid for it doesn't mean it isn't necessarily meaningless!

Gad, I gotta stop giving advice...I'm a pre-med (and a reapplicant, no less!)--what do I know about these things? I feel like a chump, giving advice when I myself haven't been successful in the process.

Hmmm.... I'm still pretty positive that a long-term, sustained volunteer / community service record is EXTREMELY important in the admissions process. I.e. I underperformed on my MCAT by a few points and I know I can get a higher score. But, I'm confident that if I could either spend 250hrs volunteering or a bunch more hours re-studying for the MCAT to get a 36+ score, the 250hrs of volunteer work would be much more beneficial to me. I'm pretty obsesive about looking at everyones MDApps and the one consistency I see among people with multiple acceptances already is tons of volunteer/community service. The only exceptions are the "ultra-high" scorers, or the high scorers from the big schools.