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This thread either seems paradoxical, or like a troll thread at first glance.
But the more you think of it, it's true. Why make this thread? Because I felt like I was forced to sacrifice a considerable amount of time (and forfeit potential income) when I still had a life. Today I have sacrificed everything I have for my medical education, I believe other people are paying the same price.
Volunteering and ECs can either help or harm an applicant. But I think the volunteering game has finally reached its tipping point, where it's gotten to the extreme where it is mostly hurting applicants, volunteer organizations, and schools themselves. How is it hurting everyone? Applicants are hurt because they are going completely overboard when it comes to the number of volunteer activities and hours that they are putting in. So many are pissing their last years of freedom doing activities they don't want to do, just to put on a song and dance to impress ADCOMs. How are organizations getting harmed? Well, premeds don't have a piss poor reputation for nothing. They screw over hospitals and other organizations because they either half-ass their responsibilities, or are very flaky due to no oversight by schools. How are schools getting harmed? Well if the school is service-oriented and has a large number of applicants that magically picked up a handful of activities when they officially became premed, then who do you think the school is really choosing?
Now to tie this to the thread's title... I am a non-traditional applicant and was in the working world for some time. I met just a couple people (out of many) that devoted a lot of their time to serving the community. They received a lot of recognition at the office. But the funny thing is that they would look like heartless bastard when you compare them to so many applicants in the WAMC threads with "average" ECs. Everyone and their mother has volunteered in a hospital, hospice, free clinic, tutored underprivileged youth, ladled soup in a soup kitchen, did Big Brother Big Sister, coached underprivileged youth, and so many other activities.
But let me ask you this... Do you think it's possible for so many applicants to suddenly go from ZERO TO MOTHER TERESA in just a couple days? I never realized that people can change so suddenly! What's more disheartening is that everyone insults one another on SDN. Either someone is saying that their volunteer activity is "superior" or they are insulting someone because they don't enjoy their volunteering.
It's probably gunners that are going from ZERO TO MOTHER TERESA so quickly. If everyone hates gunners so much, and gunners are the ones guinning for ROADs residencies, then don't you think schools are picking the "wrong" applicants if they choose the ones with a laundry-list of activities? I'm not saying they will make good or bad doctors, because providing free labor doesn't mean squat. But isn't it kind of paradoxical that the "Mother Teresa" applicants are probably the ones that care least about service? I'm not saying that this applies to EVERYONE, but I doubt that premeds are magically more morally righteous than other people.
Does anyone see something wrong with the direction that ECs have taken in the medical admissions process? It's become a race to the bottom. A race to see who can put on the most believable facade, even though it's obvious that they are full of $h!t. Does anyone think this process is flawed? What can be done to fix it?
Sorry, needed to vent.
/rant
But the more you think of it, it's true. Why make this thread? Because I felt like I was forced to sacrifice a considerable amount of time (and forfeit potential income) when I still had a life. Today I have sacrificed everything I have for my medical education, I believe other people are paying the same price.
Volunteering and ECs can either help or harm an applicant. But I think the volunteering game has finally reached its tipping point, where it's gotten to the extreme where it is mostly hurting applicants, volunteer organizations, and schools themselves. How is it hurting everyone? Applicants are hurt because they are going completely overboard when it comes to the number of volunteer activities and hours that they are putting in. So many are pissing their last years of freedom doing activities they don't want to do, just to put on a song and dance to impress ADCOMs. How are organizations getting harmed? Well, premeds don't have a piss poor reputation for nothing. They screw over hospitals and other organizations because they either half-ass their responsibilities, or are very flaky due to no oversight by schools. How are schools getting harmed? Well if the school is service-oriented and has a large number of applicants that magically picked up a handful of activities when they officially became premed, then who do you think the school is really choosing?
Now to tie this to the thread's title... I am a non-traditional applicant and was in the working world for some time. I met just a couple people (out of many) that devoted a lot of their time to serving the community. They received a lot of recognition at the office. But the funny thing is that they would look like heartless bastard when you compare them to so many applicants in the WAMC threads with "average" ECs. Everyone and their mother has volunteered in a hospital, hospice, free clinic, tutored underprivileged youth, ladled soup in a soup kitchen, did Big Brother Big Sister, coached underprivileged youth, and so many other activities.
But let me ask you this... Do you think it's possible for so many applicants to suddenly go from ZERO TO MOTHER TERESA in just a couple days? I never realized that people can change so suddenly! What's more disheartening is that everyone insults one another on SDN. Either someone is saying that their volunteer activity is "superior" or they are insulting someone because they don't enjoy their volunteering.
It's probably gunners that are going from ZERO TO MOTHER TERESA so quickly. If everyone hates gunners so much, and gunners are the ones guinning for ROADs residencies, then don't you think schools are picking the "wrong" applicants if they choose the ones with a laundry-list of activities? I'm not saying they will make good or bad doctors, because providing free labor doesn't mean squat. But isn't it kind of paradoxical that the "Mother Teresa" applicants are probably the ones that care least about service? I'm not saying that this applies to EVERYONE, but I doubt that premeds are magically more morally righteous than other people.
Does anyone see something wrong with the direction that ECs have taken in the medical admissions process? It's become a race to the bottom. A race to see who can put on the most believable facade, even though it's obvious that they are full of $h!t. Does anyone think this process is flawed? What can be done to fix it?
Sorry, needed to vent.
/rant