Old Volunteer work/short duration work

[nontrad33]

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When it comes to including volunteer hours on the work/activities section I have two questions. One, is there such a thing as too few hours to be worth including? For example, I have a 6 hour stint tabling for a cultural event on campus but was unsure if I should list this on my app. I’d thought about making a ‘miscellaneous volunteering’ section and just including several of these short times all under one heading as there are a few other such instances. If the total hours from all these short term things was <25 hours is it worth including at all?

Two, I’m a non traditional student with more than 10 years between my undergraduate degree and my current post bacc work and pre med status. Would it be appropriate to include any volunteer work done during my original undergrad? My concern honestly is that I have very little volunteer work between that time and when I started my post bacc several years ago as I was focused on work and family (not to make excuses, just the choices I made). Will listing old volunteer hours make that gap more apparent and hurt my chances, or will the extra hours help? If it makes a difference it is not an overwhelming amount of old hours, especially compared to my service work over the last few years. Thanks!

 

[ndafife]

When it comes to including volunteer hours on the work/activities section I have two questions. One, is there such a thing as too few hours to be worth including? For example, I have a 6 hour stint tabling for a cultural event on campus but was unsure if I should list this on my app. I’d thought about making a ‘miscellaneous volunteering’ section and just including several of these short times all under one heading as there are a few other such instances. If the total hours from all these short term things was <25 hours is it worth including at all?

Two, I’m a non traditional student with more than 10 years between my undergraduate degree and my current post bacc work and pre med status. Would it be appropriate to include any volunteer work done during my original undergrad? My concern honestly is that I have very little volunteer work between that time and when I started my post bacc several years ago as I was focused on work and family (not to make excuses, just the choices I made). Will listing old volunteer hours make that gap more apparent and hurt my chances, or will the extra hours help? If it makes a difference it is not an overwhelming amount of old hours, especially compared to my service work over the last few years. Thanks!

My general rule of thumb is if you can't have a 5 minute conversation about it, then don't put it on the application.

If it's a couple low hour things that pair together well - 3-4 "cultural events" - it may be worth including them because as a collective they build a narrative/larger commitment even if they are just individual events

If someone asks why you dont have many hours, just be honest - you were working to support a family. People are understanding.

 

[Catalystik]

When it comes to including volunteer hours on the work/activities section I have two questions. One, is there such a thing as too few hours to be worth including? For example, I have a 6 hour stint tabling for a cultural event on campus but was unsure if I should list this on my app. I’d thought about making a ‘miscellaneous volunteering’ section and just including several of these short times all under one heading as there are a few other such instances. If the total hours from all these short term things was <25 hours is it worth including at all?

Two, I’m a non traditional student with more than 10 years between my undergraduate degree and my current post bacc work and pre med status. Would it be appropriate to include any volunteer work done during my original undergrad? My concern honestly is that I have very little volunteer work between that time and when I started my post bacc several years ago as I was focused on work and family (not to make excuses, just the choices I made). Will listing old volunteer hours make that gap more apparent and hurt my chances, or will the extra hours help? If it makes a difference it is not an overwhelming amount of old hours, especially compared to my service work over the last few years. Thanks!

Adcomms will be far more interested in what you've done recently. You might consider having one slot with Collegiate Activities and providing a brief summary for the categories you decide to include with a subtotal of hours for each. It is unlikely you'd be able to list a Contact that could legitimize them and might have to use yourself.

Personally, I'd consider omitting an activity in which you invested only 25 hours.

 

[nontrad33]

Thank you for the feedback! I think I will likely just not include these hours unless I end up boosting them with similar activities which could be grouped together under one header. I really appreciate the advice 🙂

 

[LizzyM]

As an adcom, I would be interested in how you spent your extracurricular hours in college. Did you do anything interesting or fun that you can talk about? (e.g. hobbies, athletics, performing arts, etc).
Volunteering is just a way to show that you make it a priority to be of service in your community. Listing old hours and new can show that this has been something you've been doing consistently throughout your life.