random volunteering thought

[toothpaste11]

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So i volunteer at a dental clinic where the patients are primarily youngsters. Its been a pretty cool expirience so far working with the kids etc.
the problem/complaint (yes im going to complain) is that its about an hour away from my house as its located in the inner city. so about once every week i drive there on my gas money (which is alot an hour one way and an hour back!) to volunteer....and lets be real im only doing it to put it on my application. the guy im working for whose my "boss" already told me when i first started that he'd write me a recommendation but i only have about 20 hours total here.
what do i do!!!! its kind of becoming a pain in the ass to go there now, i just feel like i need to go a bit more in order to get a strong recc.
would any of you like to do this volunteering opportunity if you had the chance? or would you pass it up because of the distance?
Also i'm going to need most of my freetime (which isnt much to begin with with a 16 credits of all sciences this semester) to study for my DATs now since im taking it soon. but i feel like i need to have a balance between studying and extracurriculars and not just be a book nerd? as in i need to be active in the dental field somehow and "shadowing" is just so lame and boring. should i quit the dental clinic and just shadow locally at home? ( i already have hundreds of shadowing hours, and i have been shadowing at the dental clinic as well)
WHAT DO I DO!!!

 

[dentalWorks]

So i volunteer at a dental clinic where the patients are primarily youngsters. Its been a pretty cool expirience so far working with the kids etc.
the problem/complaint (yes im going to complain) is that its about an hour away from my house as its located in the inner city. so about once every week i drive there on my gas money (which is alot an hour one way and an hour back!) to volunteer....and lets be real im only doing it to put it on my application. the guy im working for whose my "boss" already told me when i first started that he'd write me a recommendation but i only have about 20 hours total here.
what do i do!!!! its kind of becoming a pain in the ass to go there now, i just feel like i need to go a bit more in order to get a strong recc.
would any of you like to do this volunteering opportunity if you had the chance? or would you pass it up because of the distance?
Also i'm going to need most of my freetime (which isnt much to begin with with a 16 credits of all sciences this semester) to study for my DATs now since im taking it soon. but i feel like i need to have a balance between studying and extracurriculars and not just be a book nerd? as in i need to be active in the dental field somehow and "shadowing" is just so lame and boring. should i quit the dental clinic and just shadow locally at home? ( i already have hundreds of shadowing hours, and i have been shadowing at the dental clinic as well)
WHAT DO I DO!!!

I couldn't find a volunteering position in Lansing michigan... so I had to drive ALLL the way to dearborn (from Lansing to dearborn is like 80 miles - 1 hr 15 minutes). I did this for about 1 year only on Sundays for about 3-4 hours.... I don't even drive an economical car, F-150 V-8 pickup

So if its the only volunteering opportunity you can find in that field, I say you have to stay with it..... and why do you feel like you need the LOR from this clinic? If you've shadowed in other places (and it seems like you have), just get the LOR from one of those places.... You don't need multiple non-professor LORs, 1 is enough.

 

[toothpaste11]

yeaaaaa thats what i was thinking. and that is impressive with your volunteering opportunity! i wish my place was open on the weekends too, unfortunatley its not so i have to make do with jetting there after class on certain days.
and i dont have an LOR from the dentist i shadowed with. I shadowed with one specific dentist for the majority of my sophmore year/junior year but now im post grad and its just been maybe 2 years since ive actually shadowed for him and i just feel like a recc from someone ive only "shadowed" for wont be too great, i mean i just dont know what he would even write? shes a good shadower.....? she has passion for dentistry bc she comes and watches me shadow so eagerly?....it just seems way too typical, something dental schools see way too often. also, i did contact him via email last summer but he never responded......perhaps bc he is just too busy and didnt have time to read/respond? in any case i chickeneed out in contacting him again even though hes a great man and i hope to be in contact him again hopefully sometime down along the line.
i just think its best if i have a more recent/updated lor from a more hands on dental expirience where i get to do much more and am more involved as compared to shadowing, which is the more common thing to do, in my opinion.

 

[toothpaste11]

Also, im going to be a reapplicant. and this is the volunteering ive been doing during this app cycle where i unfortunatley didnt get in. so im hoping it shows my dedication (in a small way/portion of my application)? which is why i keep going even though its FARRRR

 

[dentalWorks]

I dunno what to tell ya... It seems to me thats its best you stick it out with this volunteering gig HOWEVER.... you are taking 16 credits right? If its going to hurt your grades, drop the volunteering, drop everything, grades are more important

Why don't you just do this long drive 1 day a week (say Friday or any 1/2 school-day of the week), if you are just doing it once, its barely going to effect your studies.

 

[Lane138]

Personally I think that you can volunteer anywhere/in any field (doesn't have to be dental-related) and it still shows that you care about people. I've been tutoring/mentoring middle school students for three years now, and the school is right next to my college, which is convenient. If you really can't afford the time and gas money, and you don't enjoy what you do, then I would find another place to volunteer. It's up to you to balance the costs versus benefits.

 

[invictusx]

Personally I think that you can volunteer anywhere/in any field (doesn't have to be dental-related) and it still shows that you care about people. I've been tutoring/mentoring middle school students for three years now, and the school is right next to my college, which is convenient. If you really can't afford the time and gas money, and you don't enjoy what you do, then I would find another place to volunteer. It's up to you to balance the costs versus benefits.

I agree with Lane.
There are somethings you need to sacrifice and you need to weigh the consequences and benefits. It's also very good that you expand to other communities to volunteer, giving yourself a pretty good leeway in terms of experience. You can even mention this during your future interviews with dental school and tell them that you did this and that because of this and that, etcetc. Explore your options.

 

[321931]

Two hour drive? One day a week?

Doesn't sound worth it with gas prices being so high.

Just open up the phonebook and call every single Dental Clinic you see. That's how I got my volunteering/shadowing gig around my area.

 

[doc toothache]

the problem/complaint (yes im going to complain) is that its about an hour away from my house as its located in the inner city. so about once every week i drive there on my gas money (which is alot an hour one way and an hour back!) to volunteer....and lets be real im only doing it to put it on my application.

At least your motivation is clear. You mean you are not using someone else's credit card for gas? Incidentally, gpa is infinitely more important than any volunteering you will be doing.

 

[Lane138]

I agree with Lane.
There are somethings you need to sacrifice and you need to weigh the consequences and benefits. It's also very good that you expand to other communities to volunteer, giving yourself a pretty good leeway in terms of experience. You can even mention this during your future interviews with dental school and tell them that you did this and that because of this and that, etcetc. Explore your options.

Invictusx, I think we just agree on everything. It'd be funny if we ended up at the same school.