Really???That many hours?

[DMDreaming]

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Assisting doesnt count as observing by the way.

Really? I've been an assistant for almost 17 years and every adcom I spoke with said this was more than sufficient to complete the observation hours they required. How can you assist without observing anyway?

 

[Sublimize23]

Didn't you know? Everyone on SDN has over 10,000 volunteer hours, plus another 5,000 saving puppies, all while maintaining their 4.0 and scoring a 30 on the DAT. Not only that, but they have acceptances to every D school in the country.

 

[dr bojangles]

I agree with you here. Scouting is a good way to get a lot of service. And it seems to add up fast. There are some ways as far as service that you could get up there. Assisting doesnt count as observing by the way.

i'm pretty sure assisting counts more than observing (watching vs. watching plus interacting).

as far as ECs, to each his own. if you spent 4 years, 5 hrs/wk shadowing/volunteering because you enjoy it....then hey, hats off to you. if you did because you felt you needed it, it might be a bit much. personally, i feel anything over 100 hours of either is excessive. as long as you get exposure and perform the services genuinely, you'll be fine.

 

[SuperDuper]

I have to say that I completely agree with you on this one. Unless you were sentenced to 500 hours of community service its a lie. the only way to get 500 hours of shadowing is if you worked for a dentist or you started shadowing dad when you were 5.

Just because you didn't do it doesn't make it a lie. After all, people have different values and passions.

I was never forced to do community service, but I have completed over ~2000 hours during my college years. I am sure there are other people who volunteered similar/more number of hours. 🙂😉😎

 

[Aceofspades]

I agree that it might be a waste to spend thousands of hours shadowing, but I do not agree that the same holds true for volunteering. Surely everyone could think of a cause that would mean more than a few extra hours studying for ochem or a couple of bucks working at your paid job? Toward the end of my life I would much rather remember that I changed a child's life through tutoring/mentoring, helped someone during a crisis at a call center, built houses on a mission trip, than to remember endless hours of studying simply to maintain a 4.0 GPA.

The funniest thing is when a pre-health student lists the exact number of hours he/she spend volunteering. Strange huh? What is the probability that that person had a pen and paper every time they were about to do something out of the kindness of their heart. If people were really interested in helping they wouldn't keep a running log of everything they do to show the adcoms. For goodness sake, they wouldn't even give change to a homeless person on the street without recording their "good deed"

 

[GonnaDoIt]

As a non-traditional applicant, I have spent several years working in the dental field and have gone on mission trips and volunteered, and all that. I put like 4000 hours on my application and really that is lowballing it. Working in the dental field the hours really add up. Also, some people may put more hours in for volunteer trips (hours traveling and such) than are necessary. It may appear I am tooting my own horn, but sadly I have no acceptances yet. Just curious, anyone around applying with more than 4000 hours dental experience?

 

[blankguy]

I think you should enjoy the hours of shadowing and volunteering. This is the best way to show interest in the field. Don't engage in hour counting, the minimum that some schools have will take no time to accomplish. Just enjoy it and you will find that you those hours will add up.

 

[robert landon]

This thread is making me depressed! I have a family and hard classes and a job! I don't have the time to get this amount of hours, others may have but I haven't. I'll be applying with 30 hours shadowing/volunteering and 50 hours total of shadowing. 🙁 This is insane! 500 hours?! I'll be lucky if I get close to 75! Where do people find the time! I hope I can still get accepted...

 

[asdfg]

This thread is making me depressed! I have a family and hard classes and a job! I don't have the time to get this amount of hours, others may have but I haven't. I'll be applying with 30 hours shadowing/volunteering and 50 hours total of shadowing. 🙁 This is insane! 500 hours?! I'll be lucky if I get close to 75! Where do people find the time! I hope I can still get accepted...

Dont worry, I only had 70 and I got in to my top school. I think Adcoms realize that some people have lives.

 

[Lurchdubious]

This thread is making me depressed! I have a family and hard classes and a job! I don't have the time to get this amount of hours, others may have but I haven't. I'll be applying with 30 hours shadowing/volunteering and 50 hours total of shadowing. 🙁 This is insane! 500 hours?! I'll be lucky if I get close to 75! Where do people find the time! I hope I can still get accepted...

i only had 42 hours shadowing on my application and i got into 3 schools. you're fine.

 

[makushin]

I shadowed 50 hours. I really don't see the point of shadowing more. What was more valuable to me was shadowing a number of different dentists, including a couple specialists, rather than shadow a certain number of hours. I think this gives you a better feel for the profession and the potentials. I really don't think shadowing X00 hours is going to help an application, unless maybe you had an active role such as assisting. Shadowing is simply a way to make sure you know what you're getting into, and adcoms just want to make sure you have explored that.

 

[blankguy]

I enjoy volunteer/shadowing. I think the doctors that I've observed are cool. 😎

 

[scuzfly]

People really do this amount of volunteering and shadowing. I think you should re-check your math calculations. Let's say one did 500 hours of volunteering and 500 hours of shadowing, for a combine hours of 1000.

1000 hours total / 52 weeks = 19.23 Hours / Week

19.23 Hours / 4 years(since it takes 4 years to grad) = 4.8 hours a week.

4.8 Hours a week / 7 days = .687 hours a day.

Overall, .687 hours a day of shadowing and volunteering is quite believable. Also, during the summer ( 3 months ), I'm pretty sure people have more time since they don't have school. With more time comes more volunteering and shadowing. So on some days where .687 cannot be done, it's can be easily compensated in the summer. Don't be so quick to judge, and check your calculations before calling out people.

You know a dentist that's open friday through sunday? Wow he's a rare breed. That's awesome.

I think people who shadow for over 500 hours need to find something else to do. Besides study and shadow and be in some clubs at work what did you do? If you shadow someone or 500 hours you better be able to answer some technical questions in an interview like about procedures or methods. If you've watched someone do something for 500 hours you should know a lot more than someone who shadowed for 100 hours at one practice.

 

[scuzfly]

Just because you didn't do it doesn't make it a lie. After all, people have different values and passions.

I was never forced to do community service, but I have completed over ~2000 hours during my college years. I am sure there are other people who volunteered similar/more number of hours. 🙂😉😎

Yeah but you're a Kap Sig. They are the best of the best...Brother AEKDB.

 

[jonxjizza]

I don't know what the hell is wrong with all of you, my stats are:

5000 hours of shadowing

7500 service/volunteer hours

I dare anyone to call me out on this.

Sike. I have 20 hours shadowing time - and that is pushing it. Geez people.

 

[daviddav]

As much as I admire all of you who have that many shadowing or volunteering hours, I must say there are other people with different situations. Not to make it sound like a sob story, but I have had a job since I was fifteen. Even now as a full time student, I work 30 hours a week, taking 12 hours of classes, volunteer around 8-10 hours a week, and I shadow 5 hours per week. The shadowing if just a recent addition to my schedule. I can honestly say, sometimes it is really hard to find time for things especially if you are like me and having to work to pay for your education. Not everyone has parents who can pay their children through school and let them shadow and volunteer for that many hours. Someone said that get over and stop crying because this is like and reality. The problem is that not everyone shares the same reality. I think it is the big picture that truly matters.

 

[SspeedyS]

Shadowing and volunteering are done so that you can know for sure that you want to become a dentist. You really don't have to force yourself to do 5000 hours to "show" the admission committee. That is unless you like to help out and volunteer...

 

[SHC1984]

As much as I admire all of you who have that many shadowing or volunteering hours, I must say there are other people with different situations. Not to make it sound like a sob story, but I have had a job since I was fifteen. Even now as a full time student, I work 30 hours a week, taking 12 hours of classes, volunteer around 8-10 hours a week, and I shadow 5 hours per week. The shadowing if just a recent addition to my schedule. I can honestly say, sometimes it is really hard to find time for things especially if you are like me and having to work to pay for your education. Not everyone has parents who can pay their children through school and let them shadow and volunteer for that many hours. Someone said that get over and stop crying because this is like and reality. The problem is that not everyone shares the same reality. I think it is the big picture that truly matters.

Why didn't you apply for a merit scholarship?? They give generous stipends...😉