Volunteer advice needed

[duvaldentist]

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Ok so my first question is how do admissions view volunteer work? Is it an infinite scale, the more volunteer work the better or do you guys think there is a plateau effect. Like schools only consider so much volunteer work.

Also in my attempts to strengthen my application ive noticed the need to increase my "leadership" abilities. Do you guys have any sugestions as to what types of volunteering would aid me in that category. I was in JROTC in HS and i had a leadership role, does that count lol? I am also tutoring little kids right now i dont know if thats leadership or not? any sugestions?

 

[Philippines03j]

There is somewhat of a plateu affect but that I wouldn't say there is a definate line. I can't remember my volunteer hours but it was over a thousand if I remember correctly. Would it have been different if I had 500 hours probably not (atleast not much).

They are looking for consistancy though. They would rather see 300 hours over the course of a 2 years than over a course of a month. This shows that volunteering and helping people is a part of who you are and what you do not something you did so you can put it on your application. Consistancy will demonstrate this too them. That said some schools (like A.T. Still) not only want to see consistancy but high hours (at least from what i gathered through talking with a recruiter).

ANything can become leadership. Plan a service project for the community, school, neigborhood, etc..., gather volunteers and do the project. You would be considered a leader! Doesn't have to be a huge project but something that you spend some time organizing and the weekend (with the help of volunteers) doing.

Just a few quick thoughts👍

 

[slm266]

I'd hesitate listing items from highschool.

No need to go overboard on service/shadowing, etc... Just be consistent. An hour/week of service is great. It's icing on the cake if you have a good GPA and DAT. There's no difference between 100 and 300 hours of service to adcoms (as long as you can draw from your experiences well), but 200 hrs of study can make a big impact on GPA and DAT.

I'm just saying you need to be balanced and focus on your weak points as an applicant.

 

[dentalWorks]

Ok so my first question is how do admissions view volunteer work? Is it an infinite scale, the more volunteer work the better or do you guys think there is a plateau effect. Like schools only consider so much volunteer work.

Also in my attempts to strengthen my application ive noticed the need to increase my "leadership" abilities. Do you guys have any sugestions as to what types of volunteering would aid me in that category. I was in JROTC in HS and i had a leadership role, does that count lol? I am also tutoring little kids right now i dont know if thats leadership or not? any sugestions?

I don't believe you need "leadership" to gain an advantage over the competition. Majority of people who get into dental school these days are young undergrads between the age of 21-25, most of these guys haven't had a leadership position since their Drive-thru cashiering days at Burger King.

What you should do is just volunteering is general... anything really. It can be healthcare related (or not). You just wanna show that you care about your community. I don't think MASSIVE amounts of volunteering hours is needed. And I don't believe the schools require students to have specific hours. They just want to see something. IMO, if you have 300 hrs or more of volunteering, then you are Golden.

I think there is 1 school (ASDOH) that does require alot of volunteering.... someone verify this plz.

 

[Philippines03j]

dentalworks: yes ASDOH (A.T. Still) highly favors applicants with lots and lots of volunteering. I had around 1000 hrs (accumulated over 4 years or so) and they said to keep accumulating hours😎