Volunteer/EC activities

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How important is it to have volunteer/extracurricular activities? Since I graduated with a BS in 2002 and have been working full time as an engineer since then, I do not have any of these (since 2002), though I had some in college and high school. Do I just list these in my applications? Will these be enough or do they expect me to have some while I've been working and taking prereqs? I did shadow a pharmacist recently and I plan to work in a pharmacy at least once a week after I finish my Anatomy & Physiology class this quarter.

 

[trishias]

my situation is similar yours. I haven't had any EC's since 2001 when I had to go to work full-time. I think the adcoms care more about what u learned from the activities than whether or not they are current.

 

[CSzGirl]

The schools I applied to all said that the primarily wanted to see that you were a "real person" and not just some study-bot capable of churning out a 4.0. Even if it's not necessarily pharmacy-related, it would greatly benefit you to pick up some sort of extracirricular or volunteer experience. A lot of places don't even require that much of a commitment for volunteer hours.

On the other hand, one of my schoools - University of Montana - requires a minimum of 60 hours of experience in a pharmacy environment, and your sole recommendation letter comes from your supervisor for that experience. In that case, you really have to find the time 🙂

I know it's tough to fit volunteering into an already busy schedule. But it is doable. For three years, I have worked full time, attended school full time and held down two-three volunteer positions. I've wanted to pull my hair out at times, but the hard work was worth it. Of the 12 schools I applied to, I've gotten three acceptances and offered interviews with seven others (which I've either rejected or else I'm still waiting to hear back from).

Long story short = Make time for extra stuff!

 

[Shanana]

How important is it to have volunteer/extracurricular activities? Since I graduated with a BS in 2002 and have been working full time as an engineer since then, I do not have any of these (since 2002), though I had some in college and high school. Do I just list these in my applications? Will these be enough or do they expect me to have some while I've been working and taking prereqs? I did shadow a pharmacist recently and I plan to work in a pharmacy at least once a week after I finish my Anatomy & Physiology class this quarter.

Hey, my situation is similar to yours as well. I think that having participated in extracurricular club-type stuff is only really necessary for applicants who do not really have any work experience. Those types of activities mainly just show the adcom that you have group communication skills and that you are a "real person" like another poster said. I think it would be totally fine if you just listed your old activities from your undergrad work. However, I think that having recent volunteer experience looks good on any application. It sounds like you are really on the right track, good luck!