Volunteer history and what should I list?

[jdubs1984]

So I haven't tracked any of my volunteering throughout my life, so I'm not sure if I should even be trying to list it on my application next year. I did volunteering when I went to school a long time ago every week with my service fraternity...I've volunteered through my churches to do things like teach Sunday school, feed homeless, cleanup after church. My wife and I have kept things in the car to give to homeless like gloves for cold weather, socks and underwear, and gift cards for Mcdonalds... I've done various walks/runs/bikes for charities where you help them earn money towards their cause. When i was younger I used to go to old persons homes and visit with the elderly and do weekly meals on wheels with my grandmother. I did the boy scouts and volunteering with them. None of this stuff do I have any kind of great records or memory of though, it's not like I ever had a reason to write any of it down... Is any of this possible to use for my application? Because as it stands right now, I'm not going to have anything to put for volunteering at all unless someplace starts letting me volunteer...I've been searching for volunteer opportunities (and shadowing) for a year with no luck because of COVID. Any thoughts? Thanks guys.

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[DoctorWhere]

So I haven't tracked any of my volunteering throughout my life, so I'm not sure if I should even be trying to list it on my application next year. I did volunteering when I went to school a long time ago every week with my service fraternity...I've volunteered through my churches to do things like teach Sunday school, feed homeless, cleanup after church. My wife and I have kept things in the car to give to homeless like gloves for cold weather, socks and underwear, and gift cards for Mcdonalds... I've done various walks/runs/bikes for charities where you help them earn money towards their cause. When i was younger I used to go to old persons homes and visit with the elderly and do weekly meals on wheels with my grandmother. I did the boy scouts and volunteering with them. None of this stuff do I have any kind of great records or memory of though, it's not like I ever had a reason to write any of it down... Is any of this possible to use for my application? Because as it stands right now, I'm not going to have anything to put for volunteering at all unless someplace starts letting me volunteer...I've been searching for volunteer opportunities (and shadowing) for a year with no luck because of COVID. Any thoughts? Thanks guys.

Look at COVID testing/vaccination sites and food banks for volunteering opportunities. I would not include what you listed.

 

[jdubs1984]

Look at COVID testing/vaccination sites and food banks for volunteering opportunities. I would not include what you listed.

Thanks, I'll look into those. It's unfortunate I can't list anything from before, looks like I've never volunteered for anything in my life... :/

 

[DoctorWhere]

Thanks, I'll look into those. It's unfortunate I can't list anything from before, looks like I've never volunteered for anything in my life... :/

If the experiences were positive, you can talk about how they impacted you in your essays.

 

[Dral]

Were any of the things you did consistent?

I would agree that there is not much there to list, but I think you could still get a thing or two out of it.

The service fraternity is worth listing, especially if you did anything on a consistent basis.

I had APhiO listed on my app and talked about things I did with it (such as volunteering with scouting groups).

The teaching Sunday school may be ok to list if it was a fairly long term consistent endeavor.

 

[jdubs1984]

Were any of the things you did consistent?

I would agree that there is not much there to list, but I think you could still get a thing or two out of it.

The service fraternity is worth listing, especially if you did anything on a consistent basis.

I had APhiO listed on my app and talked about things I did with it (such as volunteering with scouting groups).

The teaching Sunday school may be ok to list if it was a fairly long term consistent endeavor.

Yeah we always did service to the local community every Saturday. We did stuff like help at food banks, paint schools in poor neighborhoods, trash and area cleanup, whatever needs were found in the local community. It's a historically Hispanic fraternity so our focus was helping the local Hispanic community. It's too bad I can't list my military experience as a type of "community (the nation) service" haha.

 

[DoctorWhere]

Yeah we always did service to the local community every Saturday. We did stuff like help at food banks, paint schools in poor neighborhoods, trash and area cleanup, whatever needs were found in the local community. It's a historically Hispanic fraternity so our focus was helping the local Hispanic community. It's too bad I can't list my military experience as a type of "community (the nation) service" haha.

Military service is viewed favorably

 

[jdubs1984]

Military service is viewed favorably

I'm curious, are applications sorted by trad / non-trad or any other factor or are they reviewed in a random order? Do they know your age when you apply or is age mostly inferred by work and activity hours (IE, 30k hours doing software etc)? Does veterans preference apply to medical school?