Volunteer Tutoring

[helpabrotherout]

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Hi SDN. So I plan on volunteering as a free tutor at my university's tutoring centre starting next semester as well as teaching PLTL (for those who don't know what that is en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer-led_Team_Learning), which is a paid tutoring position. My concern is that s it going to look weird that I'm doing both paid and unpaid tutoring? Basically, I like teaching people and I've been looking for good volunteer oppurtunities, which is why I want to volunteer my services as a tutor. I'm doing PLTL because I want to give back to it (helped me this semester) and because my teacher strongly recommended it to me since I did well in his class. Also, is all volunteering considered equally? I can't really go to these big humanitarian volunteer oppurtunities at the food bank or elderly home that I feel like a lot of premeds go to to check boxes because I don't have access to a car and my schedule is too loaded spend the travel time taking the bus into the city and back (also, I enjoy tutoring a lot more, even though I'm not saving lives or anything doing it). Thanks for reading.

 

[WedgeDawg]

It does not look weird at all. I have had both paid and unpaid teaching positions. Both seemed to make favorable impressions as they were brought up at all of my interviews so far. If you are making an effort to sacrifice your time and energy to help others, you're doing fine.

 

[helpabrotherout]

It does not look weird at all. I have had both paid and unpaid teaching positions. Both seemed to make favorable impressions as they were brought up at all of my interviews so far. If you are making an effort to sacrifice your time and energy to help others, you're doing fine.

Alright, thanks! I promise you that I'm not usually this neurotic, I think I'm just getting squirrelly because of break...

 

[Catalystik]

1) My concern is that s it going to look weird that I'm doing both paid and unpaid tutoring?

2) Also, is all volunteering considered equally? I can't really go to these big humanitarian volunteer oppurtunities at the food bank or elderly home that I feel like a lot of premeds go to to check boxes because I don't have access to a car and my schedule is too loaded spend the travel time taking the bus into the city and back (also, I enjoy tutoring a lot more, even though I'm not saving lives or anything doing it).

1) I agree with WedgeDawg that it won't look weird. If one loves to teach, one takes the opportunity provided.

2) Verifiable volunteer time is likely to get you more "points" (so be sure to have a contact's email address). So is service to the poor, service over a prolonged period of time, a gig requiring interpersonal skills, taking on a leadership role as one gains experience, etc.

 

[helpabrotherout]

1) I agree with WedgeDawg that it won't look weird. If one loves to teach, one takes the opportunity provided.

2) Verifiable volunteer time is likely to get you more "points" (so be sure to have a contact's email address). So is service to the poor, service over a prolonged period of time, a gig requiring interpersonal skills, taking on a leadership role as one gains experience, etc.

That makes sense. Well I'll definitely be able to list the director/staff if the tutoring centre since they're always around. I have another question in this vein; when I was in high school, I was part of clinical rotation program that exposed me to a significant amount (100+) hours of clinical experience my junior year (I wasn't able to retake the class my senior year since the school wouldn't let me and so I did research for credit instead). Could I just list the school as a contact for this when I apply? They'd be able to confirm the existence of the program and the fact that I went there (I'm not sure if they'd be allowed to though), but I don't think that they'd be able to access my schedule from back then, since I'll be applying three years from now.

 

[Catalystik]

when I was in high school, I was part of clinical rotation program that exposed me to a significant amount (100+) hours of clinical experience my junior year (I wasn't able to retake the class my senior year since the school wouldn't let me and so I did research for credit instead). Could I just list the school as a contact for this when I apply? They'd be able to confirm the existence of the program and the fact that I went there (I'm not sure if they'd be allowed to though), but I don't think that they'd be able to access my schedule from back then, since I'll be applying three years from now.

High school activities are not much regarded in the med school application process, unless they continue into the college years. That said, there is no rule that you can't list it, but you'd be expected to have more recent active clinical experience from which you have gained more mature perspectives. So why waste the space? Instead, I suggest you include mention of this HS activity in your Primary Statement as part of Why Medicine? that such an essay is expected to answer. Then you don't need to list a Contact.

 

[helpabrotherout]

High school activities are not much regarded in the med school application process, unless they continue into the college years. That said, there is no rule that you can't list it, but you'd be expected to have more recent active clinical experience from which you have gained more mature perspectives. So why waste the space? Instead, I suggest you include mention of this HS activity in your Primary Statement as part of Why Medicine? that such an essay is expected to answer. Then you don't need to list a Contact.

Ah, got it. The reason I wanted to include those high school experiences was to show prolonged dedication, but I guess putting it in my PS would have the same effect. Thanks for your reply.