Volunteer

[Harvey Harvardson]

Will having absolutely no volunteer absolutely kill my chances of DO schools? I did plenty of volunteer in high school but I know that doesn't count. I have plenty of clinical work experience/shadowing, but no volunteer. My MCAT and GPA are just average as well. I know starting volunteer now is it a bit late since I want to apply ASAP.

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[Awesome Sauceome]

That's a tough call.... There are definitely a few on here that I heard about that have gotten in with average stats and very little volunteer.... But I have never heard of NO volunteer. One could not definitively say whether you would receive some love or not, but its for sure something that usually needs to be done to some capacity. Heck a lot of my secondaries so far have specifically asked about it. One school even had me write an entire essay on what volunteer experience helped direct me to being a doctor.

So again do I think it will "kill" your app, I don't know. But probably especially for DO schools it is a little bit of a red flag... It might depend on what your clinical and work experience is?
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[medickdb]

Will having absolutely no volunteer absolutely kill my chances of DO schools? I did plenty of volunteer in high school but I know that doesn't count. I have plenty of clinical work experience/shadowing, but no volunteer. My MCAT and GPA are just average as well. I know starting volunteer now is it a bit late since I want to apply ASAP.

It might not be that bad. How many clinical work experience hours do you have and doing what specifically?

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

With a 4.35 GPA and 47 Mcat, yes you will be fine. Hahah jk. I have no
Idea.

 

[yanks26dmb]

On the flip side, will massive hours of volunteering help a borderline applicant? Or does it really not carry much weight and is just something that's epxected to be done..?

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

On the flip side, will massive hours of volunteering help a borderline applicant? Or does it really not carry much weight and is just something that's epxected to be done..?

yea its more of a box to check. I am sure some adcoms have some stuff that they specifically like more than others. But the general idea is to have some sort of altruism. There's plenty of really smart people out there that don't give a crap about people. I think that is why the whole volunteer "requirement" was originally put in place. Its like shadowing, you don't need much to show that you are committed to medicine. Just enough to get a general idea of what you are getting in to.

So for someone to have killer grades and scores but no volunteer can (to some adcoms, definitely not all) seem sketch. However, depending on the clinical experiences and stuff the OP has he could still be golden. I mean I would definitely still apply, its not like your not going to get in. I just think you honestly have a higher shot at low tier MD than DO.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

yea its more of a box to check. I am sure some adcoms have some stuff that they specifically like more than others. But the general idea is to have some sort of altruism. There's plenty of really smart people out there that don't give a crap about people. I think that is why the whole volunteer "requirement" was originally put in place. Its like shadowing, you don't need much to show that you are committed to medicine. Just enough to get a general idea of what you are getting in to.

So for someone to have killer grades and scores but no volunteer can (to some adcoms, definitely not all) seem sketch. However, depending on the clinical experiences and stuff the OP has he could still be golden. I mean I would definitely still apply, its not like your not going to get in. I just think you honestly have a higher shot at low tier MD than DO.

Higher shot at low tier MD than DO?

 

[Dreamstoo]

yea its more of a box to check. I am sure some adcoms have some stuff that they specifically like more than others. But the general idea is to have some sort of altruism. There's plenty of really smart people out there that don't give a crap about people. I think that is why the whole volunteer "requirement" was originally put in place. Its like shadowing, you don't need much to show that you are committed to medicine. Just enough to get a general idea of what you are getting in to.

So for someone to have killer grades and scores but no volunteer can (to some adcoms, definitely not all) seem sketch. However, depending on the clinical experiences and stuff the OP has he could still be golden. I mean I would definitely still apply, its not like your not going to get in. I just think you honestly have a higher shot at low tier MD than DO.

Yes, I have asked an adcom. They say they just want consistent acts of altruism. For example, I have volunteered at 4 places. Two for years and two during one of my summers. I never really cared about how many hours I had but I do know it's about 350-400. Three of them were clinical and one of them is nonclinical.

 

[WalSlave]

It's certainly not too late to go get some hours in at a hospital. If you don't feel like going through all the red tape that comes with that, you can look into the local homeless shelter. They usually need volunteers ASAP.

I think having absolutely no volunteering will hurt you unless you've been working in a clinical area or something. Sometimes you just have to prove that you are willing and capable of jumping through some hoops.

 

[CUNYguy]

I feel that volunteering at a hospital is very similar to how AdComs want to see shadowing involved. Volunteering at a hospital is your shot to see how the hospital operates, from unit to unit observations to, security, transport, EMS, ancillary, administrative and the such. Once you get into the hospital setting, you'll get that exposure, but you won't have the freedom to really explore the way that a volunteer has.

Just what I think about it. Volunteering at a hospital will take a while since they do have to get medical clearance for you. If you have a clinical/semi-clinical exposure, then I'm sure a non-clinical volunteer experience would suffice. I know that for NYC residents there's something called NYCares, and they offer volunteer position placements, if your state/city offers it, then definitely check it out.

 

[yanks26dmb]

yea its more of a box to check. I am sure some adcoms have some stuff that they specifically like more than others. But the general idea is to have some sort of altruism. There's plenty of really smart people out there that don't give a crap about people. I think that is why the whole volunteer "requirement" was originally put in place. Its like shadowing, you don't need much to show that you are committed to medicine. Just enough to get a general idea of what you are getting in to.

So for someone to have killer grades and scores but no volunteer can (to some adcoms, definitely not all) seem sketch. However, depending on the clinical experiences and stuff the OP has he could still be golden. I mean I would definitely still apply, its not like your not going to get in. I just think you honestly have a higher shot at low tier MD than DO.

I've got like 2000 volunteer hours... think this wouldnt make much more of a difference of 200?

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

Higher shot at low tier MD than DO?

yea because he clearly has MD stats, and since DO schools tend to be less stat heavy and a little more "holistic." I think he would have a better shot explaining his way into a low tier MD than a DO

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

I've got like 2000 volunteer hours... think this wouldnt make much more of a difference of 200?

well that is probably pretty good haha. That's a TON. But the difference between 100 and like 300 is minimal. But 2000 is like way beyond most applicants so will definitely stand out

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

Shizz I am mixing the OP up with a dude on here with a 37 MCAT on another thread haha.... Listen to somebody else in this one haha
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[Harvey Harvardson]

It might not be that bad. How many clinical work experience hours do you have and doing what specifically?

Well I just started working, so only about 200 hours as an ER scribe. I also have about 200 hours of physician shadowing.

Thanks everyone for the replies!

 

[orangeman25]

Shizz I am mixing the OP up with a dude on here with a 37 MCAT on another thread haha.... Listen to somebody else in this one haha
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Lol if you apply DO with a 37, you can get by with little to no ECs

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

Lol if you apply DO with a 37, you can get by with little to no ECs

totally false.... I have heard of more people not getting into DO with a 35+ than MD. There actually does come a point int the admission process where the whole holistic thing is real. Copying and pasting your resume to DO school does not always work. Especially with higher scores (like outlier high) you do have to cater your application towards DO, otherwise they will not waste their time on someone who is clearing taking a DO seat as a backup

 

[adriano710]

Will having absolutely no volunteer absolutely kill my chances of DO schools? I did plenty of volunteer in high school but I know that doesn't count. I have plenty of clinical work experience/shadowing, but no volunteer. My MCAT and GPA are just average as well. I know starting volunteer now is it a bit late since I want to apply ASAP.

What are your stats exactly? What did the clinical work entail exactly?

 

[orangeman25]

totally false.... I have heard of more people not getting into DO with a 35+ than MD. There actually does come a point int the admission process where the whole holistic thing is real. Copying and pasting your resume to DO school does not always work. Especially with higher scores (like outlier high) you do have to cater your application towards DO, otherwise they will not waste their time on someone who is clearing taking a DO seat as a backup

Him okay I see your reasoning. Never thought high stats would actually hurt you

Edit: all I'm saying is if someone has a 37, the acceptance is theirs to lose. To me it sounds super easy to get into a DO school with a 37.

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

Him okay I see your reasoning. Never thought high stats would actually hurt you

Edit: all I'm saying is if someone has a 37, the acceptance is theirs to lose. To me it sounds super easy to get into a DO school with a 37.

Yea I mean like logically it would make sense that way: the higher your score, the higher your chance to get in. But again, if its clearly visible that its a backup, you wont get in. If you get someone with a 37 who has gone the DO route - gotten a DO letter, shadowed, DOs, has a true interest in it and can explain that. They will most certainly get in. An MD applicant with a 37 who just copies and pastes his AMCAS over to his AACOMAS where he explains that he is only interested in research, becoming a vascular surgeon, and hates primary care.... he will probably not get in. See what I am getting at? Its all about presentation.

Otherwise when you look at the matriculant stats for various schools, you would see people with higher scores getting in. Usually it stops around 35. Part of that is self selection (people with 35 apply to MD and get in there). But to a smaller degree the DO schools weed those people out.

 

[Capltd29]

I had very little volunteer hours(<40), my stats were roughly 3.6/31... I got in pretty early(AZCOM). It never came up in my interview... But I was a scribe for 1.5 years, so maybe they just overlooked it.

 

[orangeman25]

I had very little volunteer hours(<40), my stats were roughly 3.6/31... I got in pretty early(AZCOM). It never came up in my interview... But I was a scribe for 1.5 years, so maybe they just overlooked it.

Good stats save all.

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

Good stats save all.

haha exactly, you need to just hit some check marks for ECs, and sometimes an EC can be cool to like get a foot in the door, but in the end your gpa and MCAT is like 90% of it. Otherwise, if they werent, you would see the matriculant stats at schools being all over the place.