Volunteering Enough?

[Jentwisl]

Well I am a few credits shy of being a senior and I have a 3.6 cGPA and 3.8 sGPA. I plan on taking my MCAT at the end of this summer. I plan on graduating in fall 2010 therefore won't be going into med school till 2011. I plan on having the entire summer to prepare for the MCAT so I should do well on that.

My question is....I have absolutley no ECs. NOTHING. Lol.....I just started my first day today volunteering in the ER of a hospital. Now if I continue to do this I will likely have roughly 1.5 years of volunteer work......

Is that enough? Some people have these extreme lists of all these things they have done. I worked 40+ hours a week at a fast food place my first 3 years of undergrad. I might try to get some research under my belt also....but will i be in trouble with just having volunteer work as my ECs?

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[Jentwisl]

holy crap 3 years at a fast food place?!
may as well advocate for coronary heart disease!!!
nah j/k. well if you put an end to the 40+ work week madness,
you shouldn't have a problem building up a good list of ec's
and some research experience.
med schools love to brag about turning down an applicant with a great gpa
and mcat score, due to a lack of ec's and medical-related experience.
i would load up on as much ec's as i could if i were you, but im just another
pre-med on sdn: what do i know??

Haha Krispy Kreme! I didnt eat to many doughnuts tho haha

 

[Anita817]

if you're not even applying until 2011, you've got plenty of time to remedy that situation. Start now, and you'll be fine.

 

[Jentwisl]

My question is I see people with all these large list of different experiences......

Will my application be just as good as theirs with steady volunteering in the ED for roughly 2 years and possibly some research?

 

[Anita817]

You are asking about how to change the past... why?

No, your app with 2 years of ECs and clinical experience will not have as much on it as someone who has 4 years worth. Does that mean you are doomed? Absolutely not. You have PLENTY of time to beef up that section, and plenty of time to find ways to make those 2 years of experience somehow more distinguished than people with 4 yrs. Are you that perfect applicant that did everything right and was totally on task from day 1? No--but neither are most of us. Don't stress. You're FINE.

 

[Stratego]

You have pleanty of time to build up your ECs before you push the submit button. Over this time try to get 150+ hours of clinical experience/community service, also known as clinical volunteering. It should be spread out over one and a half years. Some other form of community service/not clinical would be nice. It should be for a cause you care about. You will need some shadowing time with 2 to 3 doctors, but this can be done in shorter more intense experiences, like a day to a week with each specialist in total time spent. Research is very desirable, but not required. About 60% of applicants have this on their application. Also get in a leadership experience, if you don't have this. If you train people at your workplace, it would do.

If you need to work, try to switch to something where you work with patients. If you do this, you'll still need some sustained community service involvement. A research experience is another way to get more clinical experience, if you interact with patients to gather data.

 

[Mobius1985]

will i be in trouble with just having volunteer work as my ECs?

The great thing about volunteering to work with sick folks is that it doubles as community service.