Volunteering overseas during application process?

[aoum86]

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I am planning to do some health-related volunteering overseas the summer after my junior year of college. I have two questions about this:

1. Is it a bad idea to leave the country during the application process? I will be gone June-August and have read that during this time one must fill out the preliminary application, send in secondaries, etc. I will be in a third-world country without access to mail or internet. How much will it hurt me if my secondaries aren't sent in until I get back in August?

2. Would it be ok to list this volunteering as an EC on my application? I won't have done it yet by the time I apply in spring, but will certainly be back and done with it when it's time for interviews etc.

Thanks.

 

[dajimmers]

1. You will be "behind" by SDN standards, but still OK if you get your LORs and write your PS before going abroad, so you can submit your Primary application as soon as you get back. And even better, if you leave after June 1st, just submit the primary on June 1st and enjoy your trip, knowing secondaries will be waiting for you when you get back. If you do this, I would email the schools you applied to individually as well, in case they wonder why you aren't responding to them or haven't completed your secondaries yet when they sent them in July.

2. Go ahead! I sure did! It's something you'll definitely want to talk about during the interviews, and it will be the top-listed thing on your primary application!

I think the "EC value" your application will gain by doing this volunteering will far outweigh any "Early value" you'd get by being around for all the secondaries. Just have time to work your butt off when you get back! And get your LORs NOW!!!

 

[bonesmd]

I am planning to do some health-related volunteering overseas the summer after my junior year of college. I have two questions about this:

1. Is it a bad idea to leave the country during the application process? I will be gone June-August and have read that during this time one must fill out the preliminary application, send in secondaries, etc. I will be in a third-world country without access to mail or internet. How much will it hurt me if my secondaries aren't sent in until I get back in August?

2. Would it be ok to list this volunteering as an EC on my application? I won't have done it yet by the time I apply in spring, but will certainly be back and done with it when it's time for interviews etc.

Thanks.

it will depend on where you are applying. it is always best to have your secondaries done as early as possible, but i know people that have gotten accepted and sent in secondaries in dec.
it should be fine to list the volunteering on your application. it asks for dates. if you don't feel okay with listing it, most schools will allow you to send then updates during the application process...
hope that helps

 

[aoum86]

1. You will be "behind" by SDN standards, but still OK if you get your LORs and write your PS before going abroad, so you can submit your Primary application as soon as you get back. And even better, if you leave after June 1st, just submit the primary on June 1st and enjoy your trip, knowing secondaries will be waiting for you when you get back. If you do this, I would email the schools you applied to individually as well, in case they wonder why you aren't responding to them or haven't completed your secondaries yet when they sent them in July.

2. Go ahead! I sure did! It's something you'll definitely want to talk about during the interviews, and it will be the top-listed thing on your primary application!

I think the "EC value" your application will gain by doing this volunteering will far outweigh any "Early value" you'd get by being around for all the secondaries. Just have time to work your butt off when you get back! And get your LORs NOW!!!

Thank you so much for your response. I won't be leaving until the second week of June, so it sounds like things should be ok as far as the application goes.

By the way, I just saw your mdapplicants profile. Congrats on everything!...even if you did go to such a bad undergrad (I go to UM 😉 ) Best of luck with your decision, and thanks again.

 

[dopaminophile]

It's actually really nice to see you post this. I did exactly this and it was worth every bit of the complication it added. I spent the summer (June-August) of my application year in East Timor. I took the April MCAT and waited until I was actually in Southeast Asia before I started writing my letter or even writing about my EC's. This may sound awefully late to some people, many of whom had everything written by June, but I'm fairly certain that writing my personal statement by candle light in a Timorese free clinic added a potency that I couldn't have acheived otherwise. I was able to speak about the experience, myself, and my views towards public health and medicine in a way that I couldn't even repeat now. Given, there were a handful of people around me who spoke English as a first language and occassional emails back to the US to help me edit, rewrite, reword several dozen times, but the end product was definitely worth it. I submitted my application in the first few weeks of August when I visited New Zealand and had a little more reliable communication. By the time I got back to the US in mid-August, secondaries were rolling in and with those completed by October I was complete with most schools in plenty of time. The application season was very successful after that and I wouldn't change the way I went about it for the world. Definitely definitely definitely do the trip... the summer of your application year is an excellent time! That and it will completely change your life if you haven't done anything like it before. I can't quit going back to East Timor!

By the way... where are you planning to go? Also... you'd love Loyola!

Let me mention the EC's really quickly... don't submit anything with an activity that you haven't actually completed or aren't currently doing. You'd be setting yourself up for all sorts of problems. My advice is to wait until you are back in the US to submit or if you must complete the application before you go, assign a proxy to submit it for you after you send them a note that you're doing the things you say you are. You just never know what might change or come up or happen. It'd be a sure fire way to not get into med school for you to say you volunteered in Darfur when Sudan suddenly decides to expel all the expats. That, and you'll be able to tell it so much better once you're actually at the clinic.

Anyhow, good luck and enjoy!

-dope-

 

[aoum86]

It's actually really nice to see you post this. I did exactly this and it was worth every bit of the complication it added. I spent the summer (June-August) of my application year in East Timor. I took the April MCAT and waited until I was actually in Southeast Asia before I started writing my letter or even writing about my EC's. This may sound awefully late to some people, many of whom had everything written by June, but I'm fairly certain that writing my personal statement by candle light in a Timorese free clinic added a potency that I couldn't have acheived otherwise. I was able to speak about the experience, myself, and my views towards public health and medicine in a way that I couldn't even repeat now. Given, there were a handful of people around me who spoke English as a first language and occassional emails back to the US to help me edit, rewrite, reword several dozen times, but the end product was definitely worth it. I submitted my application in the first few weeks of August when I visited New Zealand and had a little more reliable communication. By the time I got back to the US in mid-August, secondaries were rolling in and with those completed by October I was complete with most schools in plenty of time. The application season was very successful after that and I wouldn't change the way I went about it for the world. Definitely definitely definitely do the trip... the summer of your application year is an excellent time! That and it will completely change your life if you haven't done anything like it before. I can't quit going back to East Timor!

By the way... where are you planning to go? Also... you'd love Loyola!

Let me mention the EC's really quickly... don't submit anything with an activity that you haven't actually completed or aren't currently doing. You'd be setting yourself up for all sorts of problems. My advice is to wait until you are back in the US to submit or if you must complete the application before you go, assign a proxy to submit it for you after you send them a note that you're doing the things you say you are. You just never know what might change or come up or happen. It'd be a sure fire way to not get into med school for you to say you volunteered in Darfur when Sudan suddenly decides to expel all the expats. That, and you'll be able to tell it so much better once you're actually at the clinic.

Anyhow, good luck and enjoy!

-dope-

Thank you for your advice and for sharing your story. I wasn't sure if the logistics of the situation were going to work out, and I would have postponed my application cycle (which may actually be good for my stress level anyway!) before I put off the trip, but I think now that everything will work out to do both. I am going to be in Kenya. I have heard from friends who've done similar things that this kind of work truly is something you can't get enough of... congrats on your successes and best of luck with med school 🙂