Volunteering Question

[baseballcc]

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I'm going to be a junior this fall at a top 10 LAC, and I'll be arriving about a month before classes start to work on campus. I was thinking about volunteering at the local hospital, but I wouldn't be able to continue to volunteer once classes begin. Would adcoms look at one month as simply "box checking" or would spending a month at the hospital be beneficial (I think I'll get 30-50 hours over the month)? I'm genuinely interested in volunteering, but I'm just worried as to how it will be perceived. I have experience volunteering in both hospice and assisted senior care, as well as significant shadowing.

 

[mellie0]

I would still do it: (1) you want to do it, (2) you have the time, (3) you'll gain good experience, especially with that many hours.

When application time comes, if you have better experiences to write about, you can always choose not to include this one. But maybe you could volunteer at this hospital next summer, and you can compound all the hours. Or maybe you'll have an amazing experience there that will help you write your PS or secondaries... I really don't see any negatives of you volunteering there.

 

[Toutie]

I'm going to be a junior this fall at a top 10 LAC, and I'll be arriving about a month before classes start to work on campus. I was thinking about volunteering at the local hospital, but I wouldn't be able to continue to volunteer once classes begin. Would adcoms look at one month as simply "box checking" or would spending a month at the hospital be beneficial (I think I'll get 30-50 hours over the month)? I'm genuinely interested in volunteering, but I'm just worried as to how it will be perceived. I have experience volunteering in both hospice and assisted senior care, as well as significant shadowing.

Why won't you be able to continue it once classes begin? You might be able to cut your hours down to a few a week or every other week. Surely you can make time for that? Longevity is looked at favorably. But you do have other experience, so as long as your total hours are at or above the 150 mark, you should be fine.