Volunteering question?

[trep14]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I have a question related to volunteering:

I didn't start doing clinical volunteering at the hospital until a few months before I submitted my AMCAS primary app. It has come to my understanding that though that is better than nothing, it could be held against me as a sign of padding my application (which is not the case, for the record). However, I spent about a year of volunteering at a nursing home for a few hours a weekend in high school with my youth group, where we visited and helped with elderly members of our congregation who could no longer make it to church or take care of themselves due to age or illness. Though this is not on my AMCAS application because it was a high school activity, any chance I could spin this into something similar to a clinical experience?

 

[Abdullaah]

AMCAS doesn't wanna know about high school activities. The only exception is if you continued that specific activity throughout college. So judging from this, I don't think your previous activity holds much weight.

Maybe you can mention in your AMCAS description of your recent volunteering why you started the clinical experience so late.

 

[Disinence2]

AMCAS doesn't wanna know about high school activities. The only exception is if you continued that specific activity throughout college. So judging from this, I don't think your previous activity holds much weight.

Maybe you can mention in your AMCAS description of your recent volunteering why you started the clinical experience so late.

I disagree. There are plenty of good reasons to include your high school activities in AMCAS.

In this case I wouldn't be worried about it looking like your "Padding" your application. You can talk about what you learned from it during your interviews.

No worries.

 

[EMS5]

I would hope that a medical school is more worried about the big things (GPA, MCAT, LOR's) before they start worrying about whether or not you were "padding" your app with hours. At any rate, that should be an issue they address in an interview, not during the primary.

 

[trep14]

.

 

[Disinence2]

Very Unlikely this will be the difference between getting an interview and not getting one.

Don't stress

 

[J ROD]

I would just have a reason why I started so late in the clinical volunteering game.

You might be asked and need a good answer. Then, work in the nursing home stuff from high school.

 

[Abdullaah]

I disagree. There are plenty of good reasons to include your high school activities in AMCAS.

Really? I got what I said from the AMCAS instruction guide, according to my memory at least. What are some other good reasons?