Hey I am in my 2nd semester of my junior year, and was wondering about volunteering. I have only been volunteering at our hospital since the beginning of this semester. I was going to start at the beginning of the first semester, but H1N1 closed that thought down. I am planning on applying when it opens this summer. I am going to start working at a blood drive clinic next week as well. Will this lack of great volunteering experience really hurt me? Just got my MCAT scores yesterday (35), and have a 3.95 GPA. Any input would be much appreciated.
Volunteering
- Thread starter njclark25
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If you have no other clinical experience and community service prior to these next three months, your application will be at a serious disadvantage. Last minute ECs are rarely appreciated by adcomms.
I understand the limitations you've been faced with since fall, but don't you have any patient-contact experiences from all of last year? And what will you do for shadowing?
Your numbers are terrific, but if you don't have beefy ECs, I'm compelled to suggest that you consider waiting another year before you apply. (I know that's not what you want to hear.)
I understand the limitations you've been faced with since fall, but don't you have any patient-contact experiences from all of last year? And what will you do for shadowing?
Your numbers are terrific, but if you don't have beefy ECs, I'm compelled to suggest that you consider waiting another year before you apply. (I know that's not what you want to hear.)
By EC's do you mean strictly clinical experiences? I have been involved mainly in club sports here at school, hockey and lacrosse, both of which I have held multiple board positions for a couple of years. Both required over 10 hrs/week for the better part of the academic year, which has really added to my load. I'm assuming this doesn't count for much, but I really enjoyed them during my undergrad career. Any help?
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ECs can refer to any experience, but most of them aren't "required." Your club sports, especially if they included eventual leadership postions, are good to have on your list. Board positions do count for something, but they don't at all substitute for required elements that need to be on your application.
I was told on this forum (scared by I should say) that with limited clinical experience-one semester of clinical volunteering-that my application would be at a serious disadvantage and that I should take a year off.
I ended up applying anyway to 14 schools.
I received interviews from Dartmouth, Iowa, UW-Madison, Medical College of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Northwestern, Loyola and Pitt.
I was accepted to UW-Madison, Medical College of Wisconsin, Iowa and most recently Pitt (which I'll be attending). I was waitlisted at the other four schools.
At each and every interview my lack of volunteering was NEVER brought up. We talked significantly about my sports experiences (I had played junior hockey), my leadership roles, and especially my shadowing experiences. All of my shadowing experiences were done from the winter break of my application cycle through the summer after applying.
My feeling therefore is, if you feel like you have a competitive application-APPLY. SDN is a good resource, but it is not the Bible.
I ended up applying anyway to 14 schools.
I received interviews from Dartmouth, Iowa, UW-Madison, Medical College of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Northwestern, Loyola and Pitt.
I was accepted to UW-Madison, Medical College of Wisconsin, Iowa and most recently Pitt (which I'll be attending). I was waitlisted at the other four schools.
At each and every interview my lack of volunteering was NEVER brought up. We talked significantly about my sports experiences (I had played junior hockey), my leadership roles, and especially my shadowing experiences. All of my shadowing experiences were done from the winter break of my application cycle through the summer after applying.
My feeling therefore is, if you feel like you have a competitive application-APPLY. SDN is a good resource, but it is not the Bible.
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This might be true, but how you portray the experiences is also extremely important. There are also a myriad of other aspects of your application that should be taken into account before saying one semester of experience is fine. I don't think most people have only one semester of clinical experience, and I certainly wouldn't recommend going in with just that much.
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NJClark, that's great you were accepted at places. Your stats are great and you had some interesting ECs, it sounds like. While your clinical experience wasn't, perhaps, your best point, other things made up for it. Congrats!
At the same time, for those w/ the ability to remedy this kind of situation, I think most here would agree that you're better off with the "tried and true" than hoping to be the exception to the rule.
Nice word, regardless!
At the same time, for those w/ the ability to remedy this kind of situation, I think most here would agree that you're better off with the "tried and true" than hoping to be the exception to the rule.
Nice word, regardless!
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When I apply in June, I'll only have about 7 months of hospital volunteering (most Sundays) as my clinical experience. I'll also have 3 years of research experience, a uGPA of 4.0, and will be close to having a Master's degree in molecular biology. I'm doing well on practice MCAT passages and sectionals, so I predict a decent score. Could the lack of very long-term clinical experience hold me back, or is 7 months decent?
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Not ideal, but probably passable. It all depends upon how you sell it, what it is (quality), and what else you've got. The package is what matters.
