What kinds of volunteering should I do as an undergraduate?

[mascue]

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Hi, I am a college freshman trying to transfer to another undergraduate school. I am very focused on academics so I can get my stats up to transfer, however I also don't wanna be late when it comes to extracurriculars such as volunteering for dental school. Should I focus on my academics or join frats? I've been rushing for alpha phi omega which is a volunteering/leadership/friendship fraternity, however it is a big time commitment and volunteering is only a small portion of what is required to stay in the frat. Should I pledge for this frat or drop it and try to find clubs that are more volunteering focused? I personally do not care about have a "college life."

 

[FanOfCostco]

Grades over frats. Do any sort of volunteer work. Research helps too.

 

[deleted985368]

Volunteering with underserved populations in addition to clinical volunteering is looked upon favorably.

 

[knewstance]

The way you enter volunteering activities into your application looks best if you have one or a few activities that you've done over a long period of time.

This is my 2 cents. Try to find your own ongoing volunteer commitment where you can do 2-2.5 hours per week for the entire semester. 2.5 hours per week is very doable, and you can easily build it into your weekly schedule. At the end of a semester that will be a solid 30 hours. In 2 semesters and a summer break, you can accomplish 100 hours. Do this each year, and it will really add up.

This is probably your best route in terms of presentation on your application. Find something that you care about and is interesting to you. That may be helping out at an elementary school, underserved population, homeless, ect. Clinical volunteering is ideal, but even if you are just helping kids learn math, that still shows you are dedicated to your community.

 

[mascue]

Grades over frats. Do any sort of volunteer work. Research helps too.

This is my 2 cents. Try to find your own ongoing volunteer commitment where you can do 2-2.5 hours per week for the entire semester. 2.5 hours per week is very doable, and you can easily build it into your weekly schedule. At the end of a semester that will be a solid 30 hours. In 2 semesters and a summer break, you can accomplish 100 hours. Do this each year, and it will really add up.

IMO, Find a volunteering spot independent of the frat that fits in your schedule. If you rely on your frat for your volunteer activities, you may not accumulate very many hours at all or even be available when the frat plans the volunteering.

If you enjoy your volunteer experience, repeat it again the next semester if it fits your course schedule. Sometimes you need to get background checked and paperwork filed before you can begin volunteering, so by staying at the same facility you will save yourself the hassle of needing to redo that while also demonstrating commitment to something.

Frats are very time consuming. Join the frat only if it's very, very important to you and you think you can handle the time commitment of it on top of your schoolwork and volunteering, etc. In the end, you don't want your GPA to suffer for it.

Volunteering with underserved populations in addition to clinical volunteering is looked upon favorably.

The way you enter volunteering activities into your application looks best if you have one or a few activities that you've done over a long period of time.



This is probably your best route in terms of presentation on your application. Find something that you care about and is interesting to you. That may be helping out at an elementary school, underserved population, homeless, ect. Clinical volunteering is ideal, but even if you are just helping kids learn math, that still shows you are dedicated to your community.

Thank you for your opinions! Seems like the general consensus here is to find my own volunteering activity that I can be consistent with. Is there a way that I can get these? These kinds of volunteering wouldn't be found on campus, would it?

 

[FanOfCostco]

Thank you for your opinions! Seems like the general consensus here is to find my own volunteering activity that I can be consistent with. Is there a way that I can get these? These kinds of volunteering wouldn't be found on campus, would it?

What type of volunteer work are you looking for? I.e food kitchen? Community clinic? Etc? Just google that and call.

 

[mascue]

What type of volunteer work are you looking for? I.e food kitchen? Community clinic? Etc? Just google that and call.

What do you recommend? I honestly have no clue where to start, and I think starting with some of the recommendations would be a good move.

 

[FanOfCostco]

What do you recommend? I honestly have no clue where to start, and I think starting with some of the recommendations would be a good move.

Try looking for something dental related first. Like maybe at a community clinic