Hi, I think this is my first post on this site. Also, I'm really sorry if this is the wrong place to ask.
So due to a variety of factors (awful class schedule, prior commitments, lack of free time) I got virtually no volunteer/shadowing experience over my freshman year, and what I do have I’m not even sure I want to talk about, and I’m worried it’ll be a huge red flag on my app.
Like I said, I had no time, so I couldn’t commit to any volunteer opportunities that were more than a day, so I’m not sure if they’re even worth talking about because they were just odd-jobs for events on-campus. The only one that might be worth talking about that I found actually fun was hosting a science fair for local schoolkids where we performed simple experiments and taught them about the science behind them. I found it incredibly fun to see how excited they were and I want to do more involving it.
I did some clinical volunteering for a week that was cut short because of corona, and I’m not even sure if I’m allowed to bring it up because A) it was at a clinic my dad’s friend runs, and B) that friend is moving away in the summer and my dad is taking over the clinic. He doesn’t run it right now, but he will by the time I apply. I don’t really know if it’s allowed for someone to volunteer at their own parent’s practice. I’m definitely going to avoid any clinical experience over there when he’s in charge either way, though.
I also amassed some shadowing hours from someone my dad set me up with that I don’t even want to talk about in my app. It was ~20 hours of an awful experience that consisted of me sitting at the front desk with the receptionists and MAs for an entire week. So like, it’s not even worth bringing up.
I’m just worried that this will look awful to med schools because it showed that I can’t commit, or that I have poor time management skills. Is it possible for me to talk about any of these experiences??
So due to a variety of factors (awful class schedule, prior commitments, lack of free time) I got virtually no volunteer/shadowing experience over my freshman year, and what I do have I’m not even sure I want to talk about, and I’m worried it’ll be a huge red flag on my app.
Like I said, I had no time, so I couldn’t commit to any volunteer opportunities that were more than a day, so I’m not sure if they’re even worth talking about because they were just odd-jobs for events on-campus. The only one that might be worth talking about that I found actually fun was hosting a science fair for local schoolkids where we performed simple experiments and taught them about the science behind them. I found it incredibly fun to see how excited they were and I want to do more involving it.
I did some clinical volunteering for a week that was cut short because of corona, and I’m not even sure if I’m allowed to bring it up because A) it was at a clinic my dad’s friend runs, and B) that friend is moving away in the summer and my dad is taking over the clinic. He doesn’t run it right now, but he will by the time I apply. I don’t really know if it’s allowed for someone to volunteer at their own parent’s practice. I’m definitely going to avoid any clinical experience over there when he’s in charge either way, though.
I also amassed some shadowing hours from someone my dad set me up with that I don’t even want to talk about in my app. It was ~20 hours of an awful experience that consisted of me sitting at the front desk with the receptionists and MAs for an entire week. So like, it’s not even worth bringing up.
I’m just worried that this will look awful to med schools because it showed that I can’t commit, or that I have poor time management skills. Is it possible for me to talk about any of these experiences??
