Where should I volunteer?

Started by thisismyacct
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thisismyacct

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7+ Year Member
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I'm thinking about volunteering at one of the three places listed below but I can't make up my mind where.

  1. Food pantry. Opportunities include helping sort through stuff, nutrition education, etc.
  2. Literacy volunteers place. Volunteers 18+ help teach others how to use the internet, computers, etc. Volunteers 21+ can do that and teach others how to read
  3. Habitat for Humanity

I know where you volunteer doesn't really matter but I can't make up my mind. Where would you volunteer out of the 3? And where are some other places I can consider?
 
  1. Literacy volunteers place. Volunteers 18+ help teach others how to use the internet, computers, etc. Volunteers 21+ can do that and teach others how to read
This is the best choice if I was going to choose, teaching someone else is a very respectful deed!

Now that got me thinking, where can I find such place to teach older people or something.
 
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volunteer at the place you have a genuine passion for. 50 hours of volunteer at something you enjoy and have passion about is better than 100 at something you could not care less.
 
thisismyacct said:
I'm thinking about volunteering at one of the three places listed below but I can't make up my mind where.

  1. Food pantry. Opportunities include helping sort through stuff, nutrition education, etc.
  2. Literacy volunteers place. Volunteers 18+ help teach others how to use the internet, computers, etc. Volunteers 21+ can do that and teach others how to read
  3. Habitat for Humanity

I know where you volunteer doesn't really matter but I can't make up my mind. Where would you volunteer out of the 3? And where are some other places I can consider?
Click to expand...
Would go for number 2. Volunteering hours (after you reach a minimum amount) and place of volunteering don't mean jack. You just need like 2-3 good stories about some volunteering event that you consistently went to (or at least have a decent number of hours in). That's how they "check" if your volunteering was true+worthwhile.

Number 1 has almost 0 ppl interaction so you won't get a good story.
Number 3 is often inconsistent (at least at my school it was) and very little people interaction.

Number 2 is best b/c you interact with randoms (and probably not affluent people), so you can get a good experience/story out of it.

Now I'm not saying volunteering's purpose is only to craft some good story. But in the context of dental/medical applications, the story(s) is what matters, not what you do or for how long you do it. Likewise with shadowing (100 hrs is cool, but be sure to have some good stories to show passion), research (publications are cool, but you need to be able to sound intelligent when talking about it and give some good experiences you had), etc.

Everything other than what you can talk about eloquently and passionately in an interview are just boxes to check on an application.
 
dentalgoal team said:
Volunteer at the place which you would gain the most value from. Which one would you find most aligned with your values?
Click to expand...

I'm leaning the most towards the 2nd option. I like how I'll be helping the underserved/economically disadvantaged. I also think it'll be the most enjoyable.
 
Medin2017 said:
Would go for number 2. Volunteering hours (after you reach a minimum amount) and place of volunteering don't mean jack. You just need like 2-3 good stories about some volunteering event that you consistently went to (or at least have a decent number of hours in). That's how they "check" if your volunteering was true+worthwhile.

Number 1 has almost 0 ppl interaction so you won't get a good story.
Number 3 is often inconsistent (at least at my school it was) and very little people interaction.

Number 2 is best b/c you interact with randoms (and probably not affluent people), so you can get a good experience/story out of it.

Now I'm not saying volunteering's purpose is only to craft some good story. But in the context of dental/medical applications, the story(s) is what matters, not what you do or for how long you do it. Likewise with shadowing (100 hrs is cool, but be sure to have some good stories to show passion), research (publications are cool, but you need to be able to sound intelligent when talking about it and give some good experiences you had), etc.

Everything other than what you can talk about eloquently and passionately in an interview are just boxes to check on an application.
Click to expand...

Yep, this is what I was thinking and why I'm thinking about going with the 2nd option.

Since you brought up numbers, how much volunteering should I aim for? My GPA is very low but my upward trend "started" this past semester.
 
thisismyacct said:
Yep, this is what I was thinking and why I'm thinking about going with the 2nd option.

Since you brought up numbers, how much volunteering should I aim for? My GPA is very low but my upward trend "started" this past semester.
Click to expand...
I had 50 hours
 
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Consider checking out if your local public hospital has a dental clinic, that way you can try to shadow while volunteering. That, plus public health dentistry is the bee's knees.
 
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