Will admissions think this is a weird way to organize my volunteer hours?

[BazookaThom]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi everyone,

I've been involved with the Rotary Club for several years. During that time, I have volunteered at several organizations.

For example, I have volunteered several hundred hours with Big Brothers Big Sisters, several hundred hours at my local homeless shelter, and around 100 hours each for 3 other organizations (still with Rotary Club).

Would it be OK for me to put all of these hours under the Rotary Club? Whenever I volunteer, I always do so as a Rotary Club member, but I'm not sure if admissions would wonder why I didn't just split up BBBS and the homeless shelter into their own entries.

 

[rdyotz]

Hi everyone,

I've been involved with the Rotary Club for several years. During that time, I have volunteered at several organizations.

For example, I have volunteered several hundred hours with Big Brothers Big Sisters, several hundred hours at my local homeless shelter, and around 100 hours each for 3 other organizations (still with Rotary Club).

Would it be OK for me to put all of these hours under the Rotary Club? Whenever I volunteer, I always do so as a Rotary Club member, but I'm not sure if admissions would wonder why I didn't just split up BBBS and the homeless shelter into their own entries.

My personal opinion: I think it would look better all under the rotary club. It will show more continuity than a bunch of shorter experiences. I would still list the hours and how they are broken down, so admissions has a better idea of what you were actually doing.

 

[differentiating]

Imo, I’d break it up - “Rotary Club” doesn’t sound very significant or impressive on its own, whereas Big Brothers/Big Sisters and volunteering at a homeless shelter are notable in and of themselves. Highlight the positives in your app, don’t make adcoms hunt around for them.

 

[BazookaThom]

So the choices are (using a general description and placeholder hours):

ROTARY CLUB (700 hours total)-
Volunteered at Big Brother/Big Sisters (250 hrs) doing___. Also volunteered at homeless shelter (250 hrs) doing___ with ___ responsibilities. As a Rotary Club volunteer I also volunteered at several other organizations doing ____. (200 hrs)

or

ROTARY CLUB (200 hrs over 5.5 years)- volunteer description

BIG BROTHERS/BIG SISTERS (250 hrs over 10 months)- volunteer description

HOMELESS SHELTER (250 hrs over 7 months)- volunteer description

 

[Moko]

I agree with differentiating, better to have 2-3 separate activities here unless you have too many experiences and need to consolidate. At the very least I would put volunteering at a homeless shelter by itself, and then perhaps "Big Brothers Big Sister / Rotary Club" as another entry with a breakdown of hours between organizations.

Edit: After seeing the hours and shorter time frame associated with BBBS & homeless shelter volunteering, I agree with Catalystik below

 

[Catalystik]

I've been involved with the Rotary Club for several years. During that time, I have volunteered at several organizations.

For example, I have volunteered several hundred hours with Big Brothers Big Sisters, several hundred hours at my local homeless shelter, and around 100 hours each for 3 other organizations (still with Rotary Club).

Would it be OK for me to put all of these hours under the Rotary Club? Whenever I volunteer, I always do so as a Rotary Club member, but I'm not sure if admissions would wonder why I didn't just split up BBBS and the homeless shelter into their own entries.

I think it would have far more impact if left in one space, considering that you stayed with some subcomponents for less than a year. But put the subtotaled hours before the organization names.

 

[Moko]

I think it would have far more impact if left in one space, considering that you stayed with some subcomponents for less than a year. But put the subtotaled hours before the organization names.

After seeing the hours and shorter time frame associated with BBBS & homeless shelter volunteering, I agree with Catalystik.

 

[Detective SnowBucket]

what if you....put both

 

[BazookaThom]

I think it would have far more impact if left in one space, considering that you stayed with some subcomponents for less than a year. But put the subtotaled hours before the organization names.

So like this?

Rotary Club (700 hrs)-
Volunteered at BB/BS (250 hrs) doing___. Also volunteered at homeless shelter (250 hrs) doing___ with ___ responsibilities. As a Rotary Club volunteer I also volunteered at several other organizations doing ____. (200 hrs)

 

[BazookaThom]

what if you....put both

I don't think that would be a good idea...Adcoms might not like that I'm "double dipping".

Plus, I'd hate for them to ask me about my volunteer experiences during the interview and they find out that they're the same, just put down twice.

 

[Catalystik]

So like this?

I was thinking (might show up better on a PC since it's spread across the screen):

Experience Type: Community Service/Volunteer - Not Medical /Clinical Most Meaningful Experience: [Yes or No]
Experience Name: Local Volunteer Opportunities Dates: [overall inclusive months] Total Hours: 700
Contact Name & Title: [whoever the Rotary Organizer might be that can attest to everything]
Organization Name: [name of Rotary Club branch]
City/Country: [whatever]
Experience Description: 250 hours [10 month date range] Big Brother/Big Sister : Brief role info
250 hours [7 month date range] Homeless Shelter: Brief role info
200 hours [5.5 year inclusive date range] [Names of the 3 other organizations}: Brief role info

Any impact statement that might apply across all organizations in another paragraph.

Edit: I tried to simulate the AMCAS layout as it would appear, but unfortunately the SDN platform removed all the spacing changes I made and crammed it all together.