<p>How many volunteer hours do you think I need to be ahead of others that are applying to medical school? How many hours do I need to be considered ahead of most the other applicants applying to medical school?</p>
<p>wow that is such a stupid question</p>
<p>Why do think it is a stupid question? most premed students I talk to dont have over 1000 volunteer hours? Im just trying to find out how many volunteer hours do I need to stand out in the application process. Please can someone help me out?</p>
<p>I'm a soon-to-be pre-med but my guess would be that they emphasize quality over quantity. I would guess at least 1000 hours in volunteering in a medical-related activity would suffice with the presumption that it had some type of meaning to you. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. I would also like to know.</p>
<p>lol Unless you take a year off or something and do nothing but volunteer, you ain't getting 1000 volunteer hours.</p>
<p>LOL, that is what I am doing right now, taking a year off and volunteering..LOL. I'll be going off to college in the fall of 2006.</p>
<p>It's something I'm contemplating too, although I would be doing it after I graduate from undergrad in a couple of semesters.</p>
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wow that is such a stupid question
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<p>i agree, there is no magical formula here, and number of volunteer hours is definately not an important factor here and if volunteering will affect your gpa then your definately doing something wrong</p>
<p>Im not really worried about my GPA in college because I know, I will make straight A's and possibly some B's. The main reason I asked this question is because I read somewhere that they look at your community service, your GPA, essay, life experience, and letters of recommendation. I'm a URM, If I have a very good GPA, good recommendation letters, great essay, and alot of volunteer hours I can get into a very outstanding medical school. I KNOW I AM NOT THE ONLY PERSON VOLUNTEERING IN THE WORLD, I just want to know, how many volunteer hours should I have to stand out from the rest of the applicant pool,what is not the average(regular) volunteer hours a person has? is 1000 hours enough to stand out?</p>
<p>Med schools don't really care about hours. If you are lucky enough to get an interview they will grill you about it. If you tell them you have 1000 and nothing else to show for it they will laugh in your face. Someone with less hours but good stories and experiences will have the upper hand. You essays also have to show what the experience gave you. Worry less about hours and more about getting something out of it. Also remember that unlike college, which medical school you go to means squat if you want to practice. And grades, don't be so sure of yourself, you may do well in high school, but I have seen tons of people with outstanding SATs and GPAs from highschool come to college and get crushed no matter how hard they tried.
This all being said, volunteer as much as you want to, and get the experience YOU want out of it. Don't worry about hours. Just get the experience, thats what schools want to see.</p>
<p>Med schools do care about hours. 200 hours is certainly better than 50. But 1000 is not necessarily better than 200 when you don't have the experiences/stories to back it up. In general, I've found hospital volunteering to be dull and non-satisfying (and I volunteer in the OR and ER). Hopefully, you will have a different experience.</p>
<p>How about this? After I receive 1000 volunteer hours I will receive some kind of an award for volunteering so many hours, I'll have the award to show for the 1000 volunteer hours. Also I can ask the head volunteer coordinator to write me a letter of recommendation. Should I take some pictures of my volunteer work? Plus I'm going to write an essay about all of my experiences at the hospital. Please respond..thank you guys for all the advice, it is very helpful.</p>
<p>It really sounds like you're volunteering simply to pad your application.</p>
<p>Personally, I think 300 hours is more than enough of hospital volunteering. I doubt you will have any new experiences in the additional 800 hours. If I were you, I'd devote more time to non-hospital volunteering (in an elderly home, etc. or something entirely non-health related altogether).</p>
<p>everyone volunteers...do something different. applicants need to stand out in what they like best. in my case, as an applicant to the 8 yr guaranteed program at VCU, i showed that i worked at a pediatrician's private practice for three years (worked my own hours) but i also accentuated my passion for music (being an electric violinist) and that got me an interview. research is also a great option too</p>
<p>Is going on expeditions in foreign countries a good idea? check this website out:</p>
<p>You can help out with projects and different things, please any advice. Its just spending all that money, that would be the only problem. Also is volunteering at summer camp for one week with kids that have MD(Muscular Disease) a good idea? please respond..thank you for the advice.</p>