<p>We live in a small community and the school kids do not have many available EC activities besides sports and music. The school only offers 4 APs, no any competitions such as math, chem, and etc. My DS is very active in music, but he could not find any after school activities. He is interested in medicine, he wants to volunteer in a hospital or doctor's office, but they all require you must be 18 years or older. Can anyone give suggestions what he can do to gain more experience ?</p>
<p>My son volunteered at blood drives through the local chapter of the American Red Cross. They’ll take kids as young as 14 or 15. The blood drives are held at varying locations, dates, and times. My kid was busy with sports and band, too, but - because the ARC schedule options - was able to “work” about twice a month.</p>
<p>How about offering to volunteer at an after school program (at the Y or elementary school) bringing music enrichment to those kids. Could possibly organize older teens with interests in various instruments to broaden it or organize a used instrument drive for all those kids who dropped band to recycle their instruments to those in need. </p>
<p>Identifying and initiating a program to meet a need is often better than just logging in hours at some random community service project.</p>
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<p>Please be careful when making blanket statements about what’s better. No 2 kids are the same and no 2 commitments are the same.</p>
<p>Perhaps I should have been clearer. My intention that a project (or even hours) with something that is meaningful to the student is often better than just signing up for hours just to have something to put on an application.</p>
<p>There are on-line programs your son can participate in. If he’s good at math, for example, put www in front of .usamts.org. There have been several students from very rural areas who have placed well in the Intel contest, which is the premier science research competition for high school students. He can enter writing contests if he’s a talented writer. There are speech contests which hold the first round via tape. </p>
<p>And there are summers. Some of the better summer programs are free ones. Some do charge.</p>
<p>My kids both volunteered at the local senior center. The older one helped out in the computer lab, the younger one taught an origami class, played the violin to them and helped serve and clear up after lunch. This was a summer activity. During the school year older son did nothing. Younger son helped catalog neighborhood association archives and does math tutoring. (He’s a history guy not a math guy by the way!) Senior centers around here are always looking for volunteers.</p>
<p>“Perhaps I should have been clearer. My intention that a project (or even hours) with something that is meaningful to the student is often better than just signing up for hours just to have something to put on an application”</p>
<p>I agree.</p>
<p>The S also could start a club for students who are interested in entering the health professions. The club could have speakers from a variety of fields, raise money for health-related charities, read books related to their future careers, etc.</p>
<p>If it’s too difficult to start at the school, your S could hold meetings at your house.</p>
<p>The point is not to impress colleges (Most colleges don’t factor ECs into admission. The ones that do would regard a home based EC probably even more strongly than they do one at school), but to have your S participate in an EC that he would enjoy.</p>
<p>Encourage him to think about what kind of ECs he’d like to participate in , and then to start them if they don’t now exist.</p>
<p>Many colleges like to see that students have worked and earned their own money as it shows evidence of repsonsibility. With his music skills, could he work playing at weddings or at a music store?
In terms of his interest in medicine and health careers, it’s not directly related but he might enjoy working with special olympics. Learning about disabilities and the challenges the disabled face would certainly show him one side of medicine, and he’d meet some great people and help the community as well.</p>