How do I make my time spent volunteering at a hospital stand out to adcoms? I have been doing it for 2 years but am nervous whether or not it will look like just another EC. What should I do to make it stand out?
When you want Harvard or its level, you shouldn’t need to ask outright, “How do I morph this (unspecified) experience?” As if you don’t know if it’s significant. Think about it. At least, phrase the question in some other way that doesn’t suggest you don’t know what Harvard values and looks for.
It’s difficult to make something ordinary standout, but the way you do it is in the description of the responsibilities you had while volunteering. On the Common Application, select ACTIVITIES and then from the pull-down menu select COMMUNITY SERVICE (VOLUNTEER). Then you to get to describe what you did in about 25 words. So, make every word count. For example:
The description is what you would basically do if listing the volunteer experience on a work resume.
You could also use the additional info section to add a short note on a particular aspect/incident of that service that you feel was particularly significant, that reveals something about how it affected you, or that shows the impact you had.
I don’t know if you can make it stand out in the way you may want. It is an out of school activity that many people do.
Did you work in an ER, a maternity ward, did you float?
Are you considering writing an essay about it? Or just asking how to list it? (Gibby’s comment is very good.)
You can make any ordinary thing interesting with your writing, so if you do write an essay about it, maybe focus on an anecdote or a person you helped, and make the details interesting.
I have worked in the ER and the Pathology Lab, the recently I have solely committed to the ER.