Summer: Volunteering or Jump Class?

<p>Hello!</p>

<p>I am interested in going into a volunteer program at my local hospital. The programs give experience in the medical field and also provide 100 volunteer hours. I'm both interested in learning about the career and helping others. </p>

<p>However, I could also take a math jump class, precalculus, in order to take AP Calculus AB my senior year. I recently posted about what classes I should take and everyone encouraged me to take calculus over statistics. </p>

<p>Do colleges prefer work experience and volunteering or a rigorous class schedule? I know that colleges like AP Calc better, but do they also take volunteer hours and experience into account? </p>

<p>Thank you for your help!</p>

<p>If I were you, I would go ahead and take Pre-Calculus over the summer. You could always volunteer at a free clinic or health office that fits your schedule. It may not be the program you were thinking of, but it still is something in the medical field. One thing I wish I did the summer before senior year is research. I live by a UC and they have a summer internship program where high school students help grad students with their thesis/dissertation in a lab. Lab experience looks good on resumes.</p>

<p>“Do colleges prefer work experience and volunteering or a rigorous class schedule?”</p>

<p>Class schedule, every time.</p>

<p>No college on the planet requires work experience or voluntarism.</p>