Volunteering Advice and Critiques Needed!

Does your town have a volunteer first aid squad? In our town, you can apply when you’re 16yo. It’s a great way to give back to your community, get hands on experience, and meet good people. You could then take an EMT course and get certified. That would give you greater skills for the position and demonstrate commitment. It also gives you a great skill for a part time or summer job as needed.

Updated Stats:
Sophomore year: UW: 4.0, W: 4.3
Algebra 2: A
AP Bio: A
H English: A
PE: A
Academic Decathlon: A
AP World History: A

Finished the semester off strong.

Updated Junior Classes:
AP Environment Science
AP Chemistry
AP Lang
AP US History
Pre-Calc
Aca Deca.

Any places where I can take Chemistry, preferably honors, over the summer? I am taking a SAT boot camp over the summer, so I can’t do any weekdays. I would prefer weekend classes, with work given throughout the week.

I don’t think a weekend class in Chem is the smartest choice for a pre-med. When you’re a freshmen in gen chem there will be NO hand holding and you’ll want a really strong foundation in chemistry biology and physics. If you wanna drop something off your schedule, I would suggest taking gov outside of school.

I would not bother with AP Env Science if you are just taking it because it is an AP.

I would like to take a chemistry class over the summer so that I could be prepared for AP Chem during the school year, where my foundation of the subject will get stronger. I plan on taking AP Physics senior year.

I am taking it because the teacher is my sponsor for my club, and she really wants me to take it. I will hopefully ask this teacher to write one of my recommendation letters as well.

Bump

Are you only taking world history, US history, and US government in the social studies area? I don’t know of any high schools where AP gov is a full year; it is typically only a half credit class. I would try really hard to get one more social studies class in there, or at least an Econ class. Most schools will highly recommend if not require you to take 3 social studies courses (not necessarily the ones you plan on applying to currently, but your list is very long and mostly includes reach schools that are likely only being considered right now because of prestige and a lot can change between sophomore year and college applications). Also, you don’t have to take APES just because the teacher wants you to. If your relationship is as strong as you make it seem to be, he or she will understand that you need to do this for your future and will write you an outstanding rec letter regardless. You seem like a great student with a bright future, but there is so much between where you are right now and when you will be applying. Do what you love and try your best to find something unique to do in your spare time. I think that your volunteer commitment is awesome and that you’ll be a competitive applicant at so many amazing schools; goof luck!!

Thanks Jenna! And yes, I forgot I need to have a AP Gov, for the other half of the semester I will take health— for senior year.

I’m a little late to this thread but you may want to also consider volunteering at the NICU as well. At my hospital I volunteered at the front desk which in addition to escorting patients around I was also placed on specific units multiple times to assist the nurses. I found the most rewarding (as well as very emotional) unit was NICU. Helping both the babies and the parents was the biggest highlight (as well as the biggest rollercoaster) of my three years of volunteering

Interesting… I will consider that. Thanks, and yeah I am a little late myself. haha

@HighlyIvySavvy , I know many of the previous readers have said it, but I will say it again, you don’t do volunteer work to look good on college application but because you care about the community you are serving. Stop resume bulding and invest your time on something you will enjoy doing. Escorting pateints is good, but you can also make difference by voluteering to read, play and keep children entertained, you can keep company for the elderly who don’t have many relatives visiting, if you are musically gifted you can play/sing to the elderly, you can offer to keep company to those families waiting in ICU… there are several other ways to make it meaningful. You have listed UCLA and Stanford premed programs these paid programs does very little on your application, instead find a professor and offer to voluteer with him/her on research, you may get to co author a paper that time is far more well spent. when you do resume building rather than developing a talent, ( which you are not currently) it shows…consider an EMT training, you are still yoong for that but you are not applying to medschool now unless it is for the 8 year program…

As far as your major is concerned why not study Bio Medical engineering? if your plans for Med school falls through you all still be an engineer