Volunteering & Extracurrics: how much should I be doing?

[booty911]

I am just curious for all your premeds out there. I am in my first year of university and am only on one committee at my university.

 

How many extracurriculars should one be doing as a premed? Should I try to take more as I progress through my years? How many are you taking? How are you coping with time management?

 

Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

[Kiel]

Advice has been given in the past to just take on as much as you can handle. Extracurriculars are one part of the application. Many schools would not get to see these activties if your GPA/stats are not high enough. So, basically judge how much is too much and be involved with what you enjoy!

 

Good luck with first year!

[renegadex]

I agree with the post above. You're here for school and you need the grades to get in. Extracurriculars are just one aspect of the application. I know one guy who was practically apart of every club in the school, heading town meetings, student councils, etc...but I found out he was forced to take 2 semester off school due to poor grades. Extracurriculars isn't going to work in your favor if that happens.

 

Also, if you're doing extracurriculars/volunteering just for the sake of making it look good on a resume or application. Don't do it. I think it's disturbing how strategic and structured premeds are. Find something you enjoy. Pursue it. And when you get your interview for med, you can show them the passion and reason why you did it in the first place.

 

That's not to say don't try new things in university. You'll never have another time like it to experiment. But do it for yourself and not to check it off on a piece of paper to fill space.

[MDhopeful]

Also, if you're doing extracurriculars/volunteering just for the sake of making it look good on a resume or application. Don't do it. I think it's disturbing how strategic and structured premeds are. Find something you enjoy. Pursue it. And when you get your interview for med, you can show them the passion and reason why you did it in the first place.

 

That's not to say don't try new things in university. You'll never have another time like it to experiment. But do it for yourself and not to check it off on a piece of paper to fill space.

 

Well said, well said!! I second that. =)

[The Law]

Well, this year I'm trying to get more involved in school activities because I am really really having fun doing it! I'm so excited about some of the things I'm going to be doing with this club I'm an exec on now... just find some things that you like doing, and take on things you can handle. I mean - don't do things that you're going to loathe having to go to. Do things that you find fun and that you think will give you a good experience! Personally, I'm not really thinking about - I should have X number of activities for when I apply... I'm kinda just doing things I like as they come along. Anyway, that's just my take on things.

[bioboy2007]

As was mentioned by others, do as many EC's as you can manage but remember that GPA/MCAT are much more important in getting an interview and potentially an acceptance. It is relatively easy to pick up progressively more EC's over your university career. Also, while you can always do more volunteering or increase your exposure to clinical settings, a bad GPA can be quite difficult to fix and can haunt you for a very long time!

[Smurfette]

Hey, the advice given by the other posters has been good.

 

To add to those posts, I would suggest taking a fairly active part in a few activities that you truly enjoy rather than being a superficial part of many activities. Try making those few activities somewhat diverse (ie. don't just join four service clubs). That will help you gain diverse experiences and meet different types of people. But I wouldn't stretch yourself too thin - I would not just join 20 clubs so that you have 20 bulletin points of your resume. You won't gain any truly valuable experiences and you probably won't have that much fun. It will also likely become clear on your application/interview that your committment to each of those activities was very superificial.

[booty911]

Wow! Thanks for all the good replies. I now realize that it's not the amount of EC's I am in or how appropriate they look on an application, but the whole experience and enjoy I get out of them.

 

I am doing good in school so far, it's tough and a huge change from high school but so far so good, and as the committee I'm involved in now is extremely fun and I get pleasure in being helpfull to others.

 

So from now on, I'm just gonna have fun in doing what I like to do and concentrate on doing well in school also.

 

 

Thanks Everyone!

[Kiel]

What school and program are you in, just out of curiosity.

[The Law]

Wow! Thanks for all the good replies. I now realize that it's not the amount of EC's I am in or how appropriate they look on an application, but the whole experience and enjoy I get out of them.

 

I am doing good in school so far, it's tough and a huge change from high school but so far so good, and as the committee I'm involved in now is extremely fun and I get pleasure in being helpfull to others.

 

So from now on, I'm just gonna have fun in doing what I like to do and concentrate on doing well in school also.

 

 

Thanks Everyone!

 

Awesome, that sounds really good.

I think that this is a great way to get the full experience in university!

[booty911]

I am attending Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) doing nursing. That was actually hard to get out, I always feel ashamed to say that I am going to nursing school and really want to be a doctor. I've always wanted to be a doctor but I've always heard things about being a nurse then becoming a doctor, as if it is frowned upon.

 

I usually don't tell people I want to be a doctor unless they are really close to me...I don't think I'll ever be able to tell my instructors, they'll take it like a slap in the mouth.

[Darla]

That's unfortunate booty! Hang on-it'll be well worth the effort!

 

So you know-It's not just nursing. My psych profs are very discouraging about applying to med school. In their minds it's research or bust-MD is the soft option. My econ profs think that my psych is a waste of time (major/minor).

 

It's probably why I like hanging out in here, I feel like I'm not the only weirdo who thinks getting an MD is fantastic. I think that every discipline has the arrogance required to think that they are the best option for students.

[Smurfette]

Haha, it's not even just psych. I'm in a life science program that overlaps with the faculty of medicine (ie. most of my profs are under the faculty of medicine although many are researchers (with PhD's) and not doctors (with MD's)). They constantly make fun of those of us who want to go into medicine, saying that the med students don't really know anything at all. And they give us stats on how professors are happier than doctors. LOL, in general, everyone wants you to go into their profession because they think it's best. Don't fret about it.

[The Law]

Haha, it's not even just psych. I'm in a life science program that overlaps with the faculty of medicine (ie. most of my profs are under the faculty of medicine although many are researchers (with PhD's) and not doctors (with MD's)). They constantly make fun of those of us who want to go into medicine, saying that the med students don't really know anything at all. And they give us stats on how professors are happier than doctors. LOL, in general, everyone wants you to go into their profession because they think it's best. Don't fret about it.

 

Haha, yep, I know what you mean.

 

Lots of people I know who are in research and stuff make fun of med students and "pre-med" students. It happens with lots of people! As long as you know you want to go for it, right?