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Extracurricular Activities as Undergraduate: Beneficial or Waste of Time??


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Anyone have a say one this?

I will be entering university next year and i was wondering if extracurriculars will give me a leg up or are they just a waste of time? Do they help make friends/contacts or is it better to do it another way.

 

Also for volunteering at a hospital, is it better to start that as early as possible or can i wait until 3rd/4th year?

 

Any advice would be awesome!

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You'll need extracurriculars for most schools in Ontario as part of your autobiographical sketch. It's also a great way to get references. I'm not really sure how you'd meet all three of your references otherwise, to be honest. Furthermore, they allow you to develop inter- and intrapersonal skills, which will definitely come across in your interview.

 

Hospital volunteering is not necessary and many candidates get in without it. It can be a good way to get more insight into the healthcare profession. (Again, your insight will come across in your interview.) If you have other ways of gaining this insight, then that's fine. I personally found my hospital volunteering experiences tedious since they put us up to menial tasks. I have many other extracurriculars that I thought were better character-builders.

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Anyone have a say one this?

I will be entering university next year and i was wondering if extracurriculars will give me a leg up or are they just a waste of time? Do they help make friends/contacts or is it better to do it another way.

 

Yes, you should do EC's. Med schools want to see that you're a well-rounded individual. You also need to get 3 good references (2 academic), so doing EC's will probably get you those contacts. But don't spread yourself too thin. Choose those that will give you the most valuable experiences.

 

Also for volunteering at a hospital, is it better to start that as early as possible or can i wait until 3rd/4th year?

 

Any advice would be awesome!

 

Definitely start early. Admissions committees don't want to see that you waited until the last minute to volunteer. It shows that you only did it for the sake of doing it, and does not demonstrate your dedication.

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Thanks for the opinions guys.

 

So ECs are definitely a good thing.

 

Medical schools are looking for well rounded people right? So should i do a wide array of EC's that are not really similar but that i still enjoy? Like maybe a sport and a couple of others that are interesting to me? That would make me well rounded right?

 

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Definitely start early. Admissions committees don't want to see that you waited until the last minute to volunteer. It shows that you only did it for the sake of doing it, and does not demonstrate your dedication.

 

Good point! I should definitely start that as soon as possible. It seems interesting anyways and would probably make me aware of how things go in a hospital. This way i will know for sure if this is what i want to do for the rest of my working life!!!

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Thanks for the opinions guys.

 

So ECs are definitely a good thing.

 

Medical schools are looking for well rounded people right? So should i do a wide array of EC's that are not really similar but that i still enjoy? Like maybe a sport and a couple of others that are interesting to me? That would make me well rounded right?

 

Don't worry about choosing activities that make you "look" well rounded. Do what interests you.

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For my opinion of potential ECs for someone just starting UG, I'm going to copy what I wrote in another thread:

 

I recommend you join your local Canadian Forces reserve unit. You essentially get paid to exercise and learn cool stuff that you'd learn nowhere else. It builds character, helps keep you healthy, and would look pretty good to an adcom. The application process can be up to a year (mine was 51 weeks), but once you're in it's 4-12 hours weekly. Girls join too, there's about 5% women in the infantry unit I'm with. Joining as a medic or something could be a good thing too.

 

Also, you could try volunteering at your local Crisis Intervention/Suicide hotline. The training is usually pretty intense (20 hours/week for 2-3 weeks), but after that it would range from 4-12 hours per week. I'm starting this next month.

 

You could also phone up your local food bank. I sorted donations for a while (4 hours/week) and it was pretty simple work, very flexible and easy to get into.

 

The general consensus seems to be that you should do things that interest you, and that you could see yourself continuing for a few years (even if its just 4-16 hours a month). Use your ECs as a good excuse to try things that perhaps you have an interest in, but have not yet got around to trying. More exciting ECs (research being a good example) are usually not accessible until at least a year or so of UG has be completed, but there's plenty to get started with in the mean time.

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From what I've heard from some people who got in this cycle, it's better to do a few consistent extracurriculars than a million the last minute. And do things you're really interested in, otherwise you are just going to be unhappy the whole time doing it. Right now I'm doing volunteering in a physio clinic, and everyday I get asked the question "do you want to be a physiotherapist?" and I sort of just say I'm trying to get insight into different health professions. The reason I chose it was because I really wanted to have some contact with patients and see if I could deal with stinky feet, bums, all that jazz :P And it is almost impossible to shadow a doctor unless you are actually in med school... from what I've heard.

 

Personally... I'm thinking I won't be doing hospital volunteering. I actually spent 9 months in a hospital as a patient when I was 16 and that is what turned me to medicine, so I guess that was my "hospital experience". They are looking for dedication, not that you are going into the field simply for the prestige, money, etc. Mind you I've only done a year of UG, so what do I know really haha ;)

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Don't worry about choosing activities that make you "look" well rounded. Do what interests you.

allright. Sweet. Makes sense to me.

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Okay. So basically doing ECs that im really interested in is the best way to go. Which makes sense because i want to have fun at University as well. I dont want to have to think, "Oh man, now i have to waste two hours going to THAT place".

 

 

Thanks so much for your answers guys. I definitely have a lot more researching to do for the EC's then to find some that i can be dedicated to throughout my undergrad experience.

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Also, you could try volunteering at your local Crisis Intervention/Suicide hotline. The training is usually pretty intense (20 hours/week for 2-3 weeks), but after that it would range from 4-12 hours per week. I'm starting this next month.

 

Wow that sounds really interesting. I didnt even think about doing something like that. I'm really going to look into that!

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You could also phone up your local food bank. I sorted donations for a while (4 hours/week) and it was pretty simple work, very flexible and easy to get into.

 

That's also a really good idea. Thanks! Im thinking I can volunteer at food banks/shelters over this summer.

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They are looking for dedication, not that you are going into the field simply for the prestige, money, etc.

 

I couldn't agree with you more! People in it for the money don't really care about the patients. A good doctor is compassionate and caring. I personally feel though that mostly people who put in a lot of sweat towards this job, and really have a heart do the best and are the most satisfied. That's exactly why i was thinking about volunteering at a hospital. I really want to be in that environment and see if I really can love it!

 

The reason I chose it was because I really wanted to have some contact with patients and see if I could deal with stinky feet, bums, all that jazz

 

LOL. Sounds like a GOOD idea!

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Just imagine the kind of person you'll be if after your undergraduate you've never done anything except school. Forget its use in applying to medicine, don't you want to actually do stuff with your life?

 

I see your point. Life would be VERY boring if it was just all work and no play. I mean ECs are a chance to meet different types of people and just plain have fun and be a part of something you love right?

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^ agreed. A lot of the people I've met in university (besides from my floor) have been from extracurriculars. It's great to meet this people this way because you have the same interests and generally want the same things.

 

Right. So if i met people doing the same things as me, same goals, etc,etc, it would be awesome seeing as we could help eachother out, give eachother moral support, and study/doing well in courses. Cool!

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From my experience, my hospital volunteering was absolutely useless.

I volunteered in an ER, and was folding towels most of the time.

 

On the other hand, I had several jobs (many of which put me in leadership positions) and had meaningful non-hospital volunteer experience (working in a special needs kindergarten class, being a physiotherapy assistant). Made many friends, made good money, had good references, and had lots to talk about them during interviews.

 

EC's are great IMO, just make sure they are things you are passionate about otherwise prepare for a huuuugggee grind

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I see your point. Life would be VERY boring if it was just all work and no play. I mean ECs are a chance to meet different types of people and just plain have fun and be a part of something you love right?

 

Well yeah. I understand the mentality of doing it just to put it on a resume, but there's really plenty of cool stuff you can do that also may pay, and also looks good to places like medical schools. You'd be shortchanging yourself if in some respect you didn't actively pursue your interests. Plus, if all you do is obsess about school you'll wind up a stuffy nerd with no people skills.

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From my experience, my hospital volunteering was absolutely useless.

I volunteered in an ER, and was folding towels most of the time.

Point made. It depends on the place you are volunteering, at what time, etc. All has to do with luck. From what a lot of people have said, the hospital is not everything. I can get great volunteering hours other places too, right?

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Plus, if all you do is obsess about school you'll wind up a stuffy nerd with no people skills

Lol, that's some doctor, eh :P

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Yes, you should do EC's. Med schools want to see that you're a well-rounded individual. You also need to get 3 good references (2 academic), so doing EC's will probably get you those contacts. But don't spread yourself too thin. Choose those that will give you the most valuable experiences.

 

Where did you get TWO academic references from? I didn't think that two was necessary. I've heard that one is sufficient for Ontario, at least.

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Is it okay to just do ECs during the summer? And focus mainly on school during the year?
None of us can say what is OK or not. It depends on the EC itself. Then again, most people agree that long-term ECs are better than a bunch of short term ones (to show dedication).

 

One thing to consider is that there are many qualified applicants who manage to get steller GPAs while doing many ECs during the entire school year.

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I commuted about that far for school, worked during the summer (except the year I wrote the MCAT), and still kept up two volunteer positions almost the whole last two years. It's doable! Just keep those commitments to as few hours as possible (I did 4 hrs each) and plan to do a ton of work before and after you go to your volunteer job.

 

This is where it becomes important to do something you love. I considered those placements to be my break from school, because I enjoyed them and didn't consider them work. :)

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How would you suggest someone in my position to volunteer long term? I go to school 90 minutes away, and I go home on the summers, to work full time...

 

Is it possible?

 

You have the possibility to use your time effetively in refviewing/ studying during your long daily commmute. And you have the potential to do long term volunteering during the academic year, in a sense, it is necessary to do something you love so that adcoms know you are able to handle academics and also be somewhat of an active citizen, which is what they expect of doctors. Find sosmething you are passionate about, it need not be part of an organized activity, you could help out an elderly or disabled neighbour on a regular basis for example. You are only loimited by your imagination.

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