Splitting Ec's

[spa]

Hello all,

 

Just wondering about EC's, is it okay to do the same type of activity but at different organizations. For example, for ottawas 3 experiences , if I was to write "working with special populations" but I did it at Agency a in 2015 summer and Agency b in 2016 summer , who's reference would I use, or can I use multiple references?

 

Thanks

[NotASerialKiller]

Hello all,

 

Just wondering about EC's, is it okay to do the same type of activity but at different organizations. For example, for ottawas 3 experiences , if I was to write "working with special populations" but I did it at Agency a in 2015 summer and Agency b in 2016 summer , who's reference would I use, or can I use multiple references?

 

Thanks

 

That's a pretty vague description, were the two activities completely identical in ever way apart from the organization? If not, splitting them up would probably be reasonable. Or are you hoping to keep them together to strengthen your top 3 for Ottawa?

[Emojis4Life]

I agree w/ NotASerialKiller, I think you may need to elaborate. Just because you were working w/ special populations in two different companies doesn't necessarily mean you had the same role...?

[_ _]

Are you trying to include as many things as possible in each entry by doing this? I feel like it's intended for you to list each separately, because the description can't possibly be the same for each activity, and by squishing it all in one entry you don't get to talk about what you actually did at each thing

[spa]

Thanks for the opinions everyone!

 

I'll try to go into detail. So I was volunteering with physically- disabled people, as an exercise assistant at a care home, and now I'm  going to volunteer with a physio clinic but probably going to do basically the same type of activities (helping with exercise routines), what should I do?

 

My main concern is it won't have a significant impact if I just put down 10 hours (summer month-long care home) vs. lets say 100 hours (year-long @ care home + physio clinic + special olympics )

 

I know consistency matters but I find I like to volunteer at similar positions but with different places.

[spa]

Just to add on,

 

I was always confused how Adcoms would view something like 10 hrs volunteer work doing a very similar activity at 50 different places vs 400 hours doing work only with one (ymca, special olympics)

 

Both are equally good  ways of spending your time but the way applications are built it'll look mediocre for the person who only has 10 hr activities.. though in my opinion its a pretty strong theme to see a person play the same role in different circumstances/situations

[zaxop]

Thanks for the opinions everyone!

 

I'll try to go into detail. So I was volunteering with physically- disabled people, as an exercise assistant at a care home, and now I'm  going to volunteer with a physio clinic but probably going to do basically the same type of activities (helping with exercise routines), what should I do?

 

My main concern is it won't have a significant impact if I just put down 10 hours (summer month-long care home) vs. lets say 100 hours (year-long @ care home + physio clinic + special olympics )

 

I know consistency matters but I find I like to volunteer at similar positions but with different places.

It's a tough call but IMO you shouldn't collapse all of those roles into one. If they were identical activities I would say it would probably be OK, but the individual responsibilities and expectations for each of the positions you listed seem like they would be different enough to warrant different entries and verifiers. 

Just to add on,

 

I was always confused how Adcoms would view something like 10 hrs volunteer work doing a very similar activity at 50 different places vs 400 hours doing work only with one (ymca, special olympics)

 

Both are equally good  ways of spending your time but the way applications are built it'll look mediocre for the person who only has 10 hr activities.. though in my opinion its a pretty strong theme to see a person play the same role in different circumstances/situations

 

It seems like you sort of answered your own question here. Nobody knows for sure what adcoms want to see but I think most people agree that 2 or 3 long-term commitments look better than 10 short-term commitments. Long-term commitments show two big things: that you have the dedication to stick with something for the long haul, and that organizations like and value you enough to keep working with you for long periods of time. Of course, short-term volunteering experience is better than no experience at all, and the experiences that you do have will still look good.