Hi, before I put in my two cents I should mention that my knowledge is mainly restricted to Canadian med schools. There are some important differences (according to my info) which I will mention. Also, I should mention that I’m not in med school or anything. so this is not a success story or a guide to success or anything of the sort. Just my impressions..
GPA is the most important part of a med school app. everything else is secondary and probably a distant secondary. In most Canadian med schools, even the MCATs are not as important as they in their American counterparts. MCATs are largely used a flag and if you have more than the bare minimum cutoffs, they will not be factored afterwards in the process. However, I know that in American schools the MCATs can become more important depending on the person’s scores.
After these two factors, come the extracurriculars which include volunteering. Volunteering is such a norm with premeds that if you don’t have volunteering experience you’re only going to look bad unless you have some other stellar experiences which can compensate for volunteering. Supposedly people have thousands of hours of credit for volunteering when they apply. (I wonder if most normal people can afford to volunteer that kind of time. I know I can’t)
However, if you think that volunteering is going to bring your GPA down or impact your MCATs then you should quit ASAP. If American schools are anything like Canadian schools then, your app is most likely going to be screened by a computer which will automatically kill your app if you do not meet the numeric cutoffs for your GPP and MCATs. So, there is no point of volunteering if it’s going to lower your GPA or jeapordize your MCATs.
Volunteering in a med environment is probably preferred to other kinds of activities. However, if you find some other activity more enjoyble you should go for it. You should try to make sure though that you have some sort of a leadership role if possible though. You also want to if possible try get a reference out of such a situation.
My own volunteering experiences are very limited (mainly because of time but I’m adding them since you asked). I have taught a small class on some basic VB programming in a community centre. I really like teaching, so I went for it plus the organizer was a friend’s friend. Then, in the fall I plan on volunteering in a local hospital. don’t know in what position yet.
I’ve spoken to some med students who gave me the impression that a couple of months in a hospital (even in a clerical or recption position) is normally good enough. If you have the time and the energy to go educate people in Africa about AIDS, then you should probably do that to make your app stand out. The point of volunteering is to show the admission people that you have seen the kind of work you will be doing and you know what you’re getting into. And then there is the helping society stuff, etc etc etc.
I know you’re in Amreeka but there is this really good Canadian med board that you might want to check out. there is a LOT of information on this stuff if you have the time to go through it. You will however, have to parse through some of the stuff since it is geared mainly towards Canadians and Canadian schools. the link is if you’d like to check it out:
http://pub125.ezboard.com/bpremed101
You should probably know much more than I do about this stuff but I added my little tidbits regardless. good luck. hope you get in whenever and wherever you apply.
ps: Sehar aunty ought to know a lot about this topic too. maybe she’ll add her input too.