Re: Importance of Volunteering
I had no documented volunteer hours (the "40 hours at a soup kitchen" type). I did have a few college extracurriculars that were community-service related, but I didn't go into specifics. I also didn't have any healthcare experience, I've never pioneered anything, and I had a great, boring, middle-class childhood so my personal statement was probably pretty humdrum. I had several other varied extracurricular and leadership activities (I was "that" kid in college), I had what is probably a slightly above average GPA, awesome GRE scores, lived in a foreign country for a while, work full-time in an unrelated field where I received 2 promotions within a year and a half of working there, and I generally interview well. So I feel like I'm a combination of the "leadership" and "well-rounded" applicant with a little "academic" thrown in for good measure. I probably won't get into Harvard anytime soon, but I got into both AA schools to which I applied. Moral of the story: I don't think there's one thing that will make or break you. As long as you are relatively strong academically/GPA/GRE-wise, and the rest of your pros outweigh your cons, I think you're in a good position.
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