How much volunteer work did you have?

[kjack99]

I've realized that I need to get my butt in gear in terms of accumulating volunteer hours! But how much is enough when applying to grad school? Currently I only have about 20 hours under my belt but they aren't related to anything I could apply to speech (some city cleanup and some at the Everglades).
Anyways, I'm definitely joining my schools NSSLHA next semester and probably the schools Advocates for Exceptional Children group as well, both of which I know will have many volunteer opportunities available. Would work with these organizations be enough or should I also do some kind of long term volunteering somewhere outside of these organizations as well? Ugh I'm stressing out and I'm not even applying yet.
How many hours did you have on your application and what kind of experiences did you have? 

[kayyyyy_]

I feel like volunteer experience is supplemental to your application. The question you need to ask yourself is, when the programs look at you as a whole, do you have applicable experience? I have a lot of volunteer experience within NSSHLA, other clubs and I am also a SLPA. It really  just depends on your application as a whole  hope this helps!

[Louly]

From the 15 applications I applied last fall, I don't remember any of them asking for volunteer hours. I believe two schools asked for total hours of observations and one-on-one clinic hours (to meet ASHA's requirements) but nothing about adding up volunteer hours. 

Although I do recommend being as active as possible. I had a well rounded resume. I'm a part of a leadership group on campus, was team captain for Relay for Life/Autism Speaks/Strides for Stroke, worked at a rehabilitation institute, volunteered as a special education aide, and as a classroom teacher assistant. I covered all populations to show that I'm flexible and well suited for this profession. 

[Elska]

While I can't say exactly how many "hours" I've accumulated before applying (I have worked at special needs preschool for several years), I do highly suggest you try and build relationships with working SLPs by shadowing in at least the setting you're interested in working in, though it also looks good to explore different settings as well. This way you have a source for a letter of recommendation and show that you've see what a typical day of a SLP's life can look like.

In general, it looks better to have a few strong, long-term volunteer experiences that directly/closely relate to SLP than a ton of short term activities that change every couple of months or so. For me personally, that was my job, off-to-the-side and during-work SLP shadowing, and being a student researcher and presenting at the California Speech-Language-Hearing Association convention. 

In my experience, while NSSHLA participation is good, it shouldn't necessarily be one of the biggest points of your application, unless you have some amazing experiences to talk about. At my school, even the NSSHLA president was stuck on a lot of waitlists and was rejected, though she did ultimately have a choice between two schools. 

Edited April 25, 2017 by Elska

[kjack99]

Thanks y'all that is all helpful information. I guess I don't need to worry too much about it then. I thought there might be a section where you list volunteer work or something.

 @Elska so if I shadowed an SLP long-term but didn't necessarily get much hands-on "volunteer" experience with them, is that still good? 

[Elska]

41 minutes ago, kjack99 said:

Thanks y'all that is all helpful information. I guess I don't need to worry too much about it then. I thought there might be a section where you list volunteer work or something.

 @Elska so if I shadowed an SLP long-term but didn't necessarily get much hands-on "volunteer" experience with them, is that still good? 

Yeah, exposure is good! As long as you can get something out of it that's meaningful, then it's a good experience. In my experience, the SLP will narrate what she's doing during therapy and why, so even though it's not necessarily "hands-on", you still get to see how an SLP thinks and what she is looking for during sessions. Even if she doesn't tell you right away, she might frontload you with what the goal of the therapy session is, or perhaps she might take a few minutes after the session to talk about it with you. Ultimately, your goal is to find key experiences to use in your letter of intent, so in this case, you could talk about the therapy techniques you were exposed to, and the populations you got to see in therapy. This could also be used to support your case of wanting to work with a certain population or pursue a certain specialty. 

Edited April 25, 2017 by Elska

[speechstudent300]

@kjack99 I believe volunteer hours are beneficial. I accumulated a lot of hours over 6 months in a speech pathology department of a hospital. This hospital also had a reputable name & I was able to gain a letter of reference from this. I know several of the graduate schools I applied to appreciated this aspect of my application. So if you do end up volunteering I think it would look great on your application! 

[Crimson Wife]

Most programs ask for a resume, so that is where relevant volunteer work would go even if the application doesn't ask about it specifically. I've been out of the paid workforce since the birth of my son 11 years ago so most of what is on my resume is volunteer work.

The clinic where my daughter gets speech therapy takes volunteers but uses them to do admin stuff. Things like photocopying and preparing materials for the SLP's. Definitely not worth the 60+ minute commute each way when I can do literacy tutoring working 1:1 with kids at my daughter's elementary school 5 minutes away. I've been doing that for 3 years now. I'm also involved with a local interfaith ministry that does ESL tutoring for adults, Special Olympics, and back in my 1st undergrad I volunteered at the Alzheimer's Ward at a local VA hospital.

[kjack99]

@Crimson Wife @Elska @speechstudent300 So upon finding and reading another thread from last year with a somewhat similar question, it seems that I don't really need to worry about having a million hours of volunteer and shadowing experience. Most everyone on that thread said it is more the icing on the cake of your application, and then of course having those experiences gives you something to drive your SoP (and to determine if it's really the field you want to be in). So that is helpful.

I was stressing about it because it seems like a lot of people on here have been able to work in a directly related area for a good period of time , volunteered at a bunch of different summer camps and all kinds of other things and I really don't have all those experiences.

I'm thinking maybe I can observe and/volunteer at a pediatric clinic or school over fall semester, and an adult setting in spring, then maybe a medical setting over summer to get an idea of different areas of the field. Then I can still do some of those small, few hours here and there activities with NSSLHA and AEC. Im just hoping to be a strong applicant!!

[Crimson Wife]

The harsh reality is that there are way more applicants with high GPA's and test scores than there are slots available. Programs get literally hundreds of applicants for only a few dozen slots. How do they decide which of the applicants with very similar academic qualifications deserve a slot? By what you're dismissing as "the icing on the cake". Things like volunteering, related paid work, etc.

[Afternoonprogram]

I think the key is not doing a bunch of volunteer hours but showing leadership.  If you volunteered, did you hold an officer position, did you help organize a fundraiser, etc.  There is a part on the CSDCAS application to list your volunteer experience and number of hours.  If your interested in something -I don't think it has to be all SLP related but something that shows you have worked with different populations is really useful. Not just for the applications but in real-life. 

[kjack99]

@Crimson Wife Well I think that is why they referred to it as "the icing on the cake"...without it they are all the same cake. I was not dismissing it either, as I still want to gain plenty of volunteer experiences not only for the app but for myself as well to figure out what populations/settings I would like; but I was concerned because I've seen other types of programs with actual requirements for at least a certain amount of volunteer hours so I was wondering if there was something in particular I should strive for in an slp program. I'm still trying to figure out what all goes into a strong application so that I can have one when it comes time to apply.

Thanks all for the input, it helps!

[imunster]

Personally, I feel that volunteering is more about what you take from it rather than how many hours you get. Sure its nice to have it down on paper saying you've done x hours but what really hits it home for the admission committee is what you took out from the opportunity. Maybe you found that you loved working with the geriatric population. Maybe it's finding that your calling is in medical speech pathology because you're enamored with your experience volunteering in the hospital. What did you take out of your volunteering experience that you didn't have before? Translate all of this into your personal statement and how it helped you to discover what kind of path you want to follow. That's whats important.

[WannabSLP124]

I volunteered once a week at an aphasia center for about 2 years before applying. If I recall correctly, CSDCAS did ask for the time commitment, but I don't recall others asking for this info. Of course you can always put it on your resume/CV too.

I think as long as it doesn't appear that you are volunteering to just get in, but rather to get more exposure to the field. My volunteering experience, helped me with my personal statements as I could talk about what I learned from the experience, and it just made me more knowledgable about the field. The program coordinator also wrote me a strong letter of recommendation. I think it really just depends on what the schools you are looking at like to see in an applicant - so do your research :-)

[kjack99]

On 4/25/2017 at 9:24 PM, Alicia124 said:

I volunteered once a week at an aphasia center for about 2 years before applying. If I recall correctly, CSDCAS did ask for the time commitment, but I don't recall others asking for this info. Of course you can always put it on your resume/CV too.

I think as long as it doesn't appear that you are volunteering to just get in, but rather to get more exposure to the field. My volunteering experience, helped me with my personal statements as I could talk about what I learned from the experience, and it just made me more knowledgable about the field. The program coordinator also wrote me a strong letter of recommendation. I think it really just depends on what the schools you are looking at like to see in an applicant - so do your research :-)

Well I've already figured out one long term commitment volunteer opportunity that I definitely want to take up. It's not necessarily related to the field, but would certainly build my "people skills" up which is important I feel. I still have ~1.5 yrs before applying so I'll have plenty of time building that experience. I also got on the sign up list for my schools Advocates for Exceptional Children group which does a lot of volunteer events for special needs kids so that can probably add at least something to my app as well. Then I think I'll do what I said before about shadowing a lot in various settings to get an idea of what each is like. 

Of the schools I've looked at so far they didn't really say anything on their sites about volunteer or shadowing experience so I really hadn't thought about it until I saw people on here mentioning all their experience so then I started panicking a little lol

[WannabSLP124]

@kjack99 Don't panic! You still have time and it sounds like you're on the right track :-) Volunteering is just something you can show you did, that other applicants may or may not have done, so it may help you stand out more. I have also heard getting undergraduate research can be helpful - especially when applying to higher ranked schools as they tend to be very involved in research. One of the coordinators told me they just want to see that you have demonstrated an interest in the field beyond the classroom.

Also I highly suggest trying to go to their graduate info days. I learned a lot more about the program and what they like to see in applications - much more informative than the websites! Since you have over a year, you can try to spread them out some, so you're not overwhelmed during application season. Good luck to you!

[VitaSineLitterisMorsEst]

On 4/25/2017 at 9:24 PM, Alicia124 said:

I volunteered once a week at an aphasia center for about 2 years before applying. If I recall correctly, CSDCAS did ask for the time commitment, but I don't recall others asking for this info. Of course you can always put it on your resume/CV too.

I think as long as it doesn't appear that you are volunteering to just get in, but rather to get more exposure to the field. My volunteering experience, helped me with my personal statements as I could talk about what I learned from the experience, and it just made me more knowledgable about the field. The program coordinator also wrote me a strong letter of recommendation. I think it really just depends on what the schools you are looking at like to see in an applicant - so do your research :-)

Ditto what Alicia said. My time commitments for each thing also weren't huge at all; I think the most I did was 20 hours at one place. But I tried to explain why these things were meaningful to me in my personal statement - like relating homeless tutoring online to a possible future in teletherapy, describing how I met a more diverse range of clients by being involved in horse therapy, that sort of thing. Plus it helps you learn where you might like to work, why you are doing this, etc.

Also like Crimson Wife, I had the opportunity to volunteer at a speech clinic far away where I basically would have been filing and setting up for board meetings, but it didn't seem like doing that would show much to schools except that I was checking a box. I plan on going back to one of my positions this summer, even though I'm already in, because I loved it so much. That's the kind of place you should volunteer.

[SpeechLaedy]

I was heavily active in my church for years and put all of my experiences that I did on my resume. So just in case you are active in such organizations, remember that those count too! I helped with the food pantry, played the drums, danced, sang, helped the children's ministry, among many other things. Those things show you put in your time and dedication to your community. I did not do it for that reason, but when it came time to put down my vol. experience, I realized that it definitely fit the criteria. All the best!

Edited May 5, 2017 by SpeechLaedy