<p>A friend of mine took a summer Anatomy/physiology course this past summer at a local community college. Not a big four-year university, but a basic two-year community college. I, only the other hand, spent my summer doing humanitarian work in Africa. We both applied to many of the same top-tier colleges. Who do you think made the better choice in terms of being viewed favorably by the adcoms at these schools?</p>
<p>bump 10 char</p>
<p>I think both are about the same. I can’t really say which one is better, but if you can effectively talk about it in your essay you might have made the better choice, but i don’t know.
Also, what organization did you go with, and did you think it was “life changing?” I’m thinking about doing that this summer, do you think going as a rising junior would be too early, or if it would be better this summer since lots of the more selective programs are for rising senior?</p>
<p>I went with a program called Global Routes. I would highly recommend it. It was great. I went to Tanzania for 5 weeks and we lived with a family for 3.5 weeks. The other 1.5 weeks was spent traveling to/from Africa, going on a three-day safari and traveling to a tropical island called Zanzibar. It was absolutely amazing. Most of the kids in the group were rising juniors.</p>
<p>You definitely( and I think obviously) made the better choice!!! How can community college classes compete with humanitarian work?? But I think adcoms know that not everyone is given equal chances and opportunities. So if your friend was given a choice and choose classes instead of altruism, you should have a better chance. BUT I really don’t think you’ll be chosen over your friend because of what you did over the summer.</p>
<p>Thanks collegestress. Ya, I know that what we did over the summer probably won’t be the deciding factor, but I was curious. Academically, we both have 4.0 UW, but I have taken a few more weighted class and I have a broader range of ECs, but I thought that that was where our biggest resume difference was (how we spent our summer).</p>
<p>Ah, Zanzibar, being the history freak I am it used to be one of the big places on east coast Africa for arab slave trade, in fact the ruler there had thousands of servants and slaves working on plantations or something… okay i’ll shut up!</p>
<p>I was looking at Global Routes, seems nice… sounds like something I definitely want to do</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Did he pay for this “humanitarian” work?</p>
<p>aigiq, it’s a few thousand dollars</p>
<p>Nothing is evaluated in a vacuum. Your accomplishments, this past summer and otherwise, will be evaluated in the context of your entire application. If you friend has a demonstrated interest in Anatomy, then it may very well help him. If he’s not, then I imagine the impact will be neglible. Same for you–if an interest in humanitarian work is fundamental to your application, it’ll help. If you have no other demonstrated interest in community service, it might look a little off, especially since you had to pay to do it.</p>
<p>Well, we both want to go into medicine. I’ve volunteered at the Children’s Hospital for three years and I also serve on my city’s Youth Commission, both of which I would consider pretty significant community service (and leadership for the Youth Commission), so I feel like I’ve demonstrated adequate interest in community service. But ya, glasses, I see what you mean. I guess what I’ve gotten from most peoples posts are that it probably won’t make a huge difference either way. Thanks!</p>
<p>Don’t try to compare the two situations. You both probably did what was right for your respective situations.</p>
<p>But 50 years from now, you will have much more interesting stories to tell about that one particular summer.</p>