Advice needed on EC.

[I.A.N.]

So currently i am in second year with ~84% avg and I am thinking of applying this summer for some experience since I prob won't get an interview but I would like to hear some advice regarding my ECs...Please feel free to be harsh if you need to be :P, I really appreciate honest opinions..

-Senior home(HS) 2year 250h
-undergrad society committee 1year 40h
-Club exec 1year 60h
-UBC orientations 1year~80h so far
-Conference coordinator 1year~60h
-UBC residence(paid job) 1year~250h
-elementary school volunteer 1.5year->~60h
-Game Forum Admin 2years-> 1000h+
and several smaller things that i can put as diversity of experience i guess

Also applied for Co-op next year....hopefully I get it..

I am thinking of starting 1 more service ethic and capacity to work with others OFF campus since i have quite a bit of UBC stuff..Also planning to join a club next year while continuing my job with UBC and volunteer at elementary school.

I really enjoy working with kids and I was thinking of volunteering with Canucks autism network but it seems like their programs changes all the time and I won't be able to really get to know the kids or the staff. Does anyone know anything about CAN?

Any good suggestions of places to volunteer with minority groups or people /kids with disability? Thanks a lot!!

And any other advice very much appreciated...

[UBCStudent128]

what are the roles of some of the stuff you listed? like:

club exec , orientation , undergrad society committee (i'm guessing SUS)

But yea, some of the stuff you have is somewhat generic ( no offence). You probably know this more than I do but a lot of the "SUS" people have stuff like RA/SUS/Orientation

I would say do the CAN thing if you are really interested or theres the special olympics, which have regular programs at various sites. It's a good way to interact with kids.

[I.A.N.]

yeah..i feel like some of the things are pretty generic so that's why I feel like I need more outside experience. Thanks for the feedback though!

[bee23]

In my opinion you have a good shot at an interview. Just make sure to spend some time on the app and market your ECs the best you can. The only thing I would be weary about is saying you have spent 1000 hours on a game forum, personally I wouldnt put that on my application.

[bee23]

Also, I am not sure what you are studying in school but I have some friends who worked very casually as an ABA behaviour interventionist (working with autistic children) during undergrad, it paid well and was great experience. You usually need a car for these jobs though as they tend to be in the suburbs. So if your degree has any elements of psychology, social work, education, you have a good chance at landing a position. If not you just apply and tell them you are eager to learn and get experience and have plans for med school. There are always tons of jobs available, just type in behaviour interventionist in craigslist and you will see!

Cheers!

[I.A.N.]

Thanks for the tips! I know being a BI will be an amazing experience but unfortunately I won't be able to work as a BI for many reasons..Thanks anyways!

[kazin]

Originally Posted by bee23

Also, I am not sure what you are studying in school but I have some friends who worked very casually as an ABA behaviour interventionist (working with autistic children) during undergrad, it paid well and was great experience. You usually need a car for these jobs though as they tend to be in the suburbs. So if your degree has any elements of psychology, social work, education, you have a good chance at landing a position. If not you just apply and tell them you are eager to learn and get experience and have plans for med school. There are always tons of jobs available, just type in behaviour interventionist in craigslist and you will see!

Cheers!

Could not agree more. Not only are these jobs extremely fulfilling and fun, you have the potential to make a decent amount of coin in a few hours. They also look great on a CV.

[Porsche]

Originally Posted by bee23

In my opinion you have a good shot at an interview. Just make sure to spend some time on the app and market your ECs the best you can. The only thing I would be weary about is saying you have spent 1000 hours on a game forum, personally I wouldnt put that on my application.

I think you misinterpreted his EC. He is the administrator of a forum of which he has spent a lot of time on. You can compare his duties to that of Lee's (or any other administrator on this site).

Depending on the size of the forum it can be a time consuming-task. It is most definitely an EC I would include. You just have to make sure you market it well.

[megaMooMoo]

most of my EC's were quite generic as well, and my gpa was only ~82% but i still scored an interview last year. I think you have a pretty good shot

[kazin]

Originally Posted by bee23

In my opinion you have a good shot at an interview. Just make sure to spend some time on the app and market your ECs the best you can. The only thing I would be weary about is saying you have spent 1000 hours on a game forum, personally I wouldnt put that on my application.

Take it for what it's worth, but I am quite close to a professor who has previously sat on UBC's adcom.

In a similar EC, I used to be a competitive gamer, playing an online [team] game where my team was consistently one of the top teams in the top tier. I' m not going to get into what I learned/experienced but I put in a lot of hours and truly believe it was an important building block in my life. I asked the professor about this EC and what I was told was that while s/he thought it would be beneficial to include, s/he is quite young and can connect/relate to gaming being at all beneficial. Unfortunately in this case, the majority of the adcom is older and would not look upon it favourably.

In the grand scheme of things, that single EC won't be your make or break even if you were to include it.

Hope that helps.