Adding a future activity to your application

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Adding a future activity to your application

by cammijc » Wed Jul 22, 2009 2:32 pm
Good afternoon,

I will be volunteering abroad in Africa for six weeks in the summer of 2010. I am applying for fall 2010. Obviously I will not be able to write about my experience in Africa while applying this fall. The reason I did not volunteer this summer (or wait another year to apply to school) is that I am working and am only able to volunteer next summer because I will be starting school right after (assuming I get in to one of the schools of my choice).

My question is, is there a way to let the adcom's know about my volunteer abroad plan, or is it not a good idea to mention it since it won't have taken place yet?

This is not the only volunteer experience that I have (or will have) - I just thought it would be great to be able to stick it in somewhere.

Please let me know what my best options are!

Thank you!

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by Graham » Thu Jul 23, 2009 5:21 am
Dear Cammijc,

Thanks for your post. While this 'future' activity will certainly not be something that you list on the data forms or devote entire essays to, you may be able to work in a mention somewhere (in an interview, at the tail end of a relevant essay, etc). It's also possible that one of your recommenders might mention it as well (although I'd need a lot more information about your background, recommendation choices, etc to advise in that regard).

Of course, in order to mention it, it would be ideal to be able to honestly state that: a) you are already officially signed-up/enrolled in the project for next summer and b) that you will be doing this whether you get into b-school or not. While you might still be able to mention it in absence of these criteria - it starts to feel more like speculation at that point (like the applicant with a 65th percentile on the GMAT quant who claims that they "intend to pursue quantitative coursework in the spring if admitted to b-school").

Best of luck,

Graham
Graham Richmond
Clear Admit, LLC
[email protected]
215 568 2590

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