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hey all,

i was just wondering for some feedback on my softs that i have/am/will be doing. i know that softs aren't overly important and totally subjective, but just looking for some feedback of if they're any good

volunteered at local cancer agency
volunteered at a couple museums
volunteered at a charity dedicated to fund raising for heart/stroke research (heart and stroke foundation)
tutored undergrad students in undergrad business classes
marking assistance for undergrad class
involvement with my university's student alumni association in the organization of a grad event
tutoring at an adult literacy centre in my city
volunteering at a local film festival this year
helping to prepare a dinner banquet for the business school at my university
attendance of pre-law club at my university
have held several jobs
struggled with some depression (i know mentioning of this kind of thing can be helpful)

any good??? i know it's subjective, but thanks for the advice

iheartkennypowers wrote:hey all,

i was just wondering for some feedback on my softs that i have/am/will be doing. i know that softs aren't overly important and totally subjective, but just looking for some feedback of if they're any good

volunteered at local cancer agency
volunteered at a couple museums
volunteered at a charity dedicated to fund raising for heart/stroke research (heart and stroke foundation)
tutored undergrad students in undergrad business classes
marking assistance for undergrad class
involvement with my university's student alumni association in the organization of a grad event
tutoring at an adult literacy centre in my city
volunteering at a local film festival this year
helping to prepare a dinner banquet for the business school at my university
attendance of pre-law club at my university
have held several jobs
struggled with some depression

any good??? i know it's subjective, but thanks for the advice

I'm not an expert, but those look pretty weak. However, those are probably similar to what most applicants have.

I can't imagine struggling with depression is considered a soft. It's not a funny matter but I laughed when I read it posted as a soft.

Average. Those aren't really weak.

Are we assuming the "several jobs" are all typical college-type stuff? If so, then these softs won't hurt you, but they certainly won't help you. I give them a solid "meh."

i think it's better to focus on a few major activities as opposed to a smattering of relatively minor things

that doesn't really make much sense but you need something that pops on a resume

i mean you've volunteered your time on multiple occasions throughout undergrad, and your softs are considered "meh"

my undergrad consisted of getting hooked on smack and joining the army and now i have good softs

think about ways to condense your experiences into one or two ballin' bullet points

I think it's good that you are/have at least done something. It shows you have at least used some of your free time productively and to help others. While none of them is particularly outstanding, I think it looks good if you have had in-depth involvement or been committed for a long period of time. Good luck

Also agree with previous poster about highlighting the most meaningful experiences and that show another facet of yourself to the committees.

iheartkennypowers wrote:hey all,

i was just wondering for some feedback on my softs that i have/am/will be doing. i know that softs aren't overly important and totally subjective, but just looking for some feedback of if they're any good

volunteered at local cancer agency
volunteered at a couple museums
volunteered at a charity dedicated to fund raising for heart/stroke research (heart and stroke foundation)
tutored undergrad students in undergrad business classes
marking assistance for undergrad class
involvement with my university's student alumni association in the organization of a grad event
tutoring at an adult literacy centre in my city
volunteering at a local film festival this year
helping to prepare a dinner banquet for the business school at my university
attendance of pre-law club at my university
have held several jobs
struggled with some depression (i know mentioning of this kind of thing can be helpful)

any good??? i know it's subjective, but thanks for the advice

It would had been much better if you cured cancer.

Seriously though, softs are overrated. If you have the right numbers, you'll get into good schools with almost nil extracurricular activities.

CalyssaT wrote:I think it's good that you are/have at least done something. It shows you have at least used some of your free time productively and to help others. While none of them is particularly outstanding, I think it looks good if you have had in-depth involvement or been committed for a long period of time. Good luck

Also agree with previous poster about highlighting the most meaningful experiences and that show another facet of yourself to the committees.

i don't disagree, and i think op's volunteer work will look decent if presented properly

volunteering is sort of the most generic "soft" possible, though, and the key is to stand out

Volunteering is great, most of my 'softs' are volunteer internships. I think the important thing is that you have to focus it in one area to show that you have a concentration and an area that really interests you. For me, it is gender issues, ie helping abused women, helping women start businesses, etc. You should think about how they relate to each other, and how to best market yourself.

iheartkennypowers wrote: helping to prepare a dinner banquet for the business school at my university

i don't really think this in itself is worth putting on a resume, unless it took you like a year to plan the dinner

overall i think these softs will neither help nor hurt you

beachbum wrote:Are we assuming the "several jobs" are all typical college-type stuff? If so, then these softs won't hurt you, but they certainly won't help you. I give them a solid "meh."

+1

paulinaporizkova wrote:

iheartkennypowers wrote: helping to prepare a dinner banquet for the business school at my university

i don't really think this in itself is worth putting on a resume, unless it took you like a year to plan the dinner

overall i think these softs will neither help nor hurt you

his first love is party-planning

fatduck wrote:

paulinaporizkova wrote:

iheartkennypowers wrote: helping to prepare a dinner banquet for the business school at my university

i don't really think this in itself is worth putting on a resume, unless it took you like a year to plan the dinner

overall i think these softs will neither help nor hurt you

his first love is party-planning

if OP puts that on a resume, i hope it's surrounded by <3s on all sides, in pink font

paulinaporizkova wrote:

fatduck wrote:

paulinaporizkova wrote:

iheartkennypowers wrote: helping to prepare a dinner banquet for the business school at my university

i don't really think this in itself is worth putting on a resume, unless it took you like a year to plan the dinner

overall i think these softs will neither help nor hurt you

his first love is party-planning

if OP puts that on a resume, i hope it's surrounded by <3s on all sides, in pink font

They are average at best, but if you are still in school you have more time to make them solid. The main thing I would say is get involved with maybe a few things thoroughly, rather than a bunch in a very small manner. In a few of my acceptance letters the deans hand wrote notes at the end expressing how certain softs helped my application and acceptance. So I think softs can be a helpful tool to really add on the number aspect of your application.

PS Kenny Powers is god.

Your softs are great! Now stop thinking about them(they're not going to change if you think more about them).

It's really going to come down to how you present this stuff. A big list with things on it like planning a banquet is not going to come across well, but if you wrote a moving heartfelt essay about why you volunteered at a specific place and what you learned from it, and then your supervisor from that place writes you a glowing rec, and you frame your other volunteer activities so that there's a sort of unifying theme (like the poster who focused on gender issues pointed out), etc. ... see what I mean? Unless you won a gold medal or have some other insano-outta-this-world soft, it's ALL going to depend on presentation. And even then, LSAT/gpa are vastly, vastly, vastly more important... so do your best to create a cohesive and impressive framework for your softs, but don't stress too much.

fatduck wrote:i think it's better to focus on a few major activities as opposed to a smattering of relatively minor things

that doesn't really make much sense but you need something that pops on a resume

i mean you've volunteered your time on multiple occasions throughout undergrad, and your softs are considered "meh"

This. Your softs show that you volunteer/get involved in the community. But theres a bunch of minor things. It would be better if you had a few major things you were involved in, instead of a laundry list of unrelated minor things.

did you hold a leadership position or were you on the board or anything like that? even if you were just like a board member by default who came to the meetings for snacks, put that on there.

As for the volunteering, I would think that it would depend on how many hours you did. If you only did a few hours for each event and had a total of like 30 hours of volunteering, then it won't look as good as someone who had 1,500 volunteer hours. I'm not sure what the protocol on listing hours is, but I would say if you don;t have a lot, then you omit it, but if you do, then list it.

So did you hold the jobs the entire time you were in school, just during the semester, etc? While working does help, I think some of the benefits of it come down to how you did the work. If you just worked 10 hours a week during the summer, then no, that's not gonna look good. I mean sure, its better than nothing, but I knew people who worked full time throughout their undergrad. All I'm trying to say here is to use the softs to paint yourself in the best light possible.

At the end of the day, however, the TLS'rs are right. If you have the numbers, you're golden. Softs can only carry you so far. They can help push you over the admissions hump, or maybe give you a slight edge over someone for a scholarship, but unless you cured cancer or received the Pulitzer or something, then you better have competitive numbers.

fatduck wrote:

this picture reminds me of: Kevin Gnapoor, Math Enthusiast/Bad-Ass M.C.