Schmapplications

I have to confess: I didn’t actually apply to AmeriCorps, or at least not through conventional means. I’m not certain how competitive it is. When I accepted the New Media Vista position with Portland Community Media, they asked me to apply online so that I’d be in the Corporation for National and Community Service’s database. I half-assed it, knowing that I was already in (just so no one gets upset, by half-assed I mean there were errors with the word and character limits for the essay questions so I wrote generic answers instead of asking for technical assistance). Everything I know about the application process is from other CTC Vistas, AmeriCorps volunteers and friends who applied.

I know the AmeriCorps application process also has essay questions and an interviewing process. I know there are countless types of AmeriCorps programs to choose from. All AmeriCorps programs are intended to combat poverty. The one I am under is the VISTA program, which means that all volunteers who fall under this title work full-time with their hosting organizations. Under the VISTA programs are various projects to choose from that have various foci, from health to—in my case—community technology.

As for the Peace Corps process, I went through the whole thing. I applied in December 2006 and interviewed in January 2007. The application at this point involves the usual questions—criminal records, citizenship, resume. At the end of the interview, my recruiter had approved me for Peace Corps and started to search programs in various countries. However, invitation to these programs, she warned, is dependent on clearing the medical portion and meeting their time line. Peace Corps cannot invite volunteers to serve any less than six weeks before their staging date (more to come on what staging is). Since I had been accepted, I was also fingerprinted that day (to my knowledge, this does not happen with AmeriCorps, even though they say it will).

Following the acceptance, a Peace Corps volunteer (PCV) then goes over what seems to be a never-ending hurdle where AmeriCorps applicants do not: the medical application. PCV would-bes get the whole works: a report of your entire medical history, dental checks (don’t count on a cleaning; they’re rating your gum strength), eye exams, physicals, blood tests, and—for women—pap smears. The med app can take months, and it’s the part where most Peace Corps applicants get cut. If you have ANYTHING physically wrong with you, you can almost bet on your acceptance being rescinded. If you have something slightly wrong with you, you might have to wait a couple of years before Peace Corps-Washington can match you up with a host country (this was the case with many of the PCVs I met in Lesotho). And don’t count on those being one-time tests—they must be redone every year you stay stateside. Peace Corps can subsidize the check-ups, contingent on some paperwork, but you pay upfront. Many college grads also drop out at this point because they pick some other post-college option. My two pieces of advice to you on medical:

1. Drop out of the app process now if you’re not seriously thinking about Peace Corps. It would be an expensive waste of time to continue.
2. When you come across the part of the app that asks about any over-the-counter drugs used in the last year, do not, I repeat, DO NOT list anything that is not serious. For example, I listed NyQuil and was asked to justify IN WRITING why I bought NyQuil (ever hear of colds in the dead of winter in Ohio? And being a cheapskate college student?).

The interview is probably the most say a Peace Corps volunteer will ever get throughout the whole application process. On the application itself is a question about which region the applicant prefers, and I marked Latin/South America. There are only a couple more categories, including Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa. Upon acceptance, the recruiter went over the options with me, telling me that my Spanish was one college-year short of qualifying for Latin America. Instead, she pushed programs in Eastern Europe. However, after I had finished the medical portion in March, I was told that my placement was being changed to Africa. I wasn’t told where in Africa till my actual invitation in early May. My staging date (a pre-service orientation in the U.S. for PCVs) would be mid-June. Peace Corps is extremely rigid once they’ve chosen a region for you. I had asked many times before and many times after finding out my country to change departure dates because my grandfather would be coming to the U.S. from Taiwan over the summer, and I had not seen him in three years. I was not sure how many more trips he could handle in the future. Before my country placement, Peace Corps-Washington told me I could not change out of the African region, and Peace Corps sent their Africa volunteers in the summer. So the day I flew to Washington D.C. for staging was the day my grandfather flew to California. We spent two hours at an SFO cafe before I boarded for D.C. and two years abroad.

The last greatest difference between Peace Corps and AmeriCorps I noticed during the application/placement process is the ability to choose what you’re doing. Peace Corps also allowed applicants to pref several broad fields. Things like health or environment. It was a big surprise to me when I was told I’d be dealing with small businesses in the Community Health & Economic Development (CHED) program in Lesotho. I had never done anything with business and hadn’t taken real math since junior year of high school (statistics doesn’t count).

However, once I was in the AmeriCorps CTC Vista system, I realized that I could pref actual host organizations according to my skills and, likewise, they could find me and send a query. This is in addition to the fact that you pick the program you want out of all the AmeriCorps options.