Unsurprisingly given the time of year, there have been several posts recently asking for some feedback on the odds of acceptance/strengths and weaknesses of hopeful GC program applicants. I am also applying this round (unfortunately to a limited set of programs, due to limitations arising from my personal life, so I expect to have longer odds than someone with similar credentials but more flexibility.)

It seems like even when folks have other volunteer experience that I would have expected to be relevant, they are often urged to seek crisis counseling experience specifically. Is this reflecting a strong preference on the part of GC programs themselves? The program descriptions I have read and a few conversations with current GCs had led me to believe that any extended experience that builds communication skills, gives you experience interacting with a diverse set of people, and is a supportive role of some kind would be a genuinely helpful prerequisite and responsive to what programs are looking for in a prospective student. Is that not correct?

And of course I'm asking because I have not done crisis counseling . . . however I do have extensive volunteer experience that I believed to be relevant.