Have rising Senior, top in class, top ACT scores, looking at top research/science colleges. Been touring schools last few months and as a parent I am a bit concerned over how much these schools are stressing doing community work and volunteer work. please please don’t get me wrong, I work for a Non-profit and believe volunteering and community help is essential - but not when I see the cost and time commitment needed for an 18 yo at these top colleges. Obviously hoping for some decent merit/scholarship money, but WOW these schools are expensive and to think that I’ll be writing a check for S to be doing lots of community work is a bit disturbing to me at this time. Can someone enlighten me? Seems this is the new “bandwagon”, but would rather him continue the community service in HS, then when he has time (and for sure when he’s graduated and has a SALARY) do the community service. Not those first two years in my opinion. Others??
My second kiddo went to a Jesuit college. Community service was a huge part of their mission as a school. Service to the greater area of the college location was woven into lots of courses, as well as into their living communities (dorms).
It never interfered with our kiddo’s ability to learn at her college…and in my opinion, it was it enhanced her learning experiences.
And yes…this was an expensive private university, and we were basically full pay there.
This isn’t new. My kid graduated from undergrad in 2010, and this was clearly part of the college mission when she applied in 2005.
I’m sure there are plenty of colleges where community services isn’t required at all…ever…by the students. Perhaps you should consider those colleges.
I’ve never seen a college lay out an exact amount of community service needed or required. Have you?
What do you deem to be too much?
Honestly, I don’t think it is hard to squeeze it in here and there. Occasional full days, or weekends, or a week long service project. Maybe less screen time and other mindless stuff will get cut out. I think most can make room in their schedules to do something.
One more thing…those community service and volunteer things will become part of your kiddo’s resume, and could help him actually get a JOB or some other opportunity in the future (e.g. Peace Corps).
Community service gives back to the community but also helps students build a skill set.
Not sure if Volunteer work is required by many (or any) schools. Could be just don’t know. S attends Wake Forest. Their motto is “Pro Humanitate”. At first I thought it was a marketing tool but it actually is the way the school approaches society. Nothing is required, but there are many, MANY events tied to the community that it would be hard not to volunteer in some form. Lots of them are fun / social events with a fundraising element (dance- a-thon, relay for life type events) where most of the student body participates. Each group (greek life and social organization / club) has it’s own charity events within the community - S did a bunch of landscaping at a local elementary school.
The coolest thing they do is bring back prominent alum as speakers. These people are leaders in their field but have also demonstrated living a life of Pro Humanitate through their many efforts to help the world. They are really in to “doing well so they can do good” and that is a strong message all over campus. Kind of a constant drum beat which isn’t a bad thing.
There are a lot of school options. If you want merit, you won’t be looking at the tippy top schools anyway. My kids apply and go to selective colleges but we never heard a college specifically talk about community service requirements. They want kids to do something meaningful “to themselves” with their time but they don’t care all that much what it is. My middle who enters college next month, he only had 40 hours of community service a year and it was over one long weekend and for the non-profit I work for. The rest of his time was sports, some occasional theatre, paid work as a summer camp counselor and babysitting his toddler sister.
I think OP is referring to getting an admit, first. Yes, some sort of compassionate commitment is needed for a very top college. It’s not a “requirement,” but they can look for awareness of needs around you and the record of engaging, over time, not just onesie-twosie or racking up hours or some fundraiser party. These are traits they value- in hs, college and life. They reflect one’s perspective and energies and more.
But that doesn’t mean you devote every free hour. It means it’s in your repertory, your world view. My kids did a lot in hs, continued with a program in college, and it didn’t dominate their weeks. Totally agree with thumper that it was part of how they connected to opportunities after college.
I’m pretty sure the folks who might complain about this “doing for others” aren’t griping how much time some club or sports takes or other things a kid does "for himself"and his own interests.
“…doing well so they can do good” is great. It’s also the value in doing good because it’s good, on its own. It’s a free effort.
My kid attends a “service” academy. They’re teaching him all about service every day and will require five years of community service from him after he graduates. At least I’m not paying for it (directly). 
If you are looking for merit, I would not focus on the very top schools. Also… I don’t recall any school giving a precise number of hours for volunteering. That being said… many schools likely look for students who are active in their community and will bring that enthusiasm to the college campus… and beyond. I agree 100% that not only is giving back to the community important ( there are many, many ways to do this), but it also develops skills that are necessary post graduation.
Certainly they like some community service. But as long as your kid has a full academic and EC plate, it doesn’t need to be hundreds of hours. One of my kids volunteered annually at a couple specific events (prob less than 15 hours a year), then did a senior year project with the theme of food security— she volunteered the summer before senior year at a food bank, and helping an organization pick up and distribute food at the end of a farmers market weekend for several weeks. Maybe 50 hours total. She got into a top 5 college. It wasn’t a big part of her application, but I thought it was really good for her. Even kids with compassionate parents need their own experiences to grow in that area.
One of the things I liked about my son’s IB Program is that CAS is a built-in component of the program. Still, outside of the CAS requirement, he was able to volunteer about two additional hours a week. He had a fully loaded IB courses and extremely time consuming music related ECs (traveling to other cities on a weekly basis) and varsity tennis among other things. Yet, volunteering was manageable because we never accentuated on the “requirement” part but as a necessary part of his growth as a person.
I don’t know of any colleges that required or specified a certain number of community service hours, by the way.
My daughter’s high school had a built in community service component required for graduation, and between school and church, she has been volunteering in some way since elementary school. Just part of the culture in the area where she grew up. My sense is it is partially regional. That said, I grew up on the east coast and volunteered weekly from 8th grade through graduation.
Both our local public and my kids’ private have required community service hours every year. I think it is great.
Color me skeptical, for two reasons.
First, keep in mind that there are 168 hours in a week. Sure that’s 24*7, and a person has to sleep, eat, recreate, etc. But it’s not hard to devote a few hours per week to giving one’s time, expertise, compassion. Focus on activities that are are not just time-serving but promote skills in organizing, planning, initiating things that aren’t simply self-promotion. But of course if there is longer-term potential career enhancement from showing initiative and leadership, and from working with others, there will be a payback.
Second, I don’t think this is anything new. My kids were very active in extracurriculars in high school, but much less so in college. Their extracurriculars were not mainly in organized community service or charitable activities. But they were definitely extra-curricular, i.e., outside the formal curriculum. No grades or obvious external awards for devoting one’s time in this way, except for the personal satisfaction of contributing something voluntarily. And the kids also learned things from these efforts.
I don’t see any negatives about community service. If your S is interested in science/research type schools/majors, there are a number of things he can do to help the school and local community … and boost his resume ( a win-win). Peer tutoring, helping the instructor with extra help sessions, tour guides… etc. I guess my question is… do you want your S to be involved, and not just focus on academics?
My kids’ biggest issues with it were usually transportation. We lived in a suburb with a zero walk score and essentially no public transit. Both were late drivers (which I’m fine with for safety reasons). So… volunteering meant I transported them (single parent for part of D1’s HS years and all of D2’s). So… often I volunteered alongside them. It was actually pretty fun. In addition to the food volunteering with D2, I volunteered at 10K races and district political conventions. But transportation can be an issue.
My kids each had community service as part of their ECs in college. Their teams, sororities, clubs built them into activities so it was easy to gather hours (they weren’t required by the schools, but by the teams, sororities and clubs). Most of the stuff was fun like doing a Habitat day or cleaning a beach.
Still unclear whether the original post is referring to community service/volunteering expected in high school to get admitted to college, or whether OP is referring to service/volunteering AT college.
Many selective schools make a point of saying they honor work such as ice cream stand, waitress, retail etc. as away to achieve the much touted socioeconomic diversity.
The OP mentioned paying expensive college costs while his kid was required to do community service. So I’m thinking he is referring to college years community service.
Community service early also bakes the spirit into students so that they are actually more likely to continue doing it later. My college (and this was back 2004-2008, so not new) emphasized service as an essential part of the “Spelman woman”; it’s even in our college’s motto (“a choice to change the world”). I think many colleges - especially elite colleges - realize that their students will be in the upper-middle to upper-class bracket upon graduation - and certainly, years into the future - and want to encourage people to use the talents that they have to serve those less fortunate than them. (Also, they’re going to have less time when they’re graduated and have a salary. Service is a part of my life and I find it hard to do it now that I’m working, given that a lot of orgs in my chosen areas - health or education - want people during the work day.)
1-5 hours a week should be completely doable for a college freshman, even at an elite college. Nothing is even saying that you need to make an ongoing commitment - service during the summer, or a spring break project, will also suffice.
One thing I do wish students would stop doing is considering community service as ‘hours’, rather than ‘impact.’ I know it’s not their fault - college applications and internships now ask for ‘hours,’ and unless you write your essay on it there’s no real way to talk about impact. A student could spend one week on a service project and build an entire house for a family in need, or just a couple hours a week filing papers for a nonprofit that frees up their skilled staff to serve the population.