<p>So, I've aquired a lot of community service hours throughout the years in my community. How do I present "proof" if a college is to ask for it? Should I just make a huge, long log and have people sign off on it? Also, it seems these hours might boost the strength of my app. How do I list this? Should I just put "community service" as one of my ECs. Some of them are in one area that I'll already be listing on my app, but others are just sorta random that I still put a considerable amount of time into and, hey, I wouldn't mind getting credit for if it'll help me out!</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>If you join NHS you will have to do what you are suggesting anyway.</p>
<p>Most colleges don't use ECs including CS as part of admissions, but may use that info for merit aid.</p>
<p>The colleges that most use ECs, CS as part of admissions are the ones like HPYS that have such a high number of high stat applicants that the colleges can afford to pick and choose from that pool to find students who'll most contribute to an active, diverse campus.</p>
<p>For such colleges, impact of ECs, CS is what's impressive, not the number of hours that one has put in. A student who put in 100 hours creating and organizing a CS project like a fundraiser would be more impressive than a student who racked up 800 hours picking up trash and simply doing what they were told.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses!</p>
<p>MIT: For my school for NHS, you only have to povide proof of 20 hours (10 outside the society, 10 with the society). Do you think I should just do this for alllll my hours?</p>
<p>Northstar: I have some pretty good projects and things I'll deff be including. Should I just include these instead of the hours I worked as a judge for the science fair/ worked the consession stand at little league baseball games/ etc? Just include the ones that really SHINE? On top of that, should I even mention numbers at all on an application (something like "contributed ___ hours" or "organized _______ in _____ hours")?</p>
<p>THANK YOU</p>
<p>Some apps do ask for hours, so certainly estimate hours for them.</p>
<p>It's a good idea, however, to always find a way to mention your projects.
Example: "Created and organized a Hurricane Katrina fundraiser that raised $500."</p>
<p>If a project particularly was impressive, consider focusing your essay on it, and asking any teacher who advised you on it to mention it in their recommendation letter.</p>
<p>Most colleges don't ask for proof of ECs. Exception is Calif. publics, which randomly select applications to verify ECs.</p>