Community Service Hours?

<p>Having just gone through the college application process with my engineering major son, I've seen how important it is to the colleges for highschool students to have lots of community service/volunteer hours in order to have a strong application. The schools also want to see examples of "leadership."
My question is, do MT schools have that same expectation for the triple threat applicants? My daughter lives at the dance studio, or so it seems. She's either in dance class, rehearsal, practicing piano/voice or doing gobs of schoolwork. Do the major MT colleges expect her to ditch dance class/rehearsal and stack food at the homeless shelter or build park paths, as did my Boy Scout son?<br>
Sorry if I sound whiney. Now that I've put the first child into his dorm room, the idea of carving out time for more activities for my MT daughter seems over-whelming. Ideas?</p>

<p>If your daughter wants to apply at a school with a BA I would say community service hours would matter. (like Northwestern) My daughter knocked herself out during high school - high school drama, community performances, as well as professional. Also AP’s, high school activities, and community service. She did get accepted to a few schools for a BA - one with a huge scholarship - but ended up at NYU for a BFA with no scholarship. She would be the first to say the huge amount of time, work, lack of sleep etc… in high school wasn’t worth it since her achievements in high school seem far above many of her peers. She may change her mind about that in the future, and it’s certainly nice to have options and the opportunity to change your mind, but I wouldn’t force the community service for your daughter.</p>

<p>Thanks. Too bad all the performances don’t count as “community service” although I’d like to think she’s contributing to making the world a more tolerable place! :)</p>

<p>Hm, tough one.</p>

<p>My D is at NYU, and is quite convinced that her extra curricular activities and diverse resume actually helped get her accepted. Her GPA was by no means off the charts, but having leadership (being the Co-Chair of her HS Performing Arts Club), community service (teaching dance to kids at the local family homeless shelter), and the fact she was actively involved with things at school (Choir, Liturgy, Dance program), along with some local awards, being in shows, a chunk of time dedicated to voice/dance/acting lessons, all in all helped her build a broad base. </p>

<p>It is very possible that all this was “overkill”, but please know that during the past few years we have seen kids get rejected with better grades, but with much less diverse backgrounds, and so she wanted to do everything she could to increase her chances. </p>

<p>Of course this is just the “paper” academic acceptance bit, and does not cover the importance of the audition/material etc.</p>

<p>I wouldn’t go too hard on the community service if your daughter is going for a BFA. The majority of BFA MT programs really want very talented actors/singers (quite frequently dancers) who have at least decent grades. I think the most important thing to do going into the year before auditions is to practice, practice, practice and keep your grades up. </p>

<p>However, if she is going for a BA program, the school will probably hold extracurriculars and community service in higher regard than BFA programs.</p>

<p>Hope this helps!
SoT</p>

<p>I agree about community service not mattering for BFAs. My son is a freshman BFA acting student at Boston University. He had excellent grades but basically NO community service to report on his college applications.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars and community service are two different things. My son was on the school newspaper all four years of high school and was its editor senior year, and had several other extracurriculars like that.</p>

<p>For National Honor Society you need community service. My son did a lot of community theatre (because his high school did not have a theatre dept), and NHS agreed to let him use those hours for his service hours!</p>

<p>Well if community theatre counts as community service, then we’re golden! Thanks, all.</p>

<p>I’m going to have to agree with the few posts above. The senior year is so busy for these kids with AP’s, dance/singing/acting classes, school plays and getting ready for college auditions (not to mention filling out so many applications) that if you can squeeze in some simple community service then fine. If not, I wouldn’t worry. At the end of the day, your brief audition is going to be what matters. I know that some of the schools require the grades too, so make sure your child keeps up the good grades, but don’t go crazy at this point adding one more thing to your kids day.</p>

<p>Encouraging our kids to become involved with Community Service teaches the notion of “paying it forward”; giving because it is the right thing to do in our society. </p>

<p>This is an natural concept to many families because of our belief that it is our purpose to make this world a better place. </p>

<p>Helping to build a house, weed/water a city garden, sing/dance or perform for others less fortunate shapes us into good and caring people. </p>

<p>If community service is a natural outgrowth of family life, it is evident on the college application. Our kids who are well rounded and gifted performers will stand out. </p>

<p>My Mechanical Engineering son received a scholarship (we didn’t know existed at his college) for a unique service project he worked on during high school.</p>

<p>My MT daughter was asked about her project-performing a musical theater cabaret at hospitals with her friends… at 2 of her auditions… giving her auditors a glimpse into who she is beyond an actor. </p>

<p>In my work as a college counselor/adviser I encourage kids to get involved in something that is a natural outgrowth of what they feel impassioned about. Giving back makes us better people and it is fun.</p>

<p>I agree with mamalu on this. </p>

<p>Until I came to CC over seven years ago, I had never heard of “accumulating community service hours” which apparently some other high schools require or else people feel they need a certain number of “hours” for college admissions resumes. My kids never thought in those terms of “needing hours” of service to get into college. </p>

<p>I agree that a MT kid has a full load of ECs usually on their plate and it is hard to fit in another activity. I don’t think a MT kid needs to say, “OMG, I need CS hours…I better volunteer at the soup kitchen!!” Ya know, my kid did not have time to go to soup kitchens either. </p>

<p>However, I feel there were things on my kids’ apps that reflected service to their community and they did not do these to accumulate hours (and I don’t think it is so important HOW MANY hours you have put in…the value is not on the hour total count), but they were doing things, like mamalu mentions, that were natural outgrowths of their areas of passion. </p>

<p>For example, D1 coached a fifth/sixth grade girls’ soccer team in her junior year of HS (she had played soccer her entire life) and she truly enjoyed it a great deal. In senior year, she was an assistant teacher twice/week in math and French classes at our elem school (two subjects she excelled at and she also enjoys working with kids and after that point, held paid jobs working with kids and so this experience dovetailed with that). </p>

<p>D2 initiated and created on her own musical theater revue shows at her high school which had never been done before. These were huge undertakings (one was even during her college audition season) and she did this out of sheer desire, and not to get into college. She chose a charity to donate all proceeds to these events to. She also created a public event in a local venue revolving around the issue of peace, that included performing arts and a PowerPoint presentation interspersed throughout this event and used arts to have an impact on the community and also raised funds for Amnesty International through this event. None of these things were done to get into college or with a thought of needing community service hours. She wanted to do these things and they related heavily to her areas of passion. She used her art form to make a difference. Even in college, she went on to form a theater company with other students to put on performance events to effect social change. Art can have an impact. </p>

<p>While I never thought of any of this for college admissions purposes, I did take notice when D2 was chosen to be a Tisch Scholar when she was admitted and I read the criteria for selection to Scholars (something we did not know even existed) and it talked about leadership and about service to the community and I gather that these things on her resume and in her recommendations were noticed by adcoms. </p>

<p>I have an advisee right now who is going into Theater and while she is involved in training and productions like everyone else here, she has been going into the projects in her city every week where underprivileged kids live and using the performing arts to work with them to help with their English (they speak Spanish) and she founded this organization that does this and this year, she is taking it further and will put a play on with the teens in this housing project in a sketchy part of her city. </p>

<p>I have other students who have chosen to use their talents to perform in nursing homes and retirement homes or senior citizen centers. My own kid did that a little too. They WANT to do this, and it is not to rack up community service hours. These endeavors are related to their interest/career area and potential field of study in college. My own kids and others I know have also taught voice, dance or MT to children. In college, my kid has performed in pediatric hospitals. And so on. </p>

<p>Doing service and making a difference can be tied to your passions, as opposed to “needing hours” and adding some new misc. activity to the schedule. As an artist, think of how you want to make an impact on society. Be a leader. Be an initiator. These are attractive qualities actually to admissions officers (though that is not why you should do these things).</p>

<p>If your child by any chance holds the sincere belief that theatre itself has great potential to “serve the public good” by enlightening and inspiring its audiences, that should by all means be expressed, in audition application essays and also (if appropriate) when he or she is conversing with the audition panel during auditions.</p>