Community Service - is 100 hours enough?

[californiaaa]

What is the typical number of community service hours for a Harvard applicant?

1. below 100 hours per 4 years of HS
2. 100 to 300 hours
3. over 300 hours

How important is this metric? Would really appreciate your advice.

[californiaaa]

By “Harvard applicant” I mean a typical HS student applying to Harvard.

[Ririuki11]

I did 460 and got waitlisted soo who knows

[californiaaa]

@Ririuki11 Thank you for your comment. Good luck with the waitlist!

[shawnspencer]

It’s not so much about the number but the quality of the community service. There are students that stand out for different reasons. For some it is a passion for the community, for others it is something different. This is why asking the question “is this enough?” is almost futile because each application will have its own stengths and weaknesses but given that this is Harvard if it earns a spot on your application, generally it should be outstanding; From my high school alone, there have been many people with at least 100 hours of community service a year, but many of them didn’t dream of applying to Harvard. Find your standout factor(s) and tie it into your central story. If community service is part of that, go for it, but remember its about the quality and the impact sometimes more than the numbers

[JustOneDad]

Once you get the answer, keep in mind that a “typical applicant” doesn’t gain admission.

[sherpa]

Meaningful community service isn’t measured in hours.

[gibby]

Many high schools now require a specific number of community service hours in order to graduate, so IMHO admissions officers don’t pay much attention to the number of hours of community service an applicant has, but rather the level of devotion one has to the activity. Both my kids were required to do 100 hours of community service in middle school – and it completely turned them off to the idea of volunteering (which is sad). So, when they were in high school, they completely avoided volunteering or community service hours and applied to colleges with absolutely no community service hours on their resume. Their lack of community service hours didn’t stop them from being accepted to HYP and many other top colleges.

http://www.forbes.com/2006/09/13/college-admissions-myths-lead-careers-cx_de_college06_0914myths.html

In the past, desperate college applicants would jazz up their applications with a little volunteer work–working in a soup kitchen or cleaning up trash in public parks. But nowadays, you’d be better off tidying up your own bedroom. Colleges are aware that many high schools enforce community service requirements, and they’re especially wary of students who volunteer their time for the sake of transcripts. Says Bruce J. Breimer, head of college guidance at the prestigious Collegiate School: “One admissions officer told me, ‘If I read another essay about kids building houses in Costa Rica, I’m going to scream.’”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/education/09communityservice-t.html?_r=0

And now that volunteerism is required by many high schools and even states, perhaps the term itself should be reconsidered. In the Do Something survey, 75 percent of colleges professed not to be put off because a school requires service, but they frowned on students who described it as “mandatory” or “required.”

“What we’re looking at is, what is the student doing with his or her time?” Ms. Hargrave Meislahn says. “And part of that, we’d hope, is that they show some form of engagement toward the community at large. How has the student demonstrated a change in world view as a result of that work? What kind of impact has it had on the student and is there evidence of that in the file?”

[californiaaa]

Thanks, everyone!

Our HS requires (strongly suggests) at least 25 hours per year, 100 per HS. Isn’t it funny that colleges and HS require (suggest) volunteerism, but they frowned on students who described it as “mandatory” or “required.” :))) Alice in Wonderland.

In summary, looks like 100 hours is an absolute minimum.

[GMTplus7]

Yes, after 100 hrs u can stop pretending u care.

[HRSMom]

How much is enough? The question presumes quantity over quality. I suspect Admossions can smell the difference…

[californiaaa]

<meaningful community="" service="" isn’t="" measured="" in="" hours.="">

I agree. However, the number of hours of community service is a metric, with supportive documentation, signatures, etc.

[HRSMom]

Mmmmm. I wonder if you are right and there is a level after which they don’t see a difference. I would imagine if you had 450, if I was the admissions guy I would expect to see an essay about your passion for it, or I might assume it is a weeklong trip to Costa Rica (24 x 7) each summer? Something like that?

[gibby]

^^ And that’s the reason admissions discounts community service – because at many high schools it has become a metric.

[californiaaa]

<colleges are="" aware="" that="" many="" high="" schools="" enforce="" community="" service="" requirements,="" and="" they’re="" especially="" wary="" of="" students="" who="" volunteer="" their="" time="" for="" the="" sake="" transcripts.="">

If colleges would like to avoid “fake” community service they should take community service OFF the transcripts and college applications. Currently, colleges are like Victorian brides: they seek men’s attention but frown when they get it. Either colleges ask for community service hours on the application form (and receive an answer) or they should not ask for this metric.

[californiaaa]

<once you="" get="" the="" answer,="" keep="" in="" mind="" that="" a="" “typical=”" applicant"="" doesn’t="" gain="" admission.="">

Typical applicant provides a baseline that is important to understand what is considered “normal” by admission officers of Harvard. I need some baseline to evaluate the strength and weaknesses of an application.

[gibby]

If colleges would like to avoid “fake” community service they should take community service OFF the transcripts and college applications.

I’m not sure what happens at your high school, but my kid’s transcripts listed classes, grades and GPA – and nothing else. Their transcripts did not list community service or extracurricular activities, so college admissions has no way of knowing what a student has done outside of the classroom unless the student (or teacher and guidance counselor in their recommendation letters) tells them.

Many student’s, like yourself, assume there is a section on the Common Application that asks about community service, but there isn’t. If students have done community service – and many haven’t – they list it under extracurricular activities, and are supposed to list those activities in the order of importance to them.

[gibby]

I need some baseline to evaluate the strength and weaknesses of an application.

There isn’t a baseline. My kids were accepted to HYP with no community service on their application – zero, zilch, none. And @Ririuki11 was waitlisted with 460 hours of community service on their application.

[gibby]

http://www.vox.com/2015/3/25/8283917/college-admissions-advice

The college admissions process is often seen as a numbers game: how do these GPAs, test scores, and grades compare? So it’s no surprise that many assume the same evaluative process applies to everything else colleges consider. Things like extracurricular actives, community service, and advanced courses aren’t just counted up and used to compare one student with another. Admissions officer are going to look at the quality of those elements, not the number.

[californiaaa]

Thanks, everyone! I need think things through. Many thanks!