My two kids “officially” did the minimum service required by their high school - about 40 hours total over four years. But there were other times when they’d pitch in with things, where no one was counting. Those were the things they did most enthusiastically.
I used to debate this with the principal of their school, arguing that “mandatory volunteer work” was an oxymoron, and counterproductive. The school disagreed. Nothing I’ve seen since persuades me that they’re right.
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How would college evaluate? What is considered high quality community service? What is the low quality community service? Goshhhhhh
OK, my D is active in church. Most of her community service is through church. Nothing fancy. For example, my D oversees parking lot on Sunday, during rush time, to make sure that kids and elderly are safe. I don’t think that she really likes to do it. But someone has to do it, right? Is it a community service? Yes, and it is very, very essential for our community. Is it a high quality community service? Definitely, not. Boring, no leadership skills, nothing innovative.
Just as one extracurricular activity is NOT better than another, one community service activity is NOT more high quality than other.
Colleges evaluate a student’s application by first looking at their academics – transcript, demonstrated course rigor (meaning many AP classes if their high school offers them), GPA and test scores.
Then they look to see what their teachers and guidance counselor say about them in their recommendation letters. Does the student always have their hand raised to contribute to the classroom discussion? Do they lead discussions? Or, do they sit at the back of the room and need to be called upon? Is the student respected by their peers and teachers? What will the teacher remember most about this student after they graduate? Is this student one of the brightest students they have had in their career? Is this student someone of “good character?”
Then, colleges look to a student’s essay to hear what they care about in their own voice.
Next, admissions looks to see what a student has done outside of the classroom – and they are looking for a long term commitment (measured in years not months) to something. The idea being that commitment is translatable – a student who might be committed to community service, could in their college years devote the same energy and drive to something else, be it community service, or a sport, theater, dance, job, or anything else. This article pretty much details it all:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marjorie-hansen-shaevitz/extra-curricular-activities-college-admission_b_3040217.html
Sure, it’s community service. But, if your daughter doesn’t like to do it – and has other more important activities that she likes – she doesn’t have to list community service as part of her application. A student doesn’t have to list everything they’ve ever done on their EC list – they just have to list the major activities that they’ve done and care about and list them in the order of importance.
Barely did any and barely emphasized it. Its overused and a cheap signal for most applicants. Do it for your heart.
Who says H discounts community service? What they discount is a qualitative matter. And I agree 'Meaningful community service isn’t measured in hours.". Nor in phony titles.
When elite colleges find fake or puffed up service, instead of throwing out the goal of engaged kids, they may see the app in a less shiny light.
My sister had 700+ hours and gt rejected at UCLA, UCB, UC Davis, UCSD, and UC Irvine and she had a 4.3 so nervous becasue i only have 530 and I’m applying in the fall
@biobabe101 If you look at community service purely from a numerical point of view, you are looking at community service the wrong way.
It isn’t the number of hours that matter, but it is the quality of work, the result of what you put in that matters. If you can bring about a positive change in your community in even a 100 hours, college will not look down on it.
I for one, started an organisation a few years back related to a cause that I deeply value. I may have logged in only 500 or 600 hours throughout the course of the years, but I was able to help people in a few countries, let alone a lot of cities in my own country. On the other hand, I have friends who do community service just for the heck of it. They just go to a random place a few days a week, volunteer for a few hours, come home and forget everything about it. They have logged in hours that make the number of hours that I have worked a very small number.
It is up to you to decide who would have done community service that actually matters (and for your sake, the one that ‘looks better when it comes to college applications’.)
Personally, I do not hold very high regard for community service that is done just for college applications. I believe that people can and have gotten into top colleges with 0 hours of community service. That is completely normal for a person who is not interested in doing community service. Why should we force him/her to do something that he/she does not want to do?
It is not the amount of work that you do but what you make out of the work that you do that matters
It seems like the more appropriate metric would be related to admits, not applicants. As we have seen here on CC, applicants perform any manner of ludicrous gymnastics in an effort to do what they think everyone else is doing.
My two sons each had 40 official hours of community service - the graduation requirement. I’m not sure they even reported the number of hours they officially did.
Good, Mumbai98.
But this: “I believe that people can and have gotten into top colleges with 0 hours of community service. That is completely normal for a person who is not interested in doing community service. Why should we force him/her to do something that he/she does not want to do?”
There are many ways to show (not just purport to have) compassion, a willingness to go beyond your own self-centered interests, do for others, and the ability to choose a good, legit effort. It’s not always official “community service.” But if an applicant can’t show more than self-interest, he’s not getting far with holistic, for a tippy top. No matter how much CC talks about just being a kid or just following your own self “passions.”
I don’t think it should be viewed as “forcing.” Rather, it’s about awareness and growing. The sort of kid who can easily consider the needs around him, roll up his sleeves and commit over time, who has taken on some responsibilities and had some impact, has an outlook and other attributes these colleges like.
Yes, it can be different for an international, especially for kids at some schools. But even they can do something, somehow.
There is no “hours” baseline. It’s as much about how you choose and what that reflects.
Trying to ‘check all the boxes’ for Harvard doesn’t exist.
I really respect you putting your heart into community service. It shows.
Perhaps the concern for community service hours is a holdover from the old common application that had a specific section for community service. At that time, maybe there was a fear of leaving a section of the app blank. This is not an issue today with the new format.
FWIW, my daughter didn’t list any community service on her college application, but she didn’t apply to Harvard - she’s at Brown.