Community Service really that important?

<p>I'm trying to organize the ECs I will have for this summer and next year (sophomore right now) and I realize that many, many people are doing community service. Is community service something that looks so great on an app?</p>

<p>This summer, I plan on doing research in a lab. All this community service that I hear about that I am not participating in really makes me nervous. Also, I'm doing student government next year instead of a sport (due to plaguing injury). Would community service be more important than any other EC I can think of?</p>

<p>What do you guys recommend?</p>

<p>Community service certainly helps. After all, if you impact your community, then colleges have reason to believe that you'll impact the campus too.</p>

<p>Really only matters if you're shooting for the top colleges.</p>

<p>I only had one activity with community service and it wasn't really special at all. I ended up getting into a few good schools that some consider to be competitive. Student government, lab work, and other stuff is just as good as community service. Do what interests you and don't do service just for college. One activity will not get you into any college (unless it is really prestigious) and if you are rejected from all of your reaches, it'll feel like a waste of time.</p>

<p>I'm ultimately aiming for Dartmouth, just to let you know where I'm coming from in asking this question.</p>

<p>What activities can I be doing during the school year? Student gvt takes up a lot of time along with APs, but what else can I be doing "if I have time?"</p>

<p>Help the homeless, help on clean ups... there are endless possibilities.</p>

<p>You know, I guess you'll realize it a bit more as you get older, but community service isn't just a painful chore to get out of the way so that colleges will think you're interesting. It's something to help your community - something to do to give back and make a difference.</p>

<p>As long as you're staying busy with your various activities, don't worry about it. It's good to do at least * some*. [We're all so very lucky to have the opportunity to attend college and should give back to the community.] However, if a student doesn't have the financial resources to give up his/her time, then colleges will NOT spite students for having a job. The answer to your question is to just ** stay busy**.</p>

<p>fhimas is right on. It's not the TYPE of EC you're doing per se, it's just if you are dedicated to some sort of EC. The genius HS student who's the Val but has to go home and babysit his 3 sibs cuz mom needs to work the late shift to make ends meet -- he/she doesn't get to organize too much activist stuff, right?</p>

<p>Or maybe he/she needs to flip burgers for 15 hours a week -- but still keeps the 3.8GPA. </p>

<p>This is just as (if not more) important than some other student's "community service" -- especially if it's pretty clear it's some one-day, low involvement kinda thing.</p>

<p>Just crank at your research lab and really develop your passion. That's more important than one line on your Common App about some "house building" or "leaflet distribution" item you slip in.</p>

<p>Not that I'm knocking community service -- we should all have the heart to do what we believe in (read some of my other posts which decry the daddy-paid $4000 junkets to "serve the poor" in Mexico or Central America -- and of course work the tan and get good "beach time"). Just don't feel you've got to save the world before your 18th b-day.</p>

<p>Thanks guys. That's essentially what I was thinking :)</p>

<p>I agree to Fhimas that if financially you are put in a position that limits how much you can volunteer (because you have to take on a job/babysit kids/ etc etc) colleges will not dock you; however, your overall app status will be hurt in comparison to others. With the influx of applications and super applicants for the top Universities, any weakness an application has becomes really emphasized and Universities do like to see a student give back to the local community and do something long term. </p>

<p>Heres my point: thousands of amazing kids are applying to the top universities and too many of them will have amazing stats and great volunteer hours and struggle to set themselves apart. You dont want to set yourself apart immediately by lacking one important aspect that the other applicants have.</p>

<p>To clarify my point:
One of my friends worked in admissions office for one of the top tier schools. When they got their applicatoins, they seperated them into groups with certain GPA+SAT ranges. From those groups, they read the essays and again seperated the groups based on their essays. Now each group they had had similiar sat, gpa, essays, and volunteer hours. From each group, they simply chose the X number of applications off the top and the rest were deemed rejections. They would literally pick off maybe 10 applications off the top of the pile and that was it for that group. </p>

<p>So lacking one component can make a world of a difference where you end up.</p>

<p>Damn, thats demoralizing. </p>

<p>I guess I have to get on it! :)</p>

<p>Curious...where did he work?</p>

<p>OTOH, I got into my first choice school (Wesleyan) with basically no community service, but a couple kind of quirky + one relly time intensive ECs. So I wouldn't worry too much. (Of course, I graduated highschool in 2006, and things just keep getting harder!)</p>

<p>Jcll2002: don't change your tune due to what Flong wrote. I agree that sometimes the final cuts are made by "feel". However, any positive chance you have on your app, the final nudge yes/no isn't going to be due to this:</p>

<p>"ECs: Senior Year: 75 hours community service at Homeless shelter"</p>

<p>It will be on the whole of your app, the feel of the essays, the feel of the recs, the overall impression the readers are going to get from your transcript and acad performance.</p>

<p>I stand my my assertion that you don't have to feel the pressure to just "do" some community service. It's ONE DOGGONE LINE on your app. Do it if it pleases you and you derive satisfaction. Don't let the opinions force you into this frenzy or the laundry list of ECs (most of which are read over in 1 second).</p>

<p>And so what if your "reaches" do reject you? Will you not be extremely challenged wherever you decide to attend? Don't buy into all this competitive pressure. By all means, pursue your dreams -- but donn't sell your soul to do it (which appears often on CC, IMHO).</p>

<p>BTW, I'm a grad of one of the HYPS and do recruiting and interviewing for my alma mater.</p>

<p>Thanks T26E4. </p>

<p>That sounds like sound advice. :)</p>

<p>does library count equally?</p>

<p>
[quote]
I'm ultimately aiming for Dartmouth, just to let you know where I'm coming from in asking this question.</p>

<p>What activities can I be doing during the school year? Student gvt takes up a lot of time along with APs, but what else can I be doing "if I have time?"

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yay! My school! lol sorry, I'm just really excited that I'll be attending next year. I'd have to say, community service was a major aspect of my application. That, and I had a REALLY REALLY REALLY good essay. I didn't have a lot of ECs, at least not as many as some of the people on this site seem to have, but I did have 4 that I really dedicated myself to for all 4 years. I did debate, Math Peer Tuoring, student council, and NY Cares (volunteer organization). I held leadership positions in 2 of the 4 I named for multiple years. My recs were written by teachers I had for more than one year (I had my calc teacher for regular calc and then again for AP calc BC and I had my global history teacher for US history as well) which I believed helped because they knew me very well and didn't even need my resume to write the rec. I hope that helps!</p>

<p>since were on the topic of ECs</p>

<p>how do sports rank as an EC- i mean id think people may think=-- o thats not really an EC hes just doing it for fun</p>

<p>but does say a varsity sport (at a big highscool) say equate to spending 70 hours at the senior center</p>

<p>optimistically i will play 2 or 3 varsity sports next year so how does that rank</p>

<p>also...jamie what lab are you working at and what r u doing</p>

<p>im planning on working at a lab junior summer-- couldnt do it this sumemr because im under the age limit but</p>

<p>I got into Penn and my only volunteer job was at the library. I had some other nerd teams and clubs and a really nice research position to make up for it, but really there is no set number or type of ECs that you need to do to get into a school like Dartmouth. When the Duke rep came to my school he told us that one student put down 0 ECs and just wrote his essay about how he spends all of his free time in the woods and that he wants to be a biologist (something like that) and they admitted him. You don't need to be the val with 984934984983 service hours and 7379823939823 ECs and 32883283 awards. Just do what you want to do. Don't burn out trying to get into college.</p>