I’m currently a sophomore in high school with great extracurriculars and leadership positions and a 3.7. I haven’t extremely been involved in community service but I want into it because I do have an interest in helping people. For those who got into Stanford, what community service projects/ organizations were you committed to and what other events did you do surrounding that area?
@mrwildcat Think about it this way. Assuming you don’t get into Stanford, avoid any type of volunteer work or community service that you will have then felt was a waste of time. Only do volunteer work that you would have done anyway. This is the kind that schools like.
Btw, your odds of getting into Stanford are low, because everyone’s odds of getting into Stanford are low: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1525399-if-you-are-asking-for-your-chances-to-ivies-and-other-top-schools.html
Oooh. No one aiming for Stanford should need to ask a bunch of strangers. Sorry, but they look for the sorts who can see the needs around them and take committed action. It’s not like you even came up with your own ideas and asked our opinions.
Op, listen to damon30 and not lookingforward. Do the type of volunteer work that you are interested in. If you’re interested in science, volunteer in science.
Nomood, OP asked about Stanford, not about passing time. Critical difference in admissions.
@lookingforward yes op asked about Stanford, not passing time, and you didn’t answer either question.
@lookingforward also can you tag me next time please? I don’t want to just ghost you.
You guys don’t seem to understand the point of the question. Whether or not ill do the same, I’m asking what you guys did as community service projects for those who got in.
I think you aren’t getting answers because community service projects need to come from the heart and not to try to impress ad coms.
My D (not at Stanford and didn’t apply) was focused on the food insecure community in our area. She volunteered at food kitchens, at urban farms, and for charities that worked in those areas. She participated in food drives, put together food bags in the summer months when students were not getting free breakfast and lunch at school, lead volunteer teams, and went on local mission trips every year from 6th grade until graduation.
She has friends who were super active in their church communities, with scouting, with summer camps, etc…
Find what speaks to you. That’s much more powerful and will feel much more genuine.
@mrwildcat
I once heard a talk by Duke Dean of Admissions Christoph Guttentag. He said that ‘… occasionally rejected applicants want to talk to me. … Some of them say “Why did I do all of this, if it was all for nothing?” (rolls eyes)’. Guttentag has a very deadpan delivery.
But if you insist on an answer, here you go:
https://www.collegeconfidential.com/search-results?q=stanford+results+thread
Ctrl-F repeatedly on each page for “Accepted”, and then scroll down to “Volunteer/Community service”.
Not necessarily from the heart, but responsibilities for those around you, in your community. Part of the point is to climb out of your comfort zone.
OP needs to understand enough about Stanford, what it values and looks for. Not just copying what others did. Nor just putting in a few hours. They’re looking for that awareness and willingness.
This “all for nothing” attitude is wrong. Clearly, @momofsenior1’s daughter cares deeply about more than herself. Congrats.
So hopefully the Guttentag point was clear; I may not have quoted him fully. I might as well spell it out. If you have to ask what type of community service to perform to get admitted to a school, then it’s not really “service” at all, it’s more like “penance”. Given that, OF COURSE you will be upset if and when it doesn’t work. (And then of course the admissions officer will feel vindicated if you are dumb enough of to accuse him of wasting your time.)
In the link I posted above one of the “Decision: Accepted” posts had the line.
So clearly the Stanford adcom thought this was nice. Now imagine, as a consequence of this CC results thread post, 20 Stanford applications the next year list encouraging art education and raising money for soup kitchens and libraries in Central America! What is Stanford supposed to think about that? It’s like a group of clueless students trying to cheat on a homework assignment.
Here is a very nice write-up on a university admissions blog: https://admissions.usf.edu/blog/does-volunteering-matter-for-college-admissions
And I have no doubt at all that the daughter of @momofsenior1 did the work she did for own altruistic reasons, and not as a result of “research” into what to put on a college application.
Spot on post, @damon30 .
It’s not about the hours and checking off the service box. But also not just doing something familiar and as easy as you can find. Nor starting some non profit or just doing for foreign lands.
And fir heaven’s sake, Stanford will get lots of kids with the right vision and energy. I call it, “seeing the needs around you and caring to get involved.”
My kids grew from each experience, continued in college.
Community service, ideally, is about sharing something you have to help the community.
So what do you have, that is distinctly “you”? Do you have a talent for something - art, a particular sport, or a love for reading or math, or a hobby or interest? Start there.
Then look around your community and see if it dovetails with a need.
Ummmm… you need to keep your story straight. I do not know about the other people on this thread, but I am having difficulty believing what you are writing, since your story constantly changes.
You claim to be a sophomore, but evidently you have lost a year since May, when you claimed to be finishing your Junior year http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/2143854-can-high-junior-year-grades-overshadow-freshmen-year-grades.html#latest:
In early June, you still were a senior http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/2145711-can-a-high-sat-and-ap-scores-offset-lower-gpa-p1.html, posted on 06/02/2019
However, a few days later, you seem to have lost a year, because on 06/08/2019 (http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/high-school-life/2146447-quit-band-for-ap-class.html#latest), you wrote:
In February you were also a sophomore, but you seemed to be getting good grades, or that is what your wrote in a thread which you started on 02/27/2019 http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/high-school-life/2128334-president-of-too-many-clubs.html#latest):
At least your EC’s are consistent.
Im a sophomore yes. Usually if I say I’m a sophomore I get less direct answers other than what I’m asking for. Other than grade my academic and EC profile is the same.
Lol, you didn’t get many direct answers here. I, for one, would like to see you know more about S or any tippy top, be able to understand your match or not, and come up with ideas on your own. Then we’d be giving feedback, not telling you the answers.
^ @MWolf
@mrwildcat Since you mentioned Harvard in one of your earlier threads that @MWolf quoted, here is an essay about the type of student Harvard really wants: https://college.harvard.edu/admissions/apply/what-we-look/valuing-creative-reflective
Since the top schools get so many applications, they can afford to pick and choose. The good news is that they will accept students with no leadership ECs or volunteer work at all, so long as you demonstrate some type of potential greatness.
Finessing ECs on an application is something a “Salieri” would do, but never a “Mozart”. It’s the latter that Harvard wants, not the former.
It depends upon intent of community service. I know 3 Stanford kids who just required Community Service as prescribed by high school. Just the minimum, just went through the the paces. It wasn’t the main entree in the application menu.
There are those who do community service because it’s just part of their lives. Again, that can vary all over the place And those kids are st Stanford too.
Now if you are talking about community service to be a striking reason that you get into Stanford, that’s a whole other story. That has to be something monumental in a national or even international level. There has to be some really compelling story, innovation, something really different about that. It’s one of those, if you have to ask, you ain’t got it sort of things.