<p>Does the admissions committee check your community service hours?</p>
<p>I'm asking because I noticed on the common app (I'm a junior) there are blanks for "hours per week" and "weeks per year", and I don't exactly volunteer for a set amount of time each week and I don't go regularly. If I put, say, "2 hours/week" and "26 weeks/year" for the past two years that would calculate to about 150 hours, while I actually only have around 110.</p>
<p>Should I just put "varies" for both blanks? Does it really matter?</p>
<p>Committees rarely check hours. I would opt on the lower side, though - what it is in most weeks, if that’s possible. Honestly, they just care that you’re doing something, not exactly how many hours a year you do it.</p>
<p>2 hrs/wk x 26 weeks/year x 2 years = 104 hours. ?
“Varies” is so open to interpretation- or misinterpretation. Someone could assume this off-handed word means maaaybe you went a few times/year. Ie, not enough to quantify it.</p>
<p>The answer depends on what the activity is. Pick a defensible number that represents what you think you will achieve. Sometimes you show up for longer; sometimes, you skip a week or two. Sometimes, maybe you have a misc task or preparation that adds a few hours that week. The key word is “defensible.”</p>
<p>@lookingforward: sorry, typo - it’s actually 3 years, so it calculates to 150-ish hours (but I only have about 100)</p>
<p>I guess I’m just a little worried that what I’ll put on my common app (the whole “hours/week and weeks/year” thing) won’t completely match up with how many hours the library (my principal activity) actually has me down for…Is it important to have the two numbers match up even if the committee won’t check the hours? (but don’t worry, I’m not going to like, intentionally grossly overestimate)</p>
<p>thanks for the replies :)</p>
<p>ps. do you have to estimate how many hours you’ll do senior year as well?</p>
<p>Does your school track the number of hours in the library and does the hs show this on the transcript? You may want to ask your GC if hours appear there.
Otherwise, if you have a long-term committment to 3 hours, every other week, that should be fine. </p>
<p>What you might do, however is take a hard look at whether the library thing is enough, in itself. Does it reflect responsibility and any leadership? What else have you been involved in that adds shine? Your question is about not inflating- but don’t accidentally underrate other activities.</p>