Hello all,
After I’ve been scrolling through a couple of “What are my chances?” I seem to notice that people include community service hours. I talked to my HS counselor (freshman currently) and she said that the school doesn’t require CS hours to graduate but it would look good on “certain things”? What exactly? Does it impress selective schools on the amount of hours you take out of your time? Is there any scholarships that are CS based? Would people or you consider it a 1+ in admissions? Or is it just for fun…
Don’t take me wrong but I’ve done community service in the past but since I’m new to high school, I want to know if it’s important that I manage the time and track any service that I’ll be doing.
Community service is a bonus to any college or scholarship related application, it may not hold as much weight as a good SAT score or high GPA but it definitely helps. I’d recommend you get over 100 hours of community service through the course of high school, then briefly mention it on every essay you write to colleges.
The reason it helps in college admissions is because it demonstrates a commitment to something or someone outside yourself, and a willingness to give. Colleges want people who will contribute to the community. You can do this many ways- volunteering at an animal shelter, a soup kitchen, if you have significant skill in a language tutoring, or actually tutoring at all in subjects you care about, doing Habitat for Humanity, etc. But do these things out of a genuine passion.
@Cookiegod is very incorrect by saying mention it in every essay. DO NOT DO THAT. You would list your community service on your common app activities list. You could write your common app personal statement about community service if it feels very significant, or choose to write some of the smaller “what is an extracurricular activity you participate in?” about it. But don’t write every essay about it.
I agree with @Cookiegod in some respects and @yonceonhismouth in others. Unless your community service is something you’re very passionate about, don’t write about it. However, I was extremely dedicated to the Humane Society near me (racked up over 1,000 hours there). It’s my passion and I eventually want to be an animal rights attorney. That’s what I want to do with my life, so that’s what I wrote about.
Find a organization you’re dedicated to and stick with it! It looks good on applications.