<p>I'm very worried about putting community service hours on my application that I DID but have no easy to find record of. For example, I did some after school work for a teacher of mine for like 2 hours a day for 10 days in the summer but nothing was recorded anywhere. Can I still write it in the UC "Community service section" They don't ask for verification. Do they try to verify it? How can they? ANy answers I'm REALLY REALLY nervous that they might try to look up some of my community service and find that there is no WRITTEN record of it. ANY HELP, ANSWERS...PLEASE!!!</p>
<p>they want you to be honest... as long as your service ec's somewhat match with your hours they won't really look into it, but let's say a person with 3.0 gpa and no clubs or org mentioned on app and etc puts down 500 hrs, then they will get suspicious.. youll be fine... just try your best to round up how much you've done :D</p>
<p>They trust you to be honest.</p>
<p>A guy I know is putting down a few hundred hours of community service on his app even though he's never done any in his entire life. I'm really angry about that, but how can I stop him?</p>
<p>I speak from many years experience: they take ALL community service hours with a HUGE grain of salt, sometimes even making jokes about "liars," EXCEPT for stuff that really makes a difference. For example, if you claim you helped build a school for orphans in South Africa, you undoubtedly have some proof; or if you got a national or local award; or if a teacher or counselor mentions it as a HUGE achievement.</p>
<p>Our town's high school keeps a record which they put on the transcript itself, but each time a student does service in or out of school, a form MUST be signed by the supervisor. By having it on the transcript, the college knows the hours are real.</p>
<p>The secret is, no one gives a darn if you did a couple of hours here or there. Students sweat over this, but honestly, it doesn't make any difference to top schools (since they want real evidence of a real passion), and likely as not, it doesn't make much difference to lower tier schools either.</p>
<p>So stop worrying.</p>
<p>I did not state state any cs hours. For the most part (unless I personally organized the cs AND it involved one of my stated interests/activities); I made no mention of the cs activites or hours I have completed for the very reason nedad stated in his post.</p>
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The secret is, no one gives a darn if you did a couple of hours here or there. Students sweat over this, but honestly, it doesn't make any difference to top schools (since they want real evidence of a real passion), and likely as not, it doesn't make much difference to lower tier schools either.
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<p>Even if the hours are high (2000-3000)? I though they indicated commitment.</p>
<p>Just be honest.. if you feel the need to pad your hours.. just dont be obnoxious with it..</p>
<p>Well, I have already done 2000 hours, and I'm doing a gap year.</p>
<p>Alien_workshop, a gap year with total commitment (I mean, 2,000 hours is equivalent to a full year of billable time - 40 hours a week for 50 weeks!) is a ** completely different story.** If for example you wanted to be a doctor and did a full year of medical missionary work in a third world country, OF COURSE that is something.</p>
<p>Worldshopper is exactly right in post #5.</p>
<p>I have also volunteered for 4 straight years for one of the largest marathons in the U.S. I didn't run, I just helped register people and gave out water bottles. I put in about 30 hours in only 3 days (yes, I even miss one day of school to do it) every year. Had to be there sometimes a 5 in the morning and got picked up at midnight. I did it because I enjoyed it and loved meeting incredible people from all over the country and world. Since running is not one of my passions, I did not see the point in mentioning this. And of course 120 hours of cs in one area is nothing to brag about. If I listed every cs activity, my list (I am sure like most people) would have been a mile long.</p>
<p>Alien: Yea, 2000+ hours during your gap year is a totally different animal.</p>
<p>Btw: I probably won't get into my colleges of choice this year and my back-up plan is to take a gap year. I plan to work like crazy the first 6 months and study for my SATs and the other 6 months I plan on devoting myself to a cause that is very dear to me. By all means, include your 2000 hours.</p>
<p>I have already completed my 2000 hours. The gap year is for an extra 1000 hours so that I have 3000 in total. I too plan to take a gap year for the very same reason as yours, worldshopper. I never knew gap years were popular, I know some CCers planning on it also.</p>
<p>the only punishment you'll be getting is a guilty conscious</p>
<p>lol, this girl in my school is putting down 500 hrs and saying she was Team Captain of Varsity Tennis team for all 4 years when she only did like 200 hrs and was on teh JV team freshman year only.....kinda ticks me off.</p>
<p>I would tell on her if I were you, I would love to see her face when caught :D</p>
<p>My school actually sends in the list of Activities & Interests along with the transcripts. That way, if someone is padding their hours and/or leadership roles it will get caught. If so, you better believe the rec from the g.c. will not be a good one. Perhaps the colleges should insist that it be done this way, just like the transcripts are sent.</p>
<p>my school doesn't, but really, now, the schools don't really give you a lot of points because you have community service.. just be honest and play by the rule plzzz, because that's not only fooling yourself but you are making everyone else's work worthless. you go to colleges because you want to learn and get educated and prepare for the real world...don't make the process of getting into a college a sad lie for you and everyone else.</p>
<p>If worldshoppers and hopeful's comments are aimed at me, I just want to tell them that my hours arent fake. Otherwise, please disregard this message :)</p>
<p>it's not aimed at you specifically.. I'm aiming at people who do those things... don't get offended(if it sounded like i was attacking or something) my audience is more broad - I know people that lied on their apps, some got away, some didn't, and although this is like a super cliche, "lying is bad" :)</p>
<p>Alien: No, I was not referring to you at all, but rather the girl who lied about her tennis.</p>