<p>Just curious, since I dont have a whole lot of either. Ive done about 30 hours of teaching kids to ice skate at my local hockey rink, and plan on doing 10-20 more hours this summer of something else for the community. But my academics are pretty solid: I have a 4.22 UW GPA and all honors/AP classes. 2110 on the SATS, which I will be taking again. Im hoping my essays will be more important that ECs and CS...what do you think?</p>
<p>i should mention that i also play on varsity golf team (since frosh year, will be captain next year), fall cross country team, and am a member of FBLA. i will likely join Latin Club next year as well.</p>
<p>I got an early write from Wesleyan with a full-ride and I think you have a pretty good chance. I got 2150 in my SAT, but I have LOTS of volunteering hours.. about 500+. I was the captain of our school's math&science team for 3 yrs, and president of Project Linus for 2 yrs. I also taught Sunday School for 2 yrs, working as the Youth group leader at my church for 3 consecutive yrs. I am 5/472 in my class, and attending Texas Bioscience Institute every morning(got accepted in my Junior year). You are still a junior so keep your grades well and do your best. Good luck!</p>
<p>Ummm... I don't have nearly 500 hours of community service, but I also got an early write. That's not to say i'm not involved; i've been on the cc and track teams for four years (with leadership position), plus numerous clubs and some (about 150 hours, tops) community service.</p>
<p>For this summer: Either go big or go home. 10-20 hours doesn't really look that impressive over an entire summer if that's what your summer is all about. Get a job, or volunteer daily, or something like that. If you don't have time to do either because you're doing something else awesome, then 10-20 hrs is fine, though.</p>
<p>I don't quite agree with the above poster. You don't have to do community service over the summer, you just have to stay involved. A few years ago I went on my first return trip to my native country after immigrating; the past two summers I have researched at the UW Suzzallo Library for my Extended Essay; and I was selected for and attended a workshop this past summer run by the World Affairs Council. It's all about staying busy. Colleges don't want to see you just chillaxin.</p>
<p>In terms of community service, I openly admit that I do not have that many hours if you define commserv as tutoring ESL students or ladling soup at the local homeless shelter. There were some "direct action" campaigns I participated in, but for the most part, my commserv was what IB defines as commserv. So, I started my own clubs (as offshoots of things like the organization that ran the workshop) and basically just did awareness campaigns, donated money raised to other organizations... I volunteered as a web content writer for an established humanitarian organization.... For the pursuits I was involved in, the three main activities totaled about 315 hours.</p>
<p>I know lots of people will say that if it looks like you're just doing it to pad your resume junior or senior year, colleges will be able to tell, and I do not dispute that, but I my commserv really began in strength at the end of junior and beginning of senior years. It was partly due to the structure of IB and partly because I was unaware of how important what I did outside of class was (besides, like, winning competitions).</p>
<p>As long as what you are doing is genuinely interesting, it will show. My teachers and counselor knew that while my commitment had not developed over a long period of time, it was still authentic. I waived my rights to read their recs, but I know practically for certain that my passion was noted and perhaps even emphasized. It also tied into other ECs, so there was additional, very personal, evidence. That is the most important thing, the "secret" to commserv and ECs: it has to be genuine.</p>
<p>for what it's worth, when I applied I only had about 10 hours of community service on my application. I had only 3 ECs, but I had been involved with all 3 for a very long time. it's not quantity, but quality. however, if you don't have either ECs or CS, I would definitely boost up one or the other.</p>
<p>i should mention that ive worked as a caddie for the last 3 years and will do so for at least the next 2 years. wed-sunday, weekly, about 4-6 hours per day, all summer long</p>