<p>I have read different stories about this and am confused. An applicant can have only limited time to spend on extracurricular activities. If one kid chooses to use most of his spare time on scientific research project and academic clubs, he can only fulfill the minimum required community service hours to graduate. Is this going to hurt his chance to get admitted to top colleges?</p>
<p>In a word: no. Extracurriculars are important if they are pursued to high levels of accomplishment or achievement, and community service is only one manifestation of such ECs. Students who do community service for the sole purpose of bolstering their app are misguided and usually painfully transparent to adcoms. So no need to sign up for a mission trip or reserve every Saturday night to ladle soup. </p>
<p>Personally, my IB program requires me to complete about 250 hours throughout hs. But I fulfill these hours with scattered activities, and community service plays no role in my most important ECs. I decided to leave CS entirely off my app; perhaps you’ll choose to do the same.</p>
<p>fairly important. it distinguishes the top applicants even more.</p>
<p>Top colleges look for deep interest in something. If it’s community service, great. If it’s something else, rodeo riding, whatever, that’s good, too.</p>
<p>Thanks for all replies. S. is taking 5 APs now in his junior year and his favorite ‘marching band’. He also actively participates/leads math club and academia club. Outside school, he plays piano and has performed concerts at prestigious places like Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center. Beginning this summer, he has been working on a research project aiming Intel STS and it will take him another year. I think he has enough ECs for top schools, but would like to hear other people’s opinion and suggestions.</p>
<p>Use the search function, which you can access in the blue strip near the top of your page. EC questions have been answered many times.</p>
<p>dragon, your S certainly does not need to stretch his time any thinner out of some misguided notion that top colleges require community service; they don’t.</p>