<p>Is it a good idea to do a bit of volunteering, say 100 hours total, or is it a waste of time if I'm clearly not very committed? Does it look bad to do no volunteering at all, even if I do have an internship and busy schedule? I'm thinking of just volunteering around school and supposedly "giving back to my community" there, and maybe doing some work for the red cross. Does this just look phony, or is it worth the modicum of effort that I would put into it?</p>
<p>Well clearly I’m openly admitting that I wouldn’t be committed. But I’m asking if colleges care that I helped out around my school as opposed to doing nothing. Do top colleges (ivy league level) expect at least some volunteer work?</p>
<p>well you still are helping the community even if you’re not committed so it’s still good work done.</p>
<p>a lot of people do community work to put on their apps but honestly i don’t think it would make that much difference. It doesn’t make you stand out because it’s overdone so just do some EC you like and make yourself stand out.</p>
<p>i honestly think volunteering shouldn’t be a factor in college apps because it’s “volunteer” work so it should for those who are dedicated and not to just take space on your app</p>
<p>but don’t worry about not doing any if you have other good EC</p>
<p>Almost everyone has service hours. In some cases, one might find it hard to even find a place on the app to put them. Having them won’t hurt, of course, but I would be skeptical as to how much they would help. Random and/or sporadic volunteering would probably be almost neutral, but if it has a focus (especially a link to an EC like Scouting or discussing experiences from them in essays) then it would be better.</p>
<p>“Almost everyone has service hours.”
That’s just it. I don’t think they’ll help, but I’m worried it will hurt if I don’t have them. If I have very few I’m afraid that colleges will ignore them altogether.</p>
<p>You’re fine, as long as you show passion in some other activity. Your internship and whatever you do in your busy schedule is volunteering and contributing to the community as well, and may be infinitely more important for yourself and the community than volunteering as a volunteer “venue.” Don’t think that you need to clean up trash or build habitats for low income families just to “volunteer.” The activities you’re doing now is volunteering as well, but in a different category, and has other important aspects to not warrant being called volunteering.</p>
<p>I think that everyone has an obligation to volunteer their time and/or money to help their community, but if you’re not feeling it, don’t do it.</p>
<p>Maybe it will be considered as a part of your ec, however, i wonder if you do it because you have to do it, can that really be helpful in your application？
O(∩_∩)O maybe you can enjoy it, have a try~</p>
<p>You need to complete the service hours your school district requires for graduation (if the require any), and after that you are done.</p>
<p>Since you don’t find anything that you are particularly interested in doing as a volunteer, you need to think of other ways to fill your out-of-school time. Do you have a part-time job? Do you play sports or music, perform in the school/community theater, write for the school/community newspaper, manage an e-business/website, have another major activity? Do you need to devote a significant number of hours each week to helping your family run the home/family business? All of these would count as extra-curricular activities. Find a good way to describe them and to demonstrate what you have learned through them.</p>
<p>Don’t do it if you don’t want to. Some high schools require it for graduation. Ultimately, though, colleges are looking for people who are going to make a difference in the world-- not just people who sit around and get a degree from their college, but people who are going to get a degree and use it to impact others. I think community service shows that potential and that willingness to go out and help others.</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of any college that required community service for students to be admitted. In addition – all except the very top colleges --use mainly applicants’ stats (and for public schools – applicants’ state of residence) as the main admissions factors. The very top colleges get such an overabundance of high stat applicants that those colleges can use other factors to make admissions decisions.</p>
<p>What you mainly are missing by not doing community service is the opportunity to develop social and work skills and contacts that help you figure out what to major in, what to pursue as a career, etc. Of course for community service to be helpful in that way, you’d have to bother to do something that relates to your interests, not just do random service like picking up trash. S did community service that interested him, and he ended up learning how to write press releases, write grants, facilitate groups, organize programs, supervise people, and do a variety of other things that helped him get jobs and figure out what he wants to major in and do as a career. He also got some excellent professional contacts, mentors, friends, and experience that helped him get paid employment and merit scholarships.</p>
<p>Well, I already know that I want to do research in the physical sciences. The only ec that I’m serious about is an after school program where I learn astronomy. This leads into an internship for my junior and senior year where I will be assisting a research team and probably doing some of my own research. I’m also in a few clubs and little things like that, but I know that colleges really want to see that you care about the community. I’m thinking about starting my own program to further science education for children. I think that’s something I would actually care about, but it would take a huge time commitment. I also might just do tutoring - would that look good? I’m in the red cross club at my school, but we haven’t been logging many hours. Is this something I should stick to to send a generic “I care” message?
Basically I’m open to doing anything science related or art related… I go to art school so I have the skills necessary to do something like teaching children art. I would love to hear any suggestions for volunteer work or other ec’s.</p>
<p>"but I know that colleges really want to see that you care about the community. "</p>
<p>Most colleges don’t care about anything except your grades and scores.</p>
<p>Northstarmom, I don’t care about most colleges. I only care about the really good ones where they really look at ec’s because everyone has stellar grades and scores.</p>
<p>sunshower, although volunteering is hardly NECESSARY, a lot of people have it and it does show acting selflessly and being active in your community. I would say do it, but volunteer for something you’ll enjoy. I know people who spent hours upon hours stacking heavy books in the public library just so they could list it as an EC, in that case, there are better ways to use your time. I myself volunteered helping to run a day camp, had a TON of fun doing it, and received quite a few hours as well. Don’t do something for college, do something because you enjoy it. I know that I for one had a blast and ended up learning a lot from my volunteering experiences, I hope that you can find the same!</p>
<p>It’s true by the way that most colleges won’t care, but top colleges (HYPS etc, if that’s what you’re interested in, definitely will, particularly if they can tell that it was something you did for more than just the hours.</p>
<p>canadian: I think I should try to find something I really care about… what do you think about my idea to organize my own program as opposed to just tutoring kids? Also, what do you think about tutoring kids versus tutoring peers?
Haha, I probably won’t be enjoying it, but if I do something like this I could maybe make some money providing a helpful service! That would be nice. :)</p>
<p>If you’re getting paid for tutoring, that’s not volunteering, that’s a job. It’s fine to have a job. No one has to do volunteer work, work a job or do ECs to get into most colleges in the country.</p>
<p>“Northstarmom, I don’t care about most colleges. I only care about the really good ones where they really look at ec’s because everyone has stellar grades and scores.”</p>
<p>At places like HPYS, Amherst, etc. most applicants and most of their students and probably most of their alum volunteer: Not to get brownie points for admission, but because they want to contribute to society and their community. They tend to be people who like to give back. That’s why, for instance, at Harvard, the service organization Phillips Brooks House has dozens of student-organized volunteer projects, and probably most students on that campus do some kind of service.</p>
<p>All of the alum whom I know do some kind of community service. It’s typical that students and alum of such colleges believe that to whom much is given, much is expected.</p>
<p>haha true…
but what about setting up a free program? That’s volunteering… :)</p>
<p>well sunshower, I think that your idea is actually really great! It shows initiative and leadership, as well as genuine caring and effort. Personally, I think that tutoring kids would be more interesting and more fruitful, as quite a few people (at least from my area) tutored other people in our own grade or a grade below. It definitely shows a lot of potential, and I hope that you do find a way to enjoy it! Spending time with kids is a lot more fun than people say, and you can learn a lot from them.</p>
<p>Northstarmom is right, if you’re paid it counts as a job and not volunteer hours. I usually don’t recommend jobs to my friends because they tend to go for the “I’ll work at a fast food place so I can buy nicer jeans and I’ll stick it on my University Application” approach. What you’re proposing shows much more responsibility though on your part and isn’t just flipping burgers, so I say go for it.</p>
<p>If there’s one thing i’ve gathered from this site, it’s that by following your heart you can rarely go wrong. Too many people do ECs for the sake of getting into an Ivy. By finding something you are truly passionate about, you leave them in the dust. Best of luck!</p>