<p>I'll probably have around 650 by the start of senior year- is that enough to make a real impact on my apps?</p>
<p>Read this thread:</p>
<p>Yeah I'm getting the impression that although you'll list now many years and hours/week you participate in community service, it is best not to list cumulative hours because then it looks like you're only interested in impressing AdComs.</p>
<p>
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I'll probably have around 650 by the start of senior year- is that enough to make a real impact on my apps?
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Was it enough to make a real impact in your community? If so, and if you convey that in your apps, you're fine.</p>
<p>If you have to ask...then it doesn't matter..because apparently your CS hours don't carry any sort of value other than impressing the AdCom.</p>
<p>You need passion, not quantity.</p>
<p>I'm with sherpa (and fhg) on this one.
Ultimately, it's not quantity but quality that matters. Once you're out of college (and sometimes even in college), you'll quickly find out it's the quality of the work you do not the number of hours you put in that people care about! With that in mind, I would also ask things like how focused your hours are, etc. Spending 1 hr/wk for 4 years working with kids with disabilities (4 yrs<em>52 wks</em>1 hr/wk=208 hrs) is going to be looked upon much better than 25 hours/wk volunteering at a camp for the summer before senior year (25 hrs/wk<em>4 wks/mo</em>3 mos=300 hrs). Notice how the first one shows a long-term commitment. Putting in 25 hrs/wk for 3 months isn't really that big of a deal when it comes down to it (just giving up 1 summer). An hour each wk on the other hand, shows long-term commitment, especially since most students aren't thinking about college their freshmen year of HS!</p>
<p>Just a thought about 650 hrs...
When I was in HS, I didn't do CS hours to show off to adcoms (I was one of those students who served when I wanted to serve and because I enjoyed it). With that in mind, here would be an approximate breakdown to compare those to:
peer counseling: 2 yrs * 3 hrs/wk * 36 wks/yr = 216 hrs
childcare work (unpaid/C.S.): 3 yrs * 2 hrs/wk * 52 wks/yr = 312 hrs
house building project (Juarez, MX): 7 days * 12 hrs/day = 84 hrs
youth mentoring: 1 yr * 2 hrs/wk * 36 wks/yr = 72 hrs
music in nursing homes/nursing home visits: 3 hrs/month 12 months/yr * 2 yrs = 72 hrs
Japan-American Peace Summit (Hiroshima, Japan as musical ambassadors): 7 days * 12 hrs/day = 84 hrs
musical mentor to kids learning music: 16 hrs/semester * 6 semesters = 96 hrs</p>
<p>TOTAL = 936 hrs that I remember from 5 years ago...</p>
<p>My thought, then, would be that if a student hopes to "impress" the adcoms, he or she should probably outdo those who are making no effort to impress the adcoms... or you could just be you. I really see no reason to do community service to try and "impress" anyone. If that's what you're doing it for, you're mistakenly short-sighted! The hours I listed above share a common thread that leads directly to what I studied in college -- psychology and music and to my graduate school applications for a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with an interest in serving underserved, at-risk adolescent populations through extracurricular activities such as music. It's how your community service applies to what you want to do that really matters; not how much time you've spent getting it done!</p>
<p>I actually don't do it to impress, I really do it, I was just curious, they are things I'm passionate about. I just didn't know if that would be enough to convey my dedication</p>
<p>If your hours are focused on you could show passion for them in an interview, then I think they're fine. In that case, it really doesn't matter how many hours you do of them. Length of commitment is more important than number of hours.</p>
<p>Passion can be shown through interviews, essays, recs, etc. Generally if they're mentioned in at least one (or even better, 2+) of those places, the passion and commitment is pretty obvious.</p>