<p>How many community service or volunteer hours are enough for a top 20 college? </p>
<p>How many clubs are enough?</p>
<p>It’s quality, not quantity. Many kids at top colleges did no community service not were they in high school clubs.</p>
<p>so how small of quantity?</p>
<p>It depends on every other aspect of your app. The better everything else is, the fewer hours you need. Well, perhaps, not at a top 20. You need a large quantity with good quality.</p>
<p>Seriously, I feel for people who solely do community service to get into college. Sure it helps, but you should enjoy doing it. It’s truly rewarding if you actually care whom you’re helping. Find something you’re passionate about, work in that area, and the hours will fly by.</p>
<p>so HOW MUCH?</p>
<p>The idea is to have one area/activity/interest where you really shine. If you spend 30 hours per week on one thing and have accumulated honors/awards/accomplishments, you don’t need a thing else.</p>
<p>You can have a laundry list of 25 clubs or do hours of service at multiple places and all of it won’t come close to true accomplishment in a passion.</p>
<p>If you really need a number, I’d say probably about 100-200 hours before you apply is pretty standard. As a current UPenn student, that was about the range for most of my classmates that I’ve spoken to. But remember, you NEED TO DEMONSTRATE A PASSION in your EC’s. You need to demonstrate that you are enthusiastic, and have developed a mastery of ONE THING that interests you. Only by doing this will you impress college admissions committees. I’ve mentioned this book on other forums-its written by a current college student (at UPenn, actually) and demonstrates exactly how to set yourself apart. </p>
<p>Definitely give it a look:</p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> The Ivy League 4.0 eBook: Vineet Patil: Kindle Store](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/The-Ivy-League-4-0-ebook/dp/B0030IM73C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262223870&sr=8-1]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/The-Ivy-League-4-0-ebook/dp/B0030IM73C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262223870&sr=8-1)</p>