<p>In terms of college admissions, which is better?</p>
<p>Spending Summer studying for stuff before hand and preparing for SATs and ACT or piling up about 400 hours volunteering (It's actually stuff I care about and LOVE).</p>
<p>I'm a rising Sophomore and I want to know if volunteering at the expense of preparing for standardised tests is worth it or not (strictly in terms of college admissions).</p>
<p>Edit: Sorry about the title...maybe I should work on my grammar :p</p>
<p>Honestly, you should do both. Overall though, studying is probably more important. Just remember, that test scores isn't the only thing that's going to get you into a college. </p>
<p>For example...Who would a college accept?</p>
<p>Someone with:
SAT Score: 2350
150 Volunteer Hours</p>
<p>OR</p>
<p>Someone with:
SAT Score: 2350
NO Volunteer Hours</p>
<p>Try to do both.. You definatley don't need 400 hours. It looks good, but if you are too busy just try to get like 100 or something..</p>
<p>The reason I committed myself to doing 400 is because I feel VERY strongly about the issues I work on and feel incredible that I'm making such a positive contribution at a young age. But I am after all human and selfish!</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>You really shouldn't have to spend that much time preparing for standardized testing, as long as you take the classes that cover the material. Especially if you would miss out on something you really love doing. A whole summer of preparing for a test is just overkill...I studied for a day just taking practice tests for the ACT and I got a 34.</p>
<p>^ I'm really torn about Standardised Tests. Everyone around me preps like crazy (Average Freshman PSAT score is like 220 something, while mine is 170; Average SAT II Bio range was 750 - 78, mine - 690...Suffice to say they have no ECs).</p>
<p>Depends on what school you wanna apply to.
Usually, 150/200 is enough.</p>
<p>That's it? By the time I apply I was planning on get at least a 1000 hours (from this activity alone).</p>
<p>Well then again I'll probably go into the International Pool...</p>
<p>If you care passionately about the volunteer work, don't let anything stop you. Please do not let standardized tests stand in the way of what you love. Buy a book, study from the book. Don't be stupid. But don't go overboard if your heart is somewhere else. The college admissions officer will see this. Please follow your heart and try to think less about the numbers game.</p>
<p>Uh.. Sparkle415, your downplay of the importance of standardized test scores is overly optimistic. Colleges will see your extracurricular interests, and take note of particularly large committments especially when grades are not at the very tip top. However, test scores still most always reign or (at least) are incredibly important in the admissions process, even at admissions offices that look at applications holistically. The numbers game is more important than you think. [This is, of course, not to say that if you have a 2300 (or even a 2200 for that matter) you should drop everything and work on raising your score.]</p>
<p>OP: I don't understand why your choices are mutually exclusive. You can still study up for standardized tests ** and ** have time for volunteering.</p>
<p>I remember the "Gatekeeper" book described student applications come in and are scored and tagged according to scores and types of classes taken. EC is seldom looked at during initial screening.</p>
<p>Take this info and map your strategy accordingly.</p>
<p>A few years ago I attended a college night for our local gifted group. There were reps from many top schools. The consensus was that, like many ecs, they really do not care unless it actually backed by passion. (I got really tired of the word passion that night).</p>
<p>The impression I got is that the adcomms realize that they have blighted a generation of high schoolers by letting them think the kid with the most ecs and volunteer hours wins. This is not the case. They would rather see a small handful of things done well and with passion (yuck), then a laundry list. The MIT rep used volunteer hours. He felt they were useless, because so many schools now require them.</p>
<p>Well I finished my requirements 3 weeks ago, I'm sure my passion for this will show.</p>
<p>Thanks, it's not that volunteering and studying are mutually exclusive, it's that studying doesn't occupy as much space with the volunteer (plus its on the other side of the town so +2.5 hours for travelling)</p>
<p>Why volunteer? They are not stupid, they know you're just trying to get into college whatever you say. Get 100 hours in over the next 2 years. Yes, 1 hour per week, and then go cut some grass or another job. Job's ALWAYS look better than volunteering.</p>