<p>So like the title says, how important is community service to admissions officers when applying to top 15 schools, I have some but not a significant amount of community service, I just don't have a passion for doing it, as cold as that might sound, could it hurt my chances or only help if I had a significant amount of community service.</p>
<p>well, I didn’t have very much community service and I did okay. I had some, but nothing showing passion, like you say. I was vice president of global initiative organization and national honor society, both of which looked good, and I did some tutoring, but I didn’t have anything more significant.</p>
<p>And I got into: Cornell (LL), Duke, Vanderbilt (LL), Northwestern, UChicago, WashU, and UNC-CH (OOS). But I was also rejected from Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and Penn and waitlisted at Johns Hopkins and Brown.</p>
<p>So, I guess, it does make a difference for the tippy-top schools, but not for the schools right under the tippy-top?</p>
<p>It can only help, not hurt. The more you do the better, so if you don’t really have passion, don’t write an essay on it.</p>
<p>Just b/c you community service isn’t your thing won’t rule you out certainly. But you’ve got to ask yourself: what about you stands out amongst the tens of thousands of interesting applicants? What makes you stand out?</p>
<p>There’s no check list “must have volunteer hours”. So anyone who says that is talking through his hat.</p>
<p>Community Service weighs heavily if, and only if, its something you are dedicated to. If you have been volunteering at a hospital for 4 years, that shows that passion. If community service is something you really want to do, find one that interest you and stick to it. To colleges, that one community service is more impressionable than a million other miscellaneous ones.</p>
<p>Community service, ECs, etc. only matter at top schools if you’ve accomplished something significant with the activity that goes beyond racking up hours. For community service, organizing a project, organizing fundraising, making a big difference in the life of a person whom you helped for a few years – those are the kind of things that may impress top colleges.</p>
<p>Racking up 1,000 community service hours or being an officer of lots of clubs (while accomplishing nothing with your office) won’t help you</p>
<p>The top colleges care more about what you accomplish than which activity you were involved in or how much time you spent in the activity.</p>
<p>I agree with everyone else. Community service is only compelling on a college application if it’s something you are truly passionate about. Even more so if that passion stems from a personal experience that motivated you to take action. You’re only one person - you can’t tackle every social issue that has every plagued mankind. But if there is one thing in particular - like homelessness, discrimination, or education - that truly matters to you, then go for it and see what you can accomplish.</p>
<p>In response to mermaid’s post, I was also accepted to Duke, Cornell, Northwestern, and Vanderbilt, and rejected from Harvard, Yale, and Penn. And I did have a lot of community service. With basically the same lists for people with and without community service, it didn’t seem to make a difference in this case. While I was doing service, mermaid was probably doing an activity of similar merit, benefiting her just as much in the admissions process.</p>
<p>So I was wrong. Typical.</p>
<p>thanks for the replies guys, that was reassuring, yeah community service isn’t my passion, i have some but not as much as some other people on here, I have some passions that I will try to focus on, in my essay’s.</p>
<p>^They want strong passions, not partial passions that you have in community service. What you could do is reference that passion in a larger context instead of solely trying to focus on it.</p>
<p>Community service is one of those things, like mission trips and varisty sports, that overzealous parents and their kids have convinced themselves are necessary for admission to top schools. The problem is, in trying to cover all of these imagined bases, kids can become stretched thin and end up sacrificing the opportunity to become deeply talented and interesting. </p>
<p>So, is community service necessary? Absolutely not, especially if it takes time away from more compelling activities. But I have seen it work nicely for applicants with one defined passion (debate, writing, science) to round out their application. Generally, however, these applicants have had significant organizing roles in established organizations like Relay for Life, not just scattered hours at the homeless shelter or helping one-eyed orphans read Swahili.</p>
<p>My son won’t have as many service hours as many students, however the volunteer hours he has are coaching an elementary team related to the main EC that he participates in. I think the more important thing is that it shows he truly cares about what he is doing. Being able to look at a transcript and admissions package and see a common theme is important. That doesn’t mean that a math & science kid can’t be in the guitar club. Spreading yourself over several activities with little depth, just to check boxes, is pretty thinly veiled. Stick with what you love.
Having said this, even if you are not interested in the ‘traditional’ community service jobs, there are many ways to be involved and make a difference. Are you interested in literature? How about volunteering at your local library? Math & science? Your local elementary school would love to have you on board a few hours a week to tutor students in math. Are you a programming whiz? Contact the gifted coordinator at the middle school and see if there are any students that may be interested in a ‘computer club’. Can’t stand kids? Your church has volunteers each Monday that count weekend offerings. Again, look first at what you do well and what you love… go from there. You will be much happier.</p>