<p>I have a reasonable Cumulative GPA (3.8 I believe, 10th Grade upwards; 9th grade I wont count since I was in Alberta, its only junior high there), Junior year, getting my 1st Semester final grades next semester.</p>
<p>So how important is your volunteer work experience? Im not talking about volunteering 2000 hours at a Senior's Home or a Hospital. Volunteer work in an actual industry, where you do actual work (with no incentives or pay) and gain actual "experience", specifically automation and systems engineering, Merchandising, Sales, and Logistics for the same large business. </p>
<p>Im doing 8 hours a day during school breaks, 6 day weeks (7 hours on Saturday). Nothing during school weeks. Will also be doing full-time volunteer work there during the summer. So that really adds up. Im not sure how impressive this looks compared to volunteering at a hospital, a church trip to mexico or haiti (and get busted ;D), or even for the Obama Campaign, but I am really passionate about this. I like what I am doing, and I dont care that Im not being paid for it. I dont care that Im going around Saturday mornings-afternoons with sales engineers and watching them do "their thing" + I actually get to offer any input!!</p>
<p>So, how valuable is your work/volunteer work experience?</p>
<p>That’s what important! It’s not what you “think” someone else thinks with that information, do it for you. HS kids should discover their true passions, not do things just into a college.</p>
<p>Doing what you are passionate about doesnt always help in college admissions, right? I mean, my thing could pass as “passionate” (although I still think their scope of thinking is too limited to hospital volunteering and sundays at nursing homes), but what about someone who is “passionate” about cars? whats something that he or she could do to show that, for example?</p>
<p>I think anything you are really passionate about can help you with admissions. Cars? If you restore old cars, run a car repair business out of your garage, volunteer at the model car museum, travel around the country during your breaks to visit other afficionados, maintain a web-site for devotees of your special kind of car - in short, demonstrate real and creative passion - it will make you stand out. Any interest that distinguishes you from the raft of top students who are newspaper editing, orchastra-playing, math team presidents is helpful. Will it make up for poor grades or mediocre test scores or indifferent recommendations? Of course not-but your uniqueness can not fail to catch an admin officer’s jaded eye.</p>
<p>A student I know well has been working 20+ hr/wk at a non-profit for over a year and is now at a relatively senior level thought still unpaid. The letter of rec from the director was, by itself, enough to make any school take notice. In addition, it has informed her academic anhd future professional interests and therefore her essays and, I’m sure, is why she was an EA admit to the school of her choice.</p>