<p>I often go and visit my neighbor at a retirement home, I've gone since my freshmen year. I sometimes talk to her friends and my mom takes them out for lunch sometimes. I put 150 hours for "volunteering" at this retirement home on my resume. I now realize that if the check to see if I actually volunteered, there is NO record of me doing so! I go there and help out my neighbor and her friends, but it has never been anything 'official'. I want to send colleges a new resume where I change the description, but would that make them wonder why I changed it and then investigate? The hours (150) have also been over the four years I have been visiting her (which comes out to be only a few times per year - about 35 hrs a year) which is really not a lot, but will the colleges think by 150 i mean 150 per year? That sounds awfully suspicious. What should I do?!</p>
<p>Hm, this is a toughie. That’s what happens when you report visiting a neighbor as “actual” community service.</p>
<p>Honesty is key. I mean you could send a note/call the office to make the change and remove that activity off your app. I don’t think they’ll make such a big deal. The bigger deal would be to be caught in a lie with such a hefty amount of community service hours at stake. That would probably cause a rejection. So, my two cents is to correct your app.</p>
<p>Does it have to be official to count? Technically, you did some work helping around and unless the retirement home has an official volunteer program then the fact that you were there helping out must count for something. If the college checks, they’ll probably check with the administrators at the retirement home; if you’ve been there 150 hours a year (that’s almost an entire week of nonstop service!) they’ll remember you even if it’s not an Official Volunteer Job.</p>
<p>noooo that’s the thing, I haven’t been there 150 hours a year I have been there 150 hours throughout the four years. On my application I specified this I said: 2007-2010 150 hours.
Which means I’ve been there maybe a few times a year for an afternoon each time. Freshmen year I helped file documents and I played the flute for them, but none of this is documented or official, and I doubt anyone remembers me. My neighbor has altzheimers and I have to tell her who I am every time I go there!</p>
<p>That’s slightly less impressive, but the important thing is that you showed a spirit of compassion and community-minded activities. Colleges ask for ECs to indicate that you take an interest in something outside of yourself. The fact that you are willing to dedicate 150 hours – which if multiplied by a sufficiently-large number into years represents almost 4 years of service, albeit sporadically – even though you have to give up that social interaction because of the neighbor’s Alzheimers is a testament to your good personality. I honestly believe the admissions officers will look past the meaningless numbers and bureaucratic paperwork and see that about you.</p>
<p>And if you did put the 2007 - 2010, then you were perfectly honest with them. Dishonesty would be fabricating an activity out of whole cloth, such as claiming to be in the Manhattan Symphony Orchestra when you’re not.</p>
<p>Okay thank you. I’m not really worried that it will not be impressive enough, I’m more worried they will check up on it and there will be no documentation of me volunteering there and then they will think the entire thing as well as the rest of my application is a lie. I have done more than the average student in high school, however, a lot of it cannot be verified. (i tutor my brother’s friends, i wrap gifts every year for the needy, and I’m an officer for various clubs at my school). </p>
<p>So you guys don’t think I should call in and ‘correct’ what I wrote? My dad says if I do that will just attract more attention to it and it’s not worth it seeing the risk is very low that they would check up on it. I sent this same resume to all 15 colleges I applied to(i know, a lot!) and I guess chances are not more than one or two would check…?</p>
<p>definitely don’t correct it. It really is a very minor part of your app, not going to make or break admission. Worst case they ask about it (interview or what not) and you just say you meant 150 hours total. Either simple mistake or just a way to condense all of the hours into one count.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t call “volunteering” visiting a neighbor and being nice to her friends in a retirement home. I’ve done similar things for a blind neighbor, and considered that to be simple human kindness to a friend, not some kind of volunteer work.</p>
<p>Most colleges don’t factor volunteer work into admission anyway. The few that do wouldn’t be impressed by what you’ve done. If it came up in an interview – which it could – you could be tipped out of admission when it became clear how you’d misrepresented what you did.</p>
<p>thank you aaron
northstar mom - you seem like you know a lot about college admissions based on your posts. so what do you recommend…i don’t call in/change my resume and just tell the truth if asked during an interview?</p>
<p>Just e-mail and ask them to remove that entry from your application. Without elaborating, say that you thought it would be considered community service, but now realize it wouldn’t qualify.</p>
<p>can’t i just say that if they happen to notice? i don’t want to draw unnecessary attention to it…</p>
<p>No point worrying about it right now. The time to have considered it is when you were writing it in the first place. Chances are it will come to nothing. They don’t have time to verify every unsubstantiated claim on an application, and as NSM states, they are not likely giving it too much weight anyway. </p>
<p>Be prepared to deal with it honestly if it comes up somewhere down the line, but for right now I would advise you to just leave it alone.</p>
<p>Noticing that you applied to schools like U Chicago and U VA, both of which value highly integrity, I think you’d be wise to send an e-mail asking them to remove that “community service” from your app. Better to sound like you’re an honest person trying to correct an honest mistake than to be caught being a liar.</p>
<p>although opposing, both gave very good advice thank you</p>
<p>That is what I like about CC. Lots of nice people giving good advice with different points of view.</p>
<p>I certainly don’t agree with what you did and I would be honest about it if it ever comes up. For now, you need to decide what to do with the good advice that have been given.</p>
<p>I have a similar problem.
In the " activities" section, I listed a summer program I attended.
5 weeks / year (the program duration)
168 hours / week (which is 24 hours a day x 7 days a week… I wanted to leave it blank but common app wouldn’t let me)</p>
<p>…
major mistake right ?</p>
<p>Honestly, I don’t think that this issue is going to make or break your college admission decision. </p>
<p>If you’re worried about it and you think that it would clear your conscience, send a formal letter to admissions (via snail mail) just saying that you feel that the common app did not give you sufficient room to explain your activity, and elaborate, just like you did on this board. Talk about the many roles you have had in this retirement home-- flute playing, filing, etc. and mention that the 150 hours is over several years, and that you are not an official volunteer, but you give back to your community anyways, because you feel that it is rewarding… something like that.</p>
<p>PabloAP, I would recommend the same thing-- send a formal letter to admissions, apologizing for the ambiguity of your common app and elaborating on the program.</p>
<p>Just my 2 cents.</p>
<p>I would handle it a different way. I would go to the administrators at the retirement home and say you’ve been coming informally over the past few years and helping out, but you were wondering if there was anything formal you could do over the next few months–i.e., help out at a holiday party, help out in the office etc. That way, it’s a win-win situation. You will be helping others, while bringing yourself to the attention of the staff so they would remember you in the event a college called them (which I think it highly unlikely).</p>
<p>You already clarified that your work was over four years. </p>
<p>To be honest, 150 hours is not particularly impressive. Likely, if they were to check on any aspect of your application, they would contact the head of another EC, one in which you’ve been much more involved and whom could elaborate on your personal qualities and aptitude more extensively. </p>
<p>And to ease your worries, if you’ve done official filing work and played the flute for residents, someone will remember you or, at least, can verify that this activity is legitimate if push comes to shove–and I really doubt it will. Personally, I don’t particularly agree with what you did. Visiting a nursing home specifically to visit someone of personal importance is not volunteer work; it’s merely being a consciousness neighbor (you shouldn’t get hours for baking cookies for a neighbor’s birthday party or petsitting for a neighbor’s cats). But I don’t think you’re in a particularly bad situation. I wouldn’t draw attention to it by communicating with the school.</p>