<p>I have some community service hours (volunteering at a nursing home freshman to junior years 1 hr/wk, 36 wk/yr; volunteering at a hospital thrift store sophomore year 4 hr/wk, 28 wk/yr; volunteering at festivals and fairs here and there for short periods of time) but definitely not as many as others have--I've seen people on here with tens of thousands of hours. Will this hurt me in the admissions process? I have other ECs (only a few hours a week) and solid grades and test scores, but I don't want colleges to think I just spent all of my time studying.</p>
<p>no</p>
<p>other than for self-fulfilment and to help others. To colleges? It’s “meh”</p>
<p>So long as your other statistics are strong, volunteer work only acts in your favor. It’s good to show them all aspects of yourself and having a strong volunteer background is a good component of that. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Who have you seen here with “tens of thousands of hours?”</p>
<p>Honestly, I think that you have enough community service. I like that you continued volunteering at the hospital for three years. I would suggest continuing this for senior year in order to show colleges your dedication.</p>
<p>Volunteering is just an EC. Colleges could care less if you spent your time playing a sport or dedicating yourself to a club. They just like to see passion and dedication. For some people, it may be doing tens of thousands of hours of volunteer service. For the majority of us, it’s usually something else - music, sports, etc.</p>
<p>For the selective schools, it’s not how many hours you spend doing any extra-curricular activity. It’s what you accomplish in those hours. And there is no magic about volunteering. If you are doing something you don’t enjoy and/or learn from, then I would suggest spending your time doing something more constructive. I’m a big proponent of ‘giving back’ through volunteering, but the opportunity cost is high for a high school student who should be using that time to figure out what gives them satisfaction and stretches them. I would certainly not encourage someone to spend four years doing something menial and uninteresting just to prove to schools that they are ‘committed’ or ‘passionate.’ If you are doing such a job as a volunteer, it’s time to step up and ask for more challenging work/greater responsibility - or to move on to something else.</p>