Hey everyone. I am a high school junior right now and I’ve only done a total of 20 hours of community service. I never felt the motivation to do more service and the high school clubs that I am currently in don’t do anything. I’m pretty concerned and I am planning to go to a UC but don’t know which one. I haven’t done any sports or extracurricular activities except for Boy Scouts (for 5 years). Is community service really needed for college?
In my school district, community service is REQUIRED for graduation: like 90 hours are required. I know some other districts are like this, too.
I’m going to assume that at yours, it’s not. However, ECs are important, so if you’re not gonna do community service, you probably need something else.
You’re right, my district does not require community service. However it’s too late for me to join a sport because I will be submitting my college application by November next school year, and I know I can’t play football or cross country during that time frame 
No one particular thing like community service is needed, but almost every school likes to see some solid ECs preferably with one or more leadership positions. I’m not familiar with the UC system though.
How about Big Brothers/Big Sisters?
No, it isn’t required to be accepted to college.
Neither necessary nor sufficient, but can help at those colleges that consider it.
What colleges are you speaking of?
hopefully the UC colleges in California (University of California i.e. UC Berkeley) but since I saw the rates of students getting admitted into them are pretty low, so I am not that sure. Im planning to major in either computer science or computer egineering 
You say that you are in Boy Scouts. Don’t they have a community service component?
you will put in a lot of time so that an admissions officer glances at it on your application for 1/10 of a second. if you are applying to a normal* school( which I would recommend, not connected to community service aspect) I would imagine it is not as important or even needed. but, nobody can predict what a specific admissions officer will be looking for before they say yea or nay and if that will be the deciding factor. can you volunteer in a hospital or something like that?
*normal school means great school but not one of the over the top elitists schools.
schools like
bradley university
university of pittsburgh
university of evansville
muhlenberg college
hendrix college
centre college
butler university
drake university
all good choices IMO
You can look up how much ECs are considered for each school on your list by googling their Common Data Set (look at section C7). The majority do not consider ECs at all.
RichS, If I could offer a suggestion… you state that you are interested in computer science or computer engineering. What if you were to offer your expertise with computers to a local nonprofit. I am thinking like devising spread sheets for drivers for your local meals on wheels, or helping your local church or synagogue with a computer email mailing list. Debugging and cleaning up some old computers that could use it and that they don’t have the time, money or skills to take care of. There are many ways you can contribute your skills, show some initiative, help out in your community without spending 500 hours picking up trash on the side of the highway. Reach out to a few of these groups in your community and see what you could help them with. It will give you an ec that showcases your skills and organizational ability and benefits some group that could use your help. Best of luck to you!
Look at the common data sets for the colleges you are interested in.
Google Common Data Set.
For example, here is Berkeley’s:
http://opa.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/UC%20Berkeley%20CDS%202013-14%20%28July%29.pdf
It shows ECs and Volunteer Work as “Important”.
Are you thinking of trying to become an Eagle Scout? That has service hours plus it shows leadership and dedication to an activity. Focus on expanding what you already do (Scouts) and take to the highest level you can.
As a CA resident your GC ought to be familiar with the selection process at the UCs. Probably a good idea to set up a meeting to go over this.
Community service specifically - not necessary. But an EC (or a couple) that you are passionate about? I’d say very necessary. If you’re interested in CS, what about a robotics team or something like that? Chances are, if you find something you’re passionate about you’ll naturally excel in it, which will impress admissions at places like UCB.