<p>I am very interested in volunteering, but many people tell me that you need to get national awards to get into an Ivy League college. I don't know about any national awards that I can get from volunteering. Does anyone know about someone that got into an Ivy League without any national awards? Does anyone know any national awards that I can get by volunteering?</p>
<p>I don’t know about national awards, I think that the top-caliber schools just want to see that you’re not volunteering for the heck of it. They’re just looking for some depth, and that you truly like to volunteer, and that you’re not just padding your resume.</p>
<p>I know a lot of people that are attending Ivies that didn’t have any national awards for volunteering… One at Harvard, she created a program at her local library for kids, but it was in no way nationally recognized. Two at Dartmouth, as far as I know, they both had very little volunteering. One was extremely passionate about the clarinet. Two at Yale, though one was amazing at life (through-the-roof GPA, 2400 SAT in one sitting, captain of 3 varsity sports, 12 varsity letters… you get the gist), but the other was simply extremely passionate about photography.</p>
<p>As I said before, I think these schools just want to see that you’re passionate for something. Awards are simply things that come when you do something extraordinarily well, which is possibly a sign that you have a passion for something…</p>
<p>Here’s one:</p>
<p>[The</a> President’s Volunteer Service Award](<a href=“http://www.presidentialserviceawards.gov/]The”>http://www.presidentialserviceawards.gov/)</p>
<p>googling may give you others</p>
<p>I don’t know how much that would mean to a college, though. It doesn’t seem very hard to get. I know a good number of people that have 250+ hours… Or am I missing something major in the qualifications?</p>
<p>entomom,</p>
<p>The President’s Volunteer Service Award has a 12 month period limit, and also must be delivered through a certifying organization.</p>
<p>True, but since the OP didn’t provide any details about their situation, I don’t know if either of these is a limiting factor. I gave a link to a possible National award for volunteering (what the OP requested), it is up to the OP to see if it suits their needs. </p>
<p>I’m hearing a lot of complaints, but not many (any) contributions…</p>
<p>for those non-compititive awards, such as, NHS, AP …scholars, karate black belt … everyone can get it. Are they as eye-catching to colleges? and even without honor titles,
colleges still can look at your gpa numbers, look at your commnity service hours. count # of AP you took.</p>
<p>for those compititive awards, such as leadership, 1st. place of blabla are more impressive, but it’s hard:(</p>
<p>I really don’t think you need any national awards for volunteering, there are many ways to show your passion for something without getting awards. If you rack up a large number of hours, that shows something. Also, if you’re truly passionate about it, you can write your personal statement about voluteering, or simply mention it. Awards usually show the colleges that you have the dedication, the motivation, and the passion for the EC - but you don’t need an award to “prove” it.</p>