Not volunteering?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>I'm a high school sophomore and I don't enjoy volunteering at all. I joined a community service club last year because everyone says you need volunteering hours for college. I did about 10 hours of volunteering and I hated it so much. I'm not saying volunteering is bad, but I thought it is a waste of time if I didn't like it. I'd rather do other things I like in that time.</p>

<p>So my question is, is having no volunteering experience going to affect one's chance of getting into a top college?</p>

2

<p>…yeah, I mean, generally colleges prefer kids who are willing to put at least a little bit of effort into caring about other people over kids who aren’t. I mean, I thought that was kind of obvious.</p>

3

<p>i didn’t really do much volunteering and i got into a top 20 school.</p>

<p>i mean, i guess i “kind of” did… but… not really</p>

4

<p>“Community Service Club” is a broad activity where the major factor for joining is people trying to boost their applications. As someone who volunteers a lot and as someone who is surrounded by students who have to do community service (about 75 hours per year) I have learned the following…</p>

<p>1) No one really enjoys Community Service Clubs/Key Clubs, etc. unless they have friends within the club or a real streak of altruism.</p>

<p>2) Do something you actually enjoy in the first place. What do you like, or what are you good at, or what do you want to become good at? </p>

<p>3)If you look at community service as a training tool (in personal skills, in doing secretarial work without getting papercuts, in how to use a hammer) then you might enjoy it more. Also, it is helpful to put on job applications when applying for a first job with no paid experience.</p>

<p>Some community service ideas: </p>

<p>if you like kids: tutoring in your favorite subject, arts & crafts at a festival, coaching a recreational team in your favorite sport, teaching religion classes, Boys & Girls Clubs, babysitting for free (see if there’s a program you can do that with)</p>

<p>if you like fundraising or a certain cause start a: spaghetti dinner, art auction, 5K run, golf competition, benefit concert, Relay for Life team, Invisible Children Club</p>

<p>miscellaneous: concessions at school sporting events, library (shelving, etc.), homeless shelter, nursing home, join Boy/Girl Scouts</p>

<p>Do them outside of any club, unless there is a club for that one volunteer job specifically. For example, a Habitat for Humanity club would be full of people who enjoy building homes for the unfortunate, etc.</p>

<p>Other opportunities for general good-doing include donating blood/platelets (if age 16+ and 120lbs.), learning CPR or other life-saving training, learning American Sign Language (there is a real need for this) and putting it to use, etc.</p>

<p>What I’m saying is, there’s probably something you like that can become an opportunity for volunteering. No matter what field you want to go into, whether it’s education or medicine or the arts or business, etc. you can translate it into community service hours.</p>

<p>Colleges like to see that successful applicants are A) good people with giving hearts (aka future donors), and/or B) people who will do something amazing with their education. If you are doing something right now that you love but are getting paid for then you are at least satisfying B. If you can turn your B into an A, then I think you and college admissions would both be happy!</p>

5

<p>Perhaps you were volunteering at the wrong thing. What are you passionate about or at least have more than a passing interest in? That’s where you should find your volunteer spirit.</p>

<p>Maybe tutoring an elementary or middle school student in your favorite subject, reading to a child at the library, walking dogs at the animal shelter, being an escort at a blood drive or any one of dozens of things. Volunteer to hand out water at a race against autism, CF, CP or whatever, run or bike in a race like that… </p>

<p>There are so many things. You can spend one day doing something and it’s 8 hours or do something more long term or more often.</p>

<p>The key is you should volunteer because it makes you feel good and not because it may make you look good on college apps. Keep trying things until you find one that clicks.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

6

<p>Read How to be a High School Superstar by Cal Newport - he’ll tell you what to do.</p>

7

<p>I only did 8 hours of community service and graduated with a 2.89 with no advanced classes or anything. I didn’t even do chemistry and only 1 year of Spanish. I got into University of Arizona, Nebraska, Las Vegas, Illinois: Chicago, Northern Illinois, and Boise State.
You really only need a bunch of community service if you want to go to top private schools or ivy league schools. I’ve got friends that have gone to some of the top public schools in the country like Berkeley and UCLA with little community service. As long as you can get really good grades and high test scores then you should be fine. I mean REALLY REALLY REALLY good grades and test scores to offset your lack of community service.</p>

8

<p>you don’t need volunteering to get into a top college. some places don’t even have a volunteering option available. I live in the suburbs, and while they do have volunteering oppurtunities, it’s solely so kids can stack up hours (the way I see it anyways). I mean, if you go to volunteer at the hospital or llibrary you’re really not making a difference.</p>