<p>Can anyone give me 5 examples of strong voluntary jobs and a solid number of hours? If I'm shooting for the lower Ivies, what kind of volunteers are they looking at? I plan to major in astrophysics, and I seem to find no related activities I can do outside of school. What would u recommend?</p>
<p>Let me preface this by saying I am by no means any sort of expert. I haven’t even started applying to any schools and I don’t have five examples for you. </p>
<p>However, I can only speak from personal experience. Trying to find volunteer opportunities that involve astrophysics sounds difficult. Honestly, find some you like/love/care about and go do it. I volunteered every week at a local nursing home because I liked the stories that they had to tell, not because I want to major in anything related to the field. I’ve taught tennis camps, designed websites for charities, and built playgrounds because I like doing it. Now, I’m a volunteer for the Obama campaign, and I spent my weekends going door-to-door and calling houses because I feel strongly about politics. Does this mean I’m going into poli sci? probably not, but I love it. Otherwise, there is no way I would devote so much time to being part of the campaign. </p>
<p>As far as recommendations, I’m lost when it comes to science related opportunities. (I’m a humanities girl, through and through.) But, I know there are alot of youth science programs. Maybe you could help with that? But, my main advice is to not be limited by your desired major. Try an out of the norm volunteer position and you might find something you like.</p>
<p>Yah… astrophysics would be a major that does not really correlate to many ECs you could do in High School… I’ve heard of doing an independent research paper and getting High School teacher to look at it/ Physics Professor at a nearby university (usually recommended by a teacher first).. my friend did that… Also, try doing science clubs? robotics club (FIRST robotics)… introduce that to your school if they dont have it… science fairs are really big… if you base your science fair project on astrophysics that would make an impression… You can record the hours for all the stuff i listed as well… Also, some might disagree, but it does make someone real unique who is entering a quite narrow field like science to take on some humanitarian work- Work at a shelter and bond with people, makes for great essays, but you should enjoy the work your doing… work at a church… volunteer for various causes etc… I think the coolest EC ive seen was a kid i met who built a very small motor to use as a charger to power his scooter… which is pretty cool… he drew the schematics and all…</p>
<p>Inventions are awesome.. try spending some time on that… if you arent hands on person, just ask a physics teacher as well as to what is available ECs for a person entering Astrophysics… Good Luck Bro!</p>