<p>Hi, I am currently a sophomore in High School and I have not started to volunteer. Is it necessary to volunteer to get into prestigious universities?</p>
<p>Also, how does the whole “hours” system work?</p>
<p>Nothing is necessary. Volunteer if you WANT to help your community, do not do it because you need to as you will only waste their time by giving less than full effort.</p>
<p>Top schools are going to be impressed by volunteer work. Hours would be the total number of hours you volunteer.</p>
<p>Thanks! I sometimes tutor for my school’s math club. Does that count? How can I make it official that I volunteered for a certain amount of hours?</p>
<p>Does your school require it? Our school requires 75 hours of community service. This means that there’s a structure for “recording” volunteer hours. A lot of students continue to use the system to record any volunteering they do, even after they meet their 75 hours. The number is listed on their report card.</p>
<p>Oh, and tutoring for your math club totally counts.</p>
<p>@CuriousJane, so basically I should ask my Counselor about my school’s policy? I’ve done many volunteering feats, but I just never recorded them!!</p>
<p>Does that mean all my hours are a waste?</p>
<p>Your hours were not a waste. Try asking your teacher (or whoever was supervising) to sign hours for you, if you come in so often. Give them an estimate of how many hours you’ve tutored.</p>
<p>At least that’s how it would work at my school.</p>