I like to know if common app. ask for how many hours and for how long you are volunteering with any organization?
My D does volunteer work at lot of place,but she volunteer every summer 2-3 times(total of 6 hrs.each summer) each summer for one organization ,can she put it on common app. or it does not make any difference because its not quit often ?
Does college look for consistency?
We are going to volunteer for this summer too.
Thanks!
It’s up to her what total picture she wants to show on her application. There are limited number of spaces on the app to list activities, so she’ll need to decide if she already has too many activities how to choose and display the ones that show what she wants the college to see.
Unless there is a lot more to the story, it might seem odd to list something that happens in only 6 hours each summer. Is this 6 hours that meaningful that it deserves one of those precious lines on the app? She can certainly list it, but it might send the message that she hasn’t done many activities so is trying hard to come up with something, anything to fill in the blank spaces.
Does college app. ask for hours or it ask for how long(like how many month or years?)
It might depend on the application. For the Common app, it asks for the years you did it (9th, 10th, etc.) and then the number of hours per week, and you select the length of time (year-round, summer, semester, etc.)
That said, 6 hours per summer is not something I would waste a space on.
Thank you @ milee30 and @skieurope for response.
Few more question on this,pls. suggest.
We might able to do around 30 hrs.this summer and fall, so does this will look impressive to write on app.?
Generally how many hrs. kids do or look good to write?
My D also volunteer in a place not every weekend or on regular basis but when ever they put it online and if she has not much homework or other commitment she will go whole year around,so you think she can write about this and if yes than under which category?
Sorry for lot of questions?
Thanks.
You can pull up a sample Common App via google and see how all the parts ask for info.
Two or three times, 6 hours each, isn’t much. It depends on how important this work is. And what level of colleges she’ll apply to.
But this is not just about how hours total. It’s how one participates or commits. If it’s something she can continue in fall, so much the better.
The year round random: it doesn’t matter that it’s random. It does matter what it is. Eg, if it relates to her possible college major, it may not be enough to show up only occasionally. At the other extreme, if it’s just any old vol (passing out info for some local event,) you do need to weigh it (as milee said,)and decide if it even gets listed. Depends.
@lookingforward gives good advice. One thing I’d add:
Applicants (and their parents) need to eliminate the words “impressive,” “like,” “best,” or similar words from their vocabulary until after decisions are made. It is the rare application/course schedule/EC that will “impress” admissions. Perhaps the AO that read Malala’s application was “impressed” by her ECs, but she set the bar high. Students should do things that are right for them
Thanks every one for wonderful advice!
It’s not about the number of hours so much as what doing the work or activity meant to you, what you learned and what did you do with that knowledge, how did you contribute, how did you grow… and then you have to express all that in an attention-capturing essay.
Since it is very hard to learn and grow from a volunteer activity you did for six hours each summer - or even 30 hours, this might not be the defining experience you want to use to highlight your personality to an AO. However, if you have a series of volunteer opportunities that are related to each other (“a cause”) or to the field you want to study, you might connect those experiences to show increasing levels of difficulty/challenge or increasing responsibilities (“leadership”).
I’m all in favor of volunteer work simply because it’s good citizenship and builds character. However, with many high schools routinely requiring 20-75 hours just to graduate, anything less looks very weak.
No, you do not have to express anything about your vol work in the personal statement essay. That’s’ not the point, even for a tippy top.
And it’s not an arms race. Otoh, what you choose to do can show a lot about your thinking and ideas, awareness.
Some students will have several hundred hours, others will have whatever minimum their school requires (if they require them). The college application should highlight what makes the student unique. If the student only started volunteering the summer before Junior year, but in the process help start a local non-profit to meet a need that was otherwise not being met, the number of hours would not be the driving factor. If another student spent a week as a volunteer counselor at a camp for special needs children, it might only be 40 hours a year, but still might reflect well. Consider what is listed in the context of everything else on the application.