<p>Hello!</p>
<p>My friend's sister, who is a complete and utter genius with the whole 4.8 GPA and 2300+ SAT score, was rejected from Berkeley and UCLA. She asked around, and the consensus came up to be that she did not have enough volunteering hours [which were about zero]. Is this true? Do we REALLY need volunteering hours to get into college? If so, how much?</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>First, a question: did she have any other significant EC's? If so, what?</p>
<p>Short answer: Yes, it does help.</p>
<p>Well, I know the UCs for sure really care even though they are rather obsessed with numbers and statistics. It's part of the whole "holistic" approach, you get major points for being officers in clubs for example.</p>
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Do we REALLY need volunteering hours to get into college? If so, how much?
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<p>Colleges are looking for kids who have demonstrated self-motivated interest in something. Could be just about anything, but certainly community service is good. They aren't really too interested in kids who do stuff because they are trying to accumulate "x" number of hours to impress colleges, so just posing the question that way is a bit off track.</p>
<p>it isn't about volunteering. its about showing a passion and interests outside of academics. i applied as a freshman this past year last minute, the day of to be exact, to the uc's and my stats were below your friends sister and below the school's average. i didnt even have time to do enter extracurricular activities, which were plenty. i recycled essays from past college applications, and ucla accepted me. i think they probably accepted me on my essays alone because odds were against me.</p>
<p>interesteddad makes the best point. It's not about volunteer hours -- it's about outside interests. Even a part time job at a parent's store or restaurant looks very good. </p>
<p>Also, just because she "asked around" doesn't mean that the answers given to her were correct. Perhaps a rec said something unflattering -- perhaps other things. </p>
<p>The ultimate answer: ABSOLUTELY NO -- you don't HAVE to have volunteer hours to get into top schools. But you do have to have something that shows you will contribute to the schools' missions (ECs or other non-academic activities)</p>
<p>You need to check the UCLA and Berkeley web site for the A-G requirements.
Did your friend's sister complete the A-G requirements exactly? If I am not mistaken, there are points given for certain things the UCs are looking for. I recall finding this on the UCSD web site. For example, demonstrated overcoming personal hardship gave certain number of points, etc. Perhaps there were just not enough over all points. High GPA and SAT may not have given enough points for admission. Look at the university web sites or go to the admissions office to find out exactly what the universities want.</p>
<p>I think volunteering does matter. It shows that a person is willing to give back their time and talents to the community. That is a good thing in itself, whether you are going to college or not. Why would a university want to produce a bunch of self-serving graduates?</p>
<p>I attended a UCLA reception with my S and they talked a lot about giving back to the community.</p>
<p>its supper important volenteer hours and EC . Hello!! dont you think other utterly smart ppl are apply to that same college to ? wwith high sats and gpa's but the one things that will give you a fighting chance the stick out is your EC's and Volenteer hours</p>
<p>it depends for specific colleges, but in general it depends on the person</p>
<p>if your application hinges upon the fact that you are a compassionate, socially-conscious, activist type then it'll probably look bad if you have no community service.
on the other hand if you are a recruited athlete, or an excellent artist, or a high achieving math/science kid they probably won't mind.</p>
<p>also, i dont have a specific source but i think the general consensus was that you have to have enough to be meaningful
0-50 hours probably isn't going to mean a thing</p>
<p>well, she covered A-G and did sports and everything. same thing happened this year with a bunch of seniors. this makes me REALLY worry about next year and getting into UCs.</p>
<p>i do volunteer work, but i thought it wasn't necessary to put it on my college application because it isn't anything amazing like research.</p>