<p>I do like 4-6 hours a week during the school year. That's plenty, right? I'll have 250ish by app time....I'd do more, but I'm getting a JOB as well (woot. PAYMENT).</p>
<p>sorry to tell you this, but compared to other ECs, volunteering is pretty useless unless you did something amazing like built a school in Nigeria or something.</p>
<p>well it's a Red Cross Internship....better than nothing</p>
<p>and I have other ECs</p>
<p>Volunteering can show interest, though. Like if you get a volunteer job doing something you like, it may help add "passion" for a certain area along with your other ecs.</p>
<p>Volunteering can be a wonderful EC, but when it comes to the top colleges what really matters is the impact of your volunteering --on you or on the community or an individual, not the number of hours that you put in.</p>
<p>If you volunteer with the Red Cross, I think that is great! I volunteered at the local hospital and even if it doesn't make an impact in your college application it still makes an impact on the community and the orginization! </p>
<p>I think it helps the application though, especially if you are interested in the sciences, medicine, and some other fields of study..... Just make sure you try to "work your way up" there and try to demonstrate leadership in whatever you do.... I know there's a place on the common app. where I was able to talk about my volunteering experience... like examples of where I impacted the lives of others and how my own life was impacted by volunteering.</p>
<p>4-6hrs a week is plenty.... if you have a day free every now and then... call in and see if they could use your help... you can get a lot of hours and experiences in that way...</p>