How Many Community Service Hours For College

Community service is one of the almost popular extracurricular activities for high school students to do in their free time.

There are hundreds of means that high school students tin get involved in their communities. At that place is really something out at that place for everyone, no matter what your personal interests are!

Admissions officers also beloved to run into community service on higher applications. Having community service experience means you're passionate about making a difference in the world and are ready to take action and be involved.

Only how many community service hours for college do you actually need in gild to brand sure your contribution is "good enough" for admissions officers? Is there a sure number of hours that yous demand for dissimilar schools?

Read on to find out!

Do You Need to Complete a Sure Number of Volunteer Hours for Higher?

As a rough guideline, annihilation betwixt 50 and 200 hours is going to sound impressive and evidence that you have made a commitment.Nonetheless, once yous get above 200 hours, you lot should outset to consider if your free time could be amend spent doing something else.

Unfortunately, there is no one magic number of community service hours that is going to exist your gilt ticket into college. Grades and test scores will ever come beginning.

Though community service work tin showcase an aspect of your personality and make admission officers see yous as a good citizen and leader, it isn't going to guarantee admission on its own. Even if you have spent 500+ hours on volunteering, admissions officers won't hold spots open for you based just on that. You still demand to be the full package.

So treat volunteer work equally you lot would any other extracurricular action. If this is what yous choose to do with your fourth dimension, make sure that it counts.

Fortunately, a recent written report past DoSomething.org will help you to do merely that. They asked admissions officers from 33 of the top fifty colleges for guidance on how they estimate customs service every bit an extracurricular activity. Their answers are a great guide to what admissions officers are actually thinking when they see your community service hours on your application.

You may be surprised to learn thatthe number of hours you spend doing community service is not the most of import focus.

In fact, most admissions officers say that they care more nearly what you take done, why you are doing it, and what you are getting out of it. Equally long every bit you can adequately explicate these things, they don't care as much about the number of hours you lot spent doing it.

2-thirds of college admission officers say that it's non possible to take too many community service hours. As long as it'south not affecting your grades or other parts of your life, yous can volunteer to your heart's content.

Just the opposite is also true. Equally long equally y'all take made a valuable contribution that you lot can explain, nigh admissions officers are probably non going to discount community service work that you take done but because you oasis't spent enough hours doing information technology.

How Should Yous Allocate Your Volunteer Hours?

So if your goal is l-200 hours, how should you spend that time?

In general, it'south easier and takes fewer hours to have an impact if you keep volunteering for the same projection, instead of spreading yourself across several unlike projects.

Try to find a project that you can spendat least 50 hours on.If you have much less than this, most admissions officers will non be convinced that y'all have dedicated enough fourth dimension to actually be making a divergence.

Exist intelligent about how you spend your costless time if you're going to dedicate more than hours. Even so, once you become above 200 hours, yous should first to consider if your gratis time could exist improve spent doing something else.

At the finish of the day, 500 hoursis not going to seem that much more impressive than 200 hours,and those are hours that probably could be amend spent elsewhere, such as on other extracurriculars, getting elevation grades, or exam prep.

If the number of hours you spent doing community service isn't the nigh important affair that admissions officers are looking for, then what DO they desire to see in your community service?

What Do Admissions Officers Desire to Run across in Volunteer Work?

There are three main qualities that you should be showing in your customs service piece of work: commitment, passion, and leadership.The all-time students will also use their community service experience equally an opportunity forreflection.

#i: Commitment

You can show commitment by existence involved in your called project over a long period of fourth dimension.

In the DoSomething report, 70% of admissions officers said they would prefer to run across long-term dedication to an unglamorous cause such equally local service piece of work instead of a short-term delivery to something flashy like volunteering abroad.

Furthermore, 60% of admissions officers would prefer to see students who have fabricated a delivery to only i cause over their high school careers. Why? They're more than interested in seeing what you can attain when you're dedicated and put your listen to it than they are past a longer list of volunteer activities. One officer noted,"Longevity and dedication are traits necessary for collegiate success."

Long-term commitment shows passion and dedication. Over threescore% of admissions officers say that they would like to see service that goes back to the beginning of high schoolhouse, and xv% more say that the service delivery should start before high school.

But what really matters is that yous have been volunteering for a long enough time that yous accept actually fabricated a difference in the community and your own development likewise.

#2: Passion

To testifypassion, do a customs service activity that relates to something that you're already interested in or intendance securely about.

If you take a certain interest, community service tin be a great manner to explore it. For instance, if y'all're passionate about animals, you could consider volunteering at an animal shelter.

As mentioned in a higher place, long-term involvement is important. Students who already intendance virtually a cause are more likely to make a long-term commitment.

Working in an area you intendance about besides shows that you can take action to better things where you see a need, which is a corking trait that admission officers look for. As well, the more than you can talk about why you care most a cause, the more sincere you will seem in your efforts.

#3: Leadership

You can bear witness your leadership skills past managing others and beingness in accuse during an result or activity. Yous tin too show leadership by being responsible for motivating others to succeed.

As with whatsoever extracurricular, schools are interested to see how you lot've taken charge and made your extracurricular activeness better than you plant it.Colleges desire to admit people who will change the world, and leaders have a better risk of doing this. Over 50% of admissions officers thought that having a founding or leading role in your volunteer work was the most important quality that yous could show them.

#four: Reflection

The all-time students who have done customs service work volition also be able toreverberate on how their work has made a divergence, both to others and to themselves.

Students should ask themselves if their community service projects have actually made a positive contribution to social club. After all, that is the indicate of community service. Successful customs service can be a lot trickier to gauge than success in other extracurriculars. Inquire yourself if you take accomplished what you set up out to do and who is ameliorate off because of your work.

Also, check to see that you understand why the work you've done is important and how you've made an touch on.

Students who can reflect on these aspects are more than probable to print admissions officers because they evidence that they are thoughtful and have dedicated themselves for sincere reasons – not just to take something to list on their resume.

Ask yourself, have y'all spent plenty time doing customs service that you have actually made a difference? If you just showed upwards and did some hours for the sake of a better resume, admissions officers won't be impressed.

Finally, what kind of experience have you lot gained?

In particular, admissions officers are looking for leadership feel, as mentioned higher up. Even so, they're too interested in students who take become more mature and developed in other ways as a result of their community service. If your service work has fabricated you more compassionate, for example, this would also exist a cracking thing to write near.

Students who can reflect on these aspects are more likely to impress admissions officers because they tin testify that they did community service for sincere reasons – non simply to have something to list on their resume.

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What Do Admissions Officers Not Want to Run across?

Many students willexercise community service work for the wrong reasons - and it will evidence.

Admissions officers are e'er on the lookout for students who volunteer merely to fulfill a quota. If you lot talk almost your experience in terms of hours instead of causes and accomplishments, this tin be a cherry-red flag.

Words like "required" and "mandatory" are too reddish flags for admissions officers. If community service was required past your high schoolhouse, even if y'all did productive and meaningful piece of work, don't draw it in a style that makes it sound like you were forced to do information technology. This can make admissions officers experience you had a negative relationship with the piece of work y'all accomplished and only did it because you lot had to.

If it's obvious that you are only doing community service work so that you can listing information technology on your application, admissions officers would prefer that you lot leave it out. As with any other extracurricular activity, yous should merely list information technology if it'due south been meaning to your development.

The Bottom Line

Though all extracurriculars are theoretically equal, I would nonetheless recommend that you accept some blazon of community service on your application if y'all have the ways to practise and so. This is specially of import when applying to top schools.

Try to have a projection that yous accept committed at to the lowest degree fifty hours to. If you want community service to be your primary extracurricular activity, try to dedicate even more than time over several years.

Though most officers say that all activities are totally equal and can prove the aforementioned traits, some admissions officers for meridian schools say that community service can be about conspicuous on an application if it's completely absent.

This is especially true in applications for the virtually competitive schools, where nigh students will have done some volunteer work.

Nonetheless, likewise go along in listen that community service is not mandatory, peculiarly if you have a good reason for not having washed it.Almost 100% of officers say that in that location are many means that you tin can show you are a good citizen and leader that DON'T involve community service. This can be accomplished through other extracurriculars, work experience, or helping out your family if that is what your personal circumstances crave.

What's Next?

If you need some inspiration, check out our list of 129 community service activities that y'all can endeavour.

Want to find your own project? Hither are the ix best places to do community service.

Not sure that community service is worth your fourth dimension? Larn about some of the means that community service tin do good you.

Did you lot know that doing customs service tin assistance you pay for college? Cheque out our list of customs service scholarships that yous can win!

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Nearly the Author

Mary Ann holds a BA in Classics and Russian from the Academy of Notre Dame, and an MA from Academy College London. She has years of tutoring experience and is too passionate well-nigh travel and learning languages.