3. COMMUNITY SERVICE
Many high schools have a minimum community service hours requirement; others don’t. Whether or not your school requires community service, you might consider getting involved with some kind of volunteer activity (unless you come from a very low-income family and must use your time outside of school to help support the family.)

Colleges pay attention to students’ community service or volunteer hours because it is one of the best indicators of student concern for something beyond themselves.

The more advantaged students are, perhaps, the more important it is for them to have community service as a regular part of their lives. Wealth and privilege do not give students an advantage in admissions any more. Sometimes it is just the opposite. It is useful to leave an honest impression of being other or community oriented. The last impression you want to give is that you are self-centered or spoiled.

On a similar note, it reads better on a college application for a student to give of his or her time — have hands-on experience with a group or cause — than to give or raise a little money. There are exceptions to this rule. One student with whom I worked raised nearly $25,000 for cancer research. Needless to say, colleges were very impressed with that.

As with any other involvement, it behooves you to find a group, service or cause that taps your natural interests and/or utilizes your inborn talents and skills.

There is absolutely no reason you can’t have a good time while you are volunteering. The last impression you want to leave with admissions people is that you have done some community service only because it is a school requirement.

adMISSION POSSIBLE® TIP! In-depth involvement with one, two or three community service programs is going to be more impressive to admissions officers than will a long series of indi- vidual, one-time events.

FAQ #1: Do colleges look for a magic number of hours spent by a student on community service?

ANSWER: No, there is no “magic number” of hours. However, if it appears that a student has put in volunteer hours because he or she has had to rather than wanted to, that will not sit well with admissions people. Colleges want students who give of their time out of the goodness of their hearts.

Also, there are times when the demands of what you are doing in athletics and/or other major activities make it impossible for you to get involved with community service. Colleges appreciate the need for students to have balanced lives; so each student needs to determine what makes sense for him or her.