2010.03.12 21:32:49

Patrick OConnor

College Admission and Community Service

One of the most perplexing parts of the college selection process has nothing to do with classes, grades or testing—it’s community service. This nuanced (hey—SAT word!) part of the college application made headlines a few years ago, when a number of able-walleted students participated in “designer” community service programs that took them across the globe, where they dug latrines, built roads, and created water purification plants in remote villages. 

Students thought this kind of work would be a real eye-catcher to the colleges, but they turned out to be wrong.  Colleges certainly value missionary work and emergency support for victims of disasters, but it turns out they put equal value in fixing up the street where you live and the town you call home.

Since community service hasn’t been in the headlines lately, families wonder if colleges care about it any more—and the answer is yes, but in a different way.  Many high schools have instituted mandatory community service as part of their graduation requirements, thinking this would give all of their students a boost in the college application process.  Once again, the colleges were not amused; it turns out if “volunteer” work is required, it loses most of its shine in the eyes of a college.

So what do colleges value in the eyes of volunteer work, and how much is “enough?” 

Colleges have always valued students who get that community service is a natural extension of who they are, and that is no different today.  The student who walked by a homeless man and decided to start a homeless shelter is a hero in the eyes of a college, not because the student looked good on paper, but because the student had a good heart.  Ditto for a basketball player who coaches 4th graders at the Y, the chess whiz who starts a club at the town library, and the student who reads to Alzheimer’s patients at the local hospital.  These students aren’t wondering how much more they have to volunteer to get into college—they’re wondering what more they can to do make a difference.

“But my kid doesn’t see the world that way.  What am I supposed to do?”

If you mean “what am I supposed to do about getting them into college?”, most colleges consider community service along with work, sports teams, and the play as “extra curricular” activities, so if your child is strong in other areas, you may be OK.  There are some places that look solely at community service; to sort out which is which, ask the college.

But if your question means “what can I do to motivate my child to make a difference”, the answer is-- set the example.  Most students engaged in community service started out at an early age, boxing food with their parents at the food shelter, serving Thanksgiving dinner as a family at the Salvation Army, or being the errand runner while Mom and Dad built a Habitat for Humanity.  Just because they’re teens doesn’t mean it’s too late; the need for volunteers is great, and as long as you have a car that can fit the whole family, there’s a project that can fill your schedule.

If your kids are video game mavens, it’s even easier.  “Evoke” is a new online game with serious graphics and a serious mission—work with your fellow secret agents to solve a real-world global task (see http://socialentrepreneurship.change.org/blog/view/could_this_game_be _a_game-changer) .  If you can’t get your student off the couch, take a laptop and some cheese doodles and join ‘em—and begin the journey of self that ends in serving others.   

community service | college admission | college choice | college entrance