Schools that focus on community service
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Anonymous
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Kids put in their hours into some sort of database, with a contact/sponsor to verify. Then the hours get approved. I suppose the contact/sponsor could lie? But I'm guessing most are honest about it. So for our school, FCPS, it's tracked that way.
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Anonymous
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Notre Dame may not "require" service from students, but it is certainly encouraged and easily accessible. And it permeates out to the alumni and parents of students and alumni with its global day of service each year. We are parents and plan to participate next month.
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Anonymous
| Private in Montgomery County requires 100 SSL. They did not drop their required during Covid. It was a challenge to find volunteer opportunities that were meaningful for my kid because they weren't in person. With that said, the areas that he did select when he had the opportunity for in=person spoke to his interests (nature related). As he was working on his applications - he used that trend as part of his essay and application. I do think schools want to see a kid beyond just their academics - this is one way to do it. It likely doesn't hold much weight - but if a school can't do an interview then having kids be able to show things related to their interests. None of the schools my child applied to had outright service components as part of their criteria, but I did notice that many of the clubs and student organizations do service - so I can see him continuing to volunteer in college. |
Anonymous
I don't know, if I immigrated/relocated to a country I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the process that made their higher education system strong and that fuels their economic growth/development. There's not one right way to do the college admissions process. It takes no money to do community service--every school, neighborhood, church has options. Also a ton of what kids say they think will look good for college is not accurate--no one needs to play 2 instruments unless they want to. But there's nothing wrong with playing two instruments. You can look at the common data set for every college you are interested in--they literally tell you how important different factors, including community service and extracurriculars, are to them. For many colleges these things are in the lowest category "considered." And college admissions are generally very savvy people who see a lot of different applications and can spot the trends and strategies. I wouldn't be so sure all the ways you think people are trying to "scam" their way in have much positive impact on their admission. |
Anonymous
| St. Anselms requires 160 hours by the end of high school. The projects are selected by the school for the boys, who get some time during the week for service. |
Anonymous
| Stone Ridge incorporates service into its curriculum with the girls spending one day every few weeks doing various service projects throughout the DMV. Gonzaga requires hours, I believe, but like SR, very easy to complete your hours right in the immediate area of the school (or actually at the school, which has a soup kitchen). Both of these schools have a good amount of students matriculate to schools like Notre Dame, which expect students to engage in service during high school. |
Anonymous
Our NHS chapter requires 20 hrs per year (in addition to the 50 for the VA Seal for Excellence in Civics Education) but it's very loosely defined or enforced. Helping a classmate with homework counts. 
Part of why ours said, no, thanks. Not because they don't do any community service but because it didn't seem genuine. They do enough between church, veterans orgs, and continued and long-term neighborly acts. |
Anonymous
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Do you think having a Congressional Award gold medal makes a difference at any of those schools?
(I don't, but since my kid earned it, I would love it if you changed my mind.) |
Anonymous
| Even if your kid isn't in a group that's dedicated to service, they are probably doing service work in other groups. For example, the team I was on went to the middle school a few times per year to do clinics with little kids. It was such a great time. We were being of service even though we were an athletic team. |
Anonymous
OP, my spouse is from another country and didn't understand why it was "a thing" with hours required. They had national service requirements for youth, so volunteering wasn't optional anyway. 1. No, colleges do not expect you to continue the same community service. 2. Community service is just one type of activity to show who your child is when they're not in school. Learn about the Activities section of the Common App. Look at this page from the Common App site https://www.commonapp.org/counselors-and-recommenders/common-app-ready or Google "common app activities examples" Use it to show who you are when you're not in the classroom. Google 3. Community can be defined many ways. Family, friends, clubs, faith groups, an elderly neighbor in need, etc. 4. Service means what you do and how you interact in meaningful ways with other people Chances are your child engages with their community--however defined--in lots of ways that don't fit neatly into a number of volunteer hours. Include activities that are personally meaningful, challenging, fun, or unique. When selecting schools, look at community engagement on the website. Your child might find something interesting they'd like to try at that school. That could be part of a "why I want to attend XYZ school" essay. Catholic/Jesuit schools put a lot of emphasis on community service in keeping with educational traditions of being a "person for others" and serving "the whole person." But they won't expect your child to have started their own nonprofit before age 18. |
Anonymous
| Tulane puts a lot of emphasis on community service when applying and as part of the college experience. |
Anonymous
DP. We are also FCPS and while there isn't a graduation requirement, the student does get a Civics seal on their diploma if they complete a certain number of volunteer hours - can't remember the number. Maybe 50? 100? |
Anonymous
+1 My DC is at VT and community service is very big there. This weekend is "The Big Event," where student organizations come together and volunteer throughout the community. "The Big Event at Virginia Tech is a student-run day of service that has grown into the second largest event of its kind in the nation. Every spring, thousands of students, faculty, and staff come together to complete nearly 1,200 community service projects throughout Blacksburg, Christiansburg and the New River Valley with the purpose of saying Thank You." |
Anonymous
+1 The sponsor won't actually sign off unless the hours were actually completed. |
Anonymous
+1 I think a lot of the kids who are rejected from schools they took for granted probably had applications that were obviously "scammed" in the community service area. Adcoms can tell what is genuine and what isn't. |