Anonymous wrote:Agree OP. There is a whole industry built around kids having to pay to do really cool community service projects. Volunteering at an old folks home isn't good enough. It has to be a paid trip to Africa or something like that

But it is good enough. No one has to pay to help their neighbors.

Anonymous wrote:As far as I can tell there isn’t a whole lot of room to brag on the common app besides number of hours.

Main essay, supplement written answers, and there’s a large free box on common app you can write whatever you want.

Anonymous wrote:Agree OP. There is a whole industry built around kids having to pay to do really cool community service projects. Volunteering at an old folks home isn't good enough. It has to be a paid trip to Africa or something like that

Colleges are onto that kind of paid-for "volunteering," though, and our HS guidance counselors (and folks from admissions offices on a couple of college visits) have said that colleges don't give much credence to obvious cash-for-resume-building trips.

It’s not bragging to state your volunteer experiences on a college application.
Stating on social media is obnoxious. This would be someone to avoid.

It is the same situation as in a job interview. As a PP said, it is bragging to carry on about your good works at a party or at work.

It is not bragging to list all your accomplishments on a college application or your resume. If you won't sell yourself to colleges that receive thousands of applications they certainly aren't going to read between your modest, humble lines and see what a great candidate you are.

Anonymous wrote:The entire process encourages kids to be other than themselves and do things for the wrong reasons. They are not permitted to learn the extreme satisfaction anonymously helping someone because everything is about the app list or NHS or the Eagle project.. it's having the opposite of the intent.

My son documents his regular service hours and gets a log sheet signed off verifying those hours. He gives his time to causes that he thinks are important and he can explain why he chose those particular causes for his service hours.

But things like donations to food pantries, the Angel Tree, Toys for Tots donations, etc he doesn't document.

It isn't bragging anymore than putting your participation in clubs and sports is bragging. Your volunteer work tells the admissions people something about you and how you spend your time helping your community.

Your GPA and your awesome tests scores aren't bragging, either.

As far as I can tell there isn’t a whole lot of room to brag on the common app besides number of hours.

Agree OP. There is a whole industry built around kids having to pay to do really cool community service projects. Volunteering at an old folks home isn't good enough. It has to be a paid trip to Africa or something like that

The entire process encourages kids to be other than themselves and do things for the wrong reasons. They are not permitted to learn the extreme satisfaction anonymously helping someone because everything is about the app list or NHS or the Eagle project.. it's having the opposite of the intent.

As a European unused to the craziness of American extra-curriculars and community involvement, EVERYTHING ABOUT THOSE THINGS makes me cringe.

The admissions people are looking for Eagle Scouts and same with Girl Scouts.

Yes. Same could be said for many class officers. Some kids are genuinely committed to the community service they do. Some, as a poster on another thread noted, learn something from participation even though they initially did it to check the box. Some class officers inclusively engage their class and create great spirit, some do nothing but write the title on applications, some are control freaks who actually prevent things from happening. (We probably all have some of each at work, PTA, boosters, etc.)

It's not bragging if you're filling out an application that asks.

It's bragging if you turn to someone at a party and apropos of nothing say "I took a trip to Costa Rica where we built a school for poor kids/raised money to buy wells for water in Africa."

I feel like the shameless aggressive kids really benefit from this setup, where as modest genuine kids instinctively feel weird about it and downplay their involvement. I get it, if you don't detail it admissions has no idea of the scope (they can't make assumptions about kids they don't know), but still... it feels icky.