Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS service hours requirement:
"Grades 9–12: Students should complete 10 service hours per year for a total of 40 hours."
https://www.fcps.edu/activities/service-learning

That’s not a current requirement. You can graduate without any service hours, although if you do have 40 hours you get the service learning cord.

The only requirement I know of in FCPS is for AP Gov; those students do have some hours but I’m not sure exactly how many. A lot of kids I know of volunteer at polling places.

OP. Thanks! I wish they had kept this requirement.. At least we'd have known about this and it's relevance to college admissions. All the nonsense we have to do get into college in the US is mind boggling! Such made up requirements that can be easily bought with money. Wonder how families without resources navigate this morass.. Our kid tells us that some of his friends play two sports, two musical instruments - one for the band and one outside, involved in several competitions, etc. which according to him they are doing to 'look good for college'. WHY? Are college admissions teams that stupid that they don't realize the scam being perpetrated or do they just feel good to have all this power?

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.

+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.

Anonymous wrote: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.

+1
The sponsor won't actually sign off unless the hours were actually completed.

Anonymous wrote:Virginia Tech cares a lot about service (it's their motto) and it seems like a lot of students do participate.

My DD goes to a LAC that has a required class that includes a service component

+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 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you will find that most/all schools will ask about community service. It's just "the thing" nowadays.

How do they verify this? OP here. We didn't know about this and kid is a junior with no structured community service thus far. Is doing something over the summer enough or are colleges expecting a lot more?

It’s sometimes a high school graduation requirement. Talk with the guidance counselor.

OP. We are FCPS and there has been no mention of this in HS. We will check with the counselor. I know there was something like that in Middle school and the school helped with it but this was right before Covid and I think they waived the requirement for his 8th grade.

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?

Tulane puts a lot of emphasis on community service when applying and as part of the college experience.

Anonymous wrote:We are new to the college admissions process (Didn't go to school here, first kid applying soon). We heard that some schools ask you to talk about community service in the application. Do these schools expect their students to continue such service once in college? If not, what's the point of even asking about it?

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.

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.

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.)

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.

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.

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 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS service hours requirement:
"Grades 9–12: Students should complete 10 service hours per year for a total of 40 hours."
https://www.fcps.edu/activities/service-learning

That’s not a current requirement. You can graduate without any service hours, although if you do have 40 hours you get the service learning cord.

The only requirement I know of in FCPS is for AP Gov; those students do have some hours but I’m not sure exactly how many. A lot of kids I know of volunteer at polling places.

OP. Thanks! I wish they had kept this requirement.. At least we'd have known about this and it's relevance to college admissions. All the nonsense we have to do get into college in the US is mind boggling! Such made up requirements that can be easily bought with money. Wonder how families without resources navigate this morass.. Our kid tells us that some of his friends play two sports, two musical instruments - one for the band and one outside, involved in several competitions, etc. which according to him they are doing to 'look good for college'. WHY? Are college admissions teams that stupid that they don't realize the scam being perpetrated or do they just feel good to have all this power?

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.

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.

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.

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.