How many hours of volunteer work/community service should I complete throughout my high school career?

Question

What's a good amount of hours that colleges/universities will like?

Answer 1

Volunteering and community service is one of the most IMPORTANT things that colleges and scholarship providers looks at.  You HAVE to have volunteering on your app.

You should be volunteering at least 200 hours a year, but you really should be volunteering around 300-400 hours a year if you hope to get in at least an ok college Also you don't just need a lot of hours; you also need to have been doing the volunteering for a couple of years. So if this is your Senior or Junior year and you have never done any volunteering before, it would just look like you are trying to do a last minute catch up. So volunteering should be started 7th grade to Freshman year and should be started no latter than sophomore year.

Good luck, make sure you also have a theme (animals, elderly, cancer research, children, etc.).

Answer 2

It's not hours but persistence and you shouldn't volunteer just so it'll look good on your C.V.

Try few hours every week.

Answer 3

As much as possible, those community service hours will help you a lot with your scholarships, college applications, and even job resumes. Dont over do it though, make sure you keep time for yourself to enjoy high school, and enjoy being young!

Good luck!!

Answer 4

I suppose it all depends what kind of college you have in mind. You could choose one organization to volunteer with during the year, and then during the summer do something like Habitat for Humanity. Whatever you decide to do, it's better to be really involved in one or two than just do a few hours and then quit numerous positions. Colleges like to see that you stick to something. Go to the site below if you need to find volunteer opportunities.

Answer 5

I volunteered over 100 hours per year in  the 4 years leading up to college and I was able to get a scholarship (a relatively small one but every bit helps!) from my college as a result.

There are tons of benefits to volunteering. You'll learn skills and you'll learn about yourself and others. It may give you an idea for a career path in the future. It feels good and it's often fun!

Find something you enjoy and you'll have no trouble getting lots of hours. For me I volunteered one full day (8 hours) a week during the summer at a hospital. Use your summers wisely, a summer job is great but if you can take one day a week for volunteering. I promise you won't regret it!

Also remember there may be things you already do that are "community service" that you might not think of. Things you do at your place of worship like bake sales or working in the nursery or helping with the service...These are all volunteering. I worked numerous hours helping run/oversee a youth group in high school that I was a part of the learship team for. I made lots of friends, had lots of fun and I was volunteering!

Answer 6

Volunteering hours are not at all what universities look at. What they are looking for is why you volunteered, how you secured volunteering assignments, how you handled the responsibilities, what leadership roles you have taken on, etc.

What universities like to see is that you were in charge of a project, that you supervised others, that you undertook something high-profile or high-impact, that you've worked as part of a team, etc.

A person who says, "I volunteered 500 hours in one year" is not going to get a university's attention the way someone will who says, "I was the editor of such-and-such's organization's newsletter, responsible for writing most of the articles, gathering information from others, getting printer services donated, and coordinating other volunteers in sending the newsletter via post to 500 people in the community every other month" or "I managed 20 other volunteers in a project to clean up such-and-such park and helping community members from the area to maintain the park; we received a citation from the city for our efforts", etc.