<p>1) When community service becomes mandatory for HS graduation, how much does that affect the way CS is regarded in terms of applying to college? Does it still help or become neutral?
2) If a student works 12 hrs/wk during the school year in order to save money for college (therefore participating in fewer EC or doing less CS), does that hurt the applicant or is employment good?
3) How do colleges feel about CS performed as volunteering in church/ synagogue/ other house of worship?
Thank you.</p>
<p>1) It depends, for instance if a high school requires 50 hrs of community service and you do 250 hrs then it helps otherwise its neutral</p>
<p>2) Employment is considered good and viewed somewhat like an EC, shows commitment </p>
<p>3) Volunteering at church/synagogue is still considered volunteering because it shows commitment outside of the classroom</p>
<p>Hope that helps</p>
<p>Yes it does, thank you. Minimum CS for HS diploma is neutral but more than minimum is real CS.
Employment thing - 1 job is that she runs the neighborhood bakery alone for the entire time it’s open every Sunday (she opens, puts out the trays, cleans up, closes, in addition to serving customers). Her other job is watching a little boy after school (so his mother can work; family needs the money). boy has Asperger’s syndrome, daughter tutors him in schoolwork, social skills and clarinet while watching him. Think her jobs will help her get into a reach school?</p>
<p>The jobs would help her and would be consider CS, as long as she has a strong GPA and SAT scores she should feel confidant when applying to college.</p>
<p>
ECs or jobs don’t get you into a reach school if you’re not otherwise qualified. I think you misunderstand how ECs are used. First you have meet the level they expect in their applicants, which means strong grades, scores, recs, essays. Even at that point they still have way too many. So they use ECs to build a class. Its like putting together a symphony from multiple instruments. They take some kids with special skills in the arts, some who are good at athletics, some who are scientists, and so on. </p>
<p>A few more things to add. First off, most people worry too much about ECs; at all but maybe 100 or so schools in this country good scores and grades are enough. These 2000+ schools admit many or most of their applicants. At the very competitive (and reach schools) they do matter, and what you have listed does not really sound like what they’re looking for. Here’s what Stanford says about ECs
The jobs don’t really show this. And you seem to think the jobs stand in the way of piling up the EC hours, but it is not the number of hours that the reach schools care about, its what you accomplished with your time. A kid spending 4 hours a week running a team of kids volunteering at a rest home (recruiting other kids, getting donations, getting the community involved, etc). stands out much more than the kid that just shows up at the home, even if she puts in many more hours.</p>
<p>I might make a new thread for this question, but are jobs considered more ECs or CSs?</p>