<p>How hard is it to get into Americorps? </p>
<p>Also, anyone know what is up with this problem?: I have an Americorps account at their website and tried to start filling out the application, but it wouldn’t allow me to go past the employment history/prior volunteer service section (the first section on the application) because I put “present” as an end date for two organizations I still currently volunteer for instead of putting an actual date.</p>
<p>Put today’s date as the “end date” on the form. </p>
<p>It’s a computer. It is programmed to require a date to be entered in the field, so give them the current date.</p>
<p>When younger S applied for Americorps in 2006 when he was a h.s. senior, it accepted one in 4 people. While S was young, he was a strong applicant because he had extensive volunteer experience including with the agency that hired him with Americorps.</p>
<p>Since then, it has become more difficult to become accepted due to the larger numbers of college graduates with extensive community service and leadership experience who are applying due to the economy.</p>
<p>It sounds like you have community service experience, and that’s a big plus. Best of luck to you!</p>
<p>How hard? Just depends on the position. D is serving in a position that has been/is a wonderful experience and I think after she got the position she told me there were quite a few applicants (maybe 50+). I volunteered at our local Red Cross as part of the National Day of Volunteering on 9/11 and the Red Cross director told me that they had received over 80 applications for 2 part time positions. However, after one person backed out of one of the positions, it took them about 4 weeks to fill the position because the skill set they wanted was not readily available from the applicant pool according to one of their office employees ( a former student who e-mailed me to assist in finding a suitable applicant).</p>
<p>Does anyone know if the reference section is a letter of reference? I can’t find any detailed information on this, but maybe I am not looking in the correct place.</p>
<p>I think you need to have 2 references in your file on the americorps website. You can put in their email address and americorps sends them something to fill out and submit. [I think]</p>
<p>Okay. Thanks. Also, does anyone know how vitally important the motivational statement is? I have entered mine in, but I am going to go back and make changes because I found that a word is missing in the copy have in MS Word, but I’m afraid that it isn’t that strong of an example of the experience that made me want to serve with Americorps either.</p>
<p>I wish they gave more space. It only allows you to have 3,000 characters. Also, the other parts that ask you about your individual volunteer experience and your broad ideas or feelings about how they impact you, and the part about your skills (leadership, tutoring, etc, etc.) does not allow you to have a lot of space either. I had to constantly go back and remove whole sentences because it repeatedly told me that no more than 200 characters is allowed in a single space.</p>
<p>honestly, the website sucks. Just do your best with the space available. Don’t try to write an essay.</p>
<p>It’s not like writing a college application essay. You don’t need to use complete, elegant sentences, the kind of phrases one uses on resumes probably are fine.</p>
<p>Does anyone here think they could read my statement for me? I’m just not at all sure what it is they are looking for and hope that what I have written is stupid.</p>
<p>Bumping up.</p>
<p>Help!</p>
<p>Can anyone help?</p>
<p>Also, does anyone know what the deadline is for applications? Is there a general deadline or do they vary? I know there are dates that they are accepting applications for a specific organization on each listing when you do a search, but I found something else though Google that says the application was due in December for my home state. I can’t get this page to open; it is a PDF file and keeps freezing my computer.</p>
<p>Why do they have to make this so difficult?</p>
<p>Sorry for yet another post, but does anyone know if the start dates for these things are fixed? Like, if I am gone on another type of program until a certain date during the summer (mid-August), but the Americorps program starts at the beginning of August, does that mean I can’t participate in the Americorps program?</p>
<p>Bluealien, I would suggest that you send an email with your questions to <a href="mailto:americorpsnational@cns.gov">americorpsnational@cns.gov</a> or call 202.606.7508.</p>
<p>As to the essay – you are the one making the process more difficult by stressing out over it. CC parents really don’t know much about the process, so we can’t help you.</p>
<p>My son is an Americorps alum. As far as I know, he saw some sort of opening or posting about an Americorps position in his college community, applied for the position, and got hired. He really enjoyed the experience and it was a wonderful growth and learning experience for him – but as his parent, I had absolutely no involvement in the application process so I don’t have a clue as to what that entailed.</p>
<p>Are there any folks here willing to read my statement in a private message? I already had one person from CC read several drafts and provide comments, but I’d like several pairs of eyes to read the final draft if they are willing.</p>
<p>Please?</p>
<p>The Americorps website is tricky. And even if you do get through it, you’ll notice that it limits you as to how many places you can submit your application to. You can only create 2 applications and submit each of them 10 times. Theoretically you could get paper applications and fill them out and mail or fax them in, but the receiving end doesn’t seem to like that. And even though each program lists contact information for whoever is in charge, a lot of those people don’t like being asked about the status of your application even if it’s been months since you submitted it through the website and had no reply whatsoever yet. So, with each position getting 1,000+ applications just like everything else, you might have to apply to hundreds of organizations anyway which is time consuming…especially if there are lots of places you’d be willing to go.</p>
<p>…if you’re going to ask people to PM you.</p>