Community Service - is 100 hours enough?

gibby
Tue, 02 Jun 2015 12:15:39 +0000

If colleges would like to avoid “fake” community service they should take community service OFF the transcripts and college applications.

I’m not sure what happens at your high school, but my kid’s transcripts listed classes, grades and GPA – and nothing else. Their transcripts did not list community service or extracurricular activities, so college admissions has no way of knowing what a student has done outside of the classroom unless the student (or teacher and guidance counselor in their recommendation letters) tells them.

Many student’s, like yourself, assume there is a section on the Common Application that asks about community service, but there isn’t. If students have done community service – and many haven’t – they list it under extracurricular activities, and are supposed to list those activities in the order of importance to them.