<p>Don’t understand the fuss here. Student/family submit what the GC says to submit. I have a son graduating from public high school, GC did not require anything from parents. Daughter to be a senior at parochial school, GC does require a statement from parents. How is it elitist, or helecopter parentish, or anything else negative for me to submit what my daughter’s school requires me to submit? There is no question that my daughter’s parochial school has more resources available–one GC for every 125 kids, vs. one for every 375 at my son’s public HS. Daughter’s GC knows her well, son’s knows him not at all. So, my daughter has an advantage over my son, but that seems to me to be a different issue (are our public schools properly funded) than any elitism, etc., involved with submitting what the school requires. And to the OP’s question–based on my experience, the answer is yes. Son went to a small village in Africa Summer between junior and senior year for 5 weeks, worked long days on a school construction/renovation project. It did change him dramatically, in terms of his sense of purpose, what he sees himself doing down the road, what he wants to study, the way he looks at the world. He has followed up with multiple service projects since he has been back. This experience was a big part of his essay. While it may seem humdrum or commonplace to some, that is not what we heard from admissions counselors at several schools he applied to. Anyway, it’s a big part of who he is now, and if the goal in an application is to try to communicate to a school who you are, I think you want it in there that the kid has some international/intercultural experience.</p>