Vol Hours

[belle22]

What is the average Volunteer hours Colleges are looking for? Someone told me to start logging hours at a young age. Our Family Volunteers a lot. I have a log but nothing signed off? Is that ok?

 

[okeydokey]

Here in FL, kids keep track of hours for Bright Futures Scholarships. Theyhave to be on a special form and be signed by the people in charge of the organization and the HS principal.

if you are just trying to document hours in order to boost a college application, you should get in touch with the particular College or University your child is interested in applying to.

 

[tar heel]

We did two admissions visits to the only school deemed "very selective" that my son applied to. One thing that came out loud and clear is that it wanted to see quality not quantity in extra curricular activities. It wanted students who were passionate about something, not students who signed up for lots of activities. . . just to sign up for lots of activities. Leadership was also stressed. My son's list was actually relatively short, but almost everything listed was related and tied in to the topics he chose for his essays. His passion was very clearly demonstrated. His grades and test scores were competitive, but this university turns down kids with his scores. He was accepted.

I don't know how old your child is, but you might want to start going to admission sessions and see what is said.

 

[clh2]

Volunteer hours are important for scholarship apps too!

Definitely keep track of the hours after they finish up 8th grade!

 

[DisMomme]

Our HS requires 50 hours of community service in order to graduate. I would expect that is the bare minimum for colleges. If students do more - 100 hours - they are entered for a special scholarship.

 

[RangerPooh]

Is there a sign in sheet with the group that you volunteer with? If so they could go through their records and sign off on how many hours you have committed. If there isn't then I would have your child keep a spread sheet that documents the service (date/agency/hours/task/signature). They could then have the agency sign off that the service was completed. While a graduate student I worked for our campus civic engagment ofice and we had a similar proceedure in place for all volunter activities that we facilitated.

 

[clm10308]

I would go online and look at the applications to specific colleges/scholarships that you might be interested in to see what is currently required.

My DD had to keep records of community service for Confirmation starting after 7th grade, but now that she is looking at colleges, none of the ones she is interested in have specific requirements for community service. They just have a section on the applications to list extracurricular activities.