Every high school student assumes that they need to devote 100 hours to working in a soup kitchen, or 50 hours to reading books with elementary school kids. That’s flat out wrong.
In fact - sometimes volunteer work can actually HURT YOU.
Why?
Because volunteer work - especially if it looks “planned” or “resume-boosting”, which many volunteer experiences look like - will make you feel like a more artificial candidate.
I’m not saying that volunteering at a soup kitchen isn’t intrinsically beneficial. But if you want to go to MIT, you’re better off using those 100 hours to publish a research paper or take 2 more Advanced Placement (AP) tests.
Nonprofit and volunteer work can really help your application
You just have to be careful about where you do it, and with what organizations. Here are the criteria you should meet:
1. Make sure that the volunteer work you do fits into your broader story. If you’re a passionate photographer, volunteer at a local art museum. If you love baseball, become a volunteer coach with a local elementary school team.
2. Make sure that the volunteer work isn’t too generic - and even if it is, try to go above and beyond requirements. If you volunteer at the local hospital help desk, ask to do volunteer shifts in the ER. Take classes to become certified in EMT. See where I’m going? You need to build your stories, and you need to do so in unorthodox, uncommon ways.
3. Unless you are very focused on a particular social issue, limit your nonprofit and volunteer work to 1 or 2 ongoing commitments. Anything more than that, and you risk looking like a resume-padder
Some of you may object that I’m being too formulaic. But as I’ve discussed before, Ivy League admissions can be very formualaic.
If you follow the steps above, you’ll build a stronger college application and be closer to getting that Harvard admission letter!
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