How to Approach Volunteering for College Applications
By Path Mentor A.L., a graduate of Stanford University, majored in Biomedical Computation (Originally Posted on January 14. 2020)
For U.S. college applications, there are many components that determine their success. Of course, your grades are paramount and without passing the requisite thresholds, most other things won’t matter. However, if you have been able to get decent grades, then it becomes very important to consider the other aspects of your college application.
One of those important components is volunteering and the things that you do to show that you know the importance of service. Colleges want to admit students who care about different causes and are not just doing everything for their own good. It provides a diverse and well-rounded applicant pool for the school; and for you, it offers an opportunity to set yourself apart from the other thousands of applicants. Below are 3 tips on how to approach volunteering / service activities before applying to college.
1. Find causes you are passionate about and have stamina for
First and foremost, it’s extremely important to find a cause that you truly believe in and care about. Obviously, because it’s something that you’re volunteering for, you shouldn’t just pick something out of the blue for no good reason. Finding something that has impact and importance for what you believe in will make the entire service experience more enjoyable for you.
In addition, if you pick the right activity, you will be able to have the stamina and drive to follow-through in the long run. It’s particularly important to volunteer for a significant amount of time. If you keep on moving around to different causes, it may imply that you truly don’t feel passionate about any of the causes.
2. Put a unique spin on what you’re doing
For the cause that you’re interested in - whether it’s environmental conservation or education or something else - find a unique spin on how you can get involved. Although some would argue that finding a large organization is less risky, I think that doing something more unique will benefit you more in the long run.
In addition, I think that putting a unique spin on your service experience will show that you think outside of the box and are not just checking off items from a checklist. Taking the time to think about how you can truly impact the area you care about shows thoughtfulness that many colleges value.
3. Quantify your impact / work
Lastly, it’s extremely important to quantify your work and impact. Whenever you’re involved in the field of volunteer work, it’s crucial to track what you’re doing and how it’s helping the cause you care about.
This can be done in a variety of ways - tracking your hours, measuring how many people you’ve interacted with, calculating the financial help you’ve contributed. Overall, this step will be extremely important as you try to prove the importance of what you’ve been volunteering for.
Hopefully, this blog has been helpful in offering some suggestions as you think about volunteering in high school and before applying to college. In general, keep in mind that what you can do to help make yourself more competitive can also help the world. Good luck!
The staff at Path Mentors would be happy to help evaluate your current landscape and see where we can both make your life easier and your applications more impressive.
