When it comes to applying to college, every student wonders what exactly admission committees are looking for. Of course, a perfect GPA, good test scores, and in-depth knowledge are essential. But in reality, getting into a college of your choice requires much more than only good grades.
Apart from meeting basic academic requirements, admission officers want you to demonstrate your willingness to take challenging classes and engage in extracurricular activities. Also, they are looking for strong interpersonal skills. This may surprise you, but volunteerism might also be among the top factors defining your success.
While you are still in high school, it makes sense to move your academic matters to the background and bring volunteering work to the foreground instead. To do this without affecting your grades, you can find someone to satisfy your “save my grade reviews” request and spend your free time gaining extra points for your college application. And if you are wondering why it matters so much, let’s uncover the true impact of this activity on your future admissions!
How Does Volunteering Affect Your College Application?
In case you are wondering if such work can really help you get accepted into the selected school, the short answer is yes. This type of extracurricular activity can open the doors to many great colleges.
A company in the educational sector — Synocate, developed a series of studies to determine how much volunteerism is really valued by higher education establishments.
The company asked certain colleges and universities to rate its importance from 1 to 4. And the results were impressive. As many as 20 surveyed colleges rated it with 4 or 3, meaning it’s incredibly important.
Among them, we can see some top-rated US schools, including the University of Florida, the University of California at Berkeley, and many others. But that’s not all.
According to the same series of surveys, some schools rated the importance of such work with 2. But none rated it with 1. This means that all educational institutions care about volunteerism, at least to a certain extent. And this should be your biggest motivator to start earning hours of this extracurricular activity ASAP. But there is more.
Why does it matter to the admission officers so much? To know why you should give up on other things and start contributing to your community, you must understand why it’s crucial to admission committees. According to admission officers themselves, some of the most critical factors include:
- Demonstration of your talents and passion;
- Great practical experience;
- Demonstration of a strong work ethic;
- The possibility to develop some of the most sought-after soft skills like communication, flexibility, teamwork, problem-solving, leadership, etc.
All these things are highly valued in colleges. Thus, if you develop them through volunteering, it can boost your chances of being accepted. And there is one more reason to give it a shot.
Apart from helping you get accepted, this extracurricular activity can also help you earn a scholarship. In case you didn’t know this, many scholarship programs require a specific number of volunteer hours to be eligible for them. A good example is the Bright Future Scholarship. This famous program requires a minimum of 100 hours of work.
How Does Volunteering Affect Your Future Career?
As you can see, this extracurricular activity can indeed help you get into college and even earn a scholarship. But if you think you should care about this only in your high-school years, that’s not quite true.
Besides boosting your chances of acceptance to college, it can also impact your future career. Here are the top four ways it can help you build a successful career:
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It Looks Great on a Resume
According to studies, 85% of employers and HR managers are ready to overlook several resume pitfalls (such as a lack of experience) when a candidate includes volunteering on a resume. Moreover, 82% of employers are more likely to hire such candidates.
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It Gives You Experience
A lack of work experience is one of the biggest issues for first-time job seekers. Indeed, students often need help to compete with more experienced employees and land their first jobs.
However, volunteering experience showcases to employers that you know how to manage your time and complete set tasks on time. Thus, it can help you compensate for the need for work experience.
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It’s a Great Job-Search Practice
Another big stumbling point for fresh grads is that they often need to learn how to look and apply for their first jobs. And this is one more way volunteering can help you. The thing is that finding and applying for such opportunities is very similar to a job search. Thus, it can be an excellent practice for your future.
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It Expands Your Network
According to surveys, as many as 85% of all jobs are now filled through networking. This indicates the huge importance of making as many contacts as possible long before you start building your career. But how can you do it while in college? By volunteering!
This type of extracurricular activity can help you meet many new people from different fields and industries. Thus, if you’re persistent enough, you can make a lot of valuable contacts, possibly find a mentor, and even gain references for your future resume.
The Bottom Line
Volunteerism has plenty of benefits. According to save my grade experts, it helps people get to know themselves better, build confidence, and develop various valuable skills. But it’s especially important for young people due to its benefits in terms of college admission and future careers.
As you now know, earning volunteering hours while being a student can boost your chances of getting into the college of your dreams. Moreover, it can help you build a successful career in the future. So don’t wait any longer and start volunteering ASAP!
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