Admissions Criteria

• Each college has its own criteria for admissions. What a small, liberal arts college looks for in a candidate will differ significantly than what the military college at West Point is looking for. However, according to Karen Crowley, a former admissions officer at the University of Pennsylvania, colleges prefer students who show passionate commitment towards a particular cause. Citing to a college a record of volunteering can offer evidence to an admissions committee that a candidate has leadership skills and is civic minded.
  
  

Value of Volunteering

• Volunteering is not generic. An applicant can volunteer in thousands of different ways, and a college admissions committee will pay attention not just to how much time a candidate volunteered, but what work he did. According to both Karen Crowley and the admissions department of Colorado College, students who bring unique perspectives or experiences are especially valued by colleges. A student could therefore stand out through a unique volunteer opportunity. For example, teaching art to felons in prison is an unusual volunteer opportunity.
  
  

Waning Importance?

• According to a 2009 article in College Parenting Magazine, the importance of volunteer work to college admissions committees is declining. This is due in large part to the fact that many middle schools and high schools are mandating that students partake in community service. So, since many more high schoolers are now participating in community service, whether for altruistic reasons or not, listing volunteer work on an application doesn't help the candidate stand out as much as it once did.
  
  

Solution

• If volunteer work is to aid a candidate, the work should be consistent with the rest of a candidate's application, allowing the college to get a clear picture of who the person is. For example, a student might explain that he intends to major in pre-law with the intention of becoming a civil rights lawyer. In this case, volunteering for a legal aid clinic would be a boon to his application by demonstrating that he is already pursuing his goal.