Do colleges really care about community service hours?

[wheezyboy]

so theres a minimal to graduate high school, i know. but i hear lots of varied answers about whether colleges really care about how many hrs you do.
some say they absolutely dont care, others say students should have at least 100hrs recommended... some ppl even say colleges themselves have a minimal # of hours needed to even apply.... OMG

btw im in California hoping to get into UCs

[ky b]

you need some.

[Stogie]

If by colleges you mean community colleges, then the answer is no. If you are referring to a UC campus, then your chances of getting accepted increase by a lot.

[cyankees8237]

Yeah it matters. You should do community service.

[mthomas720]

It depends on the college. I didn't have very many (probably 20 something hours) and I got into my first choice, only got rejected from 1 of the 6 i applied to. If you're on the edge, community service might put you over the top, but if you have the grades/SATs/etc to get in and you don't have a lot of community service, I don't think it will be much of a problem. But then again, it may depend on the school.

[EssB]

Not only should you do it, you should shine in it. Find some area that you actually really want to help your community with. Raise funds so you can say you raised X dollars. Lead a service project. Work with your local kiwanis, rotary, americorps group, etc. This is the best place to show leadership.

Also, secretly, community service is really easy. WAY easier than school work or real work. You can rack up hours SO easily if you say, plan a food drive-- calling around to businesses, recruiting volunteers, finding an organization that needs your help... Easy.