Lindsay Pieper

Staff Writer

Though the holidays are a peak volunteer time for high school seniors hoping to put community service on their college applications, local guidance counselors report volunteering is losing value in the eyes of college admissions officers.

John Bailey, a senior at Blacksburg High School, volunteered at the Montgomery County Christmas Store, located in Christiansburg, painting shelves, sorting clothes and packing boxes to illustrate his well-roundedness to the Naval Academy admissions committee. However, after being accepted early, Bailey questions the significance of his community service in his acceptance.

?I don?t think my volunteering experiences were an important factor in my Naval Academy application ? Community service played a greater role in other applications, like for National Honor Society,? he said.

Many high school seniors applying to college may find that the hours spent volunteering will not grant the desired edge with the admissions office. Because an increased number of middle school and high school courses mandate community service, colleges throughout Virginia are placing less emphasis on volunteer positions in the admissions process.

?I?m not sure (community service) is a huge priority for the admission process,? said Christiansburg High School guidance counselor Regina Meredith. ?It?s more important when applying for scholarships.?

For example, when filling out an application for admission to the University of Virginia, students must minimize and rank extracurricular activities. The application asks for only the most important activities because ?a full resume tends to tell less about (a student?s) passions and talents.?

Other colleges are following a similar suit and requesting a shortened list to determine the deeper commitments of perspective students.

The application for James Madison University also asks for the information regarding favorite activities to be kept to a minimum and listed in order of importance. JMU elementary education major Allison Hargrave was forced to leave off several volunteering positions completed during high school.

?When I applied to JMU, I only listed about three or four extracurricular activities. I didn?t even mention any of the community service I did when I thought I needed to fill my resume for college applications,? said Hargrave.

Virginia Tech does not mandate that perspective students shorten their resumes for the application. Instead students attach a sheet explaining positions held in school offices, organizations and athletics.

According to Public Relations Coordinator Amy Widner the Tech admissions office examines every aspect of the application, looking for students that are best able to balance extracurricular activities with academics.

?We want to be sure the student is not just attending classes during the day and then going home and sitting in front of a computer,? she said.

Yet Widner also pointed to the optional personal statement as ?a good place for perspective students to show anything that isn?t fill-in-the-blank.?

Regardless of the varying resume requests, colleges place academics at the top.

?Students need to do well in high school and take the most challenging courses available,? said Meredith.

Widner agrees.

?Absolutely grades and a challenging curriculum are the most important aspect of the application. They are the single most important predictor for college success,? she said.