How Genuine is Community Service for College Applicants?

An article in the Wall Street Journal, “The Do Good Zeal of College Applicants,” talks about (exotic) community service to burnish college application resumes.  The author raises a good point–will colleges see your student’s efforts as genuine and worthwhile activities or will they discount them as expensive, thinly veiled vacations:

“Admissions officers at elite colleges see these trips for exactly what they are: worthwhile endeavors undertaken by well-intentioned kids, but no different from a Grand Tour of Europe—just the current fashion for wealthy youngsters, who are supervised and pampered at every step.”

Think carefully about what your student qualifies as community service and read the entire article at the Wall Street Journal:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303812104576440141905847736.html