Boosting Ivy League Chances: Best Community Service Projects

Welcome to part five of our five-part series, Boosting Ivy League Chances, where we discuss the best methods to boost your chances of getting into an Ivy League university. This week’s article will discuss the best community service projects to make you stand out. At Yale, “Public service is an integral part of a Yale education.” Often, the best way to showcase public service is through community service projects, but what qualifies as a “good” project? How can you execute one? How does this help your chances of being accepted into Ivy League colleges? Read on to find out! 

What are community service projects?

Simply put, community service projects are chances to show admissions officers that you have a passion for serving your community, in whatever way you define it. Your community can be anything from your community of Third-Culture Kids to your school running club. What you choose to do for your community is considered a community service project. We emphasize choosing what you do because it’s quite common for students to simply volunteer at a soup kitchen and serve passersby food. If that is the only thing you can do for your people within your means, by all means, do it. However, what are the people you are serving gaining from this all? What are you gaining from this experience? How does this differ from other student volunteers? 

What qualifies as a “good” community service project?

At Harvard, every student is encouraged to make a difference and “to identify how public service fits into his or her life choices.” Essentially, Harvard values students who commit to projects that are meaningful to them. A “good” service project is defined not only by what you have done for the community but what that plan has done for you. Is your project a simple event you mindlessly attend, or are you actively leading and learning from those around you? 

How can I execute a community service project?

At its core, UPenn believes in Ben Franklin’s original vision where “an Inclination joined with an Ability to serve Mankind” is the “great Aim and End of all Learning.” There is no set formula for a “good” project, only an inclination to serve humanity with genuine care. The best projects align with your goals and life ambitions–the things you will presumably continue to work towards with a college education. Think about your background and what you believe it has led you to. Suppose you are struggling with accepting your third culture, so you volunteer at a language school to help the kids learn to accept their identities and along the way, you accept yours too. Or perhaps you come from a broken family that has been torn apart by your parent’s infidelity, so you volunteer at a law firm to help families like yours navigate the system or spearhead a collective that holds panels for students to discuss mental health. Remember to always think about what this project means to you and to the people you serve. 

How does this help your chances of being accepted into Ivy League colleges? 

Many top universities have a supplement that asks about community service and what impact you have had on a community. The important thing to remember is that these prompts are not only asking about what you have done, but the perspective you have gained and how you will apply that knowledge in college, academics, and beyond. 

UPenn, Columbia, and Brown phrase the requirement concerning how you will extend your reach to the campus: 

• How will you explore community at Penn? Consider how Penn will help shape your perspective, and how your experiences and perspective will help shape Penn. (150-200 words) 
• A hallmark of the Columbia experience is being able to learn and thrive in an equitable and inclusive community with a wide range of perspectives. Tell us about an aspect of your own perspective, viewpoint or lived experience that is important to you, and describe how it has shaped the way you would learn from and contribute to Columbia’s diverse and collaborative community.
• Students entering Brown often find that making their home on College Hill naturally invites reflection on where they came from. Share how an aspect of your growing up has inspired or challenged you, and what unique contributions this might allow you to make to the Brown community. (200-250 words)

Key Takeaways

• Community projects are important to college admissions because they showcase student dedication and commitment to a cause and people they care about. 
• Most importantly, we recommend students do things with care and think deeply about the implications of their work. 
• The best community service projects are the one that hold the most meaning to students and their cause.