Summer Volunteering for High School Students: Tips for Stepping Up and Standing Out

Looking for a meaningful way to spend your summer break — and build a standout college application at the same time? Volunteering is a powerful way for high school students to explore interests, give back to the community, and boost their college applications. In this post, we break down the advantages volunteer opportunities offer, why volunteering matters for college admissions, and how to find the best fit for your personal goals and future admissions success.

You’ve been so busy during the school year… Did you see it coming?... Summer is almost here.

Hopefully you can make it a time to relax, for rejuvenation, and more… But don't forget that summer also offers a great opportunity to keep the momentum going when it comes to charting a path to college, especially since leading universities value well-rounded applicants who demonstrate not only academic determination and motivation but an interest in contributing to their communities.

An excellent way high school students can make summer count and feel good about it is by volunteering.

In this post we’ll take a look at some of the advantages volunteering offers compared to other summer activities, plus why volunteering matters for college admissions.

You’ll also find tips on finding the best kinds of volunteer opportunities — with an eye to both college admissions and personal benefits — along with examples and resources to jumpstart your search for the best volunteer matches, based on your interests and aspirations.

The Advantages of Volunteering

Volunteer opportunities are so abundant and volunteer workers so appreciated, that volunteering typically gives you advantages other summer activities don’t.

In addition to a chance to feel really good about how you’re contributing to important causes and efforts, the advantages of volunteering include having lots of choice and flexibility — ideal as a way to pursue interests that satisfy your college admissions goals.

And, since volunteer roles often don’t impose the same rigid schedules and responsibilities that jobs and internships do, there’s a bit more room for having fun and building camaraderie along the way — and for adding a little emotional sunshine to your summer.

• Choice: Since volunteers are in demand across a truly wide range of organizations, efforts, causes, and initiatives, you’ll stay in the driver’s seat when it comes to targeting and pursuing the best opportunities for your personal goals, interests, and summertime circumstances.
• Flexibility: While summer jobs and internships often entail a set number of hours and fixed schedules and duties, many volunteer opportunities offer greater freedom and flexibility. Not in all cases, but in many, the organization you volunteer with will be happy to get whatever support you're able to give, even if they have to make some accommodations for your own scheduling needs or preferences.
• Being Part of Something: When you’re making positive contributions you feel good about alongside others involved in the same commitments, the good feelings can quickly spread. This is why volunteering — even if it doesn't pay you a wage — can still reward you with fun, new acquaintances and friendships, along with the personal satisfaction of taking part in something that’s bigger than yourself alongside like-minded peers and adults.

Why Volunteering Matters for College Admissions

Some high school students may think that excelling academically and surpassing their peers with an exceptional GPA, strong SAT or ACT scores, or a leading class rank will open the door to the best colleges and universities, so why volunteer?

With a closer look, you’ll discover that the top applicants to leading universities often have a compelling personal story — one that goes beyond academic credentials alone and makes meaningful connections to lived experiences, extracurricular involvement, and more.

From advocating for a social cause or showing a keen interest and commitment to solving a real world problem, to, yes, volunteering and public service — top applicants demonstrate aspirations guided by a holistic mix of character traits and accomplishments — some earned, some learned, some inherited.

Academic achievements alone may put you at the head of the pack, but may not be enough to allow you to truly stand out from the pack.

Admissions officers may be looking for a bigger life story — one revealing aspirations that reveal the seeds of a future inventor, explorer, legislator, or leader — in industry, law, public policy, education, and more. These traits include passion, introspection, empathy, altruism, grit, resilience, perseverance, imagination, gratitude, a willingness to serve a larger cause, and more.

When your volunteer activity fits into a bigger, authentic life story, it shows admissions officers how you stand out — as a scholar with unique future potential for making positive impacts on your college community and beyond.

For these reasons, volunteering really does have an important value for college admissions alongside other kinds of commitments and accomplishments.

Now that we know why volunteering matters for college admissions, especially in a holistic admissions process, let’s apply that to thinking about what factors to look for when choosing the best volunteering opportunities for your summer and for your college journey.

What Makes a Strong Volunteer Experience?

Before you simply sign up to volunteer at the public library across the street, or to help paint the basement at your church, it’s worth asking yourself what makes a truly strong volunteer experience — for your own personal growth, for exploring and supporting issues and initiatives you care about, and with an eye to college admissions down the road.

• What are your larger values and aspirations?
• How do you want to make the most of volunteering by living into these?
• What personal qualities do you want to grow and expand in order to be ready to achieve your goals in college and beyond?

Adding Value to Your Volunteer Experience

1. Depth over breadth
Aim for consistency in your volunteer work rather than hopping between one-time activities. For example, you might spend one weekend cooking at your church and the next helping at a library book drive — when sticking with a single role over a longer period would probably help you grow more and have a deeper impact. Plus, colleges value sustained commitments. You’ll likely find this kind of volunteering more rewarding too — both personally and for your application.

2. Alignment with interests or intended major
If you were part of an environmental science internship or curriculum committee and plan to study environmental science in college, consider a volunteer role that builds on this continuing interest — like supporting policy research or communications at an environmental nonprofit. It will feel more meaningful and help create a strong, cohesive narrative in your college application.

3. Leadership and initiative
Go beyond simply showing up to help by looking for ways to lead as well as serve. Instead of just volunteering at a food bank, could you organize and lead a small team? Could you run a fundraising drive or coordinate a community event? Admissions officers love to see students take initiative and step into leadership roles.

4. Achieving real impact
Imagine you’re volunteering at a library. Helping out with day-to-day tasks is great — but what if you led a team to launch a new program, like a kids’ summer reading challenge? Tangible results and impacts testify to initiative, planning, and follow-through. Pro tip: Remember to set goals, track progress, and measure your impact — it’s a great habit and makes your accomplishments easier to reflect on later.

Examples of Volunteer Activities

Getting excited about all the possibilities? Of course you are.

So let's get down to business and take a look at some examples of volunteer organizations, service areas, and roles — with an eye to helping you find the kinds of volunteer opportunities that excite you personally and can help you build a standout college application.

Kinds of Organizations

• Schools, libraries, museums, and parks & recreation or park ranger agencies
• Community and social services nonprofits
• Environmental and other public policy nonprofits
• Civic organizations, political campaigns, and public action or civic improvement campaigns
• Churches, temples, synagogues
• Food banks and food pantries
• YMCAs/YWCAs, homeless shelters, and animal and wildlife rescue programs and shelters
• Programs for helping under-resourced refugees and immigrants
• Hospitals, assisted living facilities, public health clinics
• Summer camps

Different Service Areas and Roles

1. Education and Literacy

• Tutor underprivileged younger students
• Teach computer literacy to senior citizens
• Teach English to immigrants
• Be an instructional assistant in summer school classrooms (such as at the local middle school)
• Help library staff coordinate, lead, or facilitate summertime literacy activities
• Organize a book drive for improving classroom libraries at underserved schools
• Be a docent at a museum
• Offer computer literacy sessions at a local library

2. Poverty and Hunger

• Volunteer at a soup kitchen or food pantry
• Help run recreational programs for underprivileged youth
• Provide administrative support or community outreach for a nonprofit that combats poverty or hunger
• Organize a food drive for a local pantry
• Assemble care kits with essentials for homeless individuals
• Help distribute meals with a mobile food bank
• Collect and donate clothes to shelters
• Offer job training workshops for the unemployed

3. Sports & Recreation

• Support summer programs in local sports leagues for kids
• Do volunteer work at city, state, or national parks
• Help rangers and parks crews rebuild hiking trails
• Volunteer at outdoor summer camps
• Put on puppet shows, concerts, and readings for children at parks, libraries, or community centers
• Put on a tennis or soccer clinic, or martial arts classes, at local parks or community centers

4. Nature & Environmental Conservation

• Be a nature or wildlife docent
• Start or support a recycling program or drive
• Organize or support a public awareness or education campaign
• Create or help at a community garden
• Look for roles to serve in at environmental nonprofits
• Organize or help organizations that promote beach cleanup or litter removal

5. Supporting Elders

• Organizing social activities at senior centers
• Delivering meals to homebound senior citizens
• Helping seniors maintain homes and yards

Volunteer Programs and Platforms for Teens

• DoSomething.org
• Habitat for Humanity Youth Programs
• Amigosinternational.org
• YouthBuild
• Americorps Volunteer Opportunity Match Platform
• American Red Cross Youth Volunteers
• Key Club International
• Best Buddies International
• VolunteerMatch
• Idealist.org
• Points of Light Engage

Pro Tip: Call or email organizations that interest you, even if no roles are posted — initiative can help you find the best opportunities!

Final Thoughts

Summer offers a unique opportunity to explore and experience new things and build your story. Volunteering in the summer is a great way to seize the opportunity. You’ll do good for others, enjoy freedom and flexibility in picking the kind of services, roles, and causes that most excite you, and you’ll enjoy camaraderie, community, and being part of something bigger than yourself.

Start exploring opportunities well before summer starts, so you roll into summer with your feet on the ground and ready to launch. Remember to take stock of your own goals and interests before you dive in, to find the kinds of volunteering opportunities that resonate with and extend your interests and larger aspirations.

If you want to learn more about summer programs for college-bound high school students — for volunteering — or for internships, pre-college courses, or personalized research and capstone projects... our experienced admissions advisors have exceptional insights and experience to give you a meaningful edge as you chart your path to top universities, in the US, Europe, or the UK.

Ready to make your college journey bigger and more adventurous than you imagined it could be?

It’s not hard to talk to a friendly advisor curious to find out about your college dreams and your next steps for getting in. All you need to do is schedule your own free feedback session.

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