Do Service Hours Need to be with an Official Nonprofit?
I received a question asking if community service hours have to be done with an official nonprofit, or it can count if you are helping an individual or unofficial organization.
It's a great question, and the answer is a little nuanced.
First off, what kind of school are you applying to? Do they have a holistic application process? If not, then you should have no problems at all. Highly competitive, holistically-evaluating colleges are more likely to care about the specific organization that you volunteer for. However, even in those cases, they are likely still willing to accept and count the service hours for a group that isn't a nonprofit, as long as a name for the group is provided (and possibly contact information).
A lot boils down to how you present the information. It helps a lot if you can provide a letter of recommendation from the individual or group you helped. You can also discuss and explain your volunteer efforts in your essay (depending upon the prompt).
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