{"id":38775,"date":"2017-08-17T06:00:33","date_gmt":"2017-08-17T13:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=38775"},"modified":"2017-08-17T03:04:47","modified_gmt":"2017-08-17T10:04:47","slug":"mba-admissions-why-is-community-service-so-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/mba-admissions-why-is-community-service-so-important\/","title":{"rendered":"MBA Admissions: Why is Community Service So Important?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Get<\/a><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re applying to b-school<\/a> NEXT year, then you probably haven\u2019t started thinking about MBA applications yet. But now is actually an excellent time to get started \u2013 not just on test prep and boosting GPAs, but on taking time to examine your community service. At most top b-schools, community service is virtually a requirement, and if your involvement is on the weak side, then you have just enough time to start bulking up your experience\u2026if you start NOW.<\/p>\n

What is Community Service?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Community service is: \u201cactive participation in and assumption of responsibility for your community.\u201d<\/p>\n

That is an intentionally broad definition that includes taking an active role in sports teams, professional organizations, alumni groups, religious institutions, literacy programs, political campaigns, environmental causes, fundraising for immigrant assistance groups\u2026whatever you define as your community. Community service almost always does \u2013 and should \u2013 reflect your values and priorities.<\/p>\n

The operative phrases in the definition are \u201cactive\u201d and \u201cresponsibility.\u201d Writing checks is not enough. And helping your elderly neighbor occasionally makes you a nice person, but doesn\u2019t mean you are taking responsibility for your community. Community service requires commitment.<\/p>\n

Why is Community Service Important?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Community service is important because:<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> It provides an opportunity for you to demonstrate attributes that young applicants frequently can\u2019t reveal in the classroom or in their jobs: leadership, initiative, interpersonal skills, and the ability to handle responsibility. It expresses your willingness to contribute.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> A foundational principle of admissions is \u201cPast behavior predicts future behavior.<\/a>\u201d To adcoms, a history of activism and participation shows that you will be an active participant in their student and alumni communities. That\u2019s exactly the impression you want your application to make.<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> It indicates breadth and well-roundedness. It should come as no surprise that top MBA programs don\u2019t want workaholic nerds.<\/p>\n

At the most competitive schools, community service and extracurricular activities frequently make the difference between who is accepted and rejected among otherwise competitive applicants. If you have been involved in community service, great. Keep up the good work and strive for a leadership role<\/a>. If you haven\u2019t been an active participant or leader, become one. Choose an activity, cause, or organization that you would like to contribute to. And then be consistently and actively involved so that you will have a commitment to write about other than school and work. You may even find that you enjoy it.<\/p>\n

Team up with an experienced guide who will help you discover your competitive edge and increase your chances of getting accepted to your top choice business school! Click here to learn about working with an admissions expert.<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n

\"Get<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Get<\/a><\/p>\n

Related Resources:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Leadership in Admissions<\/a>, a free guide
\n\u2022 MBA Admissions Directors Speak About How to Get Accepted<\/a>
\n\u2022 Can You Get Into a Top Grad School if You Didn\u2019t Attend a Top University?<\/a><\/p>\n

This article<\/a>\u00a0originally appeared on\u00a0<\/i>blog.accepted.com<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n

Applying to a top b-school? The talented folks at Accepted have helped hundreds of applicants get accepted to their dream programs. Whether you are figuring out where to apply, writing your application essays, or prepping for your interviews, we are just a call (or click) away.<\/p>\n

Contact us, and get matched up with the consultant who will help\u00a0you\u00a0<\/i>get accepted<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re applying to b-school NEXT year, then you probably haven\u2019t started thinking about MBA applications yet. But now is actually an excellent time to get started \u2013 not just…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,939,775,113,243],"tags":[542,74,88,911,912,846],"class_list":["post-38775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mba","category-accepted","category-admission-consultants","category-applications","category-blog","tag-community-service","tag-extracurriculars","tag-leadership","tag-leadership-development","tag-volunteer-work","tag-volunteering","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38775"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38775\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38777,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38775\/revisions\/38777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}