Importance of Volunteerism

Glad I could help. As for suggestions, the article I pointed out to had an example of a candidate using his love for sports as umpire/referee/Track & Field official. Another client used to coach physically handicapped children in soccer. I am sure a lot of organizations, especially those that deal with young adults, would be glad for your help!

Best of luck!

Hi Currency:
Yes, admissions officers really do care and the degree is very much dependent on the school.
For example, UCLA, SOM, Tuck, Haas and GSB care extensively about your personal characteristics and ask questions directly around this. They want to know that the personal characteristics your have developed have been honed over time and are tested through a leadership example.

In my 8 years of experience in working with hundreds of clients, this has been the biggest x factor and often the missing piece of the puzzle of the "acceptance equation." Your "volunteerism" denotes a physical manifestation of the passions, values, norms and beliefs you have developed. So these types of activities, for a competitive applicant, can never be thought of as an afterthoughts, but rather a critical piece to your applicant profile. Coming late to the game, wrt volunteering, looks lame but is better than not volunteering at all IMHO.

All volunteering hours are not created equally. The best volunteering experiences will share 3 characteristics, they offer up a leadership opportunity and they allow you to possibly use your business skills in a professional setting, they provide for a cause that is greater than your own. As an example, think of things like StartingBloc, Riordan Programs and the Saturday Business Academy. These are all the perfect opportunities to blend professional experience while demonstrating the ability to produce a result that resonates with your values, norms and beliefs.

Your third question is partially answered above. However, it is better to start late than never as cliche as that may sound. Just make sure that you have a personal and professional connection to the volunteer experience. Please know that your volunteering selection is also critically important to your goals upon graduation, especially your longer term goals.

If I had to share a good personal story, it would be with an HBS admit I worked with for this year. He had the opportunity to work for a micro finance lender that he was "volunteering" with initially. As the organization grew, he took a sabbatical to fully engage this organization while taking time off from his exploits at a large accounting firm. Additionally, his family had a long history in developmental finance and banks in Asia. So this experience gave him the opportunity to blend a long family history with leadership in a personal and professional paradigm. This example showed that he could walk the social entrepreneurship talk and it put him over the line at HBS.

I hope this sheds some light. Please let me know if you have any other questions.
-Paul Lanzillotti

Paul,

Great post +1.

I'm not trying to compete for the elite school here. But I think your right, its the physical manifestation of who you are. I need to find a way to get the volunteer hours in, but its gotta be something I have a connection to - your right. I don't know if doling out biscuits at a local soup kitchen has the same impact as something like being on the BOD for a chartiable organization or something of the like. The latter doesnt turn my crank at all though. I'll need to be a bit more creative. Hell, maybe even starting my own charity or organization would work! That's leadership! Wow. I think I may have just found a solution. Ha ha! Now and I'm getting some ideas.

Thanks again for the reply!

currency

Thanks for the love. Take a look at your longer term goals (ie. consulting), see what you have a gap in (ie. not enough strategy projects), volunteer for something like the USA Leadership Corps https://www.usaleadershipcorps.org/index.html

Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti